When Is it Inappropriate to Use the Word Namaste?

Susanna Barkataki and Rina Desphande share their insights about commercializing the word Namaste.
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[@jeanneamato8278]

I don’t think most people understand the meaning of ‘sacred’ anymore.

[@abdullahal-shimri3091]

I’m a Hindi speaker and namaste is just a greetings. Don’t overanalyze it.

[@prikkeldraad7112]

Indian Christians usually don't use 'namaste' because they see it as a Hindu/pagan word, so for them it isn't just a greeting.

[@nobueno3514]

THANK YOU

[@BadKarma108]

Tell me you don't know shit without telling me you don't know shit. Namaste isn't a hallo. It means I'm greeting the devine within you, in Hinduism people use to greet each other with it because God resides in all of us. But what do i expect from a Mulla to know

[@kirstymacfarlane1620]

What I found when I used to go to a class regularly, I practice at home now, was the lack of respect. Some, not all students, made it felt like they were there to "do yoga" not because they had any connection to it or interest in the spiritual side but so they had some sort of status. Some of them would come in late, they would talk at inappropriate times, they'd stand on other peoples mats, someone did that to me once and it didn't happen again, it's my pet hate. Before I started going to yoga classes I educated myself in yoga etiquette because I wanted to respect my teacher and the other students, I was there to learn and improve my health. These people that were coming to the class were college lecturers, educated people. They were nice enough but were there for all the wrong reasons. I'm doing my yoga teacher training, starting in the next couple of months, and I'm going to have a lot more focus on meditation and pranayama than just the postures. I want to bring people who have the I can't do yoga because of..... thought pattern and show them they can, no matter what they're facing physically or mentally. I want to be a kind, compassionate, understanding and welcoming teacher. I had a wonderful teacher who I learned so much from, especially on how to make people feel at ease and at home in the class, a yoga practice is a very personal thing. We're not all the same and if you're comparing yourself or worried about how your body looks in postures then you need to go back to the breath and reconnect. I'm a curvy woman with a disability, who can be very insecure but when I practice yoga I become a different person. I love the feeling I get when my body does something that I didn't think it could. That's part of what yoga is for me, leave your ego at the door, forget about what anyone else is doing. It's your practice,so you modify to suit your needs. Just don't stand on my mat, that's for me, my husband and my dog!

[@aspiringproduction3006]

🤟🏽

[@shree711]

Namaste is a greeting. End of. I meet a family friend. I greet them with Namaste. Your yoga has nothing to do with the word. Make your mind and intentions pure. That's it.

[@TheKenswagger]

That was my first time hearing nama slay. Yt people appropriating two culture that one time 🤦🏾

[@rajeevlohani1257]

नमस्ते 🙏

[@RnW9384]

Same with certain Chinese practice ...Kung Fu. Chi Kung To Chi....etc. Turn it into a 'Teachable Moment' when you see someone misuse it.

[@cozyatcocos]

If people are changin’ the word it is no longer the same word your upset about, right? They put their own twist to it! So why are you tripping? Namaste means from what I understand greetings to you. I’ve never heard nama-slay, but it probably means good morning go and slay the day! In America people use other peoples languages that’s why they called us a melting pot! Mini commercials use black American music rap music etc. black slang if that is a thing🤷🏾‍♀️ you don’t hear us crying about it! I’m just trying to say. You can’t tell people how to speak in this country🤷🏾‍♀️ no one‘s trying to come and get your culture we don’t even really know it in depth but when you come to America expect anything because we all speak each other’s language that’s what we do here! Therefore it makes us share one language. I could go deeper into this but it’s not even worth it! Good luck with thinkin you can stop freedom of speech in America, smh…

[@dharmayogaashram979]

Incredible YJ is the magazine of phony yoga.

[@patrickmccartney7544]

Does Sanskrit use more movements in the mouth than other languages? Which points of articulation does Sanskrit use that is not available in literally hundreds of other languages as well? What exactly is a “spiritual resonance? What is the frequency of such a resonance and how does it differ from the resonance or frequency of any other language when it is spoken? If one doesn’t like branding of “sacred” things then do we also include not branding ourselves as yogapreneurs? Who gets to decode what is sacred and profane? Insisting that people not speak in a certain way sounds totalitarian. It also reminds me of the ishti that Katyayana and the grammarian patanjali established telling people how to speak, which included, also, the idea that women weren’t allowed to speak Sanskrit...at all... does that mean that any woman today in yogaland speaking Sanskrit is culturally appropriating the language of gods that was traditionally reserved for only men to speak? in some ways these assertions of the speakers in this video could be seen as reverse orientalism.

[@arkamukhopadhyay9111]

Absolutely.

[@patrickmccartney7544]

@@arkamukhopadhyay9111 this recent, short and clear article by madhav deshpande, emeritus prof of sanskrit is very interesting open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/70440/items/1.0379841 - particularly, this part: "15. Existence of Sanskrit Interlanguage Patañjali reports that if we do not explicitly study grammar, we will speak incorrectly like girls or women. Te Mahābhāṣya on P. 1.4.21 (Kielhorn edn, Vol. I, p. 322) tells us: dṛśyate khalv api viprayogaḥ / tad yathā / akṣīṇi me darśanīyāni / pādā me sukumārā iti / - “Some contrary usage is indeed seen. For example: [A girl says] ‘My eyes are beautiful, and my feet are delicate.’” Here, the girl who has not learned the proper Sanskrit usage uses Sanskrit plural forms to refer to her eyes and feet, where she should have used dual forms. However, this Prakritized usage of Sanskrit was possible because the category of dual had disappeared in Prakrits. So, a sort of Sanskritized Prakrit or a Prakritized Sanskrit usage had emerged at the popular level (see Houben 2018)."

[@MsSandhu9]

@@patrickmccartney7544 Well, what do you want to prove? That traditional Hinduism, at least in some aspects, was patriarchal & sexist as other religions? In that case, yes, you are right. I think these women overdid it. All they had to say was that it's rude to mock and callous to not make an effort to learn the correct pronunciation of a language that is also associated with a religion & culture, especially when you are already learning a practice (yoga) associated with that language/religion. It's just a part of being civil & respectful, nothing more.

[@jendallas7455]

People these days use it in different ways, they’ve no clue what it means or where it comes from but use it for fun, “some” (most) of the western yoga gurus be using this word without any knowledge either. Anyone can use the word if they “pronounce” the word properly (which most of the westerners don’t) and if they say that word with respect.

[@patrickmccartney7544]

@@MsSandhu9 that's not all that is said in the video. If it weren't then why did I ask all the questions that have? Truth claims are in the video made based on opinion by someone who is not an expert in sanskrit, acoustics or historical linguistics, and made into articles of faith- yet this person and the YJ present as experts who ought to be trusted for delivering factual content. This issue of historical misogyny and patriarchy seems an attempt to strawman or at least move the goalposts.

[@lalaboha]

Hmm judging and making rules on how another should feel and act with words......well good luck with that.

[@ChaiTogether]

This is ridiculous.

[@giacomofranc6975]

Get serious. It is just a word. It means nothing. Your mind gives it a meaning and mine gives it a different