Shakyamuni’s attainment of enlightenment under the bodhi tree in ancient India and Nichiren Daishonin’s act of casting off his transient status and revealing his true identity as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law at the time of the Tatsunokuchi Persecution are both expressions of the highest state of humanity. Neither Shakyamuni nor the Daishonin ceased to be human. The essential truth of Buddhism is that ordinary people can attain the ultimate state of Buddhahood as they are.

From The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 2, revised edition, p. 150