There were simply layers to all knowledge and principles that could only be understood by the right people.

It's like intel being encrypted within newspaper articles during wartime—to the uninformed, it's just an article. But those with the decryption key, they would understand the message being conveyed.

The same applies to Buddhism.

After Jeevika's enlightenment, when he reread those scriptures, he naturally gained a deeper understanding.

Korra, without enlightenment, could never grasp Je