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Abstract

Between Buddhism and Christianity, the concept of "person" is a cornerstone of difference: Either it represents the highest form of being or an illusion of isolation. Nevertheless, both Buddhism and Christianity know of elements of mutual transformation: The Buddhist concepts of "impermanence" and "anatuman:" represent a reality of self-transcendence we may read as personal pro-existence. In the Christian context, "person" must not be identified with the Greek concept of a "substantial soul" but (in its trinitarian and christological connotations) reveals all-relationality and singularity--a veritable transformation of the Buddhist concepts of "pratitya-samutpada" and "dharma." This article explores possible mutual transformation using A. N. Whitehead's concept of person as a none-substantial, time-sensitive strain of events and K. Nishidas concept of self as "absolute nothingness." Astonishingly, both Whitehead and Nishida trace their idea of "person: back into Plato's third genus of being: the "place"/the "chora"/the "receptacle" as notion of "formless unity." In this mutual transformation, a new concept of "person" arises: person in the place of emptiness.