If the world is still immersed in chaos, can it be stated that the teachers of the past have failed? Maybe, but their failure is not their fault. It was the people who were not ready.
There is always an abyss between those who understand life and those who do not. Regardless of how far social progress can go, the Buddha will stay light years ahead since his attainment has no measure. And yet, something vital changes with time—namely, our capacity for questioning tradition.
In the days of the Buddha the cultural state of the world was too primitive. People’s minds were enslaved by custom and superstition to the extent where it was impossible for them to examine their position. And it is very hard to be conscious with respect to your culture. The more one is able to look critically at the content of one’s own head, the more one is able to listen to the Buddha.
Time cannot make you understand, but it can prepare the ground. And the people who were on the Moon and looked into the eyes of nuclear war are not the same people who lived in India more than two thousand years ago.