Chih-i’s intention of differentiating the teaching of the Buddha is for the sake of presenting it as a whole. This is to say that although there are various types of the teaching, all of them are unified under the One Buddha-vehicle that is expressed in the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra functions to dissolve the relative teachings into the ultimate teaching. Chih-i affirms that all of the relative teachings of the Three Vehicles (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva) contain the real intention of the Buddha in leading sentient beings to attain Buddhahood. This intention of the Buddha is the ultimate teaching of the One Buddha-vehicle. By this definition, all types of the teaching of the Buddha are subtle. The distinction between the relative and the ultimate is only made to coincide with living beings separated from conceiving the subtlety of the Buddha’s teaching. Chih-i asserts that the only purpose for the Buddha to employ the coarse device as the relative teaching is for the ultimate teaching. In this sense, all types of the teaching of the Buddha in the five periods that are analogized with the five flavors of dairy products (milk, cream, curdled milk, butter, and ghee) contain subtlety. In terms of revealing the Ultimate Truth, the teaching of the five flavors is not dissimilar to each other. Once the ultimate teaching (i.e., Lotus Sūtra) is presented, there is no more coarseness or relativity, but subtlety. (Vol. 2, Page 44-45)