As with other Mahayana schools, Hua-yan stated that all things are actually empty. That means they have no inherent self-nature, and are indeed illusory.
To Hua-yan, “the mind is like an artist, able to paint the worlds..” It says that the world depends on the mind for its existence.
Because everything in the world is a product of the mind, we can say that Hua-yan thinking is a form of “idealism” (everything based on our thoughts).