Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Last month focused on the need for “faith” in order to understand the Buddha’s infallible words.

And what is it that is so difficult to believe?

Listen to me attentively! I will tell you about my hidden core and supernatural powers. The gods, men and asuras in, the world think that I, Sakyarnuni Buddha, left the palace of the Sakyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gaya, and attained Anuttara-amyak-sambodhi [forty and odd years ago]. To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha.

And during this time…

All this time I have been living in this Saha-World, and teaching [the living beings of this world] by expounding the Dharma to them. I also have been leading and benefiting the living beings of one hundred thousand billion nayuta asamkhya worlds outside this world.

And the purpose …

“Good men! All the sutras that I expounded [hitherto] were for the purpose of saving all living beings. I told the stories of my previous lives [in some sutras,] and the stories of the previous lives of other Buddhas [in other sutrasl. I showed my replicas [in some sutras,] and my transformations [in other sutras]. I described my deeds [in some sutras,] and the deeds of others [in other sutras]. All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is. I see that the triple world is the world in which the living beings have neither birth nor death, that is to say, do not appear or disappear, that it is the world in which I do not appear or from which I do not disappear, that it is not real or unreal, and that it is not as it seems or as it does not seem. I do not see the triple world in the same way as [the living beings of] the triple world do. I see all this clearly and infallibly. The living beings are various in their natures, desires, deeds, thoughts and opinions. Therefore, I expounded the dharma with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, similes and discourses, in order to cause all living beings to plant the roots of good. I have never stopped doing what I should do. As I said before, it is very long since I became the Buddha. The duration of my life is innumerable, asamkhya kalpas. I am always here. I shall never pass away.