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Hello all fellow-longhaired bretheren (including aspiring longhairs, & supportive longhair-lovin' sisters)!
I just looked up the word, "Namaste" in my Webster's dictionary... nothin'. Nada. I couldn't find ANY definition whatsoever... I've always assumed it to mean something like, "Peace", or, "Love", --- since I've noticed sometimes some guys will sign off with that word before signing their name at the end of a post. "Namaste" seems to be popular with some of our longhairs here, so I want to be enlightend! What language / culture does it come from? Does it have a literal translation, --- or is it more of a metaphysical / spititual concept??
A short answer will actually be just fine, --- in fact, you'll lose me if you get as long-winded as I get (I have the attention span of about a 12 year old - lol)!!
Thanks in advance!
- Ken
I think it's an ancient greeting from India or persia.
The spirit within me salutes the spirit in you or something like that. At least thats what I've heard.
That's what I've heard too according to some friends of mine in Ashland, OR. They said the one thing they disliked though, was that EVERYONE seemed to use it all the time out there without actually seeming to mean it...just using it because it was trendy.
Mouse
Hi Ken, I'm just as dumb founded most the time (I grew up believing the slide-rule had all the answers to life's important questions!), but I did find a definition at Wikapedia.
Also, I too would be interested in what those that have used it have to say about its' useage.
Bruce
For every slang or non-traditional term, use Urbandictionary.com , it's great.
In Hindi, it means "hello" and "goodbye."
नमसà¥à¤¤à¥‡ = Hello! OR Goodbye! ( Namaste )
The devenagari scr ipt probably won't come through, but here it is nonetheless.
Namaste, Ken!
Bragi, Thanks for your explanation. Never new for sure but always thaought it was sort of a generic greeting like Shalom or Aloha!
peace, jonalbear
It means....the spirit in me greats the same spirit in you. It is a hello of the souls with humbleness.
The others are correct, but I'd like to add that it seems to be used in a kind of ranking system, as well - a Hindi girl I know at college told me that she bows and says "namaste" to elders but not necessarily to anyone else. I'm not sure whether this was always the case or whether it's a consequence of the looseness of western culture seeping into the religion.
Peace