Korean Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

This paper explores the temporal view of Huayan Buddhism in terms of unimpeded interpenetration (sishi wu’ai, 事事無礙), primarily through the lens of the Ten Profound Gates (十玄門). In the Ten Gates, time is understood to arise alongside existence within the relational network of dependent origination in the dharma-dhātu (法界), where the three periods of past, present, and future mutually interpenetrate in a state of perfect interfusion. The “Gate of Simultaneous Completeness and Correspondence” (同時具足相應門) articulates this sishi wu’ai temporal framework by introducing the notions of the “simultaneity of cause and effect” (因果同時) and “inexhaustibility” (無盡). By extending the scope of causes to infinity and asserting that cause and effect are determined simultaneously rather than through linear succession, this One Vehicle (Ekayāna) model of causality overcomes the “lagged causality” of the Hīnayāna and the limitations of general Mahāyāna perspectives, offering instead a holistic paradigm of reciprocal causality. This view resonates with such modern concepts as “backward causation” in analytic philosophy, “quantum entanglement” and the “implicate order” in quantum mechanics, and “reciprocal causality” in systems theory, thereby prompting a critical re-evaluation of conventional causal intuitions. Furthermore, the “Gate of the Distinct Formation of the Ten Times through Separated Dharmas” (十世隔法異成門) develops a view in which the three times remain distinguishable yet mutually enter one another to form the whole of the “ten times,” thereby dismantling any notion of linear temporal flow or substantial temporal boundaries. It thus grounds the logic of the “simultaneity of thought-moment and kalpa” and the claim that “one thought-moment is precisely innumerable kalpas.” Finally, Huayan discussions of the temporal structure of practice (修行時分) rest on this non-duality and simultaneity of cause and effect, providing the basis for “attaining Buddhahood upon completion of faith” (信滿成佛), which can even transcend the causal-temporal progression implied in “Buddhahood in three lifetimes.” By linking these three gates, this paper reveals the temporal logic that permeates Huayan ontology, causality, and soteriological practice.