Rather than define what “mind” means, Chih-i utilizes this section to provide a doctrinal basis for his teachings on contemplating the mind, or one’s thoughts. He quotes the Avataṃsaka Sūtra [Flower Garland] that “the mind, the Buddha, and sentient beings are not distinct” (T. 9, 47Sc29), and emphasizes the unity of the three. Chih-i does not use this verse to support a mind-only idealism. He proposes instead that the mind, or one’s thoughts, is the most accessible of the three dharmas, and thus should be the focus of one’s contemplation and meditation. Since the Buddha, objects, other sentient beings, and so forth, are all part of one reality, they are all included when one concentrates on one simple thought. This is illustrated with another quote from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra: “If one disports one’s mind in the dharmadhātu as if in space, then one will know the objective realm of all Buddhas” (T. 9, 409cl). Chih-i interprets this passage in terms of the threefold truth:

The dharmadhātu is the middle. Space is emptiness. The mind and Buddhas are conventional existence. The three together are the objective realm of all Buddhas. This means that if one contemplates [the thoughts of] one’s mind, one can become endowed with all Buddha-dharmas. [T. 33, 696a20-22]

Contemplation of the thoughts in one’s mind is the most readily available method of practice and can lead to the attainment of Buddhahood and enlightenment concerning the true nature of reality, which is simultaneously empty and conventionally existent.