One of the central teachings of the Lotus Sūtra is that during most of his life the Buddha preached expedient teachings for those with lesser faculties, but waited until the faculties of people had matured sufficiently before he preached his ultimate teaching, the Perfect teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, at the end of his life. As Saichō stated in the Hokke shūku, “The basic teaching of the One-vehicle (is not preached) until the proper time has arrived and (the audience) has the proper faculties. Only when their faculties have matured and the appropriate time has come does the Buddha preach it. Thus the Buddha waited until the Sudden faculties (tonki) of people had matured before preaching the One-vehicle Sudden Teaching.”