Real nature is the nature of emptiness. It is the original nature of all dharmas. Hence it is also called Dharma nature. All dharmas, both external and internal, arise because of causes and conditions. In and of themselves, dharmas have no intrinsic reality. They have no self-nature. Self-nature is that which is innate in every sentient being. It is by reason of having self-nature that sentient beings can reach Buddhahood. For this reason, it is also called Buddha-nature.

Yung-chia develops his discourse in a loose style. He hops from topic to topic: he will speak of the proper behavior for a practitioner one moment, discuss Dharma nature and Tathagatagarbha the next moment, and then describe the Tao, emphasizing that it does not allude to an actual way or direction, but rather, to methods of practice.

In the Platform Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng says that if his disciples truly understand the thiry-six opposites, they can spread the Dharma without difficulties. In the Song of Enlightenment, we find many polarities: sin and blessing, poverty and wealth, direct experience and Buddhist doctrine, birth and death, form and formlessness, truth and falsity, emptiness and existence, rejecting and grasping, silence and speech, cause and effect, right and wrong, trunk and branches, the finger and the moon. The song ends with "no human beings" and "no Buddhas."

In the course of the text, Yung-chia stresses the importance of maintaining an attitude of neither grasping nor rejecting. He also stresses that, although it is important that one know and understand the teachings of the sutras, one should not rely solely on the written word. A practitioner must devote himself to practice.