ritual and zen

1) In Kera Yoshishige’s accounts of the life and lifestyle of Ryōkan, what do you notice about the selection of moments? Do they give a cohesive picture of Ryōkan? What picture is evoked for you of this Zen master? 

2) What do you make of entry #57? Why would Kera Yoshishige feel obligated to include this advisory in his account? What does it do for you, the reader, if anything? 

3) How is Ryōkan’s itinerant life represented in his poetry? Is poetry a “clearer” expression of such a life? Why or why not? Is poetry a “clearer” expression of Zen principles? Why or why not?