As we have seen in the previous chapters, Zhiyi, the great master of the Tendai, determined that only the Lotus Sutra represented the true teaching of the Buddha, the only one that would allow all beings, whoever they might be, to attain Buddhahood, for it contains the doctrine of One Thought Three Thousand, the goal of Buddhism.

Zhiyi developed such remarkable and original doctrines that he was later revered as the founder of the Tendai School, but in fact it was his disciple Zhangan Guanding (561-632) who actually organised and systematically compiled them.

For example, in the Mysterious Meaning of the Lotus, Zhiyi explained the meaning of each ideogram in the title of the Lotus Sutra (Myōhōrengekyō in Japanese). Summarizing the two doctrines and six parables of the contemplation of the Lotus Sutra presented by Zhiyi in the chapter "Explanation of the Lotus Flower" (Renge), Guanding wrote in essence:

"Myō (wonderful) refers to that which is inconceivable. Hō (Dharma) is the provisional and true Dharma of the ten Worlds and the ten Thus's (where the ten Thus's of the nine worlds represent the provisional, while the ten Thus's of the Buddha's world represent the true). Renge (the Lotus flower) serves as a metaphor for the Provisional and True Dharma. Since the Wonderful Dharma (Myōhō) is difficult to understand, it is explained through the metaphor of the Lotus flower. With regard to this metaphor of the Lotus flower, it has three meanings in each of the two doctrines (doors), original and ephemeral."

In the first part of the Lotus Sutra (ephemeral doctrine - (Shakumon-迹門), while up to that point Shakyamuni Buddha had taught the provisional sutras (teachings for the three vehicles of auditors, conditionally awakened ones and bodhisattvas, teachings representing means) according to the predispositions of his disciples, when he reached the chapter on Means in the Lotus Sutra, he opened the provisional to reveal the true (teaching of the Buddha's unique vehicle, his true teaching). In so doing, he enabled all beings of the three vehicles to obtain equally the fruit of the Buddhahood of the One Vehicle.

In the second half of the Lotus Sutra (Original Doctrine - Honmon-本門), the Indian-born Shakyamuni Buddha, who until then was considered to have practised asceticism, attained enlightenment for the first time in this life and developed various teachings, reveals his remote original nature of having actually practised asceticism in the very distant past and having then obtained the fruit of Buddhahood without beginning or end. As such, he appeared in the present as an ephemeral Buddha for the salvation of beings. But when he reached the chapter Lifetime of the Thus-Being, which is part of the original doctrine (second half of the sutra), he abandoned his aspect as an impermanent (temporary) Buddha and revealed his true aspect as a permanently present Buddha.

All the sutras, other than the Lotus Sutra, deal only with the causality of the ten selves within the nine worlds of dharmas. The Lotus Sutra teaches the perfect presence of the ten worlds, around the causality of the ten-thus within the Buddha world. The lotus flower symbolises this causality of the ten-ainsi within the Buddha world. This Buddha-world is subdivided into ephemeral doctrine and original doctrine, each of which has three metaphors. Thus we get six kinds of lotus flower, according to the following scheme.

The Buddha's world is endowed with the ten worlds. Therefore, the Buddha himself possesses the ten states of life of the ten worlds. Ordinary beings too, within the substantive lotus flower, possess ten worlds. Ordinary beings and the Buddha are therefore equal in being endowed with the ten worlds.

To consider the Buddha as only pure is an illusion from the teachings of the earlier sutras and the ephemeral doctrine. The Buddha also possesses the illusions and sufferings that are the prerogative of the world of hell up to the world of the bodhisattvas. It is the same for us. Only the Buddha has awakened to all this, thanks to his Buddhahood and wisdom. At the same time, he guides beings using the wisdom of the nine worlds with which he is endowed, thanks to the wisdom of the Buddha world.

Ordinary beings, on the other hand, are prisoners of their daily state of life: in hell, they only feel hell. In the animal world, they feel only the suffering of animals. In the world of men, they are only men. They don't even know the existence of the Buddha world or the world of the bodhisattvas.

