Although masters choose their successors when they die, the successors have not necessarily attained enlightenment by that time, but that fact is only known to the master and the successor himself.
師匠が肉体を去るときには少なくとも跡継ぎを選んで行くが、跡継ぎは必ずしも悟りを開いているとは限らず、その事は師匠とその弟子だけが知っている。