“Hindus greet each other by bowing with joined hands to honor the sacred mystery they are encountering. Yet most of us fail to express this reverence for others in our daily lives. All too often we claim omniscience about other people, other nations, other cultures, and even those we claim to love, and our views about them are frequently colored by our own needs, fears, ambitions, and desires.” – Karen Armstrong, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
That greeting mentioned above, the “honoring the sacred mystery” — that is NAMASTE. I’ve never quite heard it defined like that and it opened up all the windows in my mind and woke me up with the bright light and refreshing air when I read it. A sacred mystery. You aren’t anticipating my next word, action, or private thought. You are full of unexpectable possibilities. I haven’t figured you out at all.
What if we perceive ourselves and others as a sacred mystery where there is no obvious trajectory of the story or even end “goals” of how it all turns out? And from the embrace of mystery and practice of unknowing, we can let ourselves off that really sharp and unrelenting hook of trying to figure it all out.
Jeez. I love it.
Namaste you glorious, sacred mystery.
Rachel
p.s. Namaste is the Meditation Mantra of the Month 🙂 Peace on your head, you.
