The Buddha then explained his identity with the following ten titles: “I am the Tathāgata, the Worshipful, the All Wise, the Perfectly Enlightened in Conduct, the Well Departed, the Understander of the World, the Peerless Leader, the Controller, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-honored One.” These are called the ten epithets of the Buddha, each of which represents an aspect of the Buddha’s virtue and power.

Tathāgata (nyorai) means “one who has come from the world of truth”; the Worshipful (ōgu), “one who deserves offerings in the human and the celestial worlds”; the All Wise (shōhenchi), “one who has the right and perfect wisdom”; the Perfectly Enlightened in Conduct (myōgyō-soku), “one who completely combines knowledge with practice”; the Well Departed (zenzei), “one who is free from everything”; the Understander of the World (sekenge), “one who can understand people in all circumstances”; the Peerless Leader (mujōji), “one who is unsurpassed”; the Controller (jōgo-jōbu), “one who is infallible in controlling men’s minds”; the Teacher of Gods and Men (tennin-shi), “one who leads all lives of creatures in the human and the celestial worlds”; and the Buddha, the World-honored One (butsu-seson), “the enlightened one who is most honored by the people of the world.” One who is possessed of these ten virtues and powers is called Buddha.

Because of such perfect virtues and powers, those who have not yet reached the mental state of being uninfluenced by changes in their circumstances, the Buddha causes to reach that state of mind; those who have not yet understood why their illusions occur and how they can be removed, he causes to understand; those who have not yet been comforted after their illusions are extinguished, he causes to be comforted; those who have not yet obtained true enlightenment, he causes to obtain it.

The Buddha also knows the present, the past, and the world to come as they really arc. He is the one who knows everything perfectly (issaichisha, the All Knowing), the one who discerns the real state of all things (issai-kcnsha, the All Seeing), the one who knows the true Way (chidōsha, the Knower of the Way), the one who makes all living beings understand the Way and leads them to it (kaidō-sha, the Opener of the Way) , and the one who preaches the Way to them (setsudō-sha, the Preacher of the Way).