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.
Great Calming and Contemplation
Three thousand realms in a single moment of thought — calming and contemplation as the path to realising the threefold truth
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Great Calming and Contemplation |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Both |
| Time · Traversability | 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 | Single |
| 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
Great Calming and Contemplation
Infinite, relational. Each moment contains the three thousand realms. Time is not an independent substance but a feature of conditioned arising. Both: karmic conditioning and the always-available possibility of awakening.
Space
Great Calming and Contemplation
Infinite, relational, non-local. The three thousand realms are present in every spatial point. Conventional space is provisionally real; ultimate reality transcends spatial limitation.
Matter
Great Calming and Contemplation
Infinite, relational, non-local. Phenomena are simultaneously empty and provisionally real. The threefold truth applies to every material dharma. Conserved: nothing is annihilated in the endless transformations.
Observer
Great Calming and Contemplation
Both embodied and transcendent. The meditator contemplates mind and discovers all reality within a single thought. Multiple time-instances: each moment of contemplation accesses the totality. Active: calming and contemplation require sustained practice. Immediate and total knowledge in the enlightened state.
Energy
Great Calming and Contemplation
Infinite, relational, reversible. The process of calming and contemplation transforms consciousness without depleting any cosmic reserve. The cycle of samsara-nirvana is energetically closed.
Information
Great Calming and Contemplation
Three thousand realms in a single thought = infinite information density. Substantival: the threefold truth is the informational structure of reality. Personal information is non-conserved: the self is empty.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The tension between the elaborate gradualism of the meditation programme (the Mohe Zhiguan's detailed instructions could occupy a lifetime) and the simultaneity of the threefold truth (which is supposed to be realised in a single moment) is the central methodological difficulty. The ichinen sanzen doctrine's claim that each moment of consciousness literally contains all possible worlds has been challenged as metaphysically extravagant. The Tiantai classification of teachings privileges the Lotus Sutra, which other schools contest.