西元四至五世紀（372-434）的竺道生主張極惡之人亦有佛性，此說觸怒中國佛教界傳統派的衛道人士，故被擯出僧團。道生的貢獻在於尋求絕對佛性的普遍基礎，與中國儒家所主張的「人人皆可為堯舜」具有相同的論證力。這對印度佛學未來能在中國文化中紮下根基，具有不可磨滅的貢獻與創舉！頓悟之說界定在菩薩十地，此說對於後世的禪宗有所影響。

　　　　　Zhu Dao-Sheng (372-434) claimed that even the most evil man has some Buddh-nature, which irritated the traditional moralists of the Chinese Buddhist world, and got driven out of the monkery. His contribution lays in his search for the common ground of the ultimate Buddh-nature, which is argumentatively as powerful as the idea "everyone can be the ancient saintly kings" maintained by Chinese Confucians. His doctrine would play a significant role in the root-taking of Indian Buddhism in Chinese culture. The doctrine of epiphany is defined in terms of the Bodhisattvas Ten Stages, which would have influence on the later school of Zen.