Composite Shiva Linga

The delegates for the conference gathered at various venues in the Ashram for their respective post-lunch sessions and returned to the Sai Kulwant Hall for the afternoon plenary session. Bhagawan arrived in His chair and moved to the interview room after four o’clock. At 4.30 pm, the speeches for the afternoon commenced. Mr. Victor Krishna Kanu, Mr. Jeremy Hoffer, Mr. M. K. Kaw and Sri Sanjay Mahalingam spoke on the inspiration and activities of the Sathya Sai Education programme. Bhagawan then graciously consented to speak to the delegates.

Bhagawan took the sheet of questions posed by the delegates and clarifications desired by them, and reading out the questions one by one, answered them for an hour till 6.30 pm. Swami stressed on the need for parents to take proper care of their children, and for the children to love, obey and respect their parents. The students sang Bhajans for 10 minutes after Bhagawan’s Discourse while the delegates moved out from the centre of Sai Kulwant Hall to make way for the devotees from the CIS (former USSR) who were to make a musical presentation. Bhagawan returned to the stage after a brief visit to the interview room and the music program began with a brief introduction. Songs from Russia, Georgia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and so on kept the packed hall enthralled with their catchy tunes and lively beat. After their half-hour programme, Swami asked them to sing one more song, so they sang the popular “Kalinka” and had the audience clapping all through. Bhagawan interacted with the organisers, and then, waved His hands to materialise a large golden lingam. Wrapping it in a small bag, He handed it over to Dr. Goldstein with some instructions. Blessing all the devotees, Bhagawan accepted Arati and returned to His residence at 7.30 pm while prasadam was distributed.

The Book Trust website has a report with images.

Sunday, July 20, 2008
Bhagawan opened the Sai Vidya Jyothi Educare exhibition this morning at 11 o’clock - the Book Trust website has a report with images.

The Sri Sathya Sai World Education Conference 2008 was inaugurated this afternoon. Bhagawan arrived in Sai Kulwant Hall in His chair after four o’clock, and when He came onstage, He lit a lamp to begin the proceedings. Dr. Michael Goldstein spoke first, followed by Sri. V. Srinivasan. Their introductory remarks for forty minutes was followed by Bhagawan’s Discourse at 5.20 pm. Swami spoke for fifty minutes, mentioning at the end that within twenty to thirty years, the whole world will be one, united in love.

The Saisymphony orchestra was to perform next. The centre of Sai Kulwant Hall was cleared and the musicians arranged their places there, with more than seventy-five instruments. Bhagawan returned to the stage after visiting the interview room, and the musical session began just before 6.30. After forty minutes of the symphony, Bhagawan accepted Arati and returned to His residence as prasadam was distributed.

Curtesty RadioSai Prashanti Bulletin

Composite Sai Baba Linga

Sathya Sai Baba

Miracles have a strange way of manifesting themselves before the true devotee.
J.K., embodies the meaning of the word ‘Devotion.’ His work in setting up Sai Schools in Africa is being orchestrated by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Jay kay gives us a vivid description of the many miracles that Swami has given him.

Jay Kay is a devoted servant of Sai Baba. He has been involved in the setting up of Sai Schools in Africa and does other service work, mainly with blind children. His work for Zee TV in London has enabled him to set up a TV program on Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Well-known devotees from all over the world are telephoned and asked to share their experiences of Baba. Baba does not allow Jay to visit Him often as he claims that the money, which would be used for travel, would be better off utilised in service work.

However, Jay Kay regularly recieves communication from Baba in the form of letters that flutter down from the ceiling to materialise in mid air. A special letter always arrives on Jay’s birthday. Sometimes Jay will send a letter to Swami. These are generally returned unopened, with a response written over the letter in highlighter pen. Jay is often posted to different countries for a time. Wherever his altar is set up, miracles occur. Vibhuthi is found to manifest profusely off pictures of Sathya or Shirdi Sai will appear, sometimes inside picture frames. These may later “walk out” on to the altar. Sometimes vibhuthi forms the words, Om, etc. The following message was sent in a letter to Jay from Baba and has since been printed on a calendar, which is distributed throughout Malaysia. This private message contains, in a nutshell, many of Sai Baba’s essential teachings.

