I wonder what the Buddha had in mind when He declared in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, “I had preached the Dharma variously through expedient means without revealing the truth for forty years or so.” The Buddha thus invalidated the teachings of all the sūtras preached in the first 40 years or so, including such teachings as “Rebirth in the Land of Utmost Bliss,” like an outdated living will of parents. The Buddha further stated in this sūtra, “With those teachings, no one can attain enlightenment even if one practices them for innumerable and incalculable kalpa.” In the second chapter on the “Expedients” of the Lotus Sūtra the Buddha also preached, “Honestly discarding the expedient teachings, I will expound only the unsurpassed way.” He preaches to us to discard expedient teachings. It means that we should abandon the teachings that were expounded during the forty years or so, …

Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 139.