Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Treatise on the Golden Lion
The gold is in the lion, the lion is in the gold — principle and phenomena interpenetrate, and every part contains the whole
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Treatise on the Golden Lion |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Both |
| Time · Traversability | Non-Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Space · Curvature | not engaged |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Non-Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Non-Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Multiple |
| Observer · Space Instance | Multiple |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Immediate |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Both |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | not engaged |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Tradition |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Reversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Treatise on the Golden Lion
Infinite, relational, non-linear. In the Huayan vision, all times are present in every moment — the gold and the lion arise simultaneously. Time is not an independent substance but a feature of dependent origination.
Space
Treatise on the Golden Lion
Infinite, relational, non-local. Every part of the lion contains all the gold — the whole is in the part. Indra's net: every spatial point reflects every other point.
Matter
Treatise on the Golden Lion
Infinite, relational, non-local. Gold (principle) and lion (phenomena) are non-dual. Matter has no self-nature but arises through dependent origination. Conserved: nothing is annihilated, only transformed.
Observer
Treatise on the Golden Lion
Both embodied and transcendent. The enlightened observer sees the interpenetration of all phenomena directly. Multiple time- and space-instances in the enlightened perspective. Knowledge is immediate and total.
Energy
Treatise on the Golden Lion
Infinite, relational, reversible. The dynamic of mutual arising is an energy-process without depletion. The system of Indra's net is energetically closed and self-sustaining.
Information
Treatise on the Golden Lion
Substantival: the dharmadhatu is an informational totality. Every phenomenon encodes the whole — infinite information in every part. Personal information is non-conserved: the self is empty.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The central question: if everything interpenetrates everything, how can conventional distinctions (the gold is not the lion, the eye is not the tail) be maintained? Fazang answers that interpenetration presupposes distinct phenomena, but whether this avoids collapse into indistinction remains debated. The pedagogical simplicity of the golden lion metaphor may mask the profound difficulty of the shi-shi-wuai (mutual non-obstruction of phenomena and phenomena) doctrine when applied beyond simple cases.