Why white people need to stop saying 'namaste'

I can't reason any of this banter in my mind. Too many labels, too much divisiveness…

There is only one earth, one tiny, pale, blue dot…

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

But in the end, we are all humans, and our collective cultures are the property of all of us.

The same way we have "Cultural Heritage Sites". We all are an amalgamation of that which comes before us, and what we leave will be the precursor to whatever comes after us.

Our culture, or civilization, is the heritage of our species. Both beautiful and ugly.

What a big, freaking hippy you are

:-)

a reply to: Dark Ghost
All us white people need to step back and calm the F down.

When I see someone sincerely use "namaste", I cringe with embarrassment for them, like John Wayne greeting Native Americans with palm raised and a "How"

Yeah it's a bummer European spirituality was burned down in the dark ages and we can't sit around and paint blue dragons on our bodies, drink gallons of mead and burn some human sacrifices in wicker baskets.
Blame Julius Ceasar for that when he chopped down all the sacred groves and Romans forced all the barbarians to shave, shower and put some clothes on or get a free Cross ride.

Portlandia. We're all living there now.

It's positively absurd.

So, let me get this straight:

If a white person attends a Christian Church, they're a narrow-minded Christo-facist-bigot.

If a white person practices anything of or related to Eastern Religion(TM) they're guilty of "cultural appropriation".

I guess the only thing whites can do is be "spiritual but not religious" or just become a Dawkins-style atheist and militantly appose anything remotely resembling faith in anything beyond the 5 known senses. The reasons? Spiritual but not religious avoids any form of cultural offense and/or Dawkins is British and lots of white people are also British.

Then again, maybe that's not fair because some white people aren't. Maybe you can only be an atheist if you have an accent and actually live in the UK and are named Dawkins.

a reply to: Beowulf530

Actually, given the number of tattoos and "galaxy hair" wearing white people in the world today, I think being painted blue isn't that unusual.

As for the rest, there's still Burning Man. No one actually gets burnt alive or anything, but there is a lot of fire and I'm pretty sure, drinking.

originally posted by: Dark Ghost


ETA: This article might seem insignificant in itself, but the deeper issue it touches upon is of extreme importance: denying rights to white people on their skin tone alone is socially permissible.

You are about 25% right...

Yes the girl is a goof...No one gets culturally POed when other races, cultures etc say "Hello" in English even though they speak very little English beyond that.

Or more accurately..only idiots get POed when foreigners say "Hello"

And the same goes for her...Go to Yoga..you might hear Namaste...take a martial arts class and you will end up speaking some Korean, Japanese or Chinese.

My issue with your OP is that you have made it a boo-hoo white people oppressed thing.

There are people that have low tolerance for mixing culture or language everywhere...and yes...white people do it a lot in the USA too...it has nothing to do with skin color or race. Just ignorance...and ignorance comes in all colors and languages..

So please...enough of the poor oppressed white people as victims nonsense. Stupid comes in all flavors...White, Brown and everything in between.

originally posted by: auraofblack
I couldn't agree more. Western yoga classes, certainly the ones I have been to tend to lack the spiritual aspects and if truth be told, I find it a little disheartening when the teachers start going on about chakras and visualising balls of light.

Many people get confused over what namaste means. Could it be the offence that taken over this is because when a westerner,who usually doesn't have an smidgen of spirituality starts using this word they don't understand what is the divine?

Imagine if you will, an agnostic or atheist using this word to someone who doesn't just believe in yogic practices, but lives them and has done since very young... I can see the offence this would cause. Half these teachers don't know what they are talking about, preferring to regurgitate new age dross wholesale. Some don't even understand what is the divine, preferring to see themselves in the whole as it.

Exactly! The problem here is that Yoga is a spiritual practice with potential infinite depth, but the Western style of yoga tries to ignore the spiritual element of the practice and in the process destroys any depth you could get from the practice. Instead you get unhealthy psychology where people are focusing on flexibility with an awkward kind of arrogance while avoiding the spiritual elements of the practice. Since the purpose of Yoga is Unity,ignoring the spiritual element destroys the purpose of the practice. When people say namaste I hope that they are just open minded to the divine, but the feeling I get from the usual yoga person is that they are just interested in physical exercise and only have a vague idea of what they are actually during while practicing yoga.

originally posted by: auraofblack
I'll expand a little more on this subject to highlight what I feel is lacking. If you study any form of cultural system that uses our conciousness, life force and spirituality you will see that there is wealth of information out there that contradicts itself. Did you know that most Satanists, for example don't believe in the traditional 7 chakra system, instead opting to use a 13 point system. If on top of that we compound language and cultural concepts that are alien to people from a different cultures then what happens is the original teachings become lost.

I don't personally have any problems with differences between spiritual systems based on the culture that the system comes from. The systems purpose is to try to cultivate deeper aspects of the Self through transcendental experiences and making you more sensitive to higher realms, different cultures may have different philosophies and spiritual structures in order to accomplish that task. Not really sure how I currently feel about what you brought up about the chakras, I heard of the 13 system and the organization I'm involved in is founded on Korean taoist ideas which has a different chakra makeup then the usual ROYGBIV chakra structure. I heard that there are thousands of chakras but the 7 normally acknowledged are the most important. That's a subject I need to do more research on because I'm still uncertain on the meaning of chakras, I just know that they work for the practices I have done that involved them.

Cultural Appropriation is a media buzzword to provide people with a "victim mentality" a banner behind which to be righteously offended.

IMHBO this whole thread is bigoted. We are all here for the same reason. Where would our race be now if we didn't waste so much energy on pointlessness of this nature.
a reply to: Spookytraction

"White people are naive ignorant, insulting patronizing and annoying. "


White people make 12 page Internet thread defending their selves from the above observations and its obstacles as related to others.

