The Selection of the Time Part 1.2

Answer: Let us borrow the eye of the Buddha^[1] to consider this question of time and capacity. Let us use the sun of the Buddha to illuminate the nation. … 

There is no doubt that our present age corresponds to the fifth five-hundred-year period described in the Great Collection Sutra,^[2] when “the pure Law will become obscured and lost.” But after the pure Law is obscured and lost, the great pure Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart and core of the Lotus Sutra, will surely spread and be widely declared throughout the land of Jambudvipa [this world in which we dwell]—with its eighty thousand kingdoms, their eighty thousand rulers, and the ministers and people in the domain of each ruler—just as the name of Amida^[3] is now chanted by the mouths of the priests, nuns, laymen, and laywomen in Japan. (“The Selection of the Time,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, pp. 540–41)

If it is true, then, that the Buddha expounded the Law not according to people’s capacity but according to the time, the following question arises: “When is the time for preaching the Hinayana or provisional Mahayana sutras, and when is the time for preaching the Lotus Sutra?” (WND-1, 540). How can ordinary people know the time and capacity with regard to the Buddha’s various teachings?  

By way of response, Nichiren Daishonin says: “Let us borrow the eye of the Buddha to consider this question of time and capacity. Let us use the sun of the Buddha to illuminate the nation” (WND-1, 540). The “eye of the Buddha” means the Buddha’s insightful vision that can perceive the true aspect of all phenomena. The “sun of the Buddha” means the Buddha wisdom that, like the sun’s rays, can illuminate everything. To “borrow the eye of the Buddha to consider this question of time and capacity,” therefore, means to determine the time and capacity in light of the sutras, while to “use the sun of the Buddha to illuminate the nation” means to understand the reality of the land in light of the sutras. Here, Nichiren underscores the importance of judging matters of time and capacity as well as the situation in the land, not based on the arbitrary opinions of different Buddhist teachers or scholars, but on the Buddha’s own teachings. 

As a key sutra reference for determining the time, he cites the section in the Great Collection Sutra where Shakyamuni predicts the future after his passing in terms of “five five-hundred-year periods.”^[4] These five periods are respectively known as 1) the age of attaining liberation, 2) the age of meditation, 3) the age of reading, reciting and listening, 4) the age of building temples and stupas and 5) the age of conflicts, which is also described more specifically as “an age of quarrels and disputes when the pure Law becomes obscured and lost.” Nichiren then proceeds to give a detailed description of which teachings of the Buddha flourish and spread during each of these five-hundred-year periods (see WND-1, 544–50). 

It is the fifth five-hundred-year period, however, that is Nichiren Daishonin’s main focus. As I have noted already, this age of conflict is a time when quarrels and disputes arise in the realm of Buddhism and the pure Law, the correct teaching of the Buddha, becomes obscured and lost (see WND-1, 541). This, in fact, perfectly describes the situation in Japan during the Daishonin’s day. 

In Japan, Shakyamuni’s Buddhism had split into what were known as the eight or ten schools,^[5] with each asserting its correctness in opposition to the others; the Buddha’s teachings became increasingly confused and jumbled. The lack of a sound philosophy or belief system caused the people’s lives to become disordered. In addition, there had been a series of natural disasters and instances of civil strife, which inflicted much misery and suffering on people throughout the land.  

The Pure Land (Nembutsu) school of the day taught that—after the pure Law of Shakyamuni Buddha’s other teachings had been obscured and lost—the great pure Law expounded in the three Pure Land sutras^[6] would spread (see WND-1, 541). This arose from a view that placed disproportionate emphasis on people’s capacity, insisting that the easy-to-practice way of the Nembutsu was suited to the people of the Latter Day, given their inferior capacity. 

