Shingon Buddhism maintains that all Buddhist sutras, including the Lotus Sutra, are teachings of Buddha as a mortal being except for the Great Sun Buddha Sutra (Dainichi kyo), which was preached by Mahavairocana Buddha (Great Sun Buddha, or Dainichi Nyorai in Japanese), the Buddha enlightened by eternal truth, and that the Buddha as a mortal being, who belongs to the realm of unenlightened existence, is inferior even to the servant of Mahavairocana Buddha.
真言宗では、法華経などの経典は応身の釈迦が説法したもので、大日経は法身の大日如来が説法したものであるとし「大日如来に比べれば釈迦は無明の辺域であり、草履取りにも及ばない」といっている。