“Your faith should be of full divinity. Apart from saying God is Love, I do not think that anyone with human consciousness can define God until you merge with God. My message is of divine Love and Service. My life is my message. And what is life? Dedicated long service to mankind 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At night I read through sackfuls of letters. I do not sleep. I do not waste a single moment. What is life? The successful life is the development of one’s talents in the service of others. You are all tiny cells in this body of mine. The whole world is My vesture including animal and vegetable kingdoms. There is only one religion, The religion of love. There is only one caste, the caste of humanity. There is only one language, the language of the heart. The heart is the key of mystical insight. The secret of happiness lies in not doing what you like but in liking what you have to do. If you follow your deepest conscience however difficult, you will find in time joy and contentment, which is far satisfying and fulfilling than anything that self-will and the pursuit of physical and material desire can give you. I accept all religions and people from all religions. It is good to be born in a church but it is not good to die in one. Self-awareness and self-honesty are very important. You are not one but three: the one you think you are, the one others think you are and the one you really are. Be true to your innermost nature. True spiritual growth needs an honest base from which to grow. You must try to become children of God, rather than children of conditioning. Meditation should be done. Two-thirds of meditation should be self-enquiry. The elimination of the ego is another one third, for ego is the real enemy of self-honesty, and dedicated service is the best way to erase it. Life is a bridge over the ocean of change, pass over it but do not build a house over it. You all should know how to live, not just how to make a living. Character is important, I am not much interested in the marks a student gains as the remarks about his character. You seek too much information and not enough transformation. There must be a balance between knowing and being, between what you know and what you are. Knowledge which is not put into use in service is like food not being, digested. Too much book learning can lead to doubt and confusion. Be simple and sincere: God is simple, everything else is complex. A friend who cannot be corrected is not a friend. If your faults are pointed out, do not bear a grudge. Examine your own conduct carefully and mindfully proceed to correct yourself: You should be grateful for it and not be offended by it. Of course, selfishness is the greatest negative tendency in man. There is a road for each heart to God. Each will come in his own way at his own pace.

There is a way of life, a method of uplift, a path of progress distinct for each person, different from those of others. Come one step, I shall take a hundred towards you. Shed just one tear, I shall wipe a hundred from your eyes. Don’t worry I am always with you.

“With Love,”

Baba

Phillip and Jenny Cottingham

Reference

Barack Obama

WASHINGTON: The support of the Indian Americans to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is steadily rising , thanks to his lucky charm Lord Hanuman, suggests a leading American daily.

Obama's Hanuman

“When it comes to American politicians, Bill Clinton has been the darling of India,” said an article in the Washington Post.

“That love extended to Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries — especially with respect to fundraising among Indian Americans, who grew to become a significant base of support for her White House bid,” the article titled ‘Indian Americans Take note of Obama, thanks to Hanuman’ said.

But now people are supporting Obama, it said. “It’s a big deal,” said Bhavna Pandit, 28, a political fundraising consultant based in Washington who thinks the revelations about Obama’s lucky charm will lead to new interest in him among Indian American donors.

Pandit said news of the Obama trinket has swept across Indian American living rooms and through Indian newspapers and TV networks.

Pandit said the people she knows as “aunties and uncles” - women and men from her parents’ generation - are suddenly taking note of Obama. “They think it’s kind of neat. They rarely see our religion played out in the mainstream media in America,” she said. “In India, they’re like, ‘Wow! The person who can be the president has a connection to us that’s very personal.’”

Obama, who recently defeated Hillary Clinton, is running ahead of his rival John McCain. A recent photo shows that Obama carries with him a bracelet belonging to an American soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler’s lucky chit, a tiny monkey god and tiny Madonna and child.

