[T]he second chapter teaches that the nihilistic followers of the two vehicles, which it criticizes for not being able to become buddhas, are once again awakened to the unifying truth of the one vehicle and are reborn to the possibility of becoming buddhas like everyone else. This teaching, known as “the ability of the two vehicles to lead to becoming a buddha,” became one of the outstanding characteristics of the Lotus Sutra, which generally speaking, places emphasis on the equality of all people and all things under the unifying truth. From chapter 3 on, various parables and narratives tell the story of how, through this unifying truth, followers of the two vehicles can be saved from the abyss of nihilism, how all human beings can be saved from clinging to the world of illusion, and how they are, moreover, guaranteed to become buddhas in the future. Later generations often used these parables as literary material.