Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Namaste – A gesture to welcome


Namaste – A gesture an Indian welcomes you with.

Its also greeted as Namaskar – in many homes and namaskarams – in many south Indian homes

It just got me thinking for a while today as to why people greet eachother like this. It’s actually a gesture where you bring both your hands close to the heart chakra, bow your head a bit and greet/ welcome the other person. This gesture is very popular among Hindus, Jains, Buddhists. Its actually a gesture to express deep respect. Though it’s a very ritualistic act for most of us at homes in front of the puja altar it actually means "I respect that divinity within you that is also within me".

We must have done namaste during yoga postures, dance postures and while greeting people. I am sure it does have a secret to open your heart chakra. In current times, when we have so much of precautionary measure being issued for Swine Flu, one of the popular ways to greeting clients at work and friends would be in the form of Namaste, where there is no fear of any virus or flu being passed from one to the another. So next time you want to wish people, just a Namaste would do. Our ancestors were so intelligent that they designed and popularized these gestures without any harm to anyone, but expressive indeed.

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