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영어

Pŏphwa chongyo is Wŏhyo's only extant work among his writings on the Lotus Sutra. This book reflects well those issues raised by the traditional East Asian scholars who wrote commentary works on the Lotus Sutra. The East Asian scholars mainly focused on the two topics: understanding of the idea of upāya in the logic of turning the three into the one, and evaluation of the Lotus Sutra from the perspective of the universality of emancipation in Mahayana Buddhism.
With regard to the first one, Wŏhyo believed that the core idea of upāya lies on the assumption that all the doctrines, including voice hearer vehicle, self enlightened vehicle, and bodhisattva vehicle, are non other than the ultimate truth. He also considered the Lotus Sutra as the preface which put all the sutras with various doctrines in one sutra with the logic of turning the three into the one. As it were, Wŏhyo thought that the Lotus Sutra provides a perspective through which the readers understand all the sutras in unity. Wŏhyo's all-comprehensive interpretation of Buddhism seems to be the outcome
of his understanding of the Lotus Sutra as such.
The traditional East Asian scholars disputed over the issue of how many vehicles are supposed in the Lotus Stura there three or four vehicles. Unlike these scholars, Wŏhyo conceded that the Lotus Sutra itself allows the both suppositions, and matched each of them with the extra vehicle theory and integrated vehicle theory respectively. This is a typical example of his all-comprehensive interpretation of Buddhism.
With regard to the second, Wŏhyo provided a well-established theoretical structure for single vehicle, by incorporating the lately developed concepts, such as Buddha nature, dharma, Buddha-kāya, and tathāgata-garbha, into the idea of universality of emancipation, which supports the logic of turning the three into the one. According to Wŏhyo, single vehicle is not a mere doctrine but the universal principle of the world. Single vehicle implies the unity of the world.
Other scholars also utilized the concepts of Buddha nature, dharma, and Buddha-kāya in interpreting of the Lotus Sutra. However, the use of the word tathāgata-garbha is Wŏhyo's unique idea. Since tathāgata-garbha has the two aspects, the truth itself and the arising and ceasing, it acknowledges different capabilities of sentient beings as well as the universality of emancipation.