Namaste I Honour The Divine In You
By Mary Hamer
03 June, 2011
Countercurrents.org
*PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to: #1. Define Namaste, #2. Apply the meaning of Namaste to various Historical events & Human behavior & #3. Conclude with a Discussion of Enlightenment. Overall, the key question is: Does the human race have the courage: To honor the sacred, the divine, the light & the spirit -- of all life here on Earth? Do we have the free will: To be kind to each other? Do we have the power within each of us: To do No harm?
I. NAMASTE: DEFINITION:
* The definition of Namaste is “I bow to the divine in you”. (1) “Namaste is typically said with the hands pressed together & held near the heart, with the head bowed”. Namaste, a Sanskrit word, “Is a common spoken (Hindi) greeting or salutation originating from … India ”. (2) The “Namaste greeting can be given to friends, family members & … strangers”. (3) Overall, Namaste expresses itself in 3 ways: Mental, physical & verbal. (4)
*VARIOUS MEANINGS: Namaste holds many meanings including: “I greet the place where you & I are one”, “I honor the place in you which is of love, truth, light & peace”. (5) & “The spirit in me respects the spirit in you”. (6)
*RESPECT: “Namaste is a “Deep form of respect”. Namaste as a “Gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another”. “Namaste allows two individuals to come together … to a place of connection & timelessness, free from the bonds of ego-connection. If it is done with deep feeling in the heart & with the mind … a deep union of spirits can blossom”. (7)
*EQUALITY & UNITY: Namaste is a “Humbling gesture. Namaste is done as a recognition that we are all on equal standing … We are one.” (8) “Namaste recognizes the duality … in this world & suggests an effort … to bring these two forces together, ultimately leading to a higher unity & (a) non-dual state of Oneness”. (9) *AWARENESS: Namaste is being: “More alert, more aware, more observant”. “The judgment, the hurt, the resentment, the disappointment, the fear – will be replaced by a quiet respect & a desire to understand”. (10)
*HAPPINESS: “Namaste is not only a sign of recognition, but also an expression of happiness at each other's sight”. (11)
*ENLIGHTENMENT: Definition of Enlightenment: “Awakened” (12) “Awakening to a great reality most of us never perceive”. Enlightenment has “Nothing to do with knowledge or intellect”. (13) The Path to Enlightenment includes: Meditation, mantras, the acquittal of the Ego & mental development. (14) Enlightenment is “A concept in spirituality, philosophy & psychology related to achieving clarity of perception, reason & knowledge”. (15)
*The PROBLEM: VIOLENCE: Human beings are violent each day in thoughts, words & deeds. Violence starts with: #1. A negative thought in the neurons of the Brain – which become: #2. Negative words arising from the Larynx (such as Swear words, hate speech & defamation) & #3. Negative actions (such as: Fist fights, gun shots, bombs & wars). Overall, these violent acts cause deep mental & physical pain & suffering to the human & animal victims of violence & to the planet Earth.
*The SOLUTION: NAMASTE. Perhaps humans can replace violent thoughts, words & deeds with an attitude of Namaste, where we bow to the divine in other people, animals & the Earth – including honoring the sacred nature of our enemies.
II. NAMASTE & WORLD EVENTS:
*NAMASTE, Nuclear Bombs and Hiroshima & Nagasaki :
A Namaste enlightened person would honor the Japanese people & find a diplomatic solution to WWII -- Rather than drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki . (16)
*NAMASTE & The Iraq War:
A Namaste aware person would respect Iraq & not aggressively go to war with that country. A Namaste enlightened person would not invade & occupy Iraq : for Oil, in response to 9/11, for Weapons of Mass Destruction, in search for Al Qaeda or due to uranium claims. (17)
*NAMASTE, The Native American Indians & Genocide:
A Namaste mindful person would peacefully co-exist with the Native American Indians – Rather than commit genocide against them & take their American lands. (18)
II.' NAMASTE & HUMAN BEHAVIOR:
A. NAMASTE & Violent Language:
*A Namaste enlightened person offers Kind words & a helping hand to others – Rather than saying negative, slanderous & cruel statements to another person.
Here are 3 examples of defamatory & cruel statements:
*I hope your life is a living Hell.
*I hope you end up in a Midnight Express prison.
*You are a time bomb, that is going to explode.
*Analysis of Sample Statements: There is no spirit of Namaste & no love in these words. These statements do not speak of the divinity, the honor, the sacredness or the dignity of the victim. There is no sense of Oneness in this speech – Rather these utterances speak of war & hate. This language crosses over into the realm of malice with the willful intent to harm. These words speak of rejection & harm the reputation of the victim. This language: Annhilates, alienates, condemns, destroys, demonizes, disintegrates, humiliates, mutilates, oppresses, persecutes, shames, terrorizes & Murders the soul of the target victim. (19) Most tragically, this negative language not only kills the spirit of the target victim, but it also incites violence in the victim. (20) Overall, these statements inflict great … mental anguish in the target victim; They are emotionally abusive. (21) The sender of such words has fantasies of: Evil, Hell, Satan, prison, punishment, bombs, war & monsters – that only exist in the mind of the sender of such negative messages. There is no information of any social value in these statements. There is no truth being communicated in such language. There is no sincere meaning in these words.
