President’s Message
Dear Fellow Rotarians,
Very Warm Greetings!
Hope all of you and your near and dear ones are safe and well.
The world, as we know it, is currently going through a serious existential and humanitarian crisis. This grim situation has brought to light some important aspects of our lives which we seemed to have missed out or hitherto ignored -‘family time’ and ‘me time’. We now witness the chirping of birds, dolphins returning to our sea shores, sighting of rare birds, empty spaces, clean air and silence. One hopes that mankind will now consciously value these and nature and environment in general.
One thing that gained significance and attention in the past few months is the way we Indians greet – our ‘Namaste’. In the current situation, this may have been from a health and safety perspective (to greet without physical contact), but there is a spiritual and scientific significance to the gesture, unlike the ‘hand shake’ or the ‘high fives’ gesture, which involves palm-contact between two persons.
In Sanskrit, the word is ‘namah’ + ‘te’ = ‘Namaste’, which means ‘I bow to you’ – my greetings or salutations to you. The word ‘namaha’ can also be literally interpreted as ‘na ma’ (not mine).
Not only is Namaste a beautiful word but more profoundly important is the gesture of ‘Namaste’. When we greet one another with Namaste, it means, ‘may our minds meet’.
To perform Namaste, we place the hands together at the heart chakra, to increase the flow of Divine love, close the eyes, and bow the head. Bowing the head and closing the eyes helps the mind surrender to the Divine in the heart. It can also be performed by placing the hands together in front of the third eye, bowing the head, and then bringing the hands down to the heart. Although, at times, the word ‘Namaste’ is spoken in conjunction with the gesture, it is not necessary to mouth aloud the word while joining the palms, since the gesture itself signifies ‘Namaste’.
A deeper spiritual significance is that it recognises the belief that the life force, the divinity, the Self or the God in me is the same in all. Acknowledging this oneness with the meeting of the palms, we honour the God in the person we meet and see His divinity in every person.
When we remain aware of this significance, our greeting does not just remain a superficial gesture or word but paves the way for a deeper communion with another in an atmosphere of love and respect.
There is a scientific aspect to the gesture of ‘Namaste’. Our palms have a lot of nerve endings, – something that modern medical science has since discovered. The moment one places one’s hands together, our dualities, our likes and dislikes, our cravings and aversions, are levelled out. There is a certain oneness to the expression of who we are. The energies are now functioning as one.
Namaste is widely used in Asia and beyond. It is part of daily greetings in India. One would often get to see this gesture in various Indian classical dance forms, in everyday religious rituals and yoga postures.
With so much being talked about China, one may recall a famous image of Hieun Tsang (Xuan Zang) the Chinese Buddhist monk greeting Emperor Harsh Vardhan with ‘Namaste’ during his visit to India in the medieval times.
Coming back to the present, a recent video of Prince Charles preferring to join hands and bowing slightly to others in greeting, instead of the usual handshake, is doing the rounds on social media.
Also, President Trump in his tweet gleefully explains how he and the Irish Prime Minister joined their respective palms when they met. He referred to a recent visit to India where he did not shake hands with anyone. According to him, India and Japan, where they bow to each other, were ‘ahead of the curve’.
Centuries’ old Indian influence had earlier spread this form of greeting to Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Thailand. Namaste has now gone global.
Stay safe, stay healthy.
Namaste!
Preeti Mehta
President