Shakyamuni, the historical founder of Buddhism who lived in India three thousand years ago, predicted in the Great Collection Sutra (Daijuku Sutra) that the world would enter an age of strife and discord two thousand years after his death, an age when philosophy and religion would be disordered and confused. At that time the Buddhism taught by Shakyamuni would lose its effectiveness to save the people. He called this age Mappo, or the Latter Day of the Law, when, as the Great Collection Sutra stated, “the Pure Law would become obscured and lost.” The reason is that although Mappo is an age when the material aspects of civilisation are much more highly advanced than when Shakyamuni lived, it is also an age when the hearts of the people have become corrupt. Shakyamuni’s Buddhism has no power to help them.
The three time periods following the passing of Shakyamuni. The first 1000 year period after Shakyamuni’s passing is called the Former Day of the Law (Shobo). The second 1000 year period is called the Middle Day of the Law (Zobo). The final period, starting thereafter, is called the Latter Day of the Law (Mappo). Shakyamuni taught that the Latter Day of the Law would last 10,000 years and more, into the future. He taught that at this time because the people would have no connection to Shakyamuni, they could no longer gain any benefit from his teachings. The True Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin, appeared at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law and established the Buddhism of the Three Great Secret Laws so that all people could attain enlightenment now and on into the future.