During the infinitely long period of time before the moment of teaching in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha says that he has gone by many different names but in all that time and under all the variety of names he has been leading people to the Dharma. He further says that he has tailored his teachings to the capacities of the people he taught. He even told people that he was going to enter into Nirvana, even though in fact he is never removed from the world. In other words, both his appearance and his absence are teaching devices, the entire being, every action, every thing of the Buddha is a teaching to lead people to accept and practice the Dharma. From the standpoint of the Buddha, there really is no distinction between living and teaching.

If we too can approach our lives and practice this way, then Buddhism will really prosper.