Buddhist Studies in Modern Scholarship，Often because of adhering to the positivist side, the names and symbols of the signifier are ignored。However，This flat academic interest has always been accompanied by its antithesis—that is, the pursuit of understanding the inner logic and spiritual value of Buddhism，Whether this kind of antithesis is self-reflexive from the academic system，It comes from the trend of the times，Or spontaneously within the Buddhist tradition as the object of study。This article is based on these intersecting clues，Examine the appearance of Buddhism and Buddhist teaching in Chinese and Western academic contexts，And explore possible research paradigms in Buddhist philosophy from the dual perspectives of religious studies and “Sinicization of religion”。

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Buddhism is an important branch of Eastern thought and knowledge tradition，It has long been regarded as a mirror image by Western scholars who have the same pursuit of knowledge。The establishment of modern Buddhist research is the projection of the two orthodox pillars of reason and faith in the Western ideological context into the Eastern imagination。European classical Buddhists follow the enlightenment rationalist method，Using the Protestant model as the organizing and interpretive principle，Establishing a Buddhist research paradigm explained by comparative linguistics and philosophy。Since the second half of the 20th century，With the rise of interdisciplinarity and the transformation of research paradigms，An important breakthrough in academic Buddhist studies is the opening to the experiential dimension，That is, emphasizing the role of experience in shaping the writing of Buddhist doctrine。David Seyfort Ruegg, a great researcher in Buddhist philosophy，1931-2021) "Some Reflections on the Place of Philosophy in Buddhist Studies" published in the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies in 1995 Philosophy in the Study of Buddhism) article，It can be said to be a model work advocating this methodology。Se's pointed point out，"In Buddhism，Liberation Studies、Gnostics and cognition are often closely intertwined，Buddhist thought cannot be ‘philosophy’ in the sense of logical positivism or philosophy of language as previously thought”。This cognitive paradigm of Buddhist philosophy that also contains an experiential dimension，Guide us to look more closely at the inner structure and shaping process of Buddhist thought。

Modern Chinese Buddhism was established in the context of the spread of Western learning to the east during the Republic of China。Gong Jun pointed Bet365 lotto review out in the article "How to face experience and text in the study of religious history: Taking the study of the history of Buddhism in modern China" published in the 1st issue of "World Religion Research" in 2020，Research on Chinese Buddhism since modern times has “mostly been carried out in the complex integration of traditional scriptures and modern new knowledge”。New historians who have accepted the disciplines of Western historical philology，Often based on a "secular humanism" concept, the scriptures are turned into history，Place Buddhist classics in the context of historical changes。Since the revival in the 1980s，Chinese Buddhism is not “attached to the writing of the history of Chinese philosophy”，Flowed by "Elucidation of the Theory of Mind"，It is to return to "writing dominated by more refined textual philology and historical research" after the former fell into paradigm rigidity。Anyway，“Many Buddhist creations in our modern times seem to conform to the norms of disciplines and academic systems，While disintegrating the traditional classics system，It also rashly eliminates the existential experience of Taoism and textual interpretation in the discussion of religious history”。Faced with this dilemma，Gong Jun learned from Ouyang Jingwu, a great Buddhist master during the Republic of China, who "experience is the sect、Find methodological inspiration for current Buddhist research in internal studies supplemented by rational reasoning: on the one hand, "obey the academic disciplines of new knowledge (mainly historical linguistics)"，At the same time, this new knowledge is strictly limited to the level of Buddhist events”，On the other hand, "elaborating thoughts from within Buddhist scriptures"，That is, "preserving religious experience" and internalizing this in Buddhist interpretation。

Whether it is Sai’s insights into Western learning or Ouyang’s inspiration from internal learning，They all advocate liberating academics from the entanglement of names and forms in old papers，Seeing Buddhism as a practice of advancing study and practice together in the knowledge system，The mutual generation between doctrinal expression and empirical structure、The dialectical relationship that shapes each other。This has to a certain extent shaken the textualist attitude of historical philology as the primary focus of classical Buddhist research。At the same time，The opening of Buddhist philosophical research to the experiential dimension，Not only does it harm the empirical nature of modern scholarship，On the contrary, it can more closely reveal the generating logic of Buddhist knowledge and theory，And how different lines of thought are intertwined and developed in the intertextual structure of experience。Also，Buddhist schools of thought emerge in endlessly，Bet365 lotto review Especially in multilingual and cross-cultural contexts, intricate relationships are shown，This practice-oriented epistemological logic helps us break the dependence of the traditional Buddhist narrative path on school/sect boundaries and different name and phase systems，Then restore a clearer and profound picture of Buddhist thought。

　Inspiration from the phenomenology of religion and the “Sinicization” of religious theory

