What is a puja?
Not a ritual. A conversation with the divine.
Customs & Rituals
The greeting still contains the whole philosophy.
2 min read · Customs & Rituals
The greeting still contains the whole philosophy.
Namaste - hands pressed together, slight bow.
The word is composed of namas and te.
The full phrase is sometimes spoken as
Namo namaste - I bow to you, I bow to you again.
The theology in the gesture is more
specific than a polite bow. The pressing
together of the palms is done at the
level of the heart, not the forehead.
What is being honoured is the divine
within the other person.
The traditional explanation is: the
divine in me recognises and bows to
the divine in you. Not the social role,
not the name, not the personality.
Namaste has become a global byword
for yoga classes and wellness culture.
If you know what it means, the greeting
gets its full weight back every time
you use it.
Let the idea move immediately into prayer or temple ritual.
Every prayer on Prarthana begins with an invocation that is, in essence, a namaste to the deity.
Keep the context connected rather than isolated.
Not a ritual. A conversation with the divine.