The Question of the Buddha’s Ontology

What is a Buddha? This fundamental question may epitomize what the study of Buddhism is about, yet from the vantage point of early Buddhism, it is a problematic question to be asking. In early Buddhist texts, the quest to understand the nature of a Buddha often entails substituting the urge to define what the Buddha is with a determination to explore who the Buddha is. I examine these foundational questions concerning the Buddha’s being by focusing on an early Buddhist scripture called the Discourse with Droṇa . In this scripture, a Brahmin directly asks the Buddha whether he is a god, a demon, or a human. The Buddha avoids placing himself in any of these typical ontological categories and instead defines himself as a Buddha. The dynamics of this text, I claim, critique the prevailing tendency to objectify the Buddha and offer an alternative avenue to investigate the Buddha’s being

Buddhism · Close reading · Gautama Buddha · Point (geometry) · Reading (process) · Reflexive pronoun · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Karl Barth and Christian Theology · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions

• The Rhetoric of Brahmanical Ritual in Early Buddhism

  Open Access•Chinyoung Kim•Religions•2026

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