Interpenetration on the Field of Śūnyatā: Nishitani and Buddhist Metaphysics

Abstract: Interpenetration, a central idea in Huayan Buddhist metaphysics, is commonly understood as the mutual dependence of all things. However, in Religion and Nothingness , Keiji Nishitani proposes that while everything is interdependent, each entity is also absolutely independent. Furthermore, Nishitani attributes a “non-objective” mode of being to entities in interpenetration. These tensions between dependence and independence, and objecthood and nonobjecthood, reveal the uniqueness of Nishitani’s view and the limitations in the traditional understanding of interpenetration. This article explores these tensions within Nishitani, contrasts Nishitani’s approach to interpenetration with both the common view and Fazang’s view, addresses Nishitani’s treatment of contradictory utterances, and reflects on the relation between metaphysics and ethics in Buddhist philosophy.