Nichiren wrote Senji-shō (Selecting the Right Time) in June of 1275 at Mt. Minobu where he had retired to write and teach his disciples after being pardoned and allowed to return from exile on Sado Island. Senji-shō is considered one of his five major writings. In this work he elaborates on the third of the five guidelines or principles for propagation that he had explained previously in letters written during and shortly after his earlier exile to the Izu Peninsula. The five principles for propagation are to take into account: (1) the different kinds of the teachings of the Buddha, (2) the different capacities of the people to be taught, (3) the correct time to teach, (4) the differences between countries, and (5) the correct sequence in which the teachings are to be taught. Senji-shō primarily concerns itself with surveying the history of Buddhism as it pertains to the propagation of the Lotus Sūtra so that Nichiren could make the case that the age in which he lived was the correct time to begin the propagation of the Lotus Sūtra and in particular the practice of Odaimoku. In the course of making his case he does touch upon the other four principles.

I want to begin this commentary with an explanation of the five principles for propagation based on what Nichiren wrote about them in previous writings, since Senji-shō seems to take it for granted that the reader is already familiar with them. I then want to survey some of the T’ien-t’ai teachings that Nichiren bases his arguments on and also assumes the reader already knows. Next, I want to provide a chronological history of Buddhism based on what the most credible and up-to-date scholarship has discovered in order to provide background for Nichiren’s understanding of that history and to provide an independent perspective from which to examine Nichiren’s take on the subject. Finally, I want to take up some of the themes and statements found in Senji-shō and reflect upon their meaning for those of us who are practicing Nichiren Buddhism today.