Today I'm going to reveal the secret of the well-known Indian greeting. This word is very popular in the circles of people who do yoga. But not many people know what is the deeper meaning of this word "namaste".
Well, tha word namaste is composed of two Sanskrit words: namah and te. Namah means "obeisance". And te means "to you". In Wikipedia you'll find that in Hinduism this word namaste means "I bow to the divine in you". However, it's a little deeper and more interesting.
The word "namah" is of two syllables - na and ma. The syllable na means "not". And ma is the short form of Sanskrit word mama, which translated as mine. Thus, if translated literally, this namah will be "not mine".
But why this namah is translated as "obeisance"?
The term "Hinduism" is a kind of mistake.
First of all, I would like to point out the fact that Indian culture is built on the Vedas. However, in the Vedic literature you'll never found the word "hindu". This word appeared relatively recently, and has no relation to the Vedas.
The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time. Starting with the Persian and Greek references to India in the 1st millennium BCE through the texts of the medieval era, the term Hindu implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in Indian subcontinent around or beyond the Sindhu (Indus) river. By the 16th-century, the term began to refer to residents of India who were not Turks or Muslims.
- Wikipedia
Well, in fact, the Vedas do not teach Hinduism. You will not find this word "hindu" in the Vedas. Vedas is universal and is addressed not only to the people of India. The Vedas appeal to all the people.
False ego conception.
And the essence of all Vedic literature is contained in the Vedanta-Sutra. Which starts with a shloka (verse) athato brahma jijñasa. Which means, now when you got this human body, you must understand what is spirit (brahman). In other words, you should be aware of your spiritual nature. You have to understand that you are not this material body, that this body is temporary, but you are the eternal soul. This is the beginning of the whole Vedic message.
Ignorance (avidya) according to the Vedas starts from the moment when I consider myself a body. This is a misconception of myself. Or the false ego. What does it mean that I consider myself a body? This means that I don't know anything about myself, except these temporary roles I'm playing in the theatre of life.
Who are you?
"Who are you?" - if you ask the ordinary person this question, he will say something like: "I am a student", or "I am a doctor." But this is only his temporary role. He hasn't always been a student or a doctor. Moreover, at some point he will cease to be a student or doctor. But he was someone before he became a student or a doctor, isn't it? So who was he?
When one is identify himself with these temporary roles, we can say that this man is in ignorance. Because it's a mistake. He doesn't actually know who he is. And as soon as he identified himself with the body (temporary roles), that is, decided that he is "American", "Russian", "student", "doctor", "husband", "president" and so on, he started developing the next false idea: "This is mine!"
This is mine! "Mama iti".
"This is mine! It belongs to me!" This is the second half of the false ego. First of all, the man identified himself with something temporary (some social role, for example). This is the first mistake, first half of the false ego. And the second mistake is to assert that something belongs to you.
So this false ego consists of two ideas. I and mine.
And the Vedas say about it: Aham mama iti, or applying the sandhi rules of Sanskrit grammar, we get the phrase aham mameti. "I am this body and this is mine".
If I'm the president, I posess my presidential suit and my cosy seat in the White House. This suit and this seat I consider as my property. I own them. That is, I can use them as I want. However, if I'm not a president, so immediately they don't belong to me, isn't it? As soon as I realize I'm not actually the president, I can no longer claim my ownership. This is the link between the first and the second half of my false ego.
Or say, while the man thinks he's a doctor, he also considers himself the owner of his cabinet, medical instruments, medicines, medical apparel, and so on. It is on the basis of his ownership he uses all this stuff as he likes. Because let's say a patient comes into a doctor's office, he doesn't touch medical instruments and medicines, right? Because "it's the property of the doctor."
If it's my property I can do with it whatever I want. But if it's someone else's property I cannot use it on a whim.
But in fact this man is not the president. This is only his temporary role. He existed before he became a president. He was somebody before. So who was he? What is his real self? Eternal self.
The idea of Supreme Creator is the base of "namaste".
So the word namah, which means "obeisance" can be literally translated as "I'm not the owner" or "This is not mine". When one accepts the idea of Supreme Creator, that created all the things we are using daily, he at the same time accepts the idea, that he himself is only a tenant, not owner. And therefore he expresses his gratitude and respect to this Supreme Creator (Supreme Owner), which we usually call God.
Another words, all we are using daily, according to this Vedic philosophy belong to God by right. After all, God created all these things. Therefore, when we're saying namah we're addressing the Supreme Creator and Supreme Owner. We're actually saying "I acknowledge Your power, Your position of the Supreme Owner and do not consider myself as the owner of anything. I'm just a tenant".
And to be a tenant means to obey the rules of the owner.
When you borrow something from your friend, for example, a mobile phone, you're usually asking: "May I do this, may I do that?" Because you are aware this phone is not yours. So you're trying to understand how you can properly use this mobile. This is decent behavior, right?
And when one has realized that there is the Supreme Owner, he became interested in the rules which this Supreme Owner has established. And from this point the true religion begins. And according to Vedic view, true religion does not mean some sort of faith, it means to know the rules of Supreme Owner and to follow these rules. So it's more like a science.
I bow to the divine in you.
And when I say namaste, which is the same as namah te ("obeisances unto you"), it doesn't mean that I'm addressing the man who's standing in front of me as the Supreme Owner. No. It means that I remember that I am a spiritual living being and nothing belongs to me. In other words, I reject the false ego. Thus I pave the way for communication on a spiritual level and not on the animal level. Because the animal level, i.e. the level of false ego, always leads to fear, surviving, greed, envy, and war. When I say namaste, I offer my obeisances to the Supreme, who is present in the heart of every living being. In other words, I remind myself and the person I'm greeting that here and now God is present. If communication takes place on this platform, it will definitely bring joy and favor.