Reference

Hanuman

Barack Obama

NEW DELHI: The endearing and much revered Hanuman is apparently one of the ‘charms’ behind Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate for 2008. The Hanuman connection now has Obama striking a chord beyond US borders. On Tuesday, All India Congress Committee member, Brij Mohan Bhama, presented a two-foot high, gold-plated idol of Hanuman to Carolyn Sauvage, chairperson of Democrats Abroad India, a gift that he hopes will finally reach Obama himself.

Bhama’s gift for Obama was given at a special prayer performed by 12 priests at the Sankat Mochan Dham on Pusa Road on Tuesday afternoon. The prayer, arranged by the Sankat Mochan Dham Trust, was also a show of support for Obama’s entry into the White House as it invoked Lord Hanuman for his blessings for Obama’s victory.

Bhama claims that while he has always been a supporter of Obama, the Democratic candidate’s devotion to Hanuman has strengthened his backing. “Barack Obama is a Hanuman devotee and so am I — hence I thought I should gift him the idol,” said Bhama.

Carolyn Sauvage was herself presented with a garland and made to wear a decorated turban by Bhama. Ovewhelmed by the gesture, she presented Bhama with two American flags and a badge that read ‘Obama ‘08’. While Sauvage thanked “Bhama and this community (referring to the Trust)” for the gift, she graciously reminded the hosts that she would be in-principle unable to carry anything but good wishes back to Obama. “I can only carry good wishes, as any sitting US senator cannot receive a gift of over $10 from anybody.” The idol, as Bhama informed Times City, is worth a lakh.

In face of this news, Bhama and others from the Trust remained unfazed and enthusiastic. They clearly announced that “the idol shall reach Obama 11 days from now. Till then it will be kept in the same temple and worshipped everyday.” Speaking to Times City, Bhama said: “If the idol cannot go through Ms Sauvage, someone else will carry it. In any case, the idol will reach United States of America before the final elections are held, if not just after 11 days.”

According to news reports, among Obama’s good luck charms are “a bracelet belonging to a soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler’s lucky chit, a tiny Madonna and child, and a tiny monkey god” though the god is not identified. The ‘tiny monkey God’ speaks of Obama’s much talked about international upbringing, and a part of his childhood days spent in Indonesia, where Hinduism is one of the religions, dominant especially in Bali.

Reference

Hanuman

Barack Obama

When it comes to American politicians, Bill Clinton has been the darling of India.

That love extended to Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries — especially with respect to fundraising among Indian Americans, who grew to become a significant base of support for her White House bid.

But now a surprise revelation during an off-the-cuff exchange in Albuquerque, N.M., has turned Barack Obama into the talk of the Indian news media.

At a town hall meeting, a woman asked Obama what kept him grounded, and in response he emptied his pockets. “People are so generous to me, investing their hopes in me,” he said, holding up a cupped hand full of trinkets. “This I usually don’t show in these town hall meetings. I have all these things that people give me — all these different little good luck charms.”

One of the trinkets, it turns out, was a tiny figurine of Hanuman — the Hindu monkey god.

“It’s a big deal,” said Bhavna Pandit, 28, a political fundraising consultant based in Washington who thinks the revelations will lead to new interest in Obama among Indian American donors.

Pandit said news of the Obama trinket has swept across Indian American living rooms and through Indian newspapers and TV networks. She said the people she knows as “aunties and uncles” — women and men from her parents’ generation — are suddenly taking note of Obama in a way they had not done before. “They think it’s kind of neat. They rarely see our religion played out in the mainstream media in America.”

And, she said, “In India, they’re like, ‘Wow! The person who can be the president has a connection to us that’s very personal.’”

Reference

Hanuman

Vedas Manuscript

The sacred Vedic (associated with the Vedas, ancient Hindu scriptures) sounds are healing music to our ears.

The fast pace of contemporary life has attempted to turn humans into creatures of habits, and fashionable trends - which have even invaded the fine arts, such as music. For conforming or not conforming to the superficial social graces and artificial responsibilities of the present times, we are either ‘in’ or ‘out’ of synchronization. Such gross devaluation of the term ‘synchronization’ which, loftily considered, is true harmony of the body, mind and soul. In fact, the most important and only ‘sync’ should be the attuning of our lower self with our Higher Self and the Higher Self with the Divine. One of the ways to open and maintain this link is with genuine music; the other is meditation or prayer, and service. It has taken many trials and years for mankind to open up to this beautiful realization but, finally, we are enjoying and growing with the arrival of the exotic sounds from ancient India and its incorporation into our music.