The opening of modern Buddhist philosophical research to the experiential dimension，Coinciding with the path of religious phenomenology。Generally speaking，Phenomenology of Religion is dedicated to exploring the essence of religion starting from the nature and structure of religious experience。This religious path began in 19、Scandinavia at the turn of the 20th century，At that time, people realized the reductive influence of positivist attitude on the study of religion，Try to explore the religious phenomena and their correlations that appear in human experience。Mircea Eliade，1907-1986) and the American Chicago School it represents，It can be said to be the master of religious phenomenological research methods。Although Eliade positions himself in the field of History of Religions，His research approach relies on the theoretical support of religious phenomenology。Eliad clarifies the phenomenological structure of the “sacred” based on the irreducibility of religious essence，And use this as a theoretical starting point to explore various cultural manifestations of religious phenomena in specific historical time and space。His inspiration for Buddhist research is: through the study of Buddhist texts and images，From the complex expression and historical evolution of Buddhist empirical phenomena，Extract the understanding behind it、Interpretation and the connotation of deeper spiritual structures，And thus return to the specific time and space context，Comparative analysis of different expressions of Buddhism。Therefore，This “religious history” study of Buddhism relies on historical philology、At the same time as empirical methods such as iconography，Retaining the subjectivity of religious studies in terms of hermeneutic care。

The establishment of the subjectivity of the discipline of religious studies，Conducive to defining and stimulating more core awareness of issues in Buddhist philosophy research，Thinking about it、Provide appropriate conceptual tools for analysis and presentation。But we still need to be careful not to fall into the vicious circle of "looking at the east from the west"。Conceptual vocabulary of modern religious studies、Category standards and default premises，To a large extent, it is derived from Western academic observation and research on Christian tradition。If you do not make any analysis, you will rush to use these concepts and categories to define bet365 Play online games and explain the existence of Buddhism in China and even Asia，Many meaningful Buddhist experiences and theories will be filtered，The subjective narrative of Buddhism itself cannot be established。Buddhist research in my country must break through this dilemma，It depends on us to discover the theoretical meaning from the local expression and internal logic of Chinese Buddhism。

 One possible contribution of “Buddhist representations” to the theory of religion is，Buddhist culture can be a useful supplement to religious phenomenology from the dimension of practical experience。Religious phenomenologists are good at extracting the universal phenomenological structure of human religious experience from the religious language that expresses ultimate experience。Buddhism is not only multilingual、Rich cross-cultural expressions can carry the phenomenological function of religion，It also provides a practical path on how to access the realm of this phenomenon。A typical example of "Buddhist phenomenology" is the Mahayana non-discrimination practice first seen in "The Lankavatara Sutra": first stop external discrimination and then return to the inner mind，Re-realize non-dual consciousness and break away from the dualistic opposition of subject and object，Later, transcend this non-dual mind and live in the realm of non-differentiated wisdom。This time, the path to meditation is the common goal of Mahayana practice，Writing throughout Mahayana scholastic philosophy。Mesocosm、Various and even conflicting schools of thought such as yoga and even a combination of the two，No matter what interpretation mode and perspective they adopt，All are legalizations of the ontological or epistemological level of non-discrimination meditation。The various expressions and mutual inheritance of this meditation model in different historical and cultural coordinates in China、Misappropriation、Misunderstanding and a series of intricate relationships，It may open up the theoretical discussion of "Sinicization" for the phenomenology of religion。

　The East-West Intertext of Religious Knowledge: Separate Meditation and the “Great Chain of Existence”

、The advanced paradigm of breaking through the layers，The cognitive realm of each stage transcends and encompasses the previous stage，It not only embodies Mahayana Buddhism’s understanding of the ultimate nature of the world，It also points out the practical path to reach this ultimate at the cognitive level。What does this mean for research horizons other than Buddhism？Let’s take a look at the discovery and invention of the “Great Chain of Existence” by Western academics。

Comparative religion scholars generally agree that the "Great Chain of Being" is the core of the worldview of pre-modern (mainly Western) religions and wisdom traditions。bet365 live casino games The so-called "giant chain of existence"，That is, the picture of the real world that is layered and intertwined from the material to the physical and mental to the spiritual levels，Each higher level transcends and encompasses the previous lower level。Ideological historian Arthur Lovejoy，1873-1962) quoted extensively in his book "The Great Chain of Existence" (1936)，Demonstrate the universality of this world schema in various pre-modern Western religious traditions。He also started from the tradition of commentaries on Plato in the history of Western thought，Combined two opposing Platonic ideological legacies，“One” strategy and “Multiple” strategy—“One” emphasizes the origin of all things，“Multiple” emphasizes the diversity of creation。In Lovejoy’s opinion，“One” and “many” do not conflict in Plato’s own ideological system，But it forms a perfect loop: after reaching the original "one"，Still returning to embrace the creativity of “many”，“One” must manifest itself in “many”。Yu is，"The existence of a giant chain" has the directionality of movement，That is, the upward movement from "many" to "one" and the downward movement from "one" to "many"。The complete cognitive schema is no longer just reaching the isolated other shore (the "one" away from the "many")，But this shore and the other shore are unified in the upward and downward loops。

