The third analogy is concerned with gold that is contained in a yellow rock. The gold symbolizes the Ultimate Truth possessed by all living beings. Chih-i describes:

“It is like the gold that is contained inside the yellow rock. The foolish man does not know and thinks that it is only a piece of rock. He throws it in the manure pit and does not even take care of it. When the appraiser gets it, he melts the rock and gets the gold out, but only keeps its value. When the goldsmith gets it, he makes various kinds of ornaments. When the immortal gets it, he makes a golden elixir, with which he can fly to the sky and enter the ground, reach the moon and the sun, and assume whatever shapes as he wants. The foolish man analogizes all common men: though embracing the Ultimate Truth, they do not know how to practice. The appraiser analogizes the Two Vehicles, who only sever the affliction, and keep the value of emptiness, but do not do anything with it. The goldsmith analogizes the bodhisattva of the Separate, who is skillful in using expedient means. Knowing that emptiness is not empty, he enters the Provisional, adorns the Buddha land, and accomplishes living beings. The immortal analogizes the bodhisattva of the Perfect. By perceiving the Absolute that is contained in the Facts, he immediately attains the proper enlightenment as soon as he brings forth the Bodhi mind. With one body, he gains immeasurable bodies, and universally responds to all. The present [Lotus] Sütra only takes the Ultimate Truth that is the golden elixir as the substance of the Sūtra.”

This analogy indicates that, in respect to commonality, the Ultimate Truth is possessed by all beings, from the common men to the disciples of the Perfect Teaching. However, in respect to difference, the rock differs from the gold; the gold differs from the jewelry; and the jewelry differs from the elixir. This symbolizes differences among disciples of the Four Teachings in terms of their capacities and dispositions of realizing truth.