This little book contains three thought-provoking etudes in which Rainier Maria Rilke, the preeminent poet of the 20th century, appears as... a Zen master. In conversation with Gautama Buddha and a Chan school patriarch, the poet reflects on the futility of worldly glory, his own path to true selfhood, and describes a nightingale-like ecstasy he once experienced. The illustrations include several imaginary Zen-style portraits of Rilke.