Monday, February 21, 2005

Namaste!

"Namaste! (from the Sanskrit word, Namaskaar, meaning 'I honor the divine in you'.)

I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light, and of peace.
When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, We are One." Unknown Source


My friend Paula Pedroso from Brazil sent me this explanation of the meaning of the greeting "Namaste" that she uses in all of her emails and that she heard used in Nepal. She said, "Imagine that here, we just say "Hi!" and in Nepal they greet each other with the depth of this greeting!"

I was reminded of a greeting I had heard from Africa that literally means "I see you." How many of us do not even get to see our neighbors in this country? How many of us live the lives of "quiet desperation" that Thoreau described? Imagine how much more honored we would be if someone would simply say "Yes, I do see you there!"

We live in a society where we climb into our cars and then open our garage doors, so that we won’t be accosted by any unexpected souls. Our youth are shipped off to pre-school or kindergarten as soon as possible and our elderly are quickly placed into assisted living facilities. People who are seriously ill are viewed as guilty of some sin. If you don’t believe that, you have never had to justify your illness to an insurance company. Our culture is dysfunctional, and it may well be because we honor the wrong things.

Namaste!

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

namaste :)

that reminded me of the guy (oh no, who was it) in 1gl who says: i'm here! you have to deal with me, now. i'm HERE! you have to see me!
something along that line, if you remember. that part always gives me goose bumps.
:)

3/17/2005 04:25:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can understand what you are saying, i identify with your feelings. Its something that i have been pondering over myself for quite some time now. It is upsetting for me to see a lack of nurturing for the soul of others and also for the inability of us to want to see the happiness or suffering of others around us. Our culture is disfunctional and i myself dont even have a clear understanding anymore of what is normal, or eithical, or even right from wrong in some cases. So much is caught up in money making, big business and trying to play it safe and no bringing attention to ourselfs and be singled out. I know nothing of what you said included violence but it reminded me of a quote i once read

Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.
-Henri Nouwen

I think a lot of what is going wrong in the world has a great deal to do with a lack of sharing, and sharing being all forms, but most importantly sharing who we are, and sharing our selfs with others. I suppose we need to learn how to trust again before we can share.

3/26/2005 12:27:00 AM  

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