Zen Buddhism 8

1) Read Stryk’s Preface and Berg’s Forward to Crow with No Mouth. How can we consider this a hagiographic representation? What do you (or did you) expect to encounter in Ikkyū’s poetry after reading this preface and why? 

2) Skim the entirety of Crow with No Mouth. What is your experience of reading Zen poetry versus prior genres of Zen writing that we have encountered so far? How does it differ from, say, the treatise of Eisai’s Kōzen Gokokuron in terms of style, force, and potential audience? How is it similar to, say, Mahāyāna verses in the Heart Sūtra?