In view of the three teachings (Tripitaka, Common, and Separate), compared with the Perfect Teaching that represents the ultimate teaching, they are considered to be the relative teachings leading to the final teaching of the Perfect. Thus, they are coarse. However, the relative teachings are not only determined as relative, they can have different meanings depending on whether or not they are integrated with the ultimate teaching the Lotus Sūtra represents. If they are not converged into the Lotus teaching, they are relative. At the moment when they are looked at in the context of opening the Relative and revealing the Ultimate, they become ultimate. This is because, in the Lotus Sūtra, all teachings are said to contain the real intention of the Buddha for all beings to attain Buddhahood. Therefore, there is no more difference between the relative and the ultimate teachings, in a sense that the relative teachings are one with the ultimate teaching. In actuality, the relative teachings are not only ultimate when they are converged, but the relative teachings themselves are also considered to be ultimate, from the perspective that they are the indispensable steps in leading living beings to reach the final goal of the ultimate teaching. For example, in his discussion of the importance of the relative position, Chih-i gives an analogy comparing the positions of the three teachings with the positions of the Perfect Teaching by asserting:

“The relative [positions] in the past contain the ultimate [positions]. This is like the [lotus] flower that contains the seedpod. To open the Relative and to reveal the Ultimate resembles the blooming of the flower, and the seedpod is manifested, Apart from this flower, there is no other seedpod that can be displayed. Likewise, apart from the coarse [positions], there are no other subtle [positions] that can be revealed. Why does it need to destroy the coarse [positions] in order to attain the subtle positions? Only by opening the relative positions, the subtle positions can be at once manifested.”