Distinction in Five Natures

The Consciousness-only school, which advocated the meditation practice of yoga, taught the “five distinct natures” based on the idea that the third vehicle is truth. It taught that sentient beings innately have five types of predisposition: (1) to obtain śrāvaka awakening, (2) to obtain pratyekabuddha awakening, (3) to obtain the buddha awakening of the Mahāyāna, also referred to as “bodhisattva awakening”, (4) one that is indeterminate and does not fit into any of the above, and (5) one that lacks the capacity for awakening. It follows from this teaching that the potential for attaining buddhahood is pre-determined. This goes against the one vehicle teaching that all sentient beings can obtain buddhahood. It was criticized by Haribhadra (ca. 800 CE) of the Mādhyamika school and was the subject of a debate in Japan between Saichō (767-822 CE) of the Tendai sect and Tokuitsu (dates unknown) of the Hossō sect.

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 48-49