I offer my youth and my life to the Buddha-Dharma.

I entrust myself fully to Amitābha Buddha.

I look back to Prince Siddhārtha in days gone by.

Leaving the Eastern Gate, he met an old man.

Leaving the Southern Gate, he met a sick man.

Leaving the Western Gate, he met a dead man.

The Prince was struck with dread and fell into deep reflection:

"All that is born must grow old.

All that is born must fall ill.

All that is born must die.

My father, my mother, my wife, my son, and I—

none of us can escape it.

How can one be free of aging, sickness, and death?"

I offer my youth and my life to the Buddha-Dharma.

I entrust myself fully to Amitābha Buddha.

I look back to Prince Siddhārtha in days gone by.

Leaving the Northern Gate, he met a śramaṇa.

With a radiant countenance and a serene bearing,

the Prince's eyes lit up:

"Ah! This is the presence of one who is liberated.

This is the mark of one who has found the Way.

He is the example we follow.

He is the standard toward which we strive.

His Dharma will surely free us from the suffering of birth and death;

his Path will surely lead us to the bliss of Nirvāṇa."

I offer my youth and my life to the Buddha-Dharma.

I entrust myself fully to Amitābha Buddha.

The śramaṇa's kāṣāya robe is a resplendent Dharma-banner,

leading the Prince onto the great path to Buddhahood.

From that moment,

the Buddha's light has shone upon the billion worlds,

the waters of the Dharma have flowed on and on, never running dry.

From that moment,

Amitābha has delivered beings countless as the Ganges' sands,

and the gate of the Pure Land has opened, never to close again.

I offer my youth and my life to the Buddha-Dharma.

I entrust myself fully to Amitābha Buddha.

I look back to the Venerable Śāriputra in days gone by.

With his two hundred and fifty disciples,

he studied the non-Buddhist paths,

toiling in his practice, suffering in his search for liberation.

As he walked along the road, he met the bhikṣu Aśvajit—

a single kāṣāya draped over his shoulders,

serene, still, and content.

"Ah! This is the presence of one who is liberated.

This is the mark of one who has found the Way."

So he stepped forward and reverently asked:

"Who is your teacher? What Dharma does he teach?"

The bhikṣu Aśvajit replied:

"All things arise from causes and conditions,

all things cease when those causes and conditions end.

My teacher, the Buddha, the Great Śramaṇa,

always proclaims this truth."

And so Śāriputra, with all his disciples,

took refuge together at the feet of the Buddha,

and became the disciple foremost in wisdom.

I offer my youth and my life to the Buddha-Dharma.

I entrust myself fully to Amitābha Buddha.

It was a single resplendent robe

that delivered Prince Siddhārtha;

it was a single robe of serene grace

that delivered the Venerable Śāriputra.

Someone who has gone forth is a living Dharma-banner:

speaking the Dharma, they deliver beings;

in silent presence alone, they deliver beings still.

Someone who has gone forth is a living Dharma-banner:

because of you, the Dharma is handed on;

because of you, boundless merit takes root.

I offer my youth and my life to the Buddha-Dharma.

I entrust myself fully to Amitābha Buddha,

bearing the mantle of the Tathāgata,

nurturing the seed of Buddhahood,

spreading far and wide the Pure Land teaching,

and delivering the multitude of beings.

Namo Amitābha Buddha!

Namo Amitābha Buddha!

Namo Amitābha Buddha!

(Translated by Householder Fojin)