Jizhang Yi

This book is a philosophical investigation of Kierkegaard’s approach to truth and subjectivity in relation to Chinese Chan Buddhist thought represented by Huineng (638–713). A problem that seems to surface for the close reader with some familiarity with both thinkers is whether Kierkegaard’s “Truth Is Subjectivity” is indeed the same as Huineng’s “Dharma (truth or Buddha-law) Is Nonduality 佛法不二,” as lacking a subject and object distinction between the knower and what is to know (the referent). Adopting a comparative method based on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory in cognitive linguistics, this volume embraces an investigation that is in effect an argument favoring a similarity between truth as subjectivity and dharma as nonduality. Through the lens of Huineng, Kierkegaard’s truth as subjectivity is of how I (i.e., the knowing subject) live truthfully without attachment. Its core concern is to emphasize how a person relates oneself to the truth by inwardly achieving self-understanding through actively being involved in one’s daily life rather than being attached to objective things or abstract ideas. By borrowing terms or categories such as “nonduality” from Chan’s philosophical discourses, this research implies that Chinese Chan offers the resources for a contemporary inquiry into the relevant issue in Kierkegaard’s thought. This book appeals to students and researchers. It contributes to work within interreligious dialogue and comparative philosophy or theology, deepening the dialogue between the two faith traditions or cultures.

This paper argues that “middle way and nonduality” provides the most coherent framework for understanding Humanistic Buddhism. While Cheng Gongrang frames Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s thought through skillful means and tensions between tradition and modernity, doctrine and practice, and self and society, this risks portraying Humanistic Buddhism as dialectical contradiction. Drawing on Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka philosophy and Huineng’s teaching that “Dharma is nonduality,” this article demonstrates how nonduality transforms apparent tensions into dynamic complementarities, offering both philosophical rigor and a constructive basis for interreligious dialogue, illustrated through Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s teaching “I am Buddha.”

abstract: This paper explores the possibilities for a cross-cultural and inter-religious dialogue between Søren Kierkegaard and Tsongkhapa by examining whether Kierkegaard’s concept of “truth is subjectivity” parallels Tsongkhapa’s notion of “truth is śūnyatā (emptiness).” Although separated by time and cultural context, both thinkers challenge prevailing traditions and reimagine truth as a transformative, experiential process. Kierkegaard critiques intellectual elitism and classical foundationalism, emphasizing subjective engagement and personal commitment to existential truth. Tsongkhapa underscores the importance of philosophical reasoning and meditative practice in realizing the nonduality of conventional and ultimate truths. This paper argues that despite their distinct metaphysical assumptions, both view truth as dynamic and deeply connected to lived experience. In addition to a philosophical analysis of these parallels, the paper employs Conceptual Metaphor Theory to demonstrate how Kierkegaard’s “truth is subjectivity” and Tsongkhapa’s “truth is śūnyatā ” reflect shared insights into the transformative and practical realization of truth.

The poem is my image of the traditional Chinese understanding of “there is nothing new under the sun.” It was written originally in Chinese during a launch time at the South Hill School in Vancouver, where I was taking English Foundation courses in 2014. I only spent a few minutes completing the poem. The words came out of my mind naturally and smoothly. The moment for me was sacredly silent even though I was sitting in a noisy environment at Dairy Queen; as if time suddenly stopped, as if I was not a part of this world, and as if I was not who I was. It has been said that everything has its season; a time to be born, and a time to die. If everything has its time and place in which I still have the ultimate freedom to choose, I will prefer to stay where I am, letting myself be out of the circle of birth, death and rebirth, not be obsessed with either the beauty of bygones or the hope of hereafter.

Though scholars of Chinese Theology have expanded the inter-religious dialogue between Christian theology and traditional Chinese philosophy and culture from Neo-Confucianism to other fields such as Taoism, the dialogue with Chinese Buddhism, especially Chan Buddhism, has not been carried out yet. This article mainly reflects on the starting point of Leung In-sing’s Chinese Theology through the perspective of Dharma as Nonduality in Chan. Firstly, it briefly outlines the background and basic ideas of Chinese Theology formulated by Leung In- sing, focusing on discussing the two fundamental theological categories: “Relationship” and “Rapport.” Then, it annotates and analyzes Huineng’s“Dharma as Nonduality.”Finally, from the perspective of Huineng, it rethinks the starting point of Chinese Theology itself and proposes further research questions.

As more and more scholars deepened the study of the Dunhuang version of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, many significant research questions were raised. The questions such as when the book was completed, who actually wrote the book, and the historical authenticity of Huineng’s story, especially his identity of the Sixth Patriarch, were extensively discussed and questioned by many scholars. This essay attempts to conduct a more profound analysis and thinking based on the current academic studies with respect to this historical book, and seeks to critically and profoundly rethink the methods of contemporary criticism concerning religious studies.