如果把佛學視作一種印度、中國共有的亞洲思想資源，那麼，我們可能會對近代東西方思想互動產生一個不同於以往的理解。以佛學為考察對象，東西方哲學的近代互動是一種「往返」運動，而不是單向度地「西學東漸」。東方佛學傳入西方，影響了叔本華、尼采哲學的形成；然後隨著西學東漸，帶有東方哲學因素的叔本華、尼采哲學進入近代中國，影響了宗白華、章太炎、魯迅、李石岑等一大批學者，構成了近代中國佛學，尤其是唯識學復興的一大時代背景。近代叔本華、尼采哲學與東方佛學構成了彼此形成或復興的「哲學氛圍」。

If we consider Buddhism as a kind of Asian intellectual resource shared by India and China, then we may have a different understanding of the interaction between Eastern and Western thought in the modern era. Taking Buddhism as the object of investigation, the modern interaction between Eastern and Western philosophy is a “round-trip” movement, rather than a one-way “Western learning spreading eastward”. The introduction of Eastern Buddhism into the West influenced the formation of Schopenhauer’s and Nietzsche’s philosophies; Then, as Western learning spread eastward, Schopenhauer’s and Nietzsche’s philosophies with Eastern philosophical elements entered modern China and influenced a large number of scholars such as Zong Baihua, Zhang Taiyan, Lu Xun, and Li Shichen, which constituted a major background of the revival of modern Buddhism, especially Yogacāra. Modern Eastern Buddhism, the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche have formed a “philosophical atmosphere” for each other.