Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Namaste

Namaste---the hands come together at heart and/or forehead level. A bow, and the sacred sound is pronounced, the sacred salutation: the divine spark in me bows to the divine spark in you.

Namaste (nah-mah-stay) equalizes those coming together---king and peasant contain the same divinity. Both are made of the same energy. Each inhabits a body, is impelled to a life path, completes the journey, and then lays aside the shell to become pure spirit once again.

Namaste---we are the same, deep down and high above, we share a common source, no matter our station in life, or our outlook, or ideology. Shadowed by the vagaries of life, we become separate from the commonalities of our true nature. We lose our sense of being in relationship, one with the other and, in doing so, find and amplify our differences and use these to create me versus you, us versus them scenarios that lead to more divisive actions, fist fights, and sword fights, and bombings and wars.

Namaste---I bow to you, you bow to me. We recognize our alikeness and, in that recognition, rise above our differences. We are at peace because we are part of the same thing . . . my right hand will not inflict pain on my left hand. You are familiar, a long lost sibling in the light that is our true selves.

Namaste---it is no unplanned coincidence that we are encouraged to love God (by whatever name we know that being) with all our heart and soul and mind and, in the next breath, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Each is the same . . . as the vessel of the divine spark, we must love each other and in doing so, we love God. When we love God, we are loving the divine spark in each other.

Namaste---we will not let our differences in shading or creed or nationality or political persuasion or economic status or religious or sexual orientation keep us from acknowledging our sameness, our oneness in the universe. The small starving child in Niger is my sibling in the light and I have a duty and obligation to ease her hardship. The person whose hatred of those not like him colors his thoughts and determines his actions is my sibling in the light, and it is my obligation to bow to his divine spark in hopes that he becomes aware of it in himself and, in doing so, learns to bow to that spark in another.

Namaste---the Jew and the Catholic and the Christian and the Muslim and the Buddhist and the Hindu and the Shaman and the Pagan all contain the same spark, are of the same origin. Their religions cannot, must not mitigate the reality of this truth. Temple, church, mosque or hillside . . . the differences in the physical structure of their places of worship do not alter the common spark within their separate physical bodies.

Namaste---I wear purple or green or blue. I eat chicken or beef or tofu. Outward appearances do not alter the light shining within me and within you. We are siblings in the light. Does this seem simplistic? Sure, of course! Sometimes the real answers, the true answers are preposterously simple. If who we really are, our essence, is made of the same stuff, the same expression of a larger whole, then where is the sense in fighting with each other, in killing each other? Disagreements? Sure . . . siblings argue, sometimes they fight, but in trying to discern our common spiritual origin, wouldn't we also find our common earthly expression? And in doing this, do we then not strive to heal whatever separates our shining lights, one from the other? A fire provides greater light, greater warmth and produces greater useable energy when it is whole, rather than divided into separate flames.

Namaste---the divine spark in me bows to the divine spark in you. In our most basic state, we are the same. Let our spiritual familiarity overcome our human frailties. Let each spark contribute to rather than detract from the life-sustaining fire of our shared experience on earth.

Namaste . . . .

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