This schema and the Mahayana non-discrimination practice constitute a kind of East-West intertext。The circulating versions of "The Lankavatara Sutra" in various languages ​​and related commentaries and traditions，There are different opinions on whether the "Mahayana" or "Supreme Wisdom" that represents the ultimate realm in the non-discriminatory contemplation stage is seen in the "no form": If "the Mahayana" is seen in the "no form"，The ultimate end is formless emptiness，For the theory of formless nirvana；If "missing"，It is necessary to establish "phase" on top of "no phase"，Taking some reality beyond emptiness as the ultimate，For the theory of Nirvana。“See” or “Not See”，At the level of moral education, there have always been two parallel approaches that are constantly controversial。At the level of experience，To use the name of Mahayana Buddhism to express it is: the formless Nirvana that is formed by form and emptiness is the upward path to see through the essence of all illusions using "Prajna"；The nirvana of form from emptiness to form is the downward path to realize the "great compassion" that transforms all things，The harmony between the two is "non-duality"。"No form" means from many to one，“There is a phase” is from one to many，“无二” is a dynamic loop。The theoretical contribution of the Buddhist intellectual tradition to comparative religion and even to religious studies is exactly that，Bet365 app download In addition to providing multi-lingual and cross-cultural meaning explanations for this "great chain of existence" schema，It also provides rich and effective supplements from the cognitive/experience dimension。

　Academic construction and the needs of the times: Recognizing the existence of Buddhism in China

Of course，This east-west intertextuality of religious knowledge is not a new discovery。Although European classical Buddhism follows the empirical method developed by the Enlightenment，Starting from language and text，Building Buddhist knowledge on reason，The Western intelligentsia’s gnosis observation of Buddhism from an empirical dimension is no later than those of the Enlightenment thinkers。Under rational knowledge and Orthodox faith，The Western ideological context also contains the third hidden current of mystical gnostic thought，Emphasis on the inner connection between the individual and the source of existence, the process of gnosis revelation。This undercurrent serves as the antithesis to the dominant structure of each era，Continuously trying to break through the cage forged by the combination of academicism and Orthodoxy，Reserve space for individual spiritual tempering。Buddhism and the Eastern “Gnosis” knowledge tradition it represents，Became an important spiritual source and knowledge reference for several occult revival movements since the 19th century。

Zhang Yahui pointed out in his review of Zhang Butian's translation of "Guidelines on Western Occultism": "When the entire world is rid of demons，Modern rationality and bureaucracy replaced city-state religion and the Catholic Church，While forcing each individual to become more free，The restraint on the soul is even more cruel and thorough，The occult provides an almost equally liberal supermarket of religion，Available in the supermarket、A wide range of products to save yourself，Expensive。”Under the influence of modernity，Buddhism is increasingly becoming a spiritual commodity to choose from on the shelves of Westerners’ religious supermarkets，Or more strictly speaking，Become a raw material component in the religious product assembly line that can be freely combined with other knowledge。

Zhang Yahui also pointed out，“A core feature of Western mysticism is，No matter how the scope spreads、How complex the system is，It can always form a clear boundary with reason and religion”，"And Eastern Occultism，As Weber said，It is always impossible to clearly distinguish between knowledge and gnosis”。Admittedly，This is closely related to the different intellectual characters and political and social organization methods of Eastern and Western civilizations；It also inspires us to realize，As a whole practice system with social functional significance，Buddhism is more than just gnosis，Rational knowledge and belief practice occupy bet365 Play online games an equally important position。This also explains why Buddhism can become a research object organized by Enlightenment thinkers with Protestant imagination，It can also provide knowledge reference in the Eastern context for those who are interested in occultism。The unity of rational knowledge and transcendent gnosis in the Buddhist system，It is precisely this time that academic Buddhist research breaks through the shackles of textualism、The meaning of the question is thus open to the dimension of experience。

In China，Humanities scholarship is also influenced by the context of the times and the epistemes of knowledge belonging to this era。Today，We are also facing a huge “religious market”。As a writer of the times，How will our academic observation of Buddhism actively participate in shaping and leading the trend of the times？Under the requirements of the times of "Sinicization of religion"，The aforementioned historical philology is used as an analysis tool、A Buddhist research path with religious phenomenology as the logical pivot，Perhaps while communicating Eastern and Western religious understanding，Prompt us to more deeply and appropriately understand the existence of Buddhism in China, a rich and diverse historical and cultural coordinate，To better promote the prosperity of Chinese academics in the new era of religious studies、Developing China Theory、The important role of spreading China’s experience。

　　(This article is a phased result of the compilation project of "(New Edition) General History of China")

(Author’s unit: Chinese Academy of History)