B. NAMASTE, Bullying & Equality:
*A Namaste enlightened person believes in Equality; A Namaste mindful person does not bully other people. Bullying is a form of abuse, performed by a bully aimed at the victim or target of bullying. (22) “Bullying is an act of repeated aggressive behavior in order to intentionally hurt another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person.” (23) *Characteristics of Bullies include: #1. Imbalance of Power: The bully can be older, bigger, stronger, more verbally adept, higher up on the social ladder, … of the opposite sex. #2. Intent to Harm: The bully means to inflict emotional &/or physical pain, expects the action to hurt & takes pleasure in witnessing the hurt. #3. Threats of further Aggression: including the statement: “I am not going away”. #4. Terrorizing the Victim: Bullying is systematic violence used to intimidate & maintain dominance. Bullies have the following traits in common: They like to dominate other people; They are concerned only with their own wants & pleasures & not those of others; They use blame, criticism & false allegations to project their own inadequacies onto their target; They refuse to accept responsibility for their actions. (24)
*The Namaste enlightened person does not bully others. The Namaste aware person is not aggressive towards & does not threaten others. The Namaste mindful person does not seek to dominate or have power over others. The Namaste savvy person does not take pleasure in causing harm to a target victim. – Rather the Namaste aware person has compassion for, seeks peace with & offers a helping hand to others.
C. NAMASTE, Zerzetzen & Psycho-Terror:
*A Namaste enlightened person does not seek to torture or terrorize others. Zerzetzen is a form of psychological torture & terror inflicted upon a person in order to break & destroy that person”. Zerzetzen uses techniques such as: Character assassination, death threats, lies, defamation (slander & libel), harassment, false charges, surveillance, wire tapping, etc. -- It's purpose is to poison every aspect of a person's life”. Victims retreat into a paranoid, isolated reality; The victims may be committed to a psychiatric prison or they may commit suicide. “The aim of (Zerzetzen) ‘psycho-terror' (is) to evoke in (a person) a feeling of complete helplessness, of losing control over their lives & being at the mercy of an almighty authority”. (25) (26) (27) (28) The Namaste mindful person seeks to cause no harm to other people.
D. NAMASTE & Defamation:
*A Namaste enlightened person seeks to do no harm to another person's reputation. Defamation is: “A false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions”. (29) Defamatory communication tends to “Harm the reputation of another as to lower him in the estimation of the community, or to deter 3rd persons from associating or dealing with him”. Defamation is “False, (malicious) & injurious statements about the reputation of another” & it includes libel (written) & slander (spoken) forms. (30)
*NAMASTE & Character Assassination: “Character assassination is an attempt to tarnish a person's reputation. It may involve exaggeration, misleading half-truths, or manipulation of facts to present an untrue picture of the targeted person. It is a form of defamation …. For … individuals targeted by character assassination attempts, this may result in being rejected by his community, family, or members of his or her living or work environment. Such acts are often difficult to reverse or rectify, and the process is likened to a literal assassination of a human life. The damage sustained can last a lifetime …Character assassination may involve doublespeak, spreading of rumors, innuendo or deliberate misinformation on topics relating to the subject's morals, integrity & reputation. It may involve spinning information that is technically true, but that is presented in a misleading manner or is presented without the necessary context.” (31) A Namaste aware person seeks to help other people -- Rather than defaming & character assassinating them.
E. NAMASTE, Evil Fantasies, Monster Making & Demonizing the Enemy:
*The Namaste enlightened person thinks rationally & does not fantasize about evil or demonize an enemy; The Namaste mindful person tries to understand another person's history, motivation & psychology – Rather than creating monsters of others. One reason people hate & are violent to others is the perception of: Evil. As Cole states in his book The Myth of Evil: “The discourse of evil is so dangerous that we must try to do without it.” Cole discusses the “Condemnation of those described as evil”. Cole explains: “Freud provided an important insight that we construct monsters … They represent our fears … or they represent our own monstrosity, our capacity for destructive evil intent.” Evil obstructs our understanding, it blocks our way, it is a failure to understand. “In the face of events like the Holocaust, we have to remember that one major factor in bringing it about was (the) discourse of evil”. Rather than call someone “Evil”, it is important as Cole states: “To understand their history, their motivation, (&) their psychology”. (32)
F. NAMASTE, Mobbing & Ganging Up on a Person:
*A Namaste enlightened person does not gang up on a person in acts of vigilante justice.
