rotten seeds ［敗種］ ( haishu): Also, decayed seeds or spoiled seeds. In Mahayana scriptures, persons of the two vehicles—voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones—are often compared to rotten seeds that will never sprout, implying that they are incapable of attaining Buddhahood. Similarly, they are likened to scorched seeds that can never sprout and to rotten roots that can never put forth shoots. Persons of the two vehicles are described as those who, content with the rewards accruing from their practice, claim that their enlightenment as arhats is true and supreme and do not seek the true enlightenment of Buddhahood. The Lotus Sutra overturns the idea that persons of the two vehicles cannot attain enlightenment when Shakyamuni prophesies that such individuals will become Buddhas in the future.