Namaste!

Category: New Discoveries

When we met our professor for the first time last week, I learned an Indian gesture or term that I could or rather the class could never forget. Up to now, when we see each other in the corridors and hallways or feel stressed due to our schoolwork and hospital duty, we greet each other "namaste my friend". According to our professor, the gesture of namaste is a simple act made by bringing together both palms of the hands before the heart, and lightly bowing the head. In the simplest of terms it is accepted as a humble greeting straight from the heart and reciprocated accordingly.

When I did my research, I found out that Namaste is a composite of the two Sanskrit words, nama, and te. Te means you, and nama has the following connotations:to bend, to bow, to sink, to incline or to stoop.All these suggestions point to a sense of submitting oneself to another, with complete humility.

Simply put, namaste intimates the following: "The God in me greets the God in youThe Spirit in me meets the same Spirit in you'. In other words, it recognizes the equality of all, and pays honor to the sacredness of all since we are all God's creation and we are created in His own image and likeness.

Written By: Lani Diana Santos

Date: February 2006