Scholarlink

<p>This article examines structural parallels between the Huayan (華嚴) Buddhist doctrine of lishi wu’ai (理事無礙, non-obstruction of principle and phenomena) and the holographic principle in contemporary physics. Against reductive approaches that either assimilate Buddhism to science or dismiss such comparisons as superficial, I argue for a methodologically rigorous cross-illumination that preserves the integrity of both traditions while revealing conceptual resonances that enrich philosophical reflection on each. Drawing on Fazang’s systematic exposition of <i>li</i> (理, principle) and <i>shi</i> (事, phenomena), and engaging recent analytic reconstructions of Huayan mereology, I demonstrate how the Huayan insight that “the whole is contained in each part” structurally parallels holographic encoding while exceeding it in philosophical depth. The article makes three contributions. First, it provides a more technically detailed account of holographic physics than previous comparative studies have offered. Second, it engages contemporary Huayan scholarship to articulate the Buddhist position with greater philosophical rigor. Third, it develops explicit criteria for evaluating the limits and possibilities of cross-traditional comparisons. While acknowledging fundamental differences between Buddhist soteriology and empirical physics, this analysis suggests that both traditions challenge substance metaphysics in favor of relational ontology. This convergence has implications for contemporary debates in philosophy of physics and metaphysics.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Interpenetration of Principle and Phenomena: Huayan Buddhism and the Holographic Principle

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月27日

查看全文
  • KAO-CHENG HUANG

摘要

This article examines structural parallels between the Huayan (華嚴) Buddhist doctrine of lishi wu’ai (理事無礙, non-obstruction of principle and phenomena) and the holographic principle in contemporary physics. Against reductive approaches that either assimilate Buddhism to science or dismiss such comparisons as superficial, I argue for a methodologically rigorous cross-illumination that preserves the integrity of both traditions while revealing conceptual resonances that enrich philosophical reflection on each. Drawing on Fazang’s systematic exposition of li (理, principle) and shi (事, phenomena), and engaging recent analytic reconstructions of Huayan mereology, I demonstrate how the Huayan insight that “the whole is contained in each part” structurally parallels holographic encoding while exceeding it in philosophical depth. The article makes three contributions. First, it provides a more technically detailed account of holographic physics than previous comparative studies have offered. Second, it engages contemporary Huayan scholarship to articulate the Buddhist position with greater philosophical rigor. Third, it develops explicit criteria for evaluating the limits and possibilities of cross-traditional comparisons. While acknowledging fundamental differences between Buddhist soteriology and empirical physics, this analysis suggests that both traditions challenge substance metaphysics in favor of relational ontology. This convergence has implications for contemporary debates in philosophy of physics and metaphysics.