About ten years ago I was out camping with some fellow travelers, as I am wont to do. We’d been hanging out by a warm fire, doing things people do when they hang out by a fire. By the time we were starting to forget how long it had been dark, I was a little wobbly with whiskey, Jameson’s if you must know. As some folks were lumbering away from the fire to hunker down somewhere they said, “Namasté” to us. In my mind, I was saying, “Aloha,” to be funny, you know, it means hello and goodbye, ha ha, a cute way of saying, “No, don’t go…” At any rate, it came out, “Namaloha,” a drunken combination of the two words. Later, I put some thought into it, after all, it does roll off the tongue. Thank you, alcohol.
To people who use the word Namasté the interpretation below is probably familiar as one of its most commonly used meanings. A more nutshell version is, “The Divine in me recognizes and/or honors the Divine in you,” a lovely sentiment and one I really don’t need to expound on as it is quite clear.
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides.
I honor the place in you of love, of hope, of peace.
I honor the place in you where-when you are in that place in you,
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
The word Aloha means much more than just hello and goodbye. Aloha is not only recognizing ones connection to all that is, it’s respecting that connection. It’s that connection described in Namasté, when self melts away. When one learns to connect in that way, a lot of doors open that were formerly closed. There are choices to make when one begins to really get in contact with all that is outside of themselves and their tiny world. When one understands the brief panic followed by euphoria that you feel when you get so connected you disappear, understand that the fearlessness comes from Namaloha.
This is where Aloha comes in. When one is “living Aloha,” they are connected to and respect all of life, plants, animals, people and the Earth itself, all life, even the universe. Being connected in this way with the proper respect removes any desire to willfully harm anyone or anything. It isn't about simply recognition of being a part in the whole, it’s accepting accountability for that roles manifestation.
The literal meaning of Aloha is, “the presence of breath” or “the breath of life.” It comes from “Alo,” meaning presence, and “ha,” meaning breath. Aloha is a way of living wherein people treat one another with the respect that honors connection with every breath. Its deeper meaning begins by learning to love and respect ourselves so that we are able to spread that love and respect outward to others. Living Aloha is about sending and receiving positive energy with no obligation or expectation and doing it with respect.
To live in a perpetual state of connection on this Earth as humans isn’t impossible, not being negative, just true. The feeling is referred to as enlightenment, and while we all have the potential of feeling enlightenment it is not a state we can perpetually be in, that would be utterly exhausting. To live in the spiritual all the time would be easy if we lived in a spiritual world, alas, we do not. We live in a physical world with a lot of variables, seen and unseen, expected and unexpected. The reality is that enlightenment comes in moments, moments we remember and are able to experience again and again under the right circumstances. We achieve that connection more and more easily and readily by living a life that promotes connection and unity.
“Namaloha” is a reminder of a way to live a life committed to exploring that connection and doing it with integrity. Saying the right words, going to the right seminars and investing in all the shiny bobbles will not help you progress in your spiritual practice, living in recognition of the sacred will, and it’s not easy in such a physical world. That’s why they call it a spiritual practice. Knowing is the easy part, actually living what you know is the challenge we all must rise to every day once we wake up. It’s time to abandon the current climate of narcissistic divisiveness in culture and re-introduce integrity.
Thanks for listening and
Namaloha!
