The forgetful mind, in need of guidance,
Is often lonely, until it finds –
a voice, which calms the waves of doubt.

Your past, enveloped by war and sorrow –
transformed and made joyous by your presence.
Exiled from home, you found home everywhere.

Through your teaching, spoken or written,
liberation’s path became clearer –
especially to those who grew around a different light.

And so, life to me is like a guiding poem,
read through your voice, it makes The Way clearer:
just as a lotus cannot grow without mud,
then awakening cannot come without suffering.

by Evan Clarke of the Black Mountain Zen Centre sangha, January 2022