Although the Buddha sometimes appeared to be willing to grant future Buddhahood to the Two Vehicles, evil people, women, and others, He was not certain about this. After 42 years of preaching, however, the Buddha at the age of 72 expounded the Lotus Sūtra on Mt. Sacred Eagle near Rājagṛha in the kingdom of Magadha. First, He preached the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, in which the Buddha declared, “The truth has not been revealed in the forty years or so,” meaning that His preachings during the pre-Lotus period were provisional while the truth is revealed in the Lotus Sūtra.

Yakuō-bon Tokui-shō, The Essence of the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” Chapter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 34