When all has been said and done,
And all the words have been spoken and written;
When the thinkers have themselves become
a memory,
And the philosopher is nothing but a figure of
cold marble
Gracing the porchway of the college
That has fallen to ruin;
When the gurus and priests and prelates have
exhausted all their rites
And their scrolls have decayed and become
but the stuff for birds to build their nests;
When religion fails, that the font dries up
leaving congregations gaping for thirst;
When even the Dharma itself teeters on the
brink of extinction,
And darkness threatens to prevail —
Still a Lamp shall continue to burn,
Forcing back the shadows,
And lending its light to those
Who bend a wick to its flame;
The all-embracing light of the Nembutsu,
The inextinguishable Name.
Namu Amida Butsu!