Yet their nature is identical. Moreover, the Buddha world has the nine worlds. In other words, he uses the nine worlds identical to those of ordinary beings to present a provisional teaching. In the previous diagram, this is represented by "Presentation". On the same line you have "The flower for the lotus". In this case, the flower stands for cause, nine worlds, illusions or provisional teachings. The cause represents the nine worlds of illusion and expresses the condition of the practice. From the point of view of beings, it is the illusion. However, since the Buddha is also endowed with the nine worlds, he uses them to develop the provisional teachings that he presents to beings. This is called "The Flower for the Lotus".

The illustration opposite "Presentation" represents the unopened flower. It symbolises the provisional, the moment when the true has not yet appeared. This situation is represented by the expression "Presenting the provisional to (introduce) the true". In other words, the Buddha presents the provisional of the nine worlds in order to reveal the Buddha world. In other words, he proceeds by responding to and coming down to the level of beings immersed in the illusion of the nine worlds. For example, to those who cling to the notion of 'existence': the Buddha preaches the doctrine of 'conditionality'. Or, to those who cling to 'conditionality', he teaches the doctrine of 'emptiness'. Presenting a provisional teaching to the beings of each of the ten worlds is called "Presenting the provisional to (introduce) the true". This is the ephemeral doctrine.

"The ephemeral flows from the original" is the teaching of the chapter "Duration of Life". The revered Shakya was born in India. At the age of nineteen, he left secular life and at thirty, he attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree in Gaya. This process is called the attainment of the path at thirty (years). Thus, from his birth until the age of thirty, he was in delusion. On the other hand, having first opened up enlightenment and thus become Buddha at the age of thirty, and having first expressed true enlightenment, it is called "first true enlightenment". It was from the point of view of this first true awakening that he taught the Flowery Ornament Sutras, Agama, the Expanded Teachings, and those of Wisdom and the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sutra, constituting the ephemeral doctrine.

The beings who listened to the teachings developed by this Buddha at the first true awakening, thought that he was guiding them by revealing the true content of his awakening.

However, reaching the original doctrine, the Buddha revealed that in fact, he obtained awakening in a past, so distant that it is beyond imagination. This past is called "the five hundred dust grains of eons at the fundamental source of the infinite past". These five hundred grains of eon dust at the fundamental source of the infinite past are part of the original doctrine. Therefore, the awakening obtained at that time is the awakening to the original and is called "original awakening". Shakyamuni appeared in India based on the origin of the five hundred grains of eon dust at the fundamental source of the infinite past. That is why it says "The ephemeral flows from the original". Shakyamuni presented the aspect of the ephemeral flowing from the original to the fundamental source of the infinite past.

Then, by teaching the chapter "Duration of Life" and revealing the original doctrine, "the opening of the ephemeral and the appearance of the original" is possible. In other words, "the opening of the ephemeral and the appearance of the original", expresses the fact that, although until that moment everyone believed that Shakyamuni was the Buddha with the first true awakening, in fact, he was not. Furthermore, "Abandon the ephemeral and establish the original" is the reason why we consider the Buddha body of the original doctrine as the true Buddha body. This is what our faith and practice is based on. Presenting the provisional in order to (introduce) the true, discarding the provisional in order to reveal the true, abandoning the provisional in order to establish the true, are synonymous with the ephemeral doctrine.

The very meaning of the Lotus Sutra lies primarily in the "debate between the provisional and the true" (gon-jitsu ron), according to which "by opening the provisional door of the Means, he showed the marvellous true principle and, through the small actions of many beings, he made them take refuge in the vast One Vehicle. All then received the announcement of their future name of Buddha, whether they belonged to the higher, middle or lower roots". Then, according to the "theory of the original" (Hon ron), he "abandoned the skillful means and revealed the subtlety of his true original nature".

