Raven 8: Turning Points

Love and hate, killing and giving life, hunting and being hunted, growling and shooting, all empty, all one. Nothing is everywhere and everything is nowhere. Please explain this without using words -- of any language.

Case

Raven sat with Brown Bear at zazen early one morning, and afterward she asked, "Why don't we study turning points that are relevant for the forest today?"
Brown Bear said, "Ask me a relevant question."
Raven asked, "Does the bear hunter have Buddha-nature?"
Brown Bear growled, "Mu."
"There you go," Raven said. "Mu is an old Asian word."
Brown Bear said, "That's the difficulty."

Verse

Cancer, maybe. Or heart disease, or a traffic accident, or "natural causes."
Something is coming for you, loaded for bear.
Bang! As old as it is new.
Bang! The turning point.

Case by Robert Aitken; introduction and verse by Meredith Garmon

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