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In “The Reality of the Gesture”, the latest post in the series on gesture, Mila Khyentse talks about the real nature of gesture, of action.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Feature 14″ _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”695px” custom_margin=”-1px|||||” custom_padding=”0px||49px|||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”|auto|-17px|auto||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ module_class=”column1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”||50px|” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}” padding_tablet=”||50px|” padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding__hover=”|||” padding_phone=”||50px|”][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”0px” quote_border_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” module_id=”up1″ _builder_version=”4.25.1″ text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” link_font=”Montserrat|700||||||#BF9E77|” link_text_color=”#BF9E77″ link_font_size=”18px” link_line_height=”1.8em” quote_font=”Cormorant Garamond|700|||||||” quote_text_color=”#13204d” quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font=”Quattrocento Sans|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#13204d” header_2_line_height=”1.6em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_letter_spacing=”12px” header_5_font=”|300|||||||” header_5_text_color=”#bfbfbf” header_5_letter_spacing=”12px” header_6_font=”|700|||||||” header_6_letter_spacing=”12px” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”29px||29px||true|” hover_enabled=”0″ quote_font_size_tablet=”” quote_font_size_phone=”” quote_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
After \u201cThe dynamics of the gesture<\/span><\/a>\u201d and \u201cI do therefore I am<\/span><\/a>\u201d, this article is the third in the ” spirit of gesture ” series.<\/p>\n If a gesture can be spontaneous and can define me, what about its reality?<\/p>\n We all make gestures, we all have actions, we all give meaning to “our” gestures, or we use these gestures to give meaning to reality. It seems normal, even trivial, completely integrated into our program. We generally never question the nature of the gesture itself.<\/p>\n But what if, as Dzogchen invites us to do, we did?<\/p>\n Questioning the nature of the reality of gesture requires, first and foremost, hindsight and a keen sense of direct observation. First of all, what do we know about an action or gesture? That it is repeated ad infinitum. If we take a typical day in our lives, we will see that it’s a bevy of gestures and actions that follow one another from morning to evening and even into the night. So much so, in fact, that we can’t even remember the trivial gestures we made this morning, drowned out by all the gestures we made that day. The reality of the gesture? A little blurred in the mass… So what I think is real at the moment I’m doing it, experiencing it, fades quickly after it’s done.<\/p>\n “For these two sister traditions, the real nature of gesture is apparent but non-existent<\/strong>.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As for the meaning the gesture seems to carry, does it itself carry it? Does my gesture have meaning, or do I give it meaning? On closer inspection, I realize that it’s my ability to comment, my concepts, that “make” my gesture think, that give it a reality that it may not have at the Base. So what I do is conditioned by what I think.<\/p>\n We all know this: I think about doing, but I don’t do to think. So, thought before action.<\/p>\n What then of the “natural”, unconditioned reality of gesture or action?<\/p>\n It is emptiness, empty of its own existence.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/dzogchentoday.org\/wp-dzogtodaychen-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/la-realite-du-geste.jpg” alt=”dzogchentoday-reality-gesture-2″ title_text=”The Reality of the Gesture” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” width=”67%” module_alignment=”center” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”0px” quote_border_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” module_id=”up2″ _builder_version=”4.25.1″ text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” link_font=”Montserrat|700||||||#000000|” link_text_color=”#BF9E77″ link_font_size=”18px” link_line_height=”1.8em” quote_font=”Cormorant Garamond|700|||||||” quote_text_color=”#13204d” quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font=”Quattrocento Sans|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#13204d” header_2_line_height=”1.6em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_letter_spacing=”12px” header_5_font=”|300|||||||” header_5_text_color=”#bfbfbf” header_5_letter_spacing=”12px” header_6_font=”|700|||||||” header_6_letter_spacing=”12px” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”29px|||||” hover_enabled=”0″ quote_font_size_tablet=”” quote_font_size_phone=”” quote_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s borrow from the Mah\u0101y\u0101na Sutras, the Buddha’s most essential statement on the subject: “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Emptiness is nothing but form, form is nothing but emptiness.” [1]<\/a>\u00a0Thus, for the Buddhist tradition, the primordial, fundamental meaning of gesture, of action, is inherently empty. This is its true “meaning”: it carries nothing, it is not carried by anything, it is not attached to a self, nor is it conditioned by anything else. It is free, pure and spontaneously accomplished. It is enlightenment. That is the nature of gesture.