Nichiren, however, places foremost importance on the time, a stance that is based on his in-depth study of the sutras. He therefore clearly states in this writing that after Shakyamuni’s pure Law has been obscured and lost, it will be time for “the great pure Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart and core of the Lotus Sutra” to spread widely throughout the world (see WND-1, 541). This is Nichiren’s towering declaration as a person actively committed to transforming the Latter Day from an age of Buddhism in decline into an age of kosen-rufu and the flourishing of the correct teaching of the Mystic Law in the Latter Day. 

The teaching to be spread in the Latter Day to free people from suffering is the great Law of Nichiren Buddhism of sowing^[7]—that is, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—which has the power to directly activate the Buddha nature in each individual’s life, irrespective of their capacity for understanding. As the fundamental “seed of Buddhahood” by which all Buddhas are born, the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enables people of this defiled latter age to positively transform their lives on the most fundamental level. 

• • •

The Lotus Sutra’s Prediction of the Spread of the Mystic Law in the Latter Day

These passages [that indicate that the great pure Law will spread abroad widely in the Latter Day] describe the following situation. During the fifth five-hundred-year period, eminent priests who are possessed by evil demons will be found everywhere throughout the country. At that time, a single wise man will appear. The eminent priests who are possessed by evil demons will deceive the ruler, his ministers, and the common people into slandering and abusing this man, attacking him with sticks, staves, shards, and rubble, and condemning him to exile or death. At that time,  Shakyamuni, Many Treasures,^[8] and the Buddhas of the ten directions will speak to the great bodhisattvas who sprang up from the earth [i.e., the Bodhisattvas of the Earth], and the great bodhisattvas will in turn report to Brahma, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings.^[9] As a result [through the workings of the heavenly beings to rebuke people’s slander of the Law], strange occurrences and unusual disturbances will appear in abundance in the heavens and on earth.

If there are countries whose rulers fail to heed this warning [against slandering the Law], then the Buddhas and the great bodhisattvas will order neighboring countries to attack the evil rulers and evil priests of those countries. Then great struggles and disputes such as have never been known in the past will break out in Jambudvipa [the entire world].

At that time, all the people living in the land illuminated by the sun and moon, fearing the destruction of their nation or the loss of their lives, will pray to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas for help. And if there is no sign that their prayers will be answered, they will put their faith in this single humble priest whom they earlier hated. Then all the countless eminent priests, the great rulers of the eighty thousand countries [of all of Jambudvipa], and the numberless common people will all bow their heads to the ground, press their palms together, and in one voice will chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. (WND-1, 542)

Prior to this section, Nichiren Daishonin cites a number of passages from the Lotus Sutra, including from “Medicine King” and “Encouraging Devotion,” the 23rd and 13th chapters,^[10] to corroborate his assertion that the Mystic Law will spread widely in the Latter Day (see WND-1, 542). In this present section, he proceeds to summarize these passages into essentially the following five main points:  

1. During the fifth five-hundred-year period—the “age of quarrels and disputes,” when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha become obscured and lost—the land will be filled with eminent Buddhist priests, who are “possessed by evil demons.”^[11]This is a reference to the three powerful enemies,^[12]who the “Encouraging Devotion” chapter predicts will appear in the evil age after the Buddha’s passing, the most formidable of which is the group known as “arrogant false sages.” 

2. At that time a “single wise man” will appear. This, needless to say, refers to Nichiren Daishonin himself. 

3. Eminent priests possessed by demons will slander and defame this wise person to the secular authorities and influential people of the day, inciting them to physically attack him “with sticks, staves, shards, and rubble” and to condemn him to exile or death. 

4. When this wise person is persecuted by the ruler and people throughout the land, strange occurrences and unusual disturbances will appear in the heavens and on earth as a form of rebuke from the heavenly deities. If this warning is not heeded, then “great struggles and disputes such as have never been known in the past” will break out in the world.  

5. At that time, fearing the destruction of their nation or the loss of their lives, the ruler and common people will put their faith in this wise person whom they had earlier persecuted, and come to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. 

