There must come a time in our life when

We should erase

All the information in our identity cards 

That we always believed to be true:

Name, gender, marital status, and physical features.

And quietly ask ourselves:

Who am I?

There must come a time in our life when

We should forget 

All the roads we have walked down,

And all the worlds we are familiar with:

       Hometowns, families, workplaces, journeys.

And gently ask ourselves:

Where did I come from?

There must come a time in our life when

We should let go 

Of all things that we clung to 

And pursued in life:

Love, fame, fortune, dreams, and life.

And deeply ask ourselves:

Where am I going?

There must come a time in our life when

We should take a really good look 

At the world we know,

And the places we’ve always lived in:

The mountains, lands, rivers, and sunlight.

And seriously ask ourselves:

Is this world real?

There must come a time in our life when

We will be separated 

Forever from our loved ones:

Spouses, children, parents, and friends.

And sadly ask ourselves:

How can we be forever together?

There must come a time in our life when

We should overturn 

All the beliefs we once held:

Science, common sense, and knowledge.

And truthfully ask ourselves:

How can we find the immutable truth?

After asking these questions again and again,

The door of faith opens in front of us.

The light of Amitabha Buddha 

Shines into our hearts,

Quietly cultivating our faith,

Silently calling us back home to the Pure Land.

There must come a time in our life when

We should renounce all mundane concepts

For the sake of the most pressing matter 

Of birth and death, and

Recite Namo Amitabha Buddha, 

Making this life perfect.

Through a lifetime of Amitabha-recitation

We attain the life of a Buddha.

(Translated and edited by the Pure Land School Translation Team)