The Correct Understanding of the Two Truths

Q: What are the names of the Two Truths?

A: First, the mundane truth; and second, the real truth.

Q: What is the meaning of the mundane and real truths?

A: If one discusses the meaning succinctly, [one can say] merely that the crux of the nature of reality is the real truth, and the Twelvefold Conditioned Co-arising of ignorance is the mundane truth. If [the meaning is] discussed extensively, there are seven categories of the Two Truths. Each of these categories of Two Truths also has three categories, so all together there are twenty-one [interpretations of] the Two Truths. If one utilizes the first category of the Two Truths, one can destroy all mistaken sayings and exhaust all attachments, as the fire at the end of an era burns up [everything] and does not leave even a mustard seed behind. How much more so [are the effective results of] expanding on the later interpretations of the Two Truths, which go beyond the limits of language and are not within the capacity of human feelings to fathom!

Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 86-87