{"id":168,"date":"2016-10-10T12:09:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T12:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/?p=168"},"modified":"2016-10-12T21:10:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T21:10:58","slug":"what-doe-it-mean-when-we-use-namaste-and-om-aum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/what-doe-it-mean-when-we-use-namaste-and-om-aum\/","title":{"rendered":"What does it mean when we use “Namaste” and OM (AUM)?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Namaste<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like many concepts and practices in of yoga, the greeting \u201cNamaste\u201d has a variety of meanings.\u00a0 Its first and most common is simply a form of salutation or respect..<\/p>\n

In this sense, the word is related to the practice of linked poses known as Surya Namaskar<\/em> — is the \u201cSun Salutation\u201d or greeting to the sun. \u00a0Surya<\/em> is the sun and Namaskar<\/em> is another form of Namaste<\/em>.\u00a0 The sequence can be a wide variety of connected postures depending on the practitioner, but it invariably begins with Tadasana<\/em> (Mountain Pose) followed by Urdhva Hastasana<\/em> \u2013 arms raised to the sky in greeting to the sun.<\/p>\n

The ordinary, everyday meaning<\/em> of namaste<\/em> is grammatically \u201cI bow to you,\u201d with \u201cnama<\/em>\u201d or bow as the key word.\u00a0 The hands are held with the palms together in front of the chest and fingers extended.\u00a0 It is a ubiquitous gesture in India and much of the Indian subcontinent and it can be relatively formal, fleeting and casual, or imbued with great respect.\u00a0 Often it is a gesture of reverence to an honored person. \u00a0\u00a0It is something like a handshake, and perhaps like a bow in Japan \u2013 for both, there are shadings of meaning and subtle expressions of status in the way it is done.<\/p>\n

It is identified in the West as a sign of respect and often used to open and close a class.\u00a0 In that sense it is like the practice in some martial arts of \u201cbowing in\u201d at the beginning of the class and \u201cbowing out\u201d to close.\u00a0 It is an expression of respect, gratitude, and closure to the group experience of practicing together.\u00a0 It is more ritualized than, say, a typical end of a meeting of friends because it signifies that the preceding moments have been significant, that they are now ended, and that one acknowledges the importance of the experience.<\/p>\n

In yoga in the United States it has often been taken from the everyday, common practice of social relations to a specific recognition of the experience of yoga practice in the company of a community of other practitioners.\u00a0 It may also signify the mutual respect and gratitude of the students and teacher to each other, or to the lineage in which they are practicing.\u00a0 Those meanings have developed within the community of practice and have a significance that goes beyond the simple grammar of the gesture.<\/p>\n

For some there is a further spiritual meaning that also goes beyond the grammar to signify affirmation of a deeper connection to the persons to whom it is offered.\u00a0 The translation of this intent can be taken to mean \u201cThe spirit (or the holy) in me bows to the spirit (or holy) in you.\u201d\u00a0 This deeper gesture is also referred to as the Anjali Mudra<\/em>, or Pramanasana<\/em>. Here, it is important that the hands are held near the energy center of the heart — the anahata chakra<\/em> traditional yoga. In this form it is more than a simple greeting or gesture of gratitude — it is a spiritual expression of shared humanity and purpose.\u00a0 If done sincerely it can reference an inner spiritual quality (perhaps something like the Buddhist understanding of a \u201cBuddha nature\u201d that we all share deep in inside) — or it may have the sense of the type of religious meaning embodied in the biblical injunction that \u201cAll are equal in the sight of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 In signifies that whatever separates us in much of our daily lives, in this moment I recognize and honor our common worth and dignity. A goal of the practice is to truly mean this expression of universality (hold it in the heart, or anahata chakra<\/em>); another is to extend that expression into more and more of one’s life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Om, A-U-M<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two thoughts:<\/p>\n

As the universal word\/syllable, it has all meanings, and yet no single\u00a0 meaning.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t name a specific deity.\u00a0 It refers to an ineffable, universal spirit of the universe.\u00a0 This is unsatisfying to people who want a literal interpretation, but there it is.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ….<\/p>\n

There is also, as always, a minimalist, secular meaning to OM\/A-U-M.\u00a0 At the very least, it is a resonant syllable (or three linked syllables) and a silence, that help focus, concentrate and pacify the mind.\u00a0 It shares a bit of this characteristic with the pranayama technique of Brahmari, which is the breath invoking a bumblebee which is resonated higher in the nasal band.\u00a0 OM is throatier and more deeply resonant, filling the space in the chest the head and preparing the mind to focus on practice.<\/em><\/p>\n

OM\/A-U-M<\/em>\u00a0 as the sound of the universe.<\/p>\n

Om is more complicated because of its multiplicity of\u00a0 spiritual meanings in many different traditions.\u00a0 We know the written symbol from its popularization as a decorative device, its appearance in the names of yoga apparel and studios, its uses by businesses and commercial products; and elsewhere in popular culture.<\/p>\n

OM is also a form of prayer or invocation to express an inward reverence and centering.\u00a0 Its spiritual meaning may vary from person to person, but there is a deeper potential to the symbol and its sound than the numerous appearances in popular culture,<\/p>\n

We may know it as the opening syllable in many chants, prayers and incantations in the Hindu tradition.\u00a0 It does not reference or name any specific entity, but rather salutes the entity of the greeting.\u00a0 Some examples known to many Western yogis:<\/p>\n

