What were the practices for the Perfect Teaching which enabled a person to follow the Direct Path to enlightenment? One of the earliest and most common classifications of Buddhist practice was the threefold learning (sangaku) or the practices of precepts, meditation, and wisdom. In Hinayāna Buddhism the threefold learning was usually regarded as a progression of practices which led to the final goal of liberation. The precepts provided the moral basis for meditation; meditation provided the basis for wisdom; and wisdom led to liberation. Although the precepts served as the basis for the entire structure, they were ranked lower than the other two types of learning.

The Chinese Ssu fen lü master Daoxuan (596-667) had used the classification of Buddhism into three types of learning to argue that the precepts were the basis of all Buddhist practice. He criticized the tendency of many Chinese monks to concentrate on meditation or lecturing on the sūtras (wisdom) while they ignored monastic discipline (precepts). Such one-sided practice could not succeed because it overlooked the most basic practice of all, the observance of the precepts.

Daoxuan also criticized monks who ignored the Ssu fen lü precepts because of their Hinayāna origins. These monks argued that they were Mahāyāna monks and should not be bound by Hinayāna precepts. Daoxuan defended the Ssu fen lü precepts by arguing that they were, in fact, partially Mahāyāna (buntsū daijō). T’ien-t’ai monks such as Chan-jan (711-782) noted that the attitude of the practitioner, not the origin of the precepts, determinined whether a person’s practice was Hinayāna or Mahāyāna. Thus T’ien-t’ai monks almost always advocated adherence to the Ssu fen lü precepts.

Saichō argued that Hinayāna and Hossō practices all required eons, but that the Japanese could not actually follow them because they were not suited to their faculties. In contrast, the Lotus Sūtra taught a direct path; instead of walking (hogyō) upon the path, the practitioner flew (higyō) directly to his goal. The path requiring eons was descriptive of Mahāyāna doctrines and practices ranging from those of the Sanron and Hossō Schools to those of the Kegon School. In the Hokke shūku, Saichō characterized the differences between Kegon and Tendai One-vehicle teachings in terms of their efficacy in leading to enlightenment. Kegon practice was described as leading to sudden enlightenment only after eons of training (ryakukō shugyō tongo). Kegon doctrines had not yet fully revealed the ultimate teaching of the Buddha, nor had they been purged of provisional teachings. The teachings of the Lotus Sūtra, however, led directly to sudden enlightenment (jikishi dōjō tongo). An adherent of the Lotus Sūtra had no need for eons of preparatory practice and provisional teachings.

In the Kenkairon Saichō classified the five bodhisattvas into two major categories, those who backslid and those who did not. In the Ketsugonjitsuron Saichō further developed the classification by matching the five types of bodhisattvas with the four categories (kehō shikyō) of Chih-i’s classification of the contents of Buddhist teachings. The five types can be summarized as follows:

1. The bodhisattva who followed the practices of the sheep vehicle was equivalent to the Buddhist in the Abhidharmakośa who required over three great kalpas to attain Buddhahood.
2. The bodhisattva who followed the practices of the elephant vehicle corresponded to the practitioner of Common teachings, represented in this case by the prajn͂āpāramitā (Perfection of Wisdom) teachings.
3. The bodhisattva who followed the practices of the vehicle which endowed him with superhuman powers enabling him to reach the sun and moon corresponded to the practitioner of the fifty-two stages outlined in the Ying lo ching and thus was equivalent to one form of the Unique teaching (bekkyō).
4. The bodhisattva who followed the practices of the vehicle which endowed him with the superhuman powers of a Śrāvaka corresponded to the practitioner of another form of the Unique teaching, the follower of the forty-one stages presented in the Hua yen Ching (Avatamsakasūtra).
5. The bodhisattva who followed the practices of the vehicle which endowed him with the superhuman powers of the Buddha corresponded to the practitioner of the Perfect teaching (engyō n u). Saichō noted that this bodhisattva was like the eight-year old Nāga girl described in the Lotus Sūtra who turned into a man and immediately attained enlightenment.

Saichō died before he could further develop this classification and discuss such problems as how Esoteric Buddhism would fit into the system. However, the reasons for Saichō’s interest in this classification system are clear. It enabled him to discuss Buddhist practices in terms of the speed with which they would enable a practitioner to attain enlightenment without backsliding.