Brown people continue life.

White people sit on Internet bottling hate.

Next interaction between white and brown : brown person doesnt even remember making obscene observation on white personality traits, white person has been stewing over the brown persons observation 24/7 and plotting his retort. White person assumes brown person is doing the same 'inner plotting' that he is. This is rarely true.

White person confronts brown person over perceived grudge, which is no more than a 1 way street of paranoia, only affecting the white person, until their self grown hatred and rage is turned into an issue by the white persons many available "pot stirring" outlets programmed into
his self centered existence.

Of course the "confrontation" takes place within the pot stirring outlets also. No direct dialogue at all.

I don't know what namaste means so I don't say it and I don't practice yoga cause I have no idea what it truly means. One with any common sense can see that yoga is deeper than just being an exercise/workout. I was christian at one point but never wore a cross because I wasn't sure what wearing one truly embodied. White people want to franchise everything and are turning the world into one big freaking Mcdonalds!

originally posted by: peppycat
a reply to: Involutionist Maybe folks that use Yoga for health and fitness should call it something else, same with Tai Chi or Qi Gong if it makes your body healthier, then anyone should be able to practice it for free.

I read a Christian article saying how Christians should stay away from Yoga all together because Yoga is worshipping different Gods.

Your post was very thoughtful, thank you.

I make up my own positions and moves.

Works just as well

Namaste means 'I bow to the divine in you'. This divine aspect transcends colour or race. Supposedly it is in fact that which unites us all.

Considering all that, it's kindof odd to hear someone state that bowing to the divine in someone is supposed the prerogative of only certain races/cultures. It seems the exact opposite of what the gesture was supposed to accomplish: to recognize that we all share the same divine nature.

I was into New age for a few years, became Reiki practitioner, I never once said namaste, just made me feel awkward, just like at church I never was one to shout out hallelujah.

If I say something I want to mean it, like, Have a good day, it loses its meaning if it becomes just a habit.

oh well

a reply to: DoctorPoptart

Brown people do their fair share of b*tching and moaning, too. They are human, after all.

It's the b*tching that's getting under my skin. Who cares if someone says a word or what color they are when they say it? If someone uses yoga to get more limber rather than reaching transcendence, what's that to anyone else?

It's called minding your own business and it's a lost art. Could someone culturally appropriate that, maybe? Each to their own? Can we just spread that concept around a little?

It's okay to have a pet peeve about a word, but does it have to be a race thing? Can't it just be a personal preference?

a reply to: SisterDelirium

yup

a reply to: Dark Ghost

She is off her egoistic rocker...

Namaste

a reply to: payt69

Gave you a star for explaining it. You are right.

Namaste

originally posted by: SisterDelirium
a reply to: DoctorPoptart

Brown people do their fair share of b*tching and moaning, too. They are human, after all.

It's the b*tching that's getting under my skin. Who cares if someone says a word or what color they are when they say it? If someone uses yoga to get more limber rather than reaching transcendence, what's that to anyone else?

It's called minding your own business and it's a lost art. Could someone culturally appropriate that, maybe? Each to their own? Can we just spread that concept around a little?

It's okay to have a pet peeve about a word, but does it have to be a race thing? Can't it just be a personal preference?

I guess my problem is that I'm looking for people that have similar interests to me and Yoga would seem like a good area because there are a lot of interesting spiritual concepts in Yoga that are very philosophical and depth psychology oriented. However when I try to be social with some of the people in yoga classes I find out they are just interested in physical health for most of the time. Yoga is just a word and can have new meaning based on the population using the word so I will just leave them alone and not bother them with my curiosity for esoteric knowledge and the gifts of the divine.

a reply to: xicor

I go to church looking for deep conversations on similar topics. Sometimes I find it, and that's pretty awesome. Sometimes, I run into people who mainly showed up for coffee hour or the ones who aren't quite sure why they're there other than the fact they've always gone and it would be weird not to For the most part, I try to enjoy people for who they are and wherever they're at at the moment.

No matter what your leanings, it's hard finding people to connect with, though. I used to try going to mother's groups when my kids were young. I found out that having given birth is an absolutely horrible basis for finding common ground and frighteningly competitive and judge-y. To this day I break out in hives when I even think about the PTO (not literally -- of course).

I'm on the fence about this one. I can appreciate that someone might feel uncomfortable hearing a word from their native language used in another culture - but that's what America was built upon, traditions from other cultures brought by people of other nations. This melting pot has built a unique form of the English language that is entirely our own. Others may speak English and we can understand them - but it's not American English. We're a multi-cultural society who shares darn near everything. In Texas I hear "amigo" and "howdy" used in the same sentence often. Living near Louisiana, I hear French spoken on a regular basis. There's something for everyone, but at the same time you can start your own trends and traditions...

I've got a sister-in-law who's all of the sudden become a certified yoga instructor (a feat that can be accomplished for $18 online) and it's pathetic. Personally, I think it's all just another ploy to try to be superior to the rest of the family - or maybe another way to get attention. This is a woman who claimed lactose-intolerance for her children, while at the same time feeding them mac-and-cheese. The same woman lectured everyone on the importance of her fat-free diet while pregnant. I heard endless explanations on why people should never eat salt and why coconut oil was going to cause me to have a heart attack (my LDL and HDL are better than hers, and I eat 6 eggs a day)..... Now, to tie this all into my original point.

There's something for everyone - even my sister-in-law. She's found something where she can (claim to) be an expert and where people will listen to her (at their own peril). Maybe the OP would feel better about hearing it if she found a Yoga class taught by other Indians.

Au revoir, amigos!