I discovered the word namaste (pronounced Naa-ma-stay) several years ago in a Yoga class I was attending. When I looked up the meaning of the word, I was overwhelmed by it’s simple power of gesture and the respect and humility that could exist within one simple word.

The gesture also called a mudra of namaste is made by bringing both palms of the hands together in front of the heart, and gently bowing the head. In the simplest interpretation this gesture together with the word namaste is a humble greeting which is given heart to heart.

The word namaste is derived from two Sanskrit words, nama and te. Te means you, and nama meants to bow to another in submission and humility. In essence this is a greeting of equality and complete humility, which says, “I am neither above nor below you.” The word nama when split into two once again becomes na, meaning negation and ma meaning mine. Thus the meaning becomes “not mine.” This meaning combined with the rest of the word is a rejection of personal ego.

Thus namaste is a greeting based on three levels, the mental, the physical and the verbal.

When namaste is used as a greeting it begins with mental submission or surrender of self. This is also the devotion that is expressed before a chosen deity or bhakti. When one completely surrenders the self to another, they are believed to gain the qualities of the person or deity to whom they are submitting. So, when someone greets another with namaste, they are recognizing the divine spark in that person. And, because the greeter is gaining these divine qualities, namaste allows the greeter to become aware of the divine spark that is held within one’s own self.

To put it simply, namaste means:

“The God in me greets the God in you. The Spirit in me meets the same Spirit in you.”

Namaste recognizes the equality of everyone, and pays honor and respect to the sacredness of all things.

When the word namaste is combined with the accompanying gesture, it becomes rich in symbolism. The proper way to perform a namaste greeting requires the blending of the five fingers of each hand exactly with one another. The five fingers of the left hand represent the five senses of karma. The fingers of the right hand represent the five organs of knowledge. This combination signifies that karma and action must be in harmony, governed by rightful knowledge, which in turn, prompts us to think and act in a correct manner.

The combining of all the fingers represents the number ten. Ten is a symbol of perfection and the mystical number of completion and unity. Ten is also the number of the Biblical commandments revealed to Moses by God. Ten was seen as a symbol of creation by the Pythagoreans, and the Chinese regarded ten as a perfectly balanced number.

The gesture of bringing together the two hands, also recognizes the duality in all things and denotes our effort to bring these two forces together, ultimately leading to a higher unity state of Oneness. Some of the dual elements which the word namaste brings into Oneness and unity are:

* Man and Woman
* Heaven and Earth
* Theory and Practice
* God and Goddess
* Sun and Moon
* Pleasure and Pain
* Thought and Feeling
* Mind and Body

The word namaste when spoken becomes a mantra. The vibratory sacred sound of the word is believed to be a mystical and creative energy of change that is in complete harmony with the vibrations of the entire cosmos.

The position of the hands during the gesture of namaste can also be seen as a knife that cuts through all differences that may exist, and thus go directly to the shared sense of Oneness that exists within people from all races, religions, cultures and creeds.

Namaste in some senses can be compared to a handshake, since both gestures symbolize that both parties are unarmed and come in peace. But, namaste is not always a person to person exchange like a handshake. The greeting of Namaste can touch the spirit of large crowds of people in a single gesture.

Namaste.