Chih-i’s use of numerical category of “ten” is usually arranged in an ascending order such as in the case of the Ten Dharma-realms. According to Chih-i, each realm is inclusive of the other nine realms, forming one hundred realms. Furthermore, each realm contains ten different characteristics (Ten Suchnesses), rendering one thousand worlds in all. Each of these thousand worlds has three divisions—sentient beings, the five aggregates, and the space we live in. In total, this accounts for three thousand worlds. And these three thousand worlds are all possessed by one single mind. If one mind contains different worlds, this is a pattern of extension, starting from a single beginning point (one mind), but one mind can expand to the whole universe. From the vast perspective of the three thousand worlds to the point of a single mind, there occurs a pattern of contraction, returning from the end of the phenomenal world to the beginning of the phenomenal world. Such a pattern of extension and contraction supports Chih-i’s theory of one instant thought containing three thousand dharmas (I-nien San-ch ‘ien), and the whole universe is realized as nothing but the act of mind. This theory leads to a further conclusion Chih-i intends to draw, that is, liberation is possible for all living beings, because it is the mind that plays the key role and determines one’s destination. From the realm of Buddha to the realm of hell, there is only the substance where one’s mind abides. (Page 129-130)