They say the eyes are the window to our soul. Yes, I find it very true. Whenever I see the sparkling lights that radiates their innermost spirit in someone’s eyes, especially the children’s, I can’t help but to just fall in love with them. My heart will start pounding and makes me grin from ear to ear by sheer joy of such encounters. Maybe I am a still helpless romantic longing for divine lights and love all around us, in a hope to light up our life with more joyous and delightful chorus of the hearts.
The Prayer Pose (Namaste) that puts our hands together in heart level with slightly bowed head is such a beautiful gesture of humanity saluting to the divine force within, and without. Its literally meaning is “I salute to the inner pure being in you, and in me.” Thus, whenever I get to glimpse the purity of souls through the eyes, or get to stare at those eyes for a while… It’s so loving and sweet like nectar. I feel we all must have been angels before we were born, or before we become all ‘grown-up.’ But then, I don’t know from where it went wrong … because not many of us are having those pretty eyes anymore…maybe we just forgot what we were before and all we need is a gentle reminder our divine nature. Thus, Indians or yogis greet each other with “Namaste” each time.
There is another gesture, known as Anjali mudra, where in you put out your palms in front of you with slightly downcast eyes in receiving position, as though you are waiting for grace to fall upon from up above. It is yet another important yoga gesture that has a significant place in Yoga, related with the story of how the “Pantanjali Yoga Sutra” came about. According to a legend,
“About two thousand years ago, there were many factions among those who practice yoga. Lying on the great serpent Ananta on the great ocean of possibility, Vishnu noticed this separateness in the practice of yoga, and he thought it would be a good idea to find a way to bring everyone together. He decided to send his liaison Ananta, charging the thousand-headed serpent with the task of bringing the yoga groups together into one great practice.
Down on earth lived a lovely woman who had the misfortune of being unable to have children. She was a devout worshipper of Vishnu and prayed every day for the miracle of a child. As she prayed, she held her hands open to receive any grace that might fall upon her. She waited and hoped and never gave up.
One day, as she was down on her knees with upturned hands reaching toward the sky, Vishnu decide to let the grace of his grand serpent fall upon this sweet woman. Into her praying hands fell baby Pantanjali. (“Pat” means “to fall” in Sanskrit, and “anjali” was the gesture the woman made with her hands.) This was no ordinary baby boy. He had the upper torso of a normal human, but his lower half was a snake’s tail. Apparently Ananta didn’t have time to make a complete transformation on his fall to earth. But who was the woman to question a gift from above? So she loved him and raised him as her own, despite his serpentine half.
Pantanjal grew to be a great master of yoga, and he helped the world by uniting all the different ideas about yoga into one grand work, called the Yoga Sutra means “thread,” and this classic text consists of short aphorisms, which pull yoga together into one great fabric. Each little phrase encompasses great wisdom, which has sustained yoga for the last two thousand years.”
Patanjali’s yoga sutras outline several different methods for achieving ultimate happiness, or yoga. The most well known of these is Ashtanga yoga, the Eight Limbs of the Royal Path in Yoga. (It is different than the contemporary and athletic style of ashtanga Yoga, founded by an Indian Guru Pattabhi Jois, and became well known by Madonna).
The Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga path includes; yama, the guidelines for ethical standards and moral conduct; niyama, the observances and disciplines recommended for yoga practitioners to follow; asana (postures) and pranayam (breath work) which together constitute Hatha yoga; pratyahara (senses withdrawal) that describes the natural process of senses turning inward; dharana (concentration), dyana (meditation) and Samadhi (enlightenment) together known as Raja yoga.
Praying with outstretched hands, in anjali mudra, symbolizes the unwavering belief that whatever one is praying for will soon arrive. Inherent in this gesture is a strong pulsation of faith. Faith is what is required to be able to make great leaps and receive great blessings, as Patanjali’s mother did.
While Namaste and anjali are generally interchangeable names for a similar gesture, there is no myth associated with the Namaste mudra. Namaste is a sort of variation on anjali that helps us in our efforts to find a balance. The word “Namaste” is also an important and pervasive aspect of yoga practice. Our gesture of bringing our hands to prayer and the salutation is reflective of yoga’s end goal, to be enlightened of the inner pure being.
This beautiful gesture of greeting with folded palms is, in fact, common gesture not only in India but in many different cultures. The prayer like hands gesture “wai” with a slight bow is used widely in Thailand, as a way of thanking or apologizing. Chinese style is a bit different which they do with wrapping one hand over the other in a kung-fu style in the heart level. Japan and Korea have, yet, another unique style of greeting. They do fold hands, but, in the low front of abdomen with almost ninety degree bowing forward position.
Though there are slight variations in styles, and yet, fold hands with smiling eyes or mouth to greet others are such humbling and graceful gesture, expressing our humanity and unity brought forward from bottom of our hearts. Sadly, there are some short-sighted pastors or other religious authorities that I heard, asking their people not to do the Namaste pose, saying that, it is a prayer to Hindu gods.
God resides in each of us in whatever forms or names we feel connected with. That way, we can stay close to our God. When we put our hands in Namaste or Anjali gestures to pray, we are praying to the God we hold dearly inside our hearts, not some foreign Hindu gods, just because yoga is originated in India. Yoga means, union, or bringing together, which is just the medium that unites our body, mind and heart with breath; so that it channels out our inborn love and reverence toward other fellow beings and God, regardless of any ethnic makeup or religious orientations. Not only Yoga, but, any spiritual disciplines we employ are just the means to arrive to our inner most being, residing in our hearts, that which our eyes are the direct reflections of it. Thus, why not we welcome each other with Namaste or pray in Anjali mudra more often? Who knows how fast we might able to arrive at the doors of our God?
