即

To draw up to, or near; approach; forthwith; to be; i.e. alias; if, even if; 就是. It is intp. as 和融 united together; 不二not two, i.e. identical; 不離 not separate, inseparable. It resembles implication, e.g. the afflictions or passions imply, or are, (sa) bodhi; births-and-deaths imply, or are, nirvana; the indication being that the one is contained in or leads to the other. Tiantai has three definitions:

(1) The union, or unity, of two things, e.g. 煩惱 and 菩提, i.e. the passions and enlightenment, the former being taken as the 相 form, the latter 性 spirit, which two are inseparable; in other words, apart from the subjugation of the passions there is no enlightenment.

(2) Back and front are inseparables; also

(3) substance and quality, e.g. water and wave.