Vedic chants, sounded to me like angelical hymns. I was attending the first Yoga Teachers Conference in Paradise Island, thirty years ago. I looked around for the source of the charming voice and found a small group of yoginis (female spiritual practitioners) in the lotus position with their eyes closed, emitting the most extraordinary sequence of Aumkaras (‘Om’ sounds). A never-ending thirst for deeper experience of Om was ignited in my heart. Similarly, millions of others were also fascinated by the wonderful potential of Om. Many of them were accomplished musicians and their work has become well known in the New Age and World Music scene. This is the healing music for the third millennium.

In the years that followed, although the Beatles included Indian sounds in their most popular songs, concerts of Vedic music were few and far apart. Master Ravi Shankar became famous and rock groups incorporated some Indian notes into their repertoire. It was a slow march but it became steady. More and more adepts in music, in search of notes for spiritual growth became fascinated by Indian chants.

In my personal story, I had turned to Hatha Yoga for healing, at the Sivananda Yoga Center, in Washington, D.C. My heart rejoiced when each session closed with the sacred Om.

In search for enlightening musical sounds, composers have turned inward and attempted to replicate the human voice with their instruments. Some of them have accomplished delightful tunes. Steven Halpern is one of them. He is a recording artist and educator who has received international acclaim for the pioneering work of using music to support programmes of personal and spiritual growth. He says, “Early in my musical training, I learned about the ancient traditions of an artist calling upon his or her Muse for inspiration, and I was blessed with the first of a series of peak experiences that demonstrated to me that this tradition was a present-day reality - not just a metaphor.” He says that before each musical session he meditates and prays for guidance and inspiration.

But there is no sound more wonderful than the human voice. Its healing power can be best appreciated when a mother sings to her newborn, or when spiritual aspirants doing certain practices which take them into spiritual ecstasy, bring out subtle delightful sound vibrations, which are the echoes of life itself. For life is sound and our body is like a musical scale. When properly tuned we have a sense of well-being and perfect self-expression. In healing music, composers searching for innovative ways to bring in the traditions of the world and develop unique music styles are turning to Vedic sounds.

In a the most recent selection of healing music, produced by Russell Charno, for The Relaxation Company, in New York, the featured artists composers claim that “healing through music is to employ the body/mind’s own wisdom and genetically programmed ability to heal itself by presenting it with the proper vibrations.”

One of the most outstanding featured artists is Amit Chatterjee. “Hindu philosophy teaches that the physical principles that govern sound are a direct reflection of the natural laws of the universe. Music composed in accordance with these laws bypasses the intellect and the mind’s conscious barriers, allowing a personal experience of the harmony and order of the universe. The ancient sages, who first explored this relationship, passed on through their disciples a method by which music could be used to promote physical and emotional balance and healing,” says the artist. He explains that for thousand of years, traditional Indian healers have been using Ragas (special tunes), therapeutically, helping their patients into a harmonious state that encourages healing.

In my heart, my romance with Vedic sounds returned to my life twenty years after my first encounter with the mantra Om. I was in India, when I heard the Gayatri Mantra sung by Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba. From then on, His Divine Voice starts my day and I hope It will guide me back into Light.

Reference

Sri Krishna - Flute Music God

Top Blog Posts - Best Blog Post On WordPress
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Shirdi Sai Baba articles catapult sathyasaibaba WordPress blog into top 10 blog posts with 6,511 hits in 18 hours.

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• Sai Baba Miracle - Sai Baba Idol Opens Eye July 19 2008
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If you have a myspace, livejournal, reddit, digg, etsy, ebay, wordpress, blogger, blogspot or Yahoo! 360 blog, you know that numbers like these are extremely uncommon.

Baba Ramdev

It is the first international centre based on the model of ‘Pathanjali Yog Peeth’ in Haridwar, founded by the spiritual guru 15 years ago.

