This physical form represents a scene from the Lotus Sutra.

In chapter 11 of the Lotus Sutra, a Stupa appears:

Thereupon one of the Buddhas on the lion-like seats under the jewelled trees, wishing to inquire after Sakyamuni Buddha, gave a handful of jewelled flowers to his attendant, and said to him, (wishing to) dispatch him:

"Good man! Go to Sakyamuni Buddha who is now living on Mt. Grdhrakuta! Ask him on my behalf, 'Are you in good health? Are you peaceful? Are the Bodhisattvas and Sravakas peaceful or not?' Strew these jewelled flowers to him, offer them to him, and say, 'That Buddha sent me to tell you that he wishes to see the stupa of treasures opened.'"

All the other Buddhas also dispatched their attendants in the same way.

Thereupon Sakyamuni Buddha, having seen that all the Budhhas of his replicas had already arrived and sat on the lion-like seats, and also having heard that they had told their attendants of their wish to see the stupa of trasures opened, rose from his seat, and went up to the sky. All the four kinds of devotees stood up, joined their hands togheter towards him, and looked up at him with all their hearts. Now he opened the door of the stupa of the seven treasures with the fingers of his right hand. The opening of the door made a sound as large as that of the removal of the bolt and lock of the gate of a great city. At that instant all the congregation saw Many-Treasures Tathagata sitting with his perfect and undestroyed body on the lion-like seat in the stup of treasures as if he had been sitting in dhyana concentration. They also heard him say:

"Excellent, excellent! You, Sakyamuni Buddha, have joyfully expounded the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. I have come to hear this sutra (direct from you)."

Having seen that the Buddha, who had passed away many thousands of billions of kalpas before, had said this, the four kinds of devotees praised him, saying, "We have never seen (such a Buddha as) you before." They strewed heaps of jewelled flowers of heaven to Many-Treasures Buddha and also to Sakyamuni Buddha.

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha in the stupa of treasures offered a half of his seat to Sakyamuni Buddha, saying. "Sakyamuni Buddha, sit here!"

Sakyamuni Buddha entered the stupa and sat on the half seat with his legs crossed. The great multitude, having seen the two Tathagatas sitting cross legged on the lion-like seat in the stupa of the seven treasures, thought, 'The seat of the Buddhas is too high. "Tathagata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!"

Thereupon Sakyamuni Buddha raised them up to the sky by his supernatural powers, and said to the four kinds of devotees with a loud voice:

"Who will expound the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Saha world? Now is the time to do this. I shall enter into Nirvana before long. I wish to transmit this Sutra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma to someone so that this sutra may be preserved."

Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude of Bodhisattvas:

"Good men! Now I will tell you clearly. Suppose those worlds, wheter they were marked with the particles of the dust or not, were smashed into dust. The number of the kalpas which have elapsed since I became the Buddha is one hundred thousand billion nayuta asamkhyas larger than the number of the particles of the dust thus produced. 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.

"Good men! When some people came to me, I saw the strength of the power of their faith and of the other faculties of theirs with the eyes of the Buddha. Then I named myself differently, and told them of the duration of my life differently, according to their capacities. I also said to them, 'Ishall enter into Nirvana.' I expounded the Wonderful Dharma with these various expedients, and caused all living beings to rejoice.

"Good men! When I saw that some people of little virtue and of much defilement were seeking the teachings of the lesser Vehicle, I told them, 'I renounced my family when I was young, and attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (forty and odd years ago).' In reality I became the Buddha in the remotest past as I previously stated. I told them so as an expedient to teach them, to lead them into the Way to Buddhahood.

"Good men! All the sutras that I expounded 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 sutras). I showed my replicas (in some sutras), and my transformations (in other sutras). I described my deeds, and the deeds of others. 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 shich 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 vaious 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 si 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.

"Good men1 The duration of my life, which I obtained by the practice of the Way of Bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It is twice as long as the lenght of time as previously stated. Although I shall never enter into Nirvana, I say to men of little virtue, 'I shall pass away.' I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be cought in the nets of wrong views. If they think that I am always here, and do not think that I shall pass away, they will become too arrogant and lazy to realize the difficulty of seeing me, and they will not respect me. Therefore, I say (to them) expediently, 'Bhiksus, know this! It is difficult to see a Buddha who appears in (this) world.' Why is that? It is because some men of little virtue cannot see me even during many hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas while the others can. Therefore, I say (to them), 'Bhiksus! It is difficult to see me, will adore me, admire me, and plant the roots of good. Therefore, I say (to them), 'I shall pass away,' altough I shall not.

"Good men! All the Buddhas, all the Tathagatas, do the same as I do. (They expund their teachings)for the purpose of saving all living beings. Therefore, (their teachings) are true, not false.

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