Whether ultimate reality is fullness of the Self or Emptiness has always been a fascinating problem. It had been for long a debate between Buddhists and Advaitins, and among Buddhists themselves (Yogacara with the Mind-Only theory and Madhyamika with the Shunyata or Emptiness theory).

Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch of Ch’an (Chinese Zen) but sometimes is regarded as the real father of this tradition, in his famous Platform Sutra said that “seeing one’s own original nature is enlightenment.” His view was condemned by other Buddhists as heretic because orthodox Buddhism believed in (absolute) No-Self. His Platform Sutra was burned after his death.

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