Namaste – I greet the god within you

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Namaste is both a spoken Indian expression and a symbolic gesture that people use when greeting each other or in parting. Pronounced “na-ma-stay,” the term derives from Sanskrit and literally means “I bow to you.” It’s more commonly translated as “the divine light in me honors the divine light in you” or “the God within me greets the God within you.” Namaste is the recognition that we are all equal and share a common divinity.

Despite this greeting, however, there is still the caste division in Indian society and it would appear that one internal god is higher than another. Or how can we otherwise understand the castes and especially the untouchability of some groups in Indian society?

If Namaste is really to be the recognition that we are all equal and share a common divinity then untouchability cannot be tolerated and, in the way that the Mahatma advocated, it must be deposited to the garbage heap of history.

Namaste!

© 2013