Namaste ..."The light within"
The first time that I became aware of the word NAMASTE and learned of it’s significance was in the 1990’s when my friend Douglas and I visited a dear friend who was married to an Indian man named Praveen.
She
was
American
by birth but spent 8 years living in India when she and her husband
first married. Although the bulk of their married life had been in
the United States they still retained their Indian way of life. I had
gotten to know her very well and was used to taking my shoes off
whenever I was at her house. I had also enjoyed many an evening
sampling delicious Indian fare and learning how to eat “Indian
style”.
However,
when I visited with Douglas I was intrigued to see that both he and
our host, Praveen, put their hands together, made a small bow to each
other and murmured “namaste”. When we were alone I asked Douglas
about it and he said it is a salutation used in the Hindu religion.
Evidently it can mean many things but to Douglas it meant “I honor
the Spirit in you which is also in me”.
Now
all
three have
passed on but every time I see a person using the namaste greeting it
reminds me of them and
it reminds me that it is
just one more example of how life’s experiences have taught me that
we are all different … but, at the core we are all the same.
posted by Goldendaze-Ginnie at 12:30 AM
6 Comments:
Namaste, Ginnie.
So true! Namaste, Ginnie.
How many times I have seen that and wondered. Thank you for the explanation which is wonderful.
Our little exercise group that met once a week to exercise on our own (without a teacher, in other words) would always end with "Namaste" and bowing our heads to one another. One woman in a wheelchair liked it so much, that I would turn it over to her. She would have us breathe in while raising our hands/arms in a circle over our heads, then breathe out while bringing our hands (palms touching) to our chests, saying, "Namaste" to each other as we bowed our heads. That all went on hiatus in March 2020 with our first lockdown here. Our fitness center has still not re-opened, and all of us from our little group still mourn our loss, which we share when we happen to pass in the halls where we live. Oh, I forgot to mention that all of us in the group of friends are Jewish or Christian. I knew about "Namaste" because I taught "Religions of the World" at a community college for years. Namaste, Ginny.
My preference is historical Fiction too, Bonnie.
Namaste! I first heard and participated in this greeting in a yoga class years ago.
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