First Days Of Spring - The Sky Comments

about Santōka's begging: when someone mentioned this contrast -with Ryōkan's begging- to Santōka, he replied: ''My passions are too deep to do such a thing. If I don't have a begging bowl, I can't live. Therefore, I never forget my bowl.''

Ryōkan Oshō, the famous beggar-monk-poet of Echigo, frequently left his begging bowl by the side of the road while he tossed a ball with the village children, played marbles with the local geishas, or picked flowers.