“When the Haridwar centre was established, Rs 20,000 was borrowed to start the project. But in Houston, one-fourth of the needed funds was raised on the very first day,” Ramdev told PTI after the ceremony yesterday.

The centre will be set up in a sprawling 94-acre land in Rosenberg in Fort Bend County, about 25 miles from here.

Notably, over USD 4 million was raised for the project and USD 2 million was raised in two hours at a fundraiser in Houston on July 18.

Ramesh Bhutada and Shekhar Agrawal, who were involved with the project, said the centre would become functional from early next year.

“The vision of Swami Ramdev a year ago is now taking shape fast. The Indian community will stand united and help bring the project to fruition,” Bhutada said.

“Our vision is to develop it as a major centre in the western world to impart various aspects of Vedic culture and custom with emphasis on Yoga and Ayurveda,” Agrawal said.

The project includes a clinic to treat chronic ailments, housing for active seniors and retirees; a herbal garden, retreat centre, vedic Gurukul school for young children and a University. PTI

Reference

Namaste

Namaste - Namaskar - Namaskara - Namaskaram
Namaste - The Significance of a Yogic Greeting
by Nitin Kumar

In a well-known episode it so transpired that the great lover god Krishna made away with the clothes of unmarried maidens, fourteen to seventeen years of age, bathing in the river Yamuna. Their fervent entreaties to him proved of no avail. It was only after they performed before him the eternal gesture of namaste was he satisfied, and agreed to hand back their garments so that they could recover their modesty.

The gesture (or mudra) of namaste is a simple act made by bringing together both palms of the hands before the heart, and lightly bowing the head. In the simplest of terms it is accepted as a humble greeting straight from the heart and reciprocated accordingly.

Namaste is a composite of the two Sanskrit words, nama, and te. Te means you, and nama has the following connotations:

• To bend
• To bow
• To sink
• To incline
• To stoop

All these suggestions point to a sense of submitting oneself to another, with complete humility. Significantly the word ‘nama’ has parallels in other ancient languages also. It is cognate with the Greek nemo, nemos and nosmos; to the Latin nemus, the Old Saxon niman, and the German neman and nehman. All these expressions have the general sense of obeisance, homage and veneration. Also important here is to note that the root ‘nama’ is a neuter one, the significance of which will be elaborated upon later.

The word nama is split into two, na and ma. Na signifies negation and ma represents mine. The meaning would then be ‘not mine’. The import being that the individual soul belongs entirely to the Supreme soul, which is identified as residing in the individual towards whom the namaste is directed. Indeed there is nothing that the soul can claim as its own. Namaste is thus the necessary rejection of ‘I’ and the associated phenomena of egotism. It is said that ‘ma’ in nama means death (spiritual), and when this is negated (na-ma), it signifies immortality.

The whole action of namaste unfolds itself at three levels: mental, physical, and verbal.

It starts with a mental submission. This submission is in the spirit of total surrender of the self. This is parallel to the devotion one expresses before a chosen deity, also known as bhakti. The devotee who thus venerates with complete self-surrender is believed to partake the merits or qualities of the person or deity before whom he performs this submission. There is a prescription in the ancient texts known as Agamas that the worshipper of a deity must first become divine himself, for otherwise worship as a transaction would become invalid. A transaction can only be between equals, between individuals who share some details in common. Hence by performing namaste before an individual we recognize the divine spark in him. Further by facilitating our partaking of these divine qualities, namaste makes us aware of these very characteristics residing within our own selves. Simply put, namaste intimates the following:

‘The God in me greets the God in you
The Spirit in me meets the same Spirit in you’

In other words, it recognizes the equality of all, and pays honor to the sacredness of all.

Translated into a bodily act, namaste is deeply rich in symbolism. Firstly the proper performance of namaste requires that we blend the five fingers of the left hand exactly with the fingers of the right hand. The significance behind this simple act in fact governs the entire gamut of our active life. The five fingers of the left hand represent the five senses of karma, and those of the right hand the five organs of knowledge. Hence it signifies that our karma or action must be in harmony, and governed by rightful knowledge, prompting us to think and act correctly.

By combining the five fingers of each hand, a total of ten is achieved. The number ten is a symbol of perfection, and the mystical number of completion and unity. It is true for all ancient traditions. Ten is the number of the Commandments revealed to Moses by God. In the Pythagorean system, ten was a symbol of the whole of creation. Ancient Chinese thought too thought of ten as the perfectly balanced number.

Another significant identification of namaste is with the institution of marriage, which represents a new beginning, and the conjoining of the male and female elements in nature. Marriage is a semi-divine state of wholeness - a union between the opposite principles of male and female necessary to crate and protect new life. The idea of human divine association was often expressed in terms of marriage, as in the description of nuns as “brides of Christ”. Thus in the exhaustive marriage rituals of India, after the elaborate ceremonies have been completed, the new husband and wife team perform namaste to each other. Wedding customs, full of symbolic meanings, attempt to ensure that marriages are binding, hence fruitful and happy. Namaste is one such binding symbolic ritual. The reconciliation, interaction and union of opposites is amply reflected in this spiritual gesture. It is hoped that the husband and wife team too would remain united, as are the hands joined in namaste. By physically bringing together the two hands, namaste is metaphorically reconciling the duality inherent in nature and of which the marriage of two humans is an earthly manifestation, a harmonious resolution of conflicting tensions. Thus namaste, which symbolizes the secret of this unity, holds the key to maintaining the equilibrium of life and entering the area where health, harmony, peace and happiness are available in plenty.

In this context, namaste is equated with the image of Ardhanarishvara, the hermaphrodite form symbolizing the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, or the coming together of the parents of the universe, for the purpose of creation. In this form Shiva has his beloved spouse engrafted in his body. It is conjectured that by wresting from her husband one half of his body as her own, and herself commingling in his physical frame, Parvati has obtained an ideal, archetypal union with her husband. Indeed which couple could be more devoted than the one which finds completion only by merging into each other? By merging her creative aspect with him, Parvati balances Shiva’s destructive urge. Similarly when Ardhanarishvara dances, the dance step is itself believed to be a combination of two principal and antagonistic styles of dance. ‘Tandava’, the fierce, violent dance, fired by an explosive, sweeping energy, is a delirious outburst, precipitating havoc. On the other hand is ‘lasya’, the gentle, lyrical dance, full of sweetness, and representing the emotions of tenderness and love. It is in the lasya of the goddess that death is annihilated and turned into transformation and rejuvenation, rebirth and creation. The image of Ardhanarishvara is thus the perfect master of the two contrary elements in the manifested universe. Such an ideal, perfect marriage is the message of namaste. Thus is ‘nama’, the root of namaste, of neuter gender, as is Ardhanarishvara, the androgyne.

Namaste recognizes the duality that has ever existed in this world and suggests an effort on our part to bring these two forces together, ultimately leading to a higher unity and non-dual state of Oneness. Some of these dual elements which the gesture of namaste marries together and unifies as one are:

• God and Goddess
• Priest and Priestess
• King and Queen
• Man and Woman
• Heaven and Earth
• Sun and Moon
• Solar bull and Lunar cow
• Sulfur and Quicksilver (Alchemy)
• Theory and Practice
• Wisdom and Method
• Pleasure and Pain
• Astral body (consciousness) and Etheric body (sensation)
• Mind and body
• Pneuma (spirit) and Psyche (mind)
• Hun (spiritual soul) and p’o (material soul) (Chinese)
• Conscious and Unconscious
• Animus (unconscious male element in woman) and Anima (unconscious female element in man) (Jung)
• Objectivity and Subjectivity
• Extraversion and Introversion
• Intellect and Instinct
• Reason and Emotion
• Thought and Feeling
• Inference and Intuition
• Argument and Experience
• Talent and Genius
• Silence and Cacophony
• Word and Meaning
• Schizophrenia and Epilepsy
• Depression and Mania
• Sexuality and Anxiety
• Katabolism (breaking up) and Anabolism (building up)
• Ontogeny (individual evolution) and Phylogeny (race evolution)
• Right side of body (warm) and Left side (cool)
• Front side of body (positive) and Rear side of body (negative)
• Brain and Heart
• Sahasara Chakra and Kundalini
• Insulin and Adrenalin
• Pingala (yellow solar channel in body) and Ida (white lunar channel)
• Hot breath and Cold breath (Yoga)
• Exhalation and Inhalation (Yoga)
• Linga and Yoni

There is indeed no sphere of our existence untouched by the symbolic significance of namaste.

