According to the Lotus Sutra, … even the voice-hearers are on the path of the One Vehicle that leads to buddhahood. The nirvana of the arhats is a temporary goal on the journey to perfect and complete enlightenment, like the “magic city” conjured to provide a temporary respite for weary travelers in one of the parables of the Lotus Sutra. The true “voice-hearer” then, is actually a bodhisattva who has heard the teaching of the One Vehicle of the Lotus Sutra and who enables others to hear it as well.