What do the monk’s hands say?

Is their message meant for us?

His right hand reaches toward regions above — beckons confidently from an arm bow-shaped and true, seems to call down immortality with some authority.

His left hand appearing more plump falls lower,

And now to a woman’s arm it seems attached.

Palm is open — upturned in an attitude of supplication — thumb at a sharp angle

Ready and expecting to receive.

Those hands and their arrangement must point beyond themselves.

But as novices we see no clear, “This means That.”

Could the gestures of the monk portray primal dispositions laid down at the foundation of the world?

Positive/Negative;

Active/Passive;

Inside/Outside;

Energy/Matter;

Wave/Particle;

Self/Other;

Spirit/World;

Being and Becoming?