Replacing the Three Vehicle Practices

The three vehicle practices of Sravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Bodhisattva are all being replaced as individual, unique, and different ways of attaining Buddhahood by a single way of attaining supreme enlightenment. This way is the practice of Bodhisattva, which includes all the practices of the three previous vehicles. No longer is it the wish of the Buddha for people to think of their own practice as something unique to themselves. Beginning with the Lotus Sutra the Buddha wants all practitioners of Buddhism to see their practice as part of a greater objective of saving other people, of teaching and spreading Buddhism, and of seeking the supreme enlightenment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra