The Lotus Sutra gives priority to the religious practice of receiving and keeping the sutra as the bodhisattva way, rather than to setting forth a central philosophy. Consequently, … the sutra has taken on the character of the transmitters who recorded it. These transmitters, giving concrete expression to the practice, amid difficulties, of receiving and keeping the sutra as the three rules of preaching (the robe, the throne, and the dwelling) described in “A Teacher of the Law,” eulogized the firm and believing mind of one who receives and keeps the Lotus Sutra. The trend toward a Lotus cult, a cult that was to gain fervent adherence in China and Japan, can be traced back to characteristics in the sutra itself.