In order to prove his classification of the sequence of the Buddha’s teaching, Chih-i quotes the passages from the “Chapter On Expedient Means” in the Lotus Sūtra, such as “When I first sat at the bodhimaṇḍa, whether observing or practicing, throughout three weeks, contemplating on such a thing: ‘The knowledge and wisdom I have gained is the uttermost subtle thing. Living beings with their dull faculties … . How can they be saved? I had rather not teach the dharma but enter rapidly into nirvāṇa. When I think back on the Buddhas of the past, on the power of the expedient means put into practice by them, I know that in the Path I have now gained, I too must teach the Three Vehicles.” Chih-i explains that the phrase “when I first sat at the bodhimaṇḍa” expresses the teaching that is characterized by Sudden. In Chih-i’s theory, at the beginning of the teaching career upon the Buddha’s enlightenment under the bodhi tree, the Buddha teaches the Greater Vehicle to the bodhisattvas, and this teaching belongs to the Sudden teaching. Moreover, the assertion of the Buddha that he must teach the Three Vehicles proves that after the initial teaching of the Sudden, the Buddha’s teaching of the Three Vehicles can be characterized as the Gradual teaching. (Vol. 2, Page 456)