[I]n China the Buddha of the Lotus Sutra was traditionally understood as a representation of the eternal dharmakāya, his unimaginably long life span being seen as a metaphor for the “beginningless” truth realized by the Buddha. From this standpoint, the mythic images of Śākyamuni’s pores emitting light that pervades the universe and of his body splitting into innumerable forms that fill the ten directions are metaphorical representations of the pervasive and unchanging ultimate truth and its salvific function. When Śākyamuni of the Lotus Sutra is understood as the dharmakāya, and the dharmakāya or ultimate truth is identified as emptiness, the difference between the Lotus Sutra and the Prajn͂āpāramitā sutras appears to be one of style, not substance. As a representation of the dharmakāya, however, the concrete and dynamic image of the supramundane Śākyamuni may suggest a somewhat different conception of ultimate truth than that found in the Prajn͂āpāramitā sutras.
A Buddhist Kaleidoscope; Susan Mattis, Chih-i and the Subtle Dharma of the Lotus Sutra: Emptiness or Buddha-nature?, Page 245-246