六祖大師法寶壇經 1.149

1.149

大師，七月八日忽謂門人曰：「吾欲歸新州，汝等速理舟楫。」大眾哀留甚堅。師曰：「諸佛出現，猶示涅槃。有來必去，理亦常然。吾此形骸，歸必有所。」眾曰：「師從此去，早晚可回。」師曰：「葉落歸根，來時無口。」又問曰：「正法眼藏，傳付何人？」師曰：「有道者得，無心者通。」又問：「後莫有難否？」師曰：「吾滅後五六年，當有一人來取吾首。聽吾記曰：『頭上養親，口裏須餐，遇滿之難，楊柳為官。』」又云：「吾去七十年，有二菩薩從東方來，一出家、一在家。同時興化，建立吾宗，締緝伽藍，昌隆法嗣。」問曰：「未知從上佛祖應現已來，傳授幾代？願垂開示。」師云：「古佛應世已無數量，不可計也。今以七佛為始，過去莊嚴劫，毘婆尸佛、尸棄佛、毘舍浮佛；今賢劫，拘留孫佛、拘那含牟尼佛、迦葉佛、釋迦文佛。是為七佛。

On the eighth day of the seventh month, the Great Master suddenly said to his disciples, "I wish to return to Xinzhou; prepare the boats and oars quickly." The assembly pleaded earnestly and firmly for him to stay. The Master said, "Even when buddhas appear, they still manifest nirvāṇa. That there must be a departing where there is a coming is an ordinary principle. This physical frame of mine must have a place to return." The assembly said, "From this departure of yours, Master, how soon can you return?" The Master said, "When leaves fall they return to the root; when I came I had no mouth." They also asked, "To whom is the treasury of the True Dharma eye transmitted?" The Master said, "Those who possess the Way obtain it; those without mind penetrate it." They also asked, "Will there not be difficulties later?" The Master said, "Five or six years after my extinction, a person will come to take my head. Listen to my prediction: 'Above his head he supports his parents; / in his mouth he must have food. / Meeting with the disaster of Man, / Yang and Liu will be officials.'" He also said, "Seventy years after my passing, two bodhisattvas will come from the east, one a monastic and one a householder. Arising and transforming at the same time, they will establish my lineage, restore saṅghārāmas, and make the Dharma heirs flourish." They asked, "We do not know how many generations have been transmitted since the buddhas and patriarchs responded and manifested from the past? We pray you will deign to instruct us." The Master said, "Ancient buddhas responding to the world are already innumerable and cannot be counted. Now taking the seven buddhas as the beginning: in the past Glorious Kalpa, Vipaśyin Buddha, Śikhin Buddha, and Viśvabhū Buddha; in the present Auspicious Kalpa, Krakucchanda Buddha, Kanakamuni Buddha, Kāśyapa Buddha, and Śākyamuni Buddha. These are the seven buddhas.