 The fifth and final teaching in Fazang’s panjiao—the pinnacle of Buddhist teaching, in his view—is what he calls the Round Teaching. Here Fazang refers to his own teaching, which he positions as developing the teachings of his master, Zhiyan, and which he locates in fetal form among the writings of Dushun and amidst the many verses of the Avatamsaka Sutra. While the first teaching in Fazang’s panjiao focuses on the fabricated nature of reality, and while the three intermediate teachings focus on the consummate nature of reality, Fazang claims that only the Round Teaching accommodates all three natures of reality. For, according to the Round Teaching, everything is empty, and so the teaching correctly understands the “fabricated” nature of what seems to be not-empty; but the consummate nature of ultimate reality is ineffable, and so the teaching manages to avoid the limitations of the Elementary and Final Teachings of Mahayana. Since, in Fazang’s view, only the Round Teaching understands the other-dependent nature of ultimate reality—a nature ignored by other Buddhist traditions—he concludes that the Round Teaching, as expressed by his metaphysics, is superior to all other Buddhist teachings. 