What does the word "Namaste" Mean?

> I have been told it means something like to
> pay homage to the inner light in all living things.
> Can you help me with this???
> sgray@javanet.com

Namaste is a form of greeting, comparable to shaking hands.


"Shake hands and come out fighting." It's the referee's
final counsel to two pugilists about to beat each other's
brains out with clenched fists. Even outside the ring, a
handshake can be a little off-putting. When one returns
to the West from an extended sojourn in Bharat or
elsewhere in Asia, the hand suddenly thrust forward can
seem more ominous than friendly, especially if the hand
offered is that of a stranger. Of course, one soon
acclimates and the menacing aspect of this salutation subsides.

Perhaps that moment of intimidation derives from the history of
the handshake. According to one anthropologist, the handshake evolved in medieval Europe, during the times of knights. It seems not all were laudable Lancelots or gallant Gallahads. More than a few would approach opponents with concealed weapons and when within striking distance do the needful, driving dagger or striking sword into the unguarded paladin.

To fend off the fear of a foe's foul foil, knights took to offering their open and visibly empty hand to each other. It was a kind of surety, a gesture of trust which said, "See, I am unarmed, so you may safely let me approach." As the story goes, soon the gesture itself took on meaning and the less noble, less lethal man on the street adopted the handshake as the proper way to greet others.

In much of the world today, people do not shake hands when they meet. They may hug formally or kiss one another on the cheek, as in eastern Europe and Arab states. They may bow softly, eyes turned to the ground, as in Japan and China. The Hawaiian greeting, termed "honi," consists of placing the nostril gently beside that of the person greeted, a kind of sharing of breath, which is life and Pran(a).

For, Hindu(s), of course, the greeting of choice is "Namaste," the two hands pressed together and held near the heart with the head gently bowed as one says, "Namaste." Thus it is both a spoken greeting and a gesture, a Mantr(a) and a Mudr(a). The prayerful hand position is a Mudr(a) called Anjali, from the root Anj, "to adorn, honor, celebrate or anoint." The hands held in union signify the oneness of an apparently dual cosmos, the bringing together of spirit and matter, or the self meeting the Self. It has been said that the right hand represents the higher nature or that which is divine in us, while the left hand represents the lower, worldly nature.

In Sanskrit "Namas" means, "bow, obeisance, reverential
salutation." It comes from the root Nam, which carries meanings of bending, bowing, humbly submitting and becoming silent. "Te" means "to you." Thus "namaste" means "I bow to you." the act of greeting is called "Namaskaram," "Namaskara" and "Namaskar" in the varied languages of the subcontinent.

Namaste has become a veritable icon of what is Bharatiye. Indeed,
there must be a Bharatiye law which requires every travel
brochure. calendar and poster to include an image of someone with
palms pressed together, conveying to the world Bharat's
hospitality, spirituality and graceful consciousness. You knew
all that, of course, but perhaps you did not know that there can
be subtle ways of enhancing the gesture, as in the West one might
shake another's hand too strongly to impress and overpower them or too briefly, indicating the withholding of genuine welcome.

In the case of Namaste, a deeper veneration is sometimes
expressed by bringing the fingers of the clasped palms to the
forehead, where they touch the brow, the site of the mystic Third
Eye. A third form of namaste brings the palms completely above
the head, a gesture said to focus consciousness in the subtle
space just above the Brahma-randhra, the aperture in the Crown
Chakr(a). This form is so full of reverence it is reserved for
the Almighty and the holiest of gurus.

It is always interesting, often revealing and occasionally
enlightening to muse about the everyday cultural traits and
habits each nation and community evolves, for in the little
things our Big ideas About Life find direct and personal
expression. Take, for instance, the different ways that American
and Japanese tool-makers approach the same task. A saw for
cutting lumber, if designed in the U.S., is made in such a way
that the carpenter's stroke away from his body does the cutting.

But in japan saws are engineered so that cutting takes place as
the carpenter draws the saw toward himself. A small detail, but
it yields a big difference.

The American saw can, if leaned into, generate more power, while
the Japanese saw provides more control and refinement in the cut,
requiring surprisingly less effort. Each has its place in the
global toolbox. each speaks -- like the handshake and namaste
greetings -- of an underlying perception of man's relationship
with things.

In the West we are outgoing, forceful, externalized. We are told
by Ma bell to "reach out and touch somebody." We are unabashedly
acquisitive, defining our progress in life by how much we have --
how much wealth, influence, stored up knowledge, status or
whatever. Every culture exhibits these traits to some extent, but
in the east Mother is there to remind us, "Reach in and touch the
Self." here we are taught to be more introspective, more
concerned with the quality of things than their quantity, more
attuned with the interior dimension of life.

So, there you have it, the whole of Eastern and Western culture
summed up in the handshake which reaches out horizontally to
greet another, and Namaste which reaches in vertically to
acknowledge that, in truth, there is no other.

Joe Maharaj