Namaste is a greeting that dates to ancient times. It is still widely used today as an acknowledgment of the oneness and awareness of the divine consciousness in all of us. When one speaks “Namaste” to another, they are paying tribute to the divine presence in the other, which is unblemished or unaltered by the programming and conditioning of the individual through exposure to the world. They are greeting and paying tribute to the divine being that dwells within the individual.
The greeting is often accompanied by the folding of hands and a bowed head. When translated, Namaste means, “I bow to you.” It symbolizes to the recipient of the word and gesture that the speaker has a true awareness of the divine presence that exists in each and every one of us.
You may think of it as a salute or tribute to that part of you that is believed to exist beyond shape and form. Some call it your spirit, or soul; some call it consciousness. Regardless of what you call it, Namaste is a word symbolic of one’s awareness of the divine, the grace, the unaltered perfection in each of us.
The student spoke to the teacher saying, “There are moments I am aware that I have had a hard time loving my fellow humans. I identify their behaviors as ignorant (not knowing), cruel, selfish, hurtful, etc.
“My lack of consciousness causes me to get pulled into their negativity and I lash out with anger or sarcastic behavior, which only feeds the negative situation.
“Upon reflection, I regroup, meditating on my reactions and my role in the situation, only to find myself continuing to resent them for pulling me into their drama, as if it were their fault. In the end, I search to forgive myself, returning to apologize to them for my negative reaction to their negativity.”
The teacher paused, letting the student’s words sink into the moment.
The teacher folded their hands as if to pray, and bowed their head and said, “Namaste. Love that which dwells beneath their programming and conditioning.
Love that part of them, the divine being that sits under their working minds waiting for conscious awareness to come to the forefront of their lives. Love the divine being they are, which is beyond word, mind, and form.”
With folded hands and a bowed head, the student replied, “Namaste.”
A simple meditation… try it out here and there when it comes to your mind, or not. Focus your attention on love. Unconditional love. Indescribable love. Then begin to think of everyone you know or have known, past or present, people whose name you know, even people whose names you do not know.
Family, friends, acquaintances, teachers; those who have been kind, those who have not, etc.
Then, either say in your mind or write down (writing can be very powerful) the words, “I love you” so and so, reminding yourself you are loving the being in them that dwells there, the conscious self.
You love them beyond their behaviors that have resulted from their life experiences. You love that divine part of them that has been stifled and diminished by the workings of their conditioned, programmed minds. Be sure to include, “I love myself.”
Namaste. It’s a new day, your day. ••
