Namaste: I bow to the Divine in You

Namaste!
“I bow to the Divine in You”

This is a common greeting in India, Nepal and Tibet, and is a traditional greeting in many other places a well. Generally it is said with both hands placed together in front of the chest, palms together accompanied by a slight bow. For even deeper respect, the same is done, but with the hands in front of the forehead.

The placing together of hands is what is usually called a mudra, a symbolic placement of the hands that has special traditional meaning. We’ll talk more about these another time, but in this case, one hand represents your divine spiritual nature, while the other hand symbolizes the worldly self. By combining the two, you can see the two halves of the person, as well as the representation that there is a link between you and the other person; we are all connected. But more on that idea tomorrow.