SIGNIFICANCE OF NAMASTE..

"WHY NAMASTE IS BETTER THAN SHAKING HANDS FOR GREETING EACH OTHER.."

1. Namaste or namaskar is the Indian way of greeting each other. Wherever they are on the street, in the house, in public transport, on vacation or on the phone when Hindus meet people they know or strangers with whom they want to initiate a conversation, namaste is the customary courtesy greeting to begin with and often to end with. It is not a superficial gesture or a mere word, and is for all people - young and

old, friends and strangers. 2. The Meaning of Namaste: In Sanskrit the word is namah + te = namaste which means I bow to you - my greetings, salutations or prostration to you. The word namaha can also be literally interpreted as "na ma" (not mine). It has a spiritual significance of negating or reducing one's ego in the presence of another.

3. Spiritual Significance of Namaste: The reason why we do namaste has a deeper spiritual significance. It recognizes 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 honor

the god in the person we meet. 4. The other important feature of reciting Namaste when you greet someone is the holding of the hands together over the heart as though in the gesture of praying. This brings together the two positive and negative polarity energy fields in the body balancing them over the heart. The heart is the strongest source of electrical energy in the physical-etheric body. By balancing your energy there is a union of masculine and feminine polarity in the entire auric field of energy. 5. The psycho-spiritual aspect is engaged because as you bring your hands together at your heart center, literally connecting the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This is a yogic process of unification, the yoking of our active and receptive natures. Thus, you are connecting the heart centers and heart centers in one loop of

energy.

6. Try this on your family and spiritual friends when you see them. It creates a mood of peace, serenity and respect which is far greater than a hand shake or simple hello.