Abstract
In this article, I try to compare Heidegger's philosophy with T'ien-t'ai Buddhism. In Heidegger's philosophy, the concept of “belonging together” is used to thematize the relation between human being and Being. In T'ien-t'ai philosophy, the concept of “chi” is used to connect two internally contradictory terms to express a paradoxical situation. Through a comparative study of these two concepts, I attempt to show some essential similarities between these two philosophies, and to clarify their paradoxical forms of articulation. This paper includes two parts. Part one deals with a comparative study of the mutual reciprocity of “belonging together” and the paradoxical form of “chi.” In order to understand this paradoxical form of articulation, Heidegger urges us to “step back” (Schritt zuruck) from traditional metaphysics and go into the origin of metaphysics. Then I will try, in part two, to clarify the meaning of this concept of “stepping back” and to compare it with the concept of “pu-tuan-tuan” of T'ien-t'ai Buddhism.