Zhiyi was not the first to subdivide the Lotus Sutra into two parts. He actually inherited the dichotomous theory from Fa-yün (jp. Hō-un - 法雲) (467 - 529), a scholar-monk famous for his lectures on the Lotus Sutra and height of the notes on the meaning of the Lotus (cn. Fahua Yiji - jp. Hokke Giki - 法華義記). Zhiyi, however, did not use Fa-yün's denomination of the two parts of the Lotus Sutra into "Gate of Cause" (In-mon - 因門) and "Gate of Effect" (ka-mon - 果門) and uses the denominations Ephemeral Gate and Original Gate. Indeed, Fa Yün regarded the Lotus Sutra as a single sutra and lectured on 'cause and effect' as taught in that sutra. In contrast, Zhiyi taught the Lotus Sutra from the perspective of two sutras and that this sutra teaches "the provisional and the true" as well as "the original".

The Buddha, donating his provisional wisdom, based on his true wisdom, saved the three vehicles and, descending from his original body to reincarnate in a physical body, taught beings. This multi-layered doctrine of Zhiyi could not be fully explained by the simple designation "Gate of Cause and Gate of Effect", as Fa Yün did.

In this life, the revered Shakya, conforming to the predispositions of beings, used the four methods of teaching, taught the four contents of the Dharma, following a chronological order of five periods. His aim was to make the abilities of all beings equally perfect so that they could attain Buddhahood. In other words, the Lotus Sutra opened the teaching of the Three Vehicles and revealed the teaching of the Buddha's One Vehicle. The Buddha gave all disciples of the upper, middle and lower roots the title of Buddha (what Zhiyi calls "fusion of nature and roots").

Furthermore, in the chapter of the transient city appearing in the ephemeral doctrine of the Lotus Sutra, it is revealed that the Buddha's teaching is not limited to this life, but that he has been teaching since the past of the three thousand grains of aeon dust (what Zhiyi calls "Continuous aspect of the teaching"). Furthermore, in the Lifetime chapter, he reveals that the Buddha and all beings have been in a relationship of master and disciple since before the past of the three thousand eon dust grains, the past of the five hundred eon dust grains, thus revealing his original nature which is difficult to understand (what Zhiyi calls the "Distant-Proximate Aspect of Master and Disciples").

In order to better understand what we are talking about, it is necessary here to clarify what Zhiyi's three doctrines, called the "Three Kinds of Aspects of Teaching" (jp. Sanshu no kyōsō - 三種の教相) are. This is the hierarchical value judgment between the Lotus Sutra and the other sutras, established by Zhiyi, in his Mysterious Meaning of the Lotus.

First we have "the aspect of merging or not merging with nature and roots" (jp. Konjō no yū fuyū no sō - 根性の融不融の相): this first aspect determines the difference between the ephemeral doctrine of the Lotus Sutra and the earlier sutras, according to whether a being's nature and roots merge or not with the Buddha.

The earlier sutras are divided into three vehicles (hearers, Buddha per se, and bodhisattvas), due to the immaturity of the roots and nature of beings. As a result, they do not merge with the life of the Buddha. They are therefore in "non-fusion". In contrast, in the chapter of the Means of the Lotus Sutra, the roots and nature of beings having reached maturity, this sutra allows them to be opened and integrated into the unique vehicle of the Buddha. There is thus "fusion". This first doctrinal aspect thus determines the superiority of the ephemeral doctrine of the Lotus Sutra over the other sutras.

Next we have the 'Continuous or non-continuous aspect of the teaching' (jp. Kedō no shijū fushijū no sō - 化導の始終不始終の相). This aspect establishes the superiority in value between the ephemeral doctrine of the Lotus Sutra and the earlier sutras in that they either clarify or do not clarify the continuity from beginning to end of the teachings bringing to beings the benefits of sowing, maturing, and harvesting.

The earlier sutras do not teach the benefits of sowing, maturing and harvesting. They are therefore "non-continuous". In contrast, the Lotus Sutra is "continuous" in that it reveals these three benefits. The benefit of sowing is revealed through the chapter of the Transient City, in which it teaches the causal relationship with the Buddha Mahâbhijñâ-jñānâbhibhū (jp. Daitsū chishō butsu - 大通智勝仏) in a past of three thousand grains of eon dust (in that distant past, the bodhisattva Shakya, then the 16th son of that Buddha, tied the bond with the Wonderful Dharma by listening to the preaching of the Lotus Sutra). The benefit of maturation is revealed by the time elapsed between this past three thousand grains of dust and the forty-two years of preaching by Shakyamuni Buddha. Finally, the benefit of harvest is revealed in the ephemeral doctrine of the Lotus Sutra. This second doctrinal aspect, too, demonstrates the superiority of the ephemeral doctrine of the Lotus Sutra over the earlier sutras.

