「明心見性」，是禪宗的核心觀念。舉凡有關禪宗的所有修證，無非為了達到明心見性。但由於禪宗重視頓悟，並不特別強調修證的階位，因而導致對明心見性呈現撲朔迷離的狀態。對於此問題，聖嚴法師是相當關注的，認為可藉由天台或唯識輔助做說明。然在聖嚴法師的諸論著中，對這方面的著墨仍然很少。所以，本論文試著從天台教觀的角度來切入，以便釐清「明心見性」所蘊藏的義涵，以及呈顯「明心見性」與止觀修證的關係。若就天台而言，「明心見性」是指見中道佛性。但於天台的藏、通、別、圓教等四教中，只有別教、圓教二教觸及了中道佛性的議題。因此，若要探討明心見性，宜從別教、圓教二教入手。進而配合別教的修證階位（十信、十住、十行、十迴向、十地、等覺、妙覺），以及圓教的六即位（理即、名字即、觀行即、相似即、分證即、究竟即佛）來論述明心見性，以便對明心見性有一整體性充分地了解。因此，本論文主要從兩方面來探討，首先，就聖嚴法師的禪法來釐清「明心見性」的觀念。其次，從天台的教觀來探討「明心見性」，以及論述「明心見性」與止觀修證的關係。

"Illuminating the mind and seeing the [buddha-] nature" (or self-nature) is the axiom of the Chan (Zen) School. All of Chan methods of practices supposedly lead one to the illumination of the mind and perception of one’s Buddha-nature, in other words, enlightenment. However, since Chan focuses on the attainment of sudden enlightenment, it does not emphasize a systematic and gradualistic path for practice. Thus, it can be argued that this lack of stages leads to a kind of confusion of what exactly this “illuminating the mind and seeing the [buddha-] nature” actually entails. Venerable Sheng Yen was concerned about this need for clarification and he thought it could be clarified by appropriating the teachings from Tiantai and Consciousness-only schools. However, among the master's various writings, little is explicitly said about his ideas regarding this issue. This paper attempts to approach the problem from the perspectives of Tiantai teaching and practices so as to clarify the implications of "illuminating the mind and seeing the [buddha-] nature " in the Chan School; it highlights the relationship between this Chan axiom with the practice of śamatha-vipaśyanā (止觀修證Calming and Contemplation practices) of Tiantai. Within the context of Tiantai discourses, "illuminating the mind and seeing the [buddha-] nature" means perceiving the middle way and buddha-nature. However, among the fourfold doctrine of Tiantai—Tripitaka Teachings, Shared Teachings, Distinct Teachings, and the Perfect Teachings (zanjiao 藏教、 tongjiao 通教、biejiao 別教、yuanjiao 圓教)—only the Distinct Teachings and Perfect Teachings touch upon the issues related to the middle way and buddha-nature. Therefore, it will be more fruitful to explore the implications of illuminating the mind and seeing the [buddha-] nature with the insight of the two teachings. Furthermore, we can explicate its significance by examining it along with the systematic progressive stages of practices specified in the Distinct Teachings, and the Six Identities (liuji wei 六即位) specified in the Perfect Teachings. This paper focuses on two areas of discussions. First, it will clarify the concept about "illuminating the mind and seeing the [buddha-] nature" primarily from Venerable Sheng Yen's understanding of Chan. Secondly, it explicates the implications of this concept through the lens of Tiantai doctrine and the practices of śamatha-vipaśyanā .