The Sudden Method – the Buddha teaches directly from his own awakening without any preliminaries. This is usually identified with the Flower Garland Sūtra. The Flower Garland Sūtra, however, is more of a presentation of the Buddha’s awakened state than a discursive teaching by the Buddha.
The Gradual Method – the Buddha begins at a very basic common-sense level and then gradually cultivates the understanding of his disciples. Beginning with the tripiṭaka teachings, the Buddha gradually introduced Mahāyāna teachings up to and including the Perfection of Wisdom sūtras. In this way, the disciples’ understanding, and aspiration matured until they could appreciate and benefit from the Buddha’s highest teaching in the Lotus Sūtra. The Lotus Sūtra itself is held to transcend any of the four methods because it is the goal of all of them.
The Secret Method – the Buddha teaches some people who can benefit by a specific teaching, but others are not aware of this because they are not ready and would misunderstand or even misuse the teaching. For instance, the Buddha might give advanced teachings on emptiness to bodhisattvas unbeknownst to the śrāvakas who might misinterpret it as nihilistic if they were to hear it.
The Indeterminate Method – the Buddha teaches one doctrine but the various people who hear it understand it in different ways. For instance, the four noble truths might be taught and understood by śrāvakas as referring to existing states of suffering or liberation that actual beings can reside. Bodhisattvas, however, would understand that the four noble truths lead beyond grasping at existing states and that no actual beings reside anywhere outside of the interdependent flow of causes and conditions.