Finally, we have the "Far-near and not far-near Aspect of the master and disciples" (jp. Shitei no ongon fuongon no sō - 師弟の遠近不遠近の相): this third doctrinal aspect judges the superiority in value between the original doctrine of the Lotus Sutra, the ephemeral doctrine, and the earlier sutras, by means of the revelation or non-revelation of the relationship between the Buddha (the master) and the beings (the disciples) since the infinite past.

Shakyamuni Buddha, preaching the earlier sutras and the ephemeral doctrine of the Lotus Sutra, has not yet revealed his attainment of enlightenment in the infinite past. He is still only the "Buddha who has achieved enlightenment for the first time in this life". Since they do not reveal the relationship between the Buddha's original nature and beings, the earlier sutras, like the ephemeral doctrine, are "non-distant-proximate". In contrast, in the Lifetime chapter of the Lotus Sutra, as Shakyamuni Buddha reveals his original nature in the infinite past, his relationship since that time with his disciples is revealed. It is therefore "distant-close". This third doctrinal aspect determines the superiority of the original doctrine of the Lotus Sutra over the ephemeral doctrine and the previous sutras, for it represents the true and ultimate teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Here we can see the greatness of Zhiyi's theoretical judgement, which attempted to systematise not only the teachings of the Buddha's lifetime, but also those of all the Buddhas of the three phases in a unified way.

In conclusion, Zhiyi, basing himself on the true aspect of things revealed by the ten Thus's of the Means chapter of the ephemeral doctrine of the Lotus Sutra, establishes the Theory of One Thought Three Thousand, the ultimate teaching of the Buddha. This theory establishes that the auditors and the Awakened by the conditions, that is, the so-called two vehicles, could become Buddha, something that was absolutely impossible for them in the previous Sutras, implying that all other beings, men and women, could also become Buddha.

However, until the Buddha revealed his true eternal nature, which he did in the Lifetime chapter of the original doctrine, One Thought Three Thousand, as well as the awakening of the two vehicles, was still only a theory without reality. At that stage, the two vehicles remained attached to Shakyamuni Buddha as the Buddha who had attained true enlightenment for the first time in this life and thus remained unable to know the true cause and effect of the Buddha's long-standing existence, and thus it was only Buddhahood without reality.

In contrast, in the Lifetime chapter of the original doctrine, Shakyamuni Buddha revealed his original nature for the first time in the distant past. He revealed it in the form of the three united wonders (san-myō gō-ron - 三妙合論). Recall that, until this chapter, all disciples thought that Shakyamuni became Buddha for the first time in this life, under the Bodhi tree after practising austerities. However, in the 16th chapter, he refutes this notion and reveals that he has always been Buddha from the distant past (kuon jitsujō - 久遠実成), saying, "originally I practiced bodhisattva austerities and the longevity I achieved, [did not even come to an end]" (Ga hon gyō bosatsu dō. Sho jō jumyō.[Kon yū mijin] - 我本行菩薩道。 所成壽命。[今猶未盡。]). Zhiyi sees this as the original cause of the Buddha's awakening in the infinite past.

So much for the cause; then, regarding the effect, the 16th chapter states a little before the sentence quoted above, "since I realized enlightenment, a very long time has passed" (ga jōbutsu irai. Jindai kuon - 我成佛已來。甚大久遠。).  The great master of the Tendai sees in this phrase the wonder of the original effect.

As for where the Buddha dwells, the 16th chapter states, "I have always been in this world of endurance preaching and converting" (Ga jō zai shi. Shaba sekai. Sep'pō kyōke - 我常在此。娑婆世界。説法教化。). Zhiyi sees it not as the world of endurance of the present, but as the original world of endurance.

In this way, in the original doctrine, the theory of the three united wonders of the Buddha's cause, effect and territory having been revealed and, as a result, the Buddha's abiding presence in the Three Phases, A Thought Three Thousand in its reality was revealed.