By introducing the bodhisattva vehicle with its six perfections, expounding the teaching of the emptiness of all dharmas, and providing the assurance that all beings have the buddha-nature the Mahāyāna sūtras advanced beyond the limited aspirations and world view of the Hinayāna teachings. According to Nichiren and his Tiantai predecessors, however, the Mahāyāna sūtras other than the Lotus Sūtra are only a provisional form of Mahāyāna with two important shortcomings.

The Flower Garland Sūtra, Large Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra, and the Mahāvairocana Sūtra conceal not only the possibility of attaining buddhahood by adherents of the two vehicles but also Śākyamuni Buddha’s attainment of buddhahood in the remotest past. These sūtras have two faults. First, they still preserve the differences between the three vehicles; therefore, their teachings are merely expedient. They do not reveal the teaching of the three thousand worlds in one thought moment expounded in the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra. Second they hold that Śākyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood during his life in this world. (Murano 2000, p. 32 adapted)