Diagram of the Five Periodsof the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings Chapter1

Background

This is one of two works bearing the name Diagram of the Five Periods of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings, the other being known as the extended version, and this, the abbreviated version. The present work is believed to have been written by Nichiren Daishonin at Minobu in 1276, while the other was written around 1260.

Both of these, as well as another work titled Rooster Diagram of the Five Periods of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings, contain diagrams relating to the periods and teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s preaching life, and the Buddhist schools and teachers in China and Japan that upheld those teachings, in a format that can be taken in at a glance. The Daishonin probably intended these works as references for his disciples. Although the extended version and this abbreviated version address similar points, their emphasis differs. While the earlier work focuses criticism on the Pure Land, or Nembutsu, school, this work emphasizes the Lotus Sutra’s supremacy among all the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime. Rooster Diagram, in contrast, emphasizes the person, or Buddha, that one should properly revere.

The title is a reference to the “five periods,” a classification of the teachings expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha during the fifty years of his preaching life that divides them into five distinct periods or divisions. This classification was set forth by the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai in China.