Though the One Vehicle is expressed throughout the first half of the Lotus Sutra, the core passage, according to Nichiren Shohnin, is in the very first prose passage of the second chapter, “Tactfulness.” In that passage, the Buddha first reveals to his wisest disciple, Shariputra, that the teaching of the Buddha is beyond the ability of even his most advanced disciples to understand. He tells Shariputra that the true nature of reality can only be understood by the buddhas, and that this true nature of reality consists of Ten Factors (or “suchnesses”). … These Ten Factors are integral parts of the law of cause and effect, and they are found in the lives of all beings. They are present in the lives of ordinary beings, and they are present in the lives of Buddhas. It is due to the common ground of the Ten Factors that ordinary people are capable of becoming buddhas, and buddhas are capable of appearing as ordinary people.