Shakyamuni Buddha in the context of "Bhavachakra"

The Lotus Sūtra (Sanskrit: Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit. 'Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma'; traditional Chinese: 法華經; simplified Chinese: 法华经; pinyin: Fǎhuá jīng; lit. 'Dharma Flower Sutra') is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. It is the main scripture on which the Chinese Tiantai and its derivative schools--the Japanese Tendai and Nichiren, Korean Cheontae, and Vietnamese Thiên Thai schools of Buddhism--were established. It is also influential for other East Asian Buddhist schools, such as Chan and Zen. According to the British Buddhologist Paul Williams, "For many Buddhists in East Asia since early times, the Lotus Sūtra contains the final teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha—complete and sufficient for salvation." The American Buddhologist Donald S. Lopez Jr. writes that the Lotus Sūtra "is arguably the most famous of all Buddhist texts," presenting "a radical re-vision of both the Buddhist path and of the person of the Buddha."

Two central teachings of the Lotus Sūtra have been very influential for Mahāyāna Buddhism. The first is the doctrine of the One Vehicle, which says that all Buddhist paths and practices lead to Buddhahood and so they are all actually "skillful means" of reaching Buddhahood. The second is the idea that the lifespan of the Buddha is immeasurable, and that therefore, he did not really pass on into final Nirvana (he only appeared to do so as upāya), but is still active teaching the Dharma.

The Longmen Grottoes (simplified Chinese: 龙门石窟; traditional Chinese: 龍門石窟; pinyin: Lóngmén Shíkū; lit. 'Dragon's Gate Grottoes') or Longmen Caves are some of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples, they are located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of present-day Luoyang in Henan province, China. The images, many once painted, were carved as outside rock reliefs and inside artificial caves excavated from the limestone cliffs of the Xiangshan (香山) and Longmenshan, running east and west. The Yi River (Chinese: 伊河) flows northward between them and the area used to be called Yique (伊阙; 'The Gate of the Yi River'). The alternative name of "Dragon's Gate Grottoes" derives from the resemblance of the two hills that check the flow of the Yi River to the typical "Chinese gate towers" that once marked the entrance to Luoyang from the south.There are as many as 100,000 statues within the 2,345 caves, ranging from 1 inch (25 mm) to 57 feet (17 m) in height. The area also contains nearly 2,500 stelae and inscriptions, hence the name "Forest of Ancient Stelae", as well as over sixty Buddhist pagodas. Situated in a scenic natural environment, the caves were dug from a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) stretch of cliff running along both banks of the river. 30% date from the Northern Wei and 60% from the Tang dynasty, caves from other periods accounting for less than 10% of the total. Starting with the Northern Wei dynasty in 493 AD, patrons and donors included emperors, Wu Zetian, members of the royal family, other rich families, generals, and religious groups.

In 2000 the site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding manifestation of human artistic creativity," for its perfection of an art form, and for its encapsulation of the cultural sophistication of Tang China.

Buddhism in Nepal started spreading since the reign of Ashoka through Indian and Tibetan missionaries. The Kiratas were the first people in Nepal who embraced the Buddha’s teachings, followed by the Licchavis and Newar people.Buddhism is Nepal's second-largest religion, with 8.2% of the country's population, or approximately 2.4 million people, identifying as adherents of Buddhism in a 2021 census.

Shakyamuni Buddha was born in Lumbini in the Shakya Kingdom. Besides Shakyamuni Buddha, there are many Buddha(s) before him who are worshipped in different parts of Nepal. Lumbini lies in present-day Rupandehi District, Lumbini zone of Nepal. Buddhism is the second-largest religion in Nepal. According to 2001 census, 10.74% of Nepal's population practiced Buddhism, consisting mainly of Tibeto-Burman speaking ethnicities and the Newar. However, in the 2011 census, Buddhists made up just 9% of the country's population.

The Decline of the Dharma or Ages of the Dharma, refers to traditional Buddhist accounts of how the Buddhist religion and the Buddha's teaching (Dharma) is believed to decline throughout history. It constitutes a key aspect of Buddhist eschatology and provides a cyclical model of history, beginning with a virtuous age where spiritual practice is very fruitful and ending with an age of strife, in which Buddhism is eventually totally forgotten. Buddhist accounts of this process culminate in the eventual arrival of a new Buddha, Maitreya.

There are various accounts of this process of Dharma decline, which begins with Shakyamuni Buddha's death and continues throughout the generations as society and its knowledge of the Buddha's teachings decline over the centuries.