"Thus the time since I attained Buddhahood is very great, long, and distant."

"You good sons. The Sutra Canons which the Tathagata expounds are all for saving and liberating the mass of beings. I either preach my own body or preach the body of another or show my own body or show the body of another or show my own matter or show the matter of another. The various words I preach are all true and not empty. What is the reason? The Tathagata knows and sees the appearance of the Three Worlds in accordance with reality: there is no Birth and Death, whether backsliding or emerging; likewise there is neither existence in the world nor non-extinction; they are not real; they are not void. they are not thus; they are not different. It is not as the Three Worlds see the Three Worlds. In such a matter as this the Tathagata sees clearly and is without error. Because the various beings have distinctions of various types of natures, various types of desires, various types of actions, and various types of recollections, I, desiring to cause various good karmic roots to be produced, by means of considerable causalities, parables, and words, preach various kinds of dharmas: The work of the Buddha which I perform I have never once abandoned even for a brief time. Thus the time since I attained Buddhahood is very great, long, and distant. My life is immeasurable asamkheyas of kalpas and I abide forever and am not extinguished." (Lotus Sutra Chapter 16)