<\/p>\n The Dzogchen is not left out:<\/p>\n “The example is that of a drawing on water: Natural, emergence and liberation are uninterrupted; All emergence is the raw nourishment of primordial evidence-vacuity, All movement is the dynamic of the sovereign Body of Reality, Without trace, naturally pure, ah la la!” [2]<\/a><\/p>\n For these two sister traditions, the real nature of gesture is apparent but non-existent<\/strong>. Being non-existent, it is not limited, and can extend to the farthest reaches of space. Being apparent, its true nature can be seen by all.<\/p>\n It is the awakened activity<\/a>, the gesture, the action, of the great Beings of Enlightenment, the Bodhisattvas.<\/p>\n This is the pure, universal gesture to which we aspire on the path to Great Perfection.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#FFD62F” divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”3px” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_id=”down” _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.4em” link_font=”Montserrat|700|||||||” link_font_size=”16px” link_line_height=”1.4em” min_height=”146.7px” custom_padding=”||0px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [1] https:\/\/www.lotsawahouse.org\/words-of-the-buddha\/heart-sutra<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0BACK<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n [2] <\/strong>You can read the entire text translated by the Dzogchen Today! translation committee here:<\/span>\u00a0The special teaching of the wise and radiant ruler<\/a>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0BACK<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”30px|30px|30px|30px|true|true” border_width_left=”1px” border_color_left=”#f7f2e8″ border_width_left_tablet=”0px” border_width_left_phone=”” border_width_left_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_signup mailchimp_list=”Dzogchen Today!|d54422a3b4″ name_field=”on” title=”Sign up for Our Newsletter” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ form_field_focus_background_color=”#f7f2e8″ header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_font_size=”32px” use_background_color=”off” background_image=”https:\/\/dzogchentoday.org\/wp-dzogtodaychen-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/concreteLight.png” background_layout=”light” width=”100%” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_radii_fields=”on||||” border_width_bottom_fields=”1px” border_color_bottom_fields=”#d9c6a4″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_signup][et_pb_divider color=”#BF9E77″ divider_weight=”3px” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”50px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_sidebar area=”sidebar-1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Quattrocento Sans||||||||” body_text_align=”left” body_text_color=”#13204D” body_font_size=”18px” body_letter_spacing=”1px” body_line_height=”1.8em” background_image=”https:\/\/dzogchentoday.org\/wp-dzogtodaychen-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/concreteBackground.png” text_orientation=”left” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”10px|10px||10px|false|false” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_sidebar][et_pb_sidebar show_border=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_orientation=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_sidebar][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_image=”https:\/\/dzogchentoday.org\/wp-dzogtodaychen-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/concreteBackground.png” parallax=”on” min_height=”709px” background_color_tablet=”#f7f2e8″ background_last_edited=”on|tablet” background_enable_color_tablet=”on” background_enable_image_tablet=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blog fullwidth=”off” posts_number=”3″ include_categories=”2″ excerpt_length=”150″ show_date=”off” offset_number=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ border_width_all=”0px” box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_blur=”31px” box_shadow_spread=”0px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blog][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In “The Reality of the Gesture”, the latest post in the series on gesture, Mila Khyentse talks about the real nature of gesture, of action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,783,74],"tags":[79,781],"class_list":["post-62000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dzogchen-philosophy","category-mind-dzogchen","tag-dzogchen","tag-dzogchen-philosophy"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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