Om bhur bramah savah<\/em>,,, (the Gyatri<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Om ekadanta ya vidmahe<\/em> ,,, (chant to Ganesha, referred to as \u201cone-tooth\u201d — ekadanta<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Om ganapataye namahe..<\/em> (again, to Ganesha, sometimes called Ganapati)<\/p>\n

Om namah shivaya\u2026<\/em> (greeting\/honoring Shiva)<\/p>\n

It is also found in some Buddhist practices, as in the mantra \u201cOm mani padme hum<\/em>,\u201d the mantra to Avalokitesvara<\/em>,\u00a0 Bodhisattva of compassion.<\/p>\n

There are many other examples linked to Indian spiritual practice and often to specific chants.\u00a0 This does not necessarily make OM just Hindu (or Buddhist), but employs it as an invocation and sign of reverence.<\/p>\n

There are many other occasions where OM is present. We often chant \u201cOM<\/em>\u201d at the beginning and end of classes, sometimes with \u201cShanti, shanti, shanti<\/em>\u201d (peace, peace, peace).<\/p>\n

There are many, many deeper meanings and interpretations associated with the holy syllable, and they often give pause to people identified with non-Hindu religious traditions.\u00a0 This has led many non-Hindu practitioners to re-interpret those meanings to accommodate their own beliefs.<\/p>\n

Practitioners from other religious traditions sometimes substitute a chant or prayer from their own heritage to perform the same function of invocation and respect.\u00a0 One Christian website expresses respect for the intent of the OM chant, but substitutes syllables from their Catholic faith.\u00a0 Another website describes yoga among conservative Jews in Crown Heights, New York, where poses are not named in Sanskrit, conservative clothing is worn and the chant is given as \u201cShalom.\u201d\u00a0 Yet another Jewish practitioner, now living and teaching in Israel, describes how her early contact with OM was tinged by a California hippie ethos, then by religious overtones she could not accept.\u00a0 She accepted OM only after a decade of personal practice by interpreting its universality as the \u201ceternal word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many practitioners are interpreting traditional Eastern meanings in their own diverse ways.\u00a0 They recognize that in many religious traditions you can find very conservative and orthodox\/fundamentalist believers who reject any yoga or chant as idolatry or \u201cfalse religion.\u201d\u00a0 Yet there are members in these same faiths, both liberal and conservative, who cherish the practice of yoga and actively find an accommodation with their own faith. Many agnostics find no conflict in the spiritual practices and can be fairly ecumenical and tolerant about them, but atheists may find the chants to be a bit too \u201ctheist\u201d for their taste. These things are not always easy when you take the spiritual side of yoga seriously, and the the diversity of yogis has produced a wide range of practices and accommodations.<\/p>\n

The most general spiritual explanation<\/em> is that OM is the supreme mantra of India, a sacred sound that dates back thousands of years.\u00a0 Here it is also known as omkara, aumkara<\/em>, or pranava<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In Pantanjali sutra 1.27<\/em> it is taken to refer to the Higher Power: \u201cHis word is OM<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

[For more on the above, see a related post in this blog series on the “God” Sutras in Patanjali)<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the universal word\/syllable, it has all meanings, and yet no single\u00a0 meaning.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t name a specific deity.\u00a0 It refers to an ineffable, universal spirit of the universe.\u00a0 This is unsatisfying to people who want a literal interpretation, but there it is.<\/p>\n

It is a universal sound of the universe, or, in some explanations, it is really three sounds and the fourth non-sound, the silence between OM\u2019s.\u00a0 OM as A-U-M has a polysyllabic, polyvocal set of meanings.<\/p>\n

As A-U-M<\/em> it can refer to many different tripartite notions. \u00a0To some it is to the conscious, unconscious, and subconscious. Adding the non-sound at the end, it may also signify the supraconscious.\u00a0 It may also refer to the three faces of the Higher Power \u2013 Brahma<\/em> (the creator), Vishnu<\/em> (the sustainer), and Shiva<\/em> (the destroyer — who of course is also the Lord of yoga). These multiple aspects of “God” interpretation is often depicted in Indian statues of the trimukta<\/em>, the three faces of God \u2013 there are also echoes of this in the Christian notions of the Holy Trinity.\u00a0 Others see in it three forms of consciousness \u2013 the waking state (A), the dream state (U), and sleep (M). Some see in it a metaphor for time \u2013 past, present and future (all that is, ever was, and will come to be).\u00a0 There is no end of of evolved meanings, as you might expect in a tradition that is thousands of years old.<\/p>\n

There is also a grammatical metaphor: The A-U-M<\/em> represents the beginning, middle and end of the Sanskrit alphabet and, therefore, is the word that stands for all words and meanings.\u00a0 To preserve this sense, OM is often chanted as three sounds with each pronounced as the mouth and vocal apparatus changes in a sliding polysyllabic scale.\u00a0 The resonance of A-U-M is different and more inflected than the monosyllabic OM.<\/p>\n

There is, in the end, a minimalist secular thought on OM\/A-U-M<\/em>.\u00a0 At the very least it is a resonant syllable (or three linked syllables) and a silence, that help focus, concentrate and pacify the mind.\u00a0 It shares a bit of this characteristic with the pranayama<\/em> technique of Brahmar<\/em>i, which is a special breath that invokes the sound of a bumblebee.\u00a0 It is resonated higher in the nasal band.\u00a0 OM is throatier and more deeply resonant, preparing the mind to focus on practice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Namaste Like many concepts and practices in of yoga, the greeting \u201cNamaste\u201d has a variety of meanings.\u00a0 Its first and most common is simply a form of salutation or respect.. In this sense, the word is related to the practice … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions\/178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/yogablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}