The people of the "the One Who Attained Long Ago"

"It appears that these Four Bodhisattvas are people who are the disciples of the Master of Teachings Lord Shakya since kalpas as many as the dust of countries touched or not by the dust of five hundreds of tens of trillions of nayutas of assamkheyas of great trichiliocosms (gohyaku jinden go)  and who also, from their first arising of the Bodhi Mind, have not adhered to other Buddhas nor have they required the instruction of the Two Doctrines [the Manifestation and the Original].  Tendai says, "He only sees the issuing of vows from the Bodhisattvas emerging from the Earth" and so on.  He also says, "These are My disciples; they should spread My Dharma" and so on.  Myoraku says, "The child spreads the father's Dharma" and so on. Tao-hsien says, "From the fact that the Dharma is the Dharma of the One Who Attained Long Ago, therefore He assigns it to the people of the One Who Attained Long Ago" and so on.  It is these Five Characters  Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo  that He yields to these Four People." (STN, v. 1, 783-784).