 Discernments of the Dharmadhatu divides into three sections, each of which corresponds to a “discernment” or meditation on the content of the Avatamsaka Sutra. The first discernment reviews the equivalence between form (Skt. rupa) and emptiness. This is a well-known equivalence from the Heart Sutra and other literature from the Indian Mahayana tradition. Nothing in this discernment should be unfamiliar to students of the history of Indian Buddhism. The second discernment, by contrast, contains two innovations that are critical for understanding the Chinese appropriation of Buddhism—and thereby renders the text especially significant from a philosophical perspective. 