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What is the threefold truth taught by Tiantai and Tendai Buddhism?

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Mahayana Guanyin and attendant bodhisattvas, detail of a painted cave mural, Kansu province, China, early 8th century.

In Tiantai and Tendai Buddhism, the threefold truth is a central doctrine that describes the nature of reality as a harmonious unity. Drawing from Nagarjuna’s commentary on the Mahaprajnaparamita, the principle consists of the following three aspects:

Voidness: All things are empty and lack substantial, independent reality.
Temporary existence: All things possess a temporary, phenomenal existence.
The Mean (or Middle): This state synthesizes the previous two, representing the realization that things are both void and temporarily existent at once.

These three truths are considered mutually inclusive and inseparable. The "mean" is equivalent to absolute suchness, meaning that the world of temporary appearances is identical to absolute reality. This doctrine emphasizes that all phenomena are immanent in a single moment of thought, leading to the school's focus on concentration and insight to realize this ultimate unity.1