The Namaste gesture represents the belief that there is a divine glow within each one of us.
The gesture is the recognition of one’s soul in the other. “Nama” means greeting or bow, “as” means me and “te” means you. Hence, Namasté literally means “The God who dwells in me salutes the God who is in you”.
To perform the Namaste gesture, we place our palms together in the center of our chest, close our eyes and slightly tilt our head without being accompanied by words.
You often close your eyes, then bend your spine, as a sign of respect for the divinity that fills all spaces in the universe. The spine returns to an upright position more slowly than when it was lowered, also symbolizing respect for the other person.
Namaste is the most dignified form of greeting from one human being to another. It expresses a great sense of respect as it invokes the realization that we all share the same essence, the same energy, the same universe.
Namaste has a very intense pacifying force.
The five fingers of the left hand represent the five senses of the heart, while the fingers of the right hand represent the five organs of reason. It means then that mind and heart must be in harmony, so that our thinking and acting are in accordance with the Truth.
It is also an acknowledgment of the duality that exists in the world, symbolizing the union of polarities, left and right, good and evil, and suggests an effort on our part to keep these two forces together in balance.
Ten fingers joined in Namaste. The number ten is a symbol of perfection, unity, perfect balance.
Every creature is a reflection of the Ten Divine Attributes:
Attachment, Kindness,
Knowledge, Understanding,
Splendor, Harmony,
Perseverance, Royalty,
Wisdom, Severity.
Namaste brings the Sacred into every human being, affirming that God is not in heaven, in a temple or even in nature. God is in everything, in each one of us and any dissociation of the image of the divine from ours is useless.
When doing Namaste, we affirm that we are all children and parts of the Sacred, inseparable and equal.
