The Buddhas appear in this world to purify all beings by having them open the treasury of the Buddha-wisdom  which they are unaware of possessing within themselves.
The Buddhas appear in this world to show the Buddha-wisdom to them. The Buddhas appear in this world to have them understand what the Buddha-wisdom is. The Buddhas appear in this world to lead them into the path of the Buddha-wisdom.

The Lotus Sutra was taught by Sakyamuni Buddha during the last eight years of his life and is a culmination of more than 40 years of teaching his disciples and the lay beleivers the Dharma. It contains twenty-eight chapters and is the essence of all the Buddha's teachings and enlightenment.

In this Sutra, the Dharma is transmitted in beautiful prose and verse, filled with colourful and humorous parables, allegories, metaphors, fantastic descriptions of supernatural visions and metaphysical discussion. This panoramic vision reveals dimensions of cosmic proportions in space and time. The variegated nature of the Lotus teachings is associated with Sakyamuni's inclination to exercise "tactfulness" and "expedience" to accommodate all manner of capacities and temperaments that exist among his listeners. Ultimately these different gateways lead to the Way.

Two broad themes reveal themselves in the Lotus Sutra. The first, developed over the first fourteen chapters, is the reality of intrinsic commonality that prevails in the nature of all human beings. Achieving Enlightenment consists of awakening the seed of Buddhahood in an individual. The first half of the Lotus Sutra thus reveals that all living beings, without exception, possess the innate potential for becoming a Buddha.

The other broad theme, expounded over the remaining fourteen chapters is the eternal life of the Buddha. That the historical Sakyamuni Buddha, born and attaining enlightenment in India. was but a temporal form of the primeval Buddha who was enlightened in the remotest past and lives on eternally with no birth or death. This second half of the Lotus Sutra illustrates that regardless of the age we live in, the Buddha is always among us and is constantly pointing us toward the Path of Enlightenment.