Mobbing is “Violence committed directly or indirectly by a loosely affiliated & organized group of individuals to punish or even execute a person for some alleged offense without a lawful trial.” “The issue of the victim's actual guilt or innocence is often irrelevant to the mob, since the mob usually relies on contentions that are unverifiable, unsubstantiated or completely fabricated.” (33) Some regard “Mobbing as a form of group bullying”. Victims of mobbing may suffer from Post-traumatic stress disorder. (34) “Mobbing can be described as being ‘Ganged up on'. Mobbing is executed by a leader … The leader then rallies others into a systematic & frequent ‘mob-like' behavior toward the victim”. (35) Sociologist Kenneth Westhues devised the following list of mobbing indicators, including the most important feature being: “The target is seen as personally abhorrent, with no redeeming qualities: Stigmatizing, exclusionary labels are applied”. Other indicators include: “Shared conviction that the target needs some kind of formal punishment, ‘To be taught a lesson'” & “Disregard of established procedures (such as the rule of law), as mobbers take matters into their own hands”. (36)
G. NAMASTE & The Do No Harm Ethic:
*A Namaste enlightened person seeks to do no harm to other people. A Namaste mindful person seeks to cause no anxiety, stress or humiliation in others. A Namaste aware person seeks to cause no: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Breaking Point Violence, Humiliation & Humiliated Fury, Non-Validation & Disintegration Anxiety, Bullying, Depression, Suicide or any other kind of violence in other people. (37)
--The following conditions are examples of the Psychological responses of the victims of Mental trauma:
*POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD): is defined as: “A severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma”. PTSD symptoms include: Flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma & increased arousal (e.g. difficulty falling asleep, anger & hyper-vigilance. The traumatic event that causes PTSD can “Overwhelm the individual's ability to cope”. (38)
*The BREAKING POINT & VIOLENCE: Regush warns us all of our: “Breaking Point”& our “Human Potential for Violence” including: “The potential of people everywhere on this planet to break down under severe stress”. (39)
*DISINTEGRATION ANXIETY: Violence, when repeated & targeted at a victim, can cause: Disintegration anxiety. Kohut describes Disintegration anxiety as: When a person experiences continual self-invalidating events. Similarly Laing describes Ontological insecurity as “An intense & pervasive anxiety … manifested in a variety of symptoms, including ‘Severe fragmentation, serious loss of initiative, profound drop in self-esteem (& a) sense of (an) utter meaningless (existence)'. Unchecked, this disintegration anxiety poses ‘The danger of regression to psychosis'”. (40)
*HUMILIATED FURY: “Feelings of humiliation can produce ‘Humiliated Fury' (40)' which, when turned inward can result in apathy & depression & when turned outward can give rise to paranoia, sadistic behavior & fantasies of revenge. “Klein explains, ‘When it is outwardly directed, humiliated fury … creates additional victims, often including innocent bystanders.” (41)
*EFFECTS of BULLYING on the TARGETED VICTIM: “The effects of bullying can be serious & even fatal”. “The link between bullying & school violence has attracted increasing attention since the 1999 rampage at Colorado 's Columbine High School . That year, 2 shotgun-wielding students, both of whom had been identified as gifted & who had been bullied for years, killed 13 people, wounded 24 & then committed suicide. A year later an analysis by officials at the U.S. Secret Service of 27 premeditated school shootings found that bullying, which some of the shooters described ‘In terms that approached torment' played a major role in more than 2/3's of the attacks”. Nearly one-third of academically talented 8th graders say that they have “Harbored violent thoughts as a result (of bullying). (42)
III . NAMASTE & ENLIGHTENMENT:
*NAMASTE: I BOW to the DIVINE in YOU:
*If the human race was enlightened, then humans would have a spirit of Namaste or “I bow to the divine in you” in daily relationships. If humans were enlightened: Rather than: Wage war on, nuclear bomb, commit genocide on, bully, hate & defame others -- humans would respect others' rights to life, freedom & happiness. If we were Namaste mindful, then we would help people rather than hurt them. If we were Namaste aware, then we would have mercy on people's imperfections -- rather than: get revenge on, condemn & punish others for their sins.
*KIND WORDS & NO ENEMY:
* If a person is Namaste enlightened, then that person will not be violent towards an enemy. An enlightened person will offer: A kind word, a gesture of conciliation to or listen compassionately to an enemy. Furthermore, if a person is truly Namaste aware, then that person will have No enemy.
*NAMASTE & SINCERITY in OUR DAILY LIVES:
*The definition of Rhetoric is language that has: “A persuasive or impressive effect on it's audience, but is often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content”. (43) How often during the course of our human days do we engage in acts that lack sincerity or meaningful content? Furthermore, How often do we humans engage in acts that not only lack sincerity & meaning, but that cross over into the territory of hate & malice with the intent to harm others? May we engage in a spirit of Namaste in our daily lives, bowing to the divine, the sacred & the dignity of other people. May we honor the light in each other. May we all pause in our busy days to seek an eternal moment of Oneness with other humans, the animals & the Earth.
Namaste. Thank you. Respectfully, Mary Hamer.
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