The essential section (Honmon), chapters 15-28 of the Lotus Sutra, is shown as Diagram I-B. These teachings reveal the eternal nature of the Buddha and his existence in the remotest past, present and the eternal future. In Chapter 16, the Buddha stated:

“To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became a Buddha.” (Murano, p. 241)

Further, he stated:

“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.”
(Murano, p. 243)

This seems incomprehensible. Yet, the existence of the Eternal Buddha is a timeless, eternal existence not subject to karma, death and decay, suffering or retribution. Further, the Buddha with full knowledge of the time, capacity and nature of people, had vowed:

“I am always thinking: How shall I cause all living beings
To enter into the unsurpassed Way And quickly become Buddhas?” (Murano, p. 249)