Raven 14: The Pivot

We have various ways of describing. Sometimes we describe the function of a thing. (What does it do? What is its purpose?) Or we describe its material. (What it is made of?) Or its aesthetics. (How beautiful is it?) Its origin (How did it come to be?) or its form. Taking away all the different types of description, what are you?

Case

After zazen one evening Porcupine asked, "We examine turning points as our practice. What is the pivot on which this study turns?"
Raven said, "The large intestine."
Porcupine asked, "So, it's all physical?"
Raven said, "All physical, all mental, all moral, all spiritual, all void, all material."
Porcupine thought about this and finally asked, "What's the upshot?"
Raven said, "Trout in the pool, lilies on the bank."

Verse

Everywhere: things in their place.
Everywhere: things turning --
themselves, each other,
thee and me.
Nowhere: a place that isn't a turning point.

Case by Robert Aitken; introduction and verse by Meredith Garmon

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