Iljea Lee completed his PhD in Asian Religious in 2026. His dissertation, titled Attā, Anattā, and the Skandhas:The Ascetic Teaching of Non-possession in the Buddhist Sūtras, critically re-examines the Buddhist notions of “I,” “mine,” and “my own/myself” (attā) in relation to the Buddha’s teaching of non-possession as they appear in the early sūtras written in Sanskrit, Pāli, and Classical Chinese.
Iljea’s research interest is in the ascetic traditions of early India, especially that of Buddhism and Jainism.
Iljea has a B.A. in Philosophy from Queens College of the City University of New York, an M.A. in Philosophy from Boston University, and an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. He spent four years at Harvard University as a Non-Degree student studying Sanskrit and Pali. From 2022-2023, he taught at the University of Hawaii at Manoa as an adjunct Lecturer in the department of Religions and Ancient Civilizations. And from 2024-2025, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Manhattan University (Bronx, NY) in the department of Religion and Philosophy.