#नमस्ते
Namaste is a customary greeting when people meet or depart. It is a respectful form of greeting, acknowledging and welcoming a relative, guest or stranger. It is typically spoken but performed wordlessly too.
Namaste is a customary greeting when people meet or depart. It is a respectful form of greeting, acknowledging and welcoming a relative, guest or stranger. It is typically spoken but performed wordlessly too.
It is spoken with a slight bow and hands pressed together. This gesture is called Añjali Mudrā or Pranamasana. In Hinduism it means "I bow to the divine in you". This cultural practice of salutation and valediction originated in the Indian subcontinent.
There's another aspect to this. Your palms have a lot of nerve endings. Actually your hands speak more than your tongue and your voice. There's a whole science of mudras in yoga. Just by holding your hand in certain ways, you can make your whole system function in different ways.
If you are doing your sadhana, every time you bring your palms together, there's a crackle of energy. On the level of your life energy, there is a giving. Only if you are in a state of giving, things around will work out for you.
नमस्ते is derived from Sanskrit and is a combination of the word "Namaḥa" and the enclitic 2nd person singular pronoun "te". The word "Namaḥa" takes the Sandhi form "Namas" before the sound "t". Namaḥa means 'bow' and te means 'to you'.
It is also part of the 16 upacharas used inside temples or any place of formal Puja. This is expressed in ancient Hindu scriptures such as Taittiriya Upanishad, as Atithi Devo Bhav. Namaste is one of the six forms of pranam and in parts of India these terms are used synonymously.
Excavations of Indus civilization have revealed many male and female terracotta figures in Namaste posture. These archeological findings are dated to be between 3000 BC to 2000 BC.
There is no piece of creation without the hand of the creator. The source of creation is operating within every cell and atom. This is why in Indian culture, if you look up at the sky, the culture taught you to bow down. If you look down at the earth, you bow down.
And it is a constant reminder that the source of creation is within you too. If you recognize this, you are paving the way towards your ultimate nature every time you do Namaste.🙏
Stop the handshakes,
And start saying नमस्ते.
Stop the handshakes,
And start saying नमस्ते.
