Some of the pre-Lotus sūtras expound that bodhisattvas can become Buddhas but not śrāvakas, which pleases the bodhisattvas, disappoints the śrāvakas, and causes others below, such as men and gods, to be in despair. Other sūtras preach that the Two Vehicles try to escape from the sufferings of the Six Realms by eliminating delusions in view and thought, while bodhisattvas dare not eliminate evil passions in order to be reborn in the Six Realms and save ordinary people. Some sūtras say that bodhisattvas gain enlightenment immediately and become Buddhas while others say that it takes a long time for them to do so. Still others preach that when bodhisattvas and śrāvakas hear the teaching that ordinary people can reach Buddhahood, they think that the teaching is not applicable to themselves. Other people’s inability to become a Buddha is your inability to become a Buddha; for others to become a Buddha means for you to become a Buddha. The elimination of delusions in view and thought by sages means our elimination of delusions in view and thought. Forty-two years have passed without knowing this doctrine of the mutual possession of the Ten Realms in the pre-Lotus sūtras.

However, when the doctrine of the mutual possession of the Ten Realms is expounded, the realm of bodhisattvas is added to the realm of śrāvakas. Śrāvakas are therefore given the merits acquired through numerous difficult practices which every bodhisattva had striven to achieve without practicing the Six Pāramitā or practicing for long periods. Then, unexpectedly, śrāvakas are called bodhisattvas and even a greedy person or a prison guard who tortures people are so called, too. Likewise, we can say that the Buddha with the rank of Perfect Enlightenment is a bodhisattva with the rank of Equivalent Enlightenment as he had once been while practicing the bodhisattva way. “The Simile of Herbs” chapter in the Lotus Sūtra says of śrāvakas, “What you are now practicing is the Way of Bodhisattvas.” The Sūtra of Infinite Meaning states, “Though you have yet to practice the Six Pāramitā, the merit of practicing the Six Pāramitā is naturally provided and placed in front of you.” This proves that we ordinary people are bodhisattvas who have completely accomplished the Six Pāramitā even though we have not practiced them. Proof that we ordinary people are called those who keep the precepts though we do not observe them is provided in the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” chapter in the Lotus Sūtra, which says, “He will be a man of valor, a man of endeavor. He should be considered to have already observed the precepts and practiced the rules of frugal living.”

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 87-88