Tiantai Zhiyi thought that the inconceivable liberation which is attained in the ‘Perfect Teaching’ (圓教) is not realized by the severance of delusions, but the penetration into the ‘Principle’ (理). That ‘Principle’ is the ‘true aspect’ (實相). It is not only the ‘substance’ (體) of the Vimalakirti-nirdesa, but also the ‘substance’ of all Mahayana Sutra. All sentient beings are in the inevitable consequences of the ‘threefold path of cyclic samsara’ (惑業苦三道), because they naturally lose the ‘Principle’. However, liberation is realized by understanding this ‘Principle’. So the ‘Principle’ is the originating factor of the ‘threefold path of cyclic samsara’, and at the same time it is the originating factor of liberation. Thus, the severance of delusions is the severance of the ‘true aspect’, and liberation in the ‘Perfect Teaching’ is realized by penetration into the ‘threefold path of cyclic samsara’
