vaipulya ［方等］ (;  hōdō): Great extension, development, largeness, or thickness, indicating a sutra of great breadth or scope. In Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures, vaipulya was rendered as “correct and equal” or “correct and vast.” In his classification of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings, T’ien-t’ai (538–597) defined the third of the five periods of the Buddha’s teachings as Correct and Equal. Vaipulya is also a component of the nine divisions or twelve divisions of the scriptures, meaning that part of a sutra that concerns the expansion of doctrine.