（佛告舍利弗：）“如彼长者，初以三车诱引诸子，然后但与大车，宝物庄严、安隐第一，然彼长者无虚妄之咎。如来亦复如是无有虚妄，初说三乘引导众生，然后但以大乘而度脱之。何以故？如来有无量智慧、力、无所畏诸法之藏，能与一切众生大乘之法，但不尽能受。舍利弗！以是因缘，当知诸佛方便力故，于一佛乘分别说三。”
《妙法莲华经》
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[The Buddha said to Sāriputra,] “Just as the elder at firstattracted his children with the three carriages andafterward gave them just one great carriage decorated with jewels, which was the safest and most comfortablecarriage, he is not guilty of falsehood. So it is with theTathāgata: there is no falsehood in first guiding sentientbeings with the three vehicles and afterward liberatingthem with just the single Great Vehicle. Why? Becausethe Tathāgata has the Dharma storehouse of immeasurable wisdoms, powers, and fearlessnesses. Hecan give all sentient beings the teachings of the GreatVehicle but not all are able to receive it. For this reason,Sāriputra, you should understand that the Buddhas usethe power of skillful means to adapt the oneBuddha-Vehicle into three.”
The Lotus Sutra
Translation of the scriptural passage is based upon the rendition ofGene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classics, (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008), 118.
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这意思就是说，其实本来没有所谓的三乘菩提，三乘菩提是方便说；可是你如果不施设方便来分别演说，直接就演说大乘佛法，众生听不懂啊！他们没有办法了解。所以演说三乘菩提之目的，其实是要给大家获得唯一佛乘究竟成佛的内涵；只是因为众生一时无法了解，众生也正在恐惧生死苦，所以要分成三乘来演说。但是教导而使众生修学三乘菩提之目的，最后还是想要给众生得到最胜妙、至高无上的唯一佛乘。
《法华经讲义》第五辑，页50
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This means that originally there is no such thing as theThree-Vehicle Bodhi. The Three-Vehicle Bodhi is but anexpedient teaching. If the Buddha did not apply skillful means to expound the Great Vehicle in three distinctways but taught the Great Vehicle straightaway, it wouldbe incomprehensible to sentient beings. The purpose of teaching the Three-Vehicle Bodhi is to help sentientbeings understand the contents of the ultimateBuddhahood in the one and only Buddha-Vehicle. Butbecause sentient beings are unable to grasp this teachingand are fearful of the suffering of cyclic birth-and-death,the one Buddha-Vehicle was adapted into three vehicles.Yet, the ultimate purpose of teaching sentient beings tolearn and practice the Three-Vehicle Bodhi is to enablethem to receive the most wondrous and unsurpassed one and only Buddha-Vehicle.
A Discourse on the Lotus Sutra, vol. 5, p. 50.