I have seen the Springs and Autumns of eighty-three years go by.

When once I was taken by how utterly uselessly my alloted

time had passed, and when an overwhelming sadness at how

I had been fortunate enough to have been born as a human

and yet I had nothing to show for it, nothing to pass on as

a memento to future generations overcame me, and that I would be

likely to end my life this way, I shaved my head and

put on the clothes of a more somber hue.

And now that I am in the Way, be it ever so

slightly apparent from my outward appearance,

my heart has still not changed a wit for the better.

(Translation by KLR)