Namaste...I bow to you.  It sounds so simple. It is interesting that this gesture can make people feel so incredibly uncomfortable...and I think this discomfort comes from more than that these folks are unfamiliar with the language Sanskrit, or the mudra made when your hands are brought together. I think that it makes people uncomfortable to feel someone seeing right through their shell to see that light within them. I am not positive, but I think that many fear, if this person sees the light within me, then they must be able to see the imperfections within too. It is the light, the spirit, the divine within me that seeks, sees and bows to that same light, spirit, divine within you. It can be a very powerful salutation. 

I remember the first time I felt the greeting namaste years ago.  I had heard it said at the end of many yoga classes, and responded politely. This was different.  This instructor said namaste and made eye contact with as many participants as possible...one after another she said it to the individual not the class. I felt her authenticity and felt my own understanding of the salutation grow exponentially in that moment.  Since then I have worked on how to provide opportunity for others to feel namaste, rather than just say it.

Last week I was finally convinced to see the movie Avatar.  I was sure I would not enjoy it...never been a fan of Sci-fi. Had someone told me it was about yogic philosophy, I would have seen it long ago! I loved it and am grateful for this medium of spreading so many positive messages holding such huge popularity. The connectedness of our world, not just throughout humanity but also the environment as a whole; our responsibility to slow down and listen to each other, to mother nature, to the fellow creatures sharing this earth; the benefit of taking time to learn about each other. The Na'vi greeting used in Avatar, 'I see you', could not express and sum up these messages any better. I see you. Not your shell, not the mask(s) you wear, not my assumptions of you, not what I want for you, etc. I see through all that and reverently salute wonderfully, beautifully, unique you..or in sanskrit, Namaste.

Look around you and try to feel the lines connecting you to the people and the space around you.  Can you relax your eyes enough (just like when looking at one of those paintings when another image pops out at you) to see the connection and lose the outlines separating you? If you touch the bark of a tree, can you close your eyes and breathe together...as you exhale carbon dioxide, feel the tree breathe it in, as the tree breathes out oxygen, feel your lungs expand with your inhalation.

I see you. I bow to you.

Photo Props: Sigi K via Flikr