What Does Namaste Mean?
February 18, 2010
Namaste is the greeting we use at the end of yoga class. What does it mean? And how can the use of this word improve our lives, our relationships, and the state of our world?
This month Yoga Journal Magazine (March 2010 ) featured an article on Pastor Eddie D. Smith Sr. who introduced the word ‘Namaste’ to his congregation in Georgia. He saw how so many of the young black men in his community were killing each other. He instructed them to begin to greet each other with the word ‘Namaste’ which means: “The Divinity within me salutes the Divinity within you.” He suggested that by seeing the spark of Divine in one’s self and in the other, a natural respect arises.
Our yoga practice invites us into a direct experience of connecting to a deeper part of ourselves where we feel our own Divinity, worthiness, and fundamental essence. From this connection to The Source of Life within us it becomes easier to connect to that same place within the other. To paraphrase Pastor Smith: If Namaste were really understood, the world would be a better, more peaceful and safer place.
Click on the link below to watch the (2 min.) video clip of Pastor Eddie D. Smith teaching his congregation the word Namaste.
