Gosho the selection of time

At the ceremony of the great assembly for the Hodo sutras,²¹ Shakyamuni’s father, King Shuddhodana, displayed a sincere desire for Buddhism, and Shakyamuni therefore entered the palace and preached the Kambutsu Zammai Sutra for him. And for the sake of his deceased mother, Queen Maya, he secluded himself in the Trayastrimsha Heaven²² for a period of ninety days and there preached the Maya Sutra. Where his father and mother were concerned, one would think he could not possibly withhold even the most secret teaching of the Law. And yet he did not preach the Lotus Sutra for them. In the final analysis, the Buddha’s preaching of the Lotus Sutra has nothing to do with the capacities of his listeners. As long as the proper time had not yet come, he would on no account expound it.