The Gatha of the Idiot Who Plays Ball. An Absurd Zen Story

“The Song of the Idiot” is one of the paradoxical poems by R. M. Rilke (1875—1926), the greatest modernist poet of the 20th century. After reading this funny book, the reader will know what this poem has in common with Zen’s sense of nonsense. As the story goes, when the famous Master Tho Idi heard this “Song”, he exclaimed, “If I am asked about the Sense of all sense, I will bounce like a fool’s ball”. The book is illustrated with drawings by Zen artists of the Edo period.