[The "new" terms you will encounter are all Sanskrit–the prayer language of the Hindu religion]
~Namaste is a typical Hindu greeting. It means "I bow to you." There should be a question implicit in this statement. "Why would I want to bow to you?" The answer is demonstrated in the hand gesture of bringing the palms together. I bow to you because my soul and your soul are one. This is the essence of Classical Yoga, indeed the very core of spirituality–that our essential nature is the Soul (Atman) or Spirit. The Soul is: LIGHT (Jyothi)/LOVE (Ananda~bliss)/ENERGY (Shakti).
Love, Light and Energy
O^M–this are we
with emotions mind and body.
The Sanskrit Sat/Chid/Ananda–Truth/Light~Consciousness/Bliss also conveys this primal reality. This Spiritual/Self-Realization is basic to living a balanced and relatively peaceful life. It is a true solution to violence. Self-Realization is understanding both the "inner" and the "outer" nature. ["Self" refers to the Atman–"self" refers to the ego nature.] Like two golden birds perched on the selfsame tree, intimate friends, the ego and the Self dwell in the same body.–Mundaka Upanishad – For eons of time, Gurus (a Hindu spiritual teacher) have posed these vital questions to their students (chelas):
1. Who am I?
2. Where did I come from?
3. Where am I going?
4. What is the ultimate purpose of life?
1. The Soul/Atman–with body, mind and emotions.
2. As Love, Light and Energy, from a greater source of the same–physically,
of course, from the mother.
3. The Atma, in various ways, merges with this greater source–the body,
of course, fades away.
4. Spiritual-Realization along with the other important life purposes,
responsibilities and duties.
~To one degree or another, all the spiritual/religious traditions of the world seek to adopt a spiritual lifestyle that helps to bring about this realization and experience to which these vital questions point. [Like the word "yoga;" i.e., "to yoke" to the spirit, the essential meaning of the word "religion" is "to link-back" ("religio") to the spirit.] The religion of Classical Yoga/Hinduism is one very profound path to Spiritual-Realization. This ancient and contemporary religion, provides answers, grounded in experience as well as a wisdom and compassion that recognizes we are all on this Eternal Spiritual Journey.