Raven 19: Essential Nature

Do you have an "essence"? Or are you a free-floating network of attributes?

Case

Early one morning Woodpecker flew in for a special meeting with Raven and asked, "I've heard about essential nature, but I'm not sure what it is. Is it something that can be destroyed?"
Raven said, "That's really a presumptuous question."
Woodpecker ruffled her feathers a little and asked, "You mean I shouldn't question the matter?"
Raven said, "You presume there is one."

Verse

Kidneys and intestines and lungs and heart,
Liver secreting bile and brain secreting thoughts:
This is called "inside."
Trees and chipmunks, rooms in buildings, people,
The kitchen sink and the Hudson River:
This is called "outside."
Inside and outside, essential nature everywhere,
Nowhere to be found.

Case by Robert Aitken; introduction and verse by Meredith Garmon

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