Re-evaluating various things lately, this was a job for Philosophy Path (哲学の道) along the eastern mountains of #Kyoto. Writers have asserted that Japan doesn't do #philosophy, mais non. To be sure, Mahayana #Buddhist#ontology eludes our grasp.
Thus, I was #walking along the #path and not #philosophizing per se, but just absorbed in the scenes like these captioned #photos, and that was quite refreshing.
I'd say that bodhicitta (菩提心), consciousness-only, and such metaphysical concepts are indeed Mahāyāna #Buddhist#philosophy, but not #ontology. I alluded to our not being able to grasp it intellectually.
Frankly, I dislike the #Japanese emphasis on 'emptiness' or non-being (無), since we'll have all eternity minus our lifetime for that. I've always been in the kill-the-Zen-master camp. I rebel against their regimentation and the haughty disrepect all gurus have for what naturally wells up in the independent person, who might be #liberated to an extent -- without their knowledge (in both senses), who sees for oneself.
Having said that, if I had to define Mahāyāna ontology, it is in the Heart Sūtra (心経, Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya Sūtra) that #Buddhists here are always chanting, essentially that being and non-being are the same.