---
title: "Do different philosophies, when they speak of “ultimate reality,” really mean the same thing?"
type: "question"
group: "Comparison & Structure Tests"
thought: "Zai-Sheng Thought"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://tongzai.space/en/questions/one-ultimate-reality-or-many/"
---
# Do different philosophies, when they speak of “ultimate reality,” really mean the same thing?

## Direct answer

We cannot conclude that they are saying the same thing merely because they all use words such as “emptiness, Dao, oneness, existence, consciousness, absolute, God, the fundamental,” and so on. A real comparison must look at structure: is that “ultimate” a substance or a happening? Does it need a subject to know it? How do the world and difference arise? Can the highest concept itself be withdrawn? Does practice still occupy an irreplaceable position in the final structure?

## Further explanation

The key point of Zai-Sheng Thought itself is that “being (Zai)” and “becoming (Sheng)” are not two ultimate substances; the way of being is becoming, and even “Sheng” cannot finally be grasped as a fixed thing. Therefore, in comparison, structures must be aligned item by item, rather than grouped by superficial verbal similarity.

## Core concepts

- 1:1 structural comparison
- cognitive-mediation deletion
- being is becoming

## Primary sources

Sheng, Chapter 1 and Chapter 9; Zai, overview

## Conclusions that must not be drawn

This page must not claim that all traditions are essentially the same, nor may it pre-set others as lower in order to highlight Zai-Sheng Thought.

## Citation

Wenzi｜Zai / Sheng｜chapter/section｜Tongzai Space｜canonical URL