Finally, the gesture of namaste is unique also in the sense that its physical performance is accompanied by a verbal utterance of the word “namaste.” This practice is equivalent to the chanting of a mantra. The sonority of the sacred sound ‘namaste’ is believed to have a quasi-magical value, corresponding to a creative energy change. This transformation is that of aligning oneself in harmony with the vibration of the cosmos itself.

At its most general namaste is a social transaction. It is usual for individuals to greet when they meet each other. It is not only a sign of recognition but also an expression of happiness at each other’s sight. This initial conviviality sets the positive tone for the further development of a harmonious relationship. Namaste as a greeting thus is a mosaic of movements and words constituting an intimation of affirmative thoughts and sentiments. In human society it is an approach mechanism, brimming with social, emotional and spiritual significance. In fact it is said that in namaste the hands are put together like a knife so that people may cut through all differences that may exist, and immediately get to the shared ground that is common to all peoples of all cultures.

In this context, a comparison with the widely prevalent ‘handshake’ is inevitable. Though shaking hands is an extremely intimate gesture, namaste scores over it in some ways. Primarily is the one that namaste is a great equalizer. You do namaste with God (and not shake hands!). A king or president cannot shake hands with the large multitude they are addressing. But namaste serves the purpose. It is the same gesture one would have exchanged with a king when with him alone. So no incongruity arises. In the absence of namaste, those facing a large audience will have to make do with a wave of the hands, a much less congenial greeting, and indeed which does not state the essential equality of all people, but highlights the difference even more. But on a parallel level it has been conjectured that both the namaste and the handshake developed out of a desire on the part of both the parties to show themselves to be unarmed and devoid of malicious intention. The outstretched hand, and the palms joined together, both establish the proponents as disarmed and show that they come in peace.

Conclusion
As much as yoga is an exercise to bring all levels of our existence, including the physical and intellectual, in complete harmony with the rhythms of nature, the gesture of namaste is an yoga in itself. Thus it is not surprising that any yogic activity begins with the performance of this deeply spiritual gesture. The Buddhists went further and gave it the status of a mudra, that is, a gesture displayed by deities, where it was known as the Anjali mudra. The word Anjali itself is derived from the root Anj, meaning “to adorn, honor, celebrate or anoint.”

According to Indologist Renov “Meditation depends upon the relationship between the hands (mudras), the mouth (mantras) and the mind (yoga)”. The performance of namaste is comprised of all these three activities. Thus namaste is in essence equivalent to meditation, which is the language of our spirit in conversation with god, and the perfect vehicle for bathing us in the rivers of divine pleasure.

Reference

Namaskar

Compassion In Action

The architectural marvel in Prasanthigram, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences has ever been growing since it’s inception in the year 1991. The latest addition is a Gastrointestinal Endoscopy department that was inaugurated on the 12th July 2008 by Bhagawan Himself.

Escorted by flag bearing bike riders, Bhagawan arrived at the south entrance of the hospital at about 3:40 p.m. to a traditional welcome with Purna Kumbham and Veda Chanting. A visibly pleased Bhagawan moved through the corridors blessing devotees and staff members lined up on both sides to catch a glimpse of the rare occasion.

Entering the newly set Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Department, He blessed the contingent of medical experts who have been responsible in setting up the department. A short video presentation was arranged on Endoscopy. Bhagawan went through the demonstration and an exhibition narrating in short detail the work flow of the new department. Bhagawan subsequently blessed the GI endoscopy ICU room and expressed pleasure with the facilities meant for patients.

Reference (With Pictures)