Saichō’s most innovative classification systems were devoted to revealing the differences between the practices advocated by the various Buddhist schools. One of the most important of these systems was based on a hierarchical classification of five types of bodhisattva found in the Pu pi ting ju ting ju yin Ching (Niyatāniyatagatimudrāvatārasūtra). Each type was compared with a man who was attempting to travel to a distant place. If the man boarded the wrong type of vehicle, he would never arrive at his destination because winds and storms would constantly delay him and force him to turn back. If he chose a more suitable vehicle, he would eventually arrive at his destination, but only after a very long period of time. If he rode the best vehicle, he would quickly arrive at his destination. The five types of bodhisattvas described in the sūtra and their vehicles were:

1. 1. The bodhisattva who followed sheep vehicle practices (yōjōgyō)
   2. The bodhisattva who followed elephant vehicle practices (zōjōgyō)
   3. The bodhisattva who followed the practices of the vehicle which endowed him with superhuman powers enabling him to reach the sun and moon (gatsunichi jinzū jōgyō)
   4. The bodhisattva who followed the practices of the vehicle which endowed him with the superhuman powers of a Śrāvaka (shōmon jinzū jōgyō)
   5. The bodhisattva who followed the practices which endowed him with superhuman powers like those of the Buddha (Nyorai jinzū jōgyō)

The sūtra did not describe the actual practices which each vehicle represented. Rather, the main theme of the sūtra was that not all religious practices were of the same efficacy. Some practices enabled a person to advance rapidly towards his religious goal without any danger of backsliding. Others, especially Hinayāna practices, caused him to regress, removing him further away from his goal than ever. Although the sheep vehicle and the elephant vehicle were both subject to backsliding, the other three vehicles were not.

In his writings Saichō frequently mentioned traditional Tendai classifications of Buddhist doctrine, such as the division of the Buddha’s teaching into five periods and eight types of teaching (goji hakkyō). In addition, he developed a number of new systems of classification which were designed to reveal various aspects of the superiority of Tendai teachings over those of other schools. Even before studying in China, Saichō had divided Buddhist schools into two categories, those based on sūtras (the words of the Buddha) and those based on Sāstras (works by Buddhist monks). Using this classification, Saichō criticized the two preeminent Buddhist schools in Japan, the Hossō and Sanron, because they were based on works (sāstras) by Buddhist monks rather than on the words of the Buddha. Twenty years later in the Hokke shūku he further refined this system by dividing the schools based on sūtras into two groups: the Tendai School, which was based on the Lotus Sūtra, and all other schools based on sūtras, such as the Kegon School.

Saichō’s view of the Perfect faculties of the Japanese people was partly based on statements in the Lotus Sūtra that the Buddha’s supreme teaching could be preached during the “latter evil age.” Saichō believed that the faculties of the Japanese people had matured and that they were ready to hear him expound the Buddha’s ultimate teaching found in the Lotus Sūtra. Although the Sanron and Hossō interpretations of the Lotus Sūtra had been studied previously in Japan, Saichō argued that they did not represent the correct interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra. The Tendai teachings concerning the Lotus Sūtra, transmitted directly to Saichō by Chinese T’ien-t’ai masters, were the only explanations of the sūtra which fully revealed it as the Buddha’s ultimate teaching. In order to stress this point, Saichō often referred to his school as the Tendai Hokkeshū (Lotus School), and thus closely linked the terms Tendai and Lotus Sūtra.

Chien-chen had brought the first T’ien-t’ai texts to Japan, but had not actively attempted to spread Tien-t’ai teachings. Instead, he had devoted himself to conducting Ssufen lü ordinations. As a result T’ien t’ai teachings were virtually forgotten several decades after Chien-chen’s death. In contrast, Saichō succeeded in spreading T’ien-t’ai teachings throughout Japan. By Saichō’s time the faculties of the Japanese people had matured. They were ready to listen to the Tendai interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra.

Saichō used the concept of the maturing of people’s faculties in a different way than Chih-i. Rather than applying the idea to individuals, Saichō argued that the Japanese people as a group possessed mature faculties. Saichō utilized Japan’s place in Buddhist history and the teachings concerning the decline of Buddhism to support his views. In the preface to the Ehyō Tendaishū dated 816, Saichō first presented this idea in several enigmatic, short sentences:

“In Japan the Perfect faculties (enki) of the people have already matured. The Perfect teaching has finally arisen.”

Several years later in his Shugo kokkaishō, Saichō further explained his view:

Now men’s faculties have all changed. There is no one with Hinayāna faculties. The Period of the True and of the Imitated Dharma have almost passed, and the age of mappō is extremely near. Now is the time for those with faculties suitable for the Hokke One-vehicle teaching. How do we know this? Because of what the Anrakugyōbon [Peaceful Practices chapter of Lotus Sutra] teaches about the latter days of the decline of the Dharma.

Chih-i categorized the maturation of man’s faculties and subsequent enlightenment in three stages. First, the karmic seeds connecting a person to Buddhism had to be planted (geshu). Although everyone possessed the Buddha-nature, a person first had to be exposed to the Buddha’s teachings in order to begin to realize this basic truth. He had to listen to elementary teachings which gradually drew him on to more profound teachings until his faculties matured (jōjuku). In the second stage, his faculties had matured and he was ready to hear the Buddha’s ultimate teaching, the Lotus Sūtra. Finally, in the last stage, the process was completed; freed (gedatsu) from his sufferings, he had achieved perfect enlightenment. For Chih-i this system was to be applied on an individual basis. One person might be at an advanced stage, while his neighbor might be at a lower stage.