六祖大師法寶壇經 1.149

1.149

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.