The “five periods” and other schemas of this kind represent remarkable achievements as efforts to systematize the Buddhist teachings into a coherent whole. However, text-critical scholarship has now made clear that they cannot be accepted as historically accurate. The Buddhist sūtras were compiled over a long period, and the Mahāyāna sūtras in particular were produced over several centuries, well after Śākyamuni’s passing. Nonetheless, it is vital to understand that for Nichiren and his Tendai forebears and contemporaries, the division of the teachings into “five periods” was, in fact, historical reality, a faithful account of how Śākyamuni Buddha had taught, and indeed, of how all buddhas proceed.