PHENOMENOLOGY AS A GATEWAY TO BUDDHISM AND VICE VERSA: FROM HUSSERLʼS ABYSS TO ŚŪNYATĀ

This study explores the hypothesis that phenomenological epoché and Buddhist liberation are two aspects of the same transcendental transformation. Drawing on the writings of Husserl and Fink in dialogue with the Heart Sutra and the practice of ānāpānasati, it shows how reduction and awakening share a paradoxical structure: the simultaneous suspension and affirmation of self and world. Special attention is given to Finkʼs notion of the “spectator,” whose awakening reveals a further dimension of transformation, suggesting that consciousness can reconstitute not only its contents but also its very capacity for awareness. By deconstructing and re-examining key texts and practices, the paper argues that phenomenology and Buddhism mutually illuminate one another, each offering a path toward the other, and together disclose the possibility of a profound reconfiguration of human existence.