In terms of Nichiren’s time in 13th-century Japan, “great struggles and disputes such as have never been known in the past” indicated invasion by the Mongol forces—an attack by a foreign power, something Japan had never previously experienced. 

As I mentioned earlier, in “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land,” written more than a decade before “The Selection of the Time,” Nichiren had warned that this disaster of foreign invasion would befall Japan [as a result of the entire nation turning against the correct teaching of Buddhism]. He had submitted this treatise to remonstrate with the country’s rulers, knowingly risking persecution in order to save people from the tragedy and suffering of war. 

I once published a volume of lectures on “The Selection of the Time” (in 1964). Mr. Toda had made an initial start on writing a series of lectures on this work, and I brought the project to completion after his death; the finished volume, therefore, was a joint production of mentor and disciple. 

In this early series, I remember discussing at length the question of how Nichiren’s reference to “great struggles and disputes such as have never been known in the past” should be interpreted in the present age. I noted that some might take the view that this vision of unprecedented war and strife engulfing the world alludes to the future outbreak of a Third World War. But any such global conflict in our nuclear age, I observed, would mean almost certain destruction for the human race; given this scenario, therefore, we must absolutely ensure that a Third World War never happens. Based on this reasoning, I explained that I chose to interpret “great struggles and disputes such as have never been known in the past” as referring to the Second World War, and to continue emphasizing the importance of courageously pressing ahead on the path of kosen-rufu to create a world where peace prevails. 

My sentiments today are the same. Rather, they have only grown stronger. We absolutely have to achieve peace. Last year, I issued a nuclear disarmament proposal.^[13] In Mr. Toda’s landmark declaration for the abolition of nuclear weapons (in September 1957), he passionately stated: “It is my wish to attack the problem at its root, that is, to rip out the claws that are hidden in the very depths of this issue.” Making his spirit my own, I have taken action toward the goal of realizing a world without nuclear weapons. I would now like to pass on the baton of worldwide kosen-rufu—that is, the baton of peace creation—to the youth of Soka. 

For all people to live in peace and security is without doubt the central focus of Nichiren Buddhism. In “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land,” he explains that the reason he so strongly rebukes the ruler is to prevent the turmoil of war that would arise from the disasters of internal strife and foreign invasion—the only remaining two of the seven disasters^[14] predicted in the sutras that had not yet appeared in the Japan of the Daishonin’s day. 

“The Selection of the Time” can also be viewed as an ardent call for peace before it is too late. “Let us prevent the occurrence of great strife and conflict that causes people suffering! Let us realize a peaceful world for the prosperity and security of people everywhere!”—this is our fundamental stance as Buddhists and the spirit of Nichiren Buddhism. 

Constructing a Compassionate Society of Respect for All 

Nichiren Daishonin appeared in the “age of quarrels and disputes” of the Latter Day of the Law. More specifically, it was the Kamakura period (1192–1333), which saw the first ever establishment of a military regime in Japan. It was also a time when the country faced the threat of foreign invasion. Taking these circumstances into account, an apt subtitle for “The Selection of the Time” might be “Choosing Peace.” 

And, as I stated at the outset, the Soka Gakkai emerged in the period between World Wars I and II. This was a time when Japan was rushing headlong down the path to militarism. It is also a fact that the SGI was inaugurated during a period when the Cold War continued to drag on and tensions were running high between China and the Soviet Union.  

What should humanity learn from these two world wars of the 20th century? That the absolute truths that “nothing is more tragic and cruel than war” and “nothing is more precious than peace” need to become universal human values. Hence, the profound significance of our efforts to spread the life-affirming principles and ideals of Nichiren Buddhism toward the realization of lasting peace. 

The “claws that are hidden in the very depths of the issue [of nuclear weapons],” of which Mr. Toda spoke in his declaration, in fact, refer to the fundamental darkness or ignorance^[15] that resides in the depths of human life. This innate darkness gives rise to deluded impulses that manifest as greed, anger and foolishness and are the root source of all evil and misery. 

