Q: Who knows these Ten Suchlikes?

A: “Only a Buddha and a Buddha can exhaust their reality,” but an ordinary man of the Perfect Teaching can attain a partial knowledge. This is the fundamental principle of the Lotus Sutra, the core of all teachings, the key to interpreting the meaning, the refuge of all sentient beings, the basis of the aspiration for enlightenment, the functional essence of conventional devices, the foundation of delusion and awakening, the reality basis for the resultant virtuous qualities [of Buddhahood], the ultimate purpose of the Buddha’s life, and the consummation of the Five Periods.

Q: Why are these ten meanings clarified?

A: If these ten meanings are understood, this explains all the differences [in the Buddha’s teachings] and, unexpectedly, there is no contradiction.