May 2008 ~ Namaste
For my "jottings" inspiration this year, I am drawing from a book called "Worldwords," which is a collection of words from around the world… one word for each day of the year… with an explanation of the word and a brief interpretation of its meaning. I will share a word from each month, along with some thoughts from the book and some of my own. The word for May is:
namaste (nah-MASS-tay) Hindi
A greeting that honors the unity of all living beings.
May is my birth month, as you may know. When I turned to May 24 in “Worldwords,” I was pleased to find “namaste” as the word for that day… my special day. At a time when there seems to be so much divisiveness in the world, the idea of honoring the unity or oneness of all living beings seems important. It has always been important and has long been a part of the spiritual practice of the Unity movement. In this context, it is referred to as “beholding the Christ.” Here the word “Christ” means the spiritual nature, the God or Higher Self, the True Self. Jesus expressed the Christ more fully that any person we know of, but each of us has the same Christ Potential. As we like to say, Jesus was not different from us in kind, only in degree. He said, “The things that I do, you may do, and even greater things.” This is our purpose here on earth… to bring forth our divine potential in all that we think, say, and do. Beholding this divinity in each other helps all of us become more expressive of it.
We may not always be comfortable speaking the word “namaste” aloud. We can, however, speak it silently in our thoughts and prayers. It is a comprehensive word, holding within its meaning all the “specifics” we might wish or pray for ourselves or another. Some people like to relate a color to the “namaste “ and visualize those for whom they pray in an energy of that color. One of my teachers always said, “God is blue.” You may find another color more natural or comfortable for the practice of “seeing people” in the color of your choice. There is nothing magic about the color. It simply serves as a reminder of the true purpose of the thought or prayer… of the practice of “namaste”… the divinity in me beholds and honors the divinity in you.
jbm
namaste (nah-MASS-tay) Hindi
A greeting that honors the unity of all living beings.
May is my birth month, as you may know. When I turned to May 24 in “Worldwords,” I was pleased to find “namaste” as the word for that day… my special day. At a time when there seems to be so much divisiveness in the world, the idea of honoring the unity or oneness of all living beings seems important. It has always been important and has long been a part of the spiritual practice of the Unity movement. In this context, it is referred to as “beholding the Christ.” Here the word “Christ” means the spiritual nature, the God or Higher Self, the True Self. Jesus expressed the Christ more fully that any person we know of, but each of us has the same Christ Potential. As we like to say, Jesus was not different from us in kind, only in degree. He said, “The things that I do, you may do, and even greater things.” This is our purpose here on earth… to bring forth our divine potential in all that we think, say, and do. Beholding this divinity in each other helps all of us become more expressive of it.
“To speak this word is to remain hopeful. It is to declare that although as an individual being you may not always be able to act out of that commonality, you do remember that such a connection is always present. The more you allow this insight to penetrate your daily living, the wider the doors of compassion are flung open. Compassion is not pity or sympathy; it is a way of walking through life valuing all of creation. It is the beginning of the circle of kindness and caring that ultimately brings us to peace.”
We may not always be comfortable speaking the word “namaste” aloud. We can, however, speak it silently in our thoughts and prayers. It is a comprehensive word, holding within its meaning all the “specifics” we might wish or pray for ourselves or another. Some people like to relate a color to the “namaste “ and visualize those for whom they pray in an energy of that color. One of my teachers always said, “God is blue.” You may find another color more natural or comfortable for the practice of “seeing people” in the color of your choice. There is nothing magic about the color. It simply serves as a reminder of the true purpose of the thought or prayer… of the practice of “namaste”… the divinity in me beholds and honors the divinity in you.
jbm
posted by Wayne Manning at 10:00 AM
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