The Lotus Sutra passages cited by Nichiren in “The Selection of the Time,” which I discussed earlier, accurately describe the reality of the “age of quarrels and disputes.” Evil demons possess the minds of arrogant priests who are hungry for renown and profit and cause them to repudiate the correct teaching and its votary. In a sense, there is no greater ignorance than this. The workings of fundamental darkness seek to prevent people’s innate enlightened nature from manifesting. 

Battling fundamental darkness is tantamount to battling the evil or negativity inherent in human life. Genuine practitioners of the Lotus Sutra do not retreat a single step in this struggle. And by triumphing over the three obstacles and four devils,^[16] and also the onslaughts of the three powerful enemies, practitioners can eloquently demonstrate the brilliant potential of the fundamental nature of enlightenment or Dharma nature^[17] that all people possess. This proof upsets others’ erroneous attachments and causes them to question their beliefs. 

The struggle against fundamental darkness is a challenge to break through people’s distrust and disrespect for human life and awaken them to the innate dignity of the human being. In this sense, I think we can also view Nichiren’s warning of “great struggles and disputes such as have never been known in the past” as a deliberate attempt to unsettle people’s erroneous beliefs in order to break through the walls of prejudice and powerlessness in their hearts. 

Our humanity must win over the devilish nature inherent in life. This is the struggle of kosen-rufu. 

The purpose of Buddhism is to enfold humankind in a warm current of compassion. Mr. Toda said: “When you practice Buddhism in a way that truly matches the time, you can naturally take compassionate action.” Our efforts to treasure each person are building a compassionate society of respect for all. 

Mr. Toda also said that as ordinary people we need courage to continue taking compassionate action. This, he declared, is none other than the courage to help others, the courage to improve ourselves, the courage to challenge our human revolution and the courage to work for kosen-rufu. 

Now, in the 21st century, will the ideas of respect for the sanctity of life and human dignity come to be widely established through a spiritual solidarity of conscientious people across the globe? Or will we see a prevalence of ideas that denigrate the sanctity of life and human dignity, resulting from a causal chain of mistrust and hatred generated by fundamental darkness or ignorance? I believe it is deeply meaningful that, as humanity now stands at this crossroads, our Soka alliance is steadily spreading throughout the world with a commitment to foster and promote positive human values. 

People’s hearts are swayed by the currents of the times. Without positive action, there is a danger of losing all direction. A strong determination to move the times toward solid good is the driving force that propels us to create the right time. The “time” is not simply an objective condition; it is carved, in essence, by a firm will. In other words, a sound age is created by the will to fight and win, day after day, steadily and surely, no matter whether anyone is watching our efforts or not. Mr. Toda said: “We should focus our efforts on fostering one new sincere member, and then foster another, and another. This is what creates the time.” In this sense, the right time is not something that we wait for, but something that we ourselves must create. This is what I learned from my mentor during my youthful struggles at his side. 

I have always taken action with the conviction that the right time is something we achieve through determination and effort, that it all comes down to personally challenging ourselves. Rather than sitting in quiet contemplation, I have chanted daimoku and taken action—traveling, speaking and writing tirelessly to spread the philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism—opening the doors of people’s hearts and helping them construct an invincible fortress of peace and happiness in their lives. I am also confident that this is what it means to “select the time”—or choose the right time—in terms of our individual Buddhist practice. 

Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day, said: “I, Nichiren, conscious of the age we live in, now wish to give wide propagation to this doctrine [of the Three Great Secret Laws (i.e., Nam-myoho-renge-kyo)]” (“Receiving of the Three Great Secret Laws,” WND-2, 988). 

Mr. Toda declared: “To meet and encounter an auspicious time, to be in rhythm with that time, makes having been born worthwhile. … It is my greatest joy, bar none, to have received the Buddha’s decree for kosen-rufu.”

From the November 2026 Living Buddhism