景德傳燈錄 1.3

1.3

Formerly, Śākyamuni, having received the ancient prediction from Dīpaṃkara and being appointed as the next [Buddha] in the Bhadrakalpa, descended in spirit and manifested the teaching for forty-nine years. He opened the gates of the provisional and ultimate, the sudden and gradual, and bequeathed the teachings of the half-word and full-word, the partial and complete. Following people's capacities to awaken them to the principle, there thus arose the distinction of the three vehicles; receiving living beings to benefit sentient creatures, he thereupon ferried across limitless multitudes. His compassionate deliverance was vast indeed! His models and standards were complete and fully prepared! Yet when he entered extinction in the twin grove, he turned his gaze solely toward Kāśyapa; transmitted down through successive generations, it began first from Bodhidharma: not establishing words and letters, directly pointing to the source of the mind; not treading on steps and ladders, straightaway ascending to the Buddha ground. When it reached the five leaves, it began to flourish; dividing into a thousand lamps, it became ever more abundant. Those who reached the treasure place were exceedingly many; those who turned the wheel of the Dharma were not just one. This is indeed the intended import of the Great Hero's entrustment, the way by which the correct Dharma eye circulates, a separate transmission outside the teachings that is inconceivable.