One traditional method of analyzing the structure of the Lotus Sutra is that employed by the T’ien-t’ai (Jpn., Tendai) school, which viewed the Lotus Sutra as being a unified whole and analyzed it in terms of the nature of its ideas. The Lotus Sutra was divided into two parts, called the “secondary gate” (Jpn., shakumon) and the “primary gate” (Jpn., honmon). Each part was further classified in three divisions:
“introduction” (Jpn., jobun), “correct tenets” (Jpn., shöshübun), and “propagation” (Jpn., rutsūbun). The two sections of the “correct tenets” were the core of the sutra, called by commentators the “opening the three and revealing the one” (Jpn., kaisan ken’ichi) in the “Tactfulness” chapter, and the “opening the near and revealing the distant” (Jpn., kaigon kennon) in the “Revelation of the [Eternal] Life of the Tathāgata.” These are the teachings of the revelation of the One Buddha Vehicle and of the Eternal Buddha. It is worthy of note that the “propagation” sections are a major portion of the text.