Reconciling modern science with classical Buddhist ontology is a fundamental feature of Buddhist modernism. During both the Meiji Buddhist Revival and Buddhist Revival in China, Buddhist reformers sought to depict their religion as uniquely suited to the modern world due to the fact that recent scientific discoveries confirmed--rather than contradicted- -ancient Buddhist teachings. This study showcases how a particular scientific ontology known as “energeticism” was used to prove Buddhism’s scientific soundness. This scientifically based ontology was popular in Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese Buddhist circles during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. However, its role in early East Asian Buddhist modernism has been all but forgotten. By looking at the writings of Buddhist paragons such as Taixu 太虚(1890-1947), Inoue Enryō 井上円了(1858-1919), Gendün Chöphel (1903-1951), and Guru Wuguang 悟光上師 (1918-2000), I will demonstrate energeticism’s early role in the modernization of Buddhist doctrine and practice. I will additionally underscore how energeticism was used to not only rationalize Buddhism, but to provide a scientific explanation for practices related to ancestor veneration. This project will deepen our understanding of Buddhist engagements with science, correct scholarly misunderstandings concerning those engagements, and lay ground for future work.
