You have to recognize the differences between Ch'an and outer path teachings, and between Ch'an and Hinayana teachings. All outer path teachings have one thing in common: the idea of a self. It may be a universal self or supreme self, but it is still a self. Hinayana asserts that there is no self, only complete and utter emptiness. Ch'an does not assert the self, nor does it assert the idea of no-self. As Hui-neng said in the Platform Sutra, "Bodhi is vexation, and vexation is bodhi."