In the śrāvaka practice, there are ranks of wise men and sages, each of which is divided into seven levels. Those still within the seven levels of wise men are unenlightened.

Seven wise men (those who have knowledge)

• Three Wisdoms
  1. five ways to eliminate delusions
  2. to observe the four non-Buddhist misconceptions separately
  3. to observe the four non-Buddhist misconceptions all together
• Four Virtuous Roots
  1. to burn up evil passions
  2. to see clearly the law of cause and effect
  3. to realize the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths
  4. to be the wisest

Those who stay in the seven levels of Wise Men are wiser than the ordinary men of the Six Realms. Though they potentially have delusions and evil passions within themselves, they are wise men because they reject the delusions of life and death and suppress their evil passions. They are like the wise men Hsü-yu and Ch’ao-fu in ancient China mentioned in a non-Buddhist Chinese scripture. It is said that King Yao tried to appoint Hsü-yu to be the chief of the nine states, but thinking that his ears were defiled by hearing such a plan, Hsü-yu washed them in a river. Ch’ao-fu, who happened to hear the story just as he had brought his cows to drink from the river, stopped the cows from drinking the water.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 68-69