six metaphors of the theoretical and essential teachings ［本迹の六譬］ ( honjaku-no-roppi): Metaphors T’ien-t’ai (538–597) used in interpreting the word renge (lotus plant) of Myoho-renge-kyo, or the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law (the title of Kumārajīva’s Chinese version of the Lotus Sutra), in The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra. In this work, T’ien-t’ai explains the figurative lotus with three metaphors: the lotus blossom enfolding the fruit, the lotus blossom opening to reveal the fruit inside, and the lotus blossom falling and the fruit ripening. Each of these can be interpreted in two ways: as the three metaphors of the theoretical teaching (first half) of the Lotus Sutra, which illustrate the relationship between the Lotus Sutra (true teaching) and the provisional teachings, and as the three metaphors of the essential teaching (latter half) of the sutra, which show the relationship between the essential teaching and the theoretical teaching.
  In the three metaphors of the theoretical teaching, ren (the fruit of the lotus) corresponds to the true teaching, and ge (the lotus blossom) to the provisional teachings. The three metaphors respectively mean (1) that one cannot see the fruit of the true teaching because it is covered by the blossom of the provisional teachings, (2) that the blossom opens to reveal the fruit of the true teaching, and (3) that the blossom of the three vehicles is replaced by the fruit of the one Buddha vehicle.
  In the three metaphors of the essential teaching, ren (the lotus fruit) corresponds to the essential teaching, and ge (the lotus blossom) to the theoretical teaching. The three metaphors mean (1) that the blossom of the theoretical teaching contains the fruit of the essential teaching, (2) that the blossom of the theoretical teaching opens to reveal the fruit of the essential teaching, and (3) that the blossom of the theoretical teaching is replaced by the fruit of the essential teaching.