This little book is the third in my series on Buddha and Rilke. The book contains three thought-provoking etudes, which may seem rather bizarre to the reader. The point is that the poet appears in them as…

a Zen Master.

In the first etude, the poet talks to an unknown patriarch of the Chan school about how there is no doctrine to follow in order to gain an understanding of one’s original nature. In the second etude, the poet rejects The Buddha’s Discourses; he reflects on his own and only his own journey towards his authentic Self. In the third, the poet has a conversation with Gautama Buddha and his disciple about… the nightingale’s paradise and silence.

Each etude features Rilke’s authentic voice. All his words are quotations from his letters; they are given in my translation. The sayings of Gautama Buddha are taken from The Gospel of Buddha by Paul Carus (1852—1919) (The Gutenberg Library). The Patriarch’s remarks are my interpretation of some statements made by the great Chan teachers Hui Neng and Linji Yixuan.

To make the text easier to read, speech marks have been removed from all dialogues.

The book contains a large number of images, including some public domain works by Odilon Redon (1840—1916). As for my own drawings, among them the reader will find some fantasy-like Zen portraits of Rilke. One such portrait appears on the cover of the book.

Finally, I would like to point out that the Buddhist theme in Rilke’s work is inexhaustible, and that every facet of this great theme will undoubtedly be a source of surprise and inspiration to the sincere seeker of truth.

There Are No Teachings

…be ye lamps unto yourselves. Rely on yourselves, and do not rely on external help.

– Gautama Buddha

Rilke and the Great Masters of the Chan School, Hui Neng and Linji Yixuan

To Be Outside All Doctrine

What I teach requires you to do only one thing – not to accept at face value the mistaken opinions of others.

– Linji Yixuan

Despite Rainer Maria Rilke’s outwardly quiet and prosperous life, his creative journey as a poet was undoubtedly marked by a relentless and intense search for his true self. And in this search, whatever luminaries may have shown the poet the way – Rodin, Buddha or any other great teacher – he always found within himself the spiritual strength to rise above himself and his idol, so as not to fall under the influence of other people’s beliefs and ideas, and to preserve the ability of his mind to remain open and clear.

*

The intransigence with which the poet defended his spiritual independence is evidenced at least by the eloquent fact that even in the last days of his life, when he was already suffering painfully from an incurable form of leukaemia, Rilke asked his doctor to spare him any narcotics so that he could keep his consciousness extremely present and unclouded – ́in all its living fullnesś – and thus die his own death.