Delivered a Message of Peace & Love from my children to Kerry today

[Pachamama]

This afternoon I had the honor to personally deliver a "letter" and "picture" from my two beautiful daughters to our future President. It was a sweet drawing with a picture of them attached and a message that read "I love you John Kerry & Mama T"

I attended a luncheon for John Kerry at the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco and was introduced to him and got to give him the letter personally. He said to me "This is what this election is about - its about them....I promise to make sure they have a better world" I told him I know and he leaned over to me, we hugged and I said "Namaste" to him...

He is a good man....he is going to be a great President and make our country great again....and unlike Bush, care for the future of our children.

Namaste

Pachamama

[Sugarbleus]

1. Wonderful story. thanx for sharing it.

I was in the city yesterday...really hot all of a sudden, Yikes. Beautiful time to be there though. Very happy you got to see Kerry!

BTW, what does Namaste mean?


SB

[Pachamama]

4. Namaste - Ancient Sanskrit Greeting.....

"I honor the place in you where Spirit lives
I honor the place in you which is
of Love, of Truth, of Light, of Peace,
when you are in that place in you,
and I am in that place in me,
then we are One."

It is pronounced as "Namastay" with the first two a's as the first a in "America" and the ay as in "stay", but with the t pronounced soft with the area just behind the tip of the tongue pressing against the upper-front teeth with no air passing (as the t in "tamasha").

For Hindu(s), the greeting of choice is "Namaste," the two hands pressed together and held near the heart with the head gently bowed as one says, "Namaste". Thus it is both a spoken greeting and a gesture, a Mantr(a) and a Mudr(a). The prayerful hand position is a Mudr(a) called Anjali, from the root Anj, "to adorn, honor, celebrate or anoint." The hands held in union signify the oneness of an apparently dual cosmos, the bringing together of spirit and matter, or the self meeting the Self. It has been said that the right hand represents the higher nature or that which is divine in us, while the left hand represents the lower, worldly nature.

Namaste....its a beautiful word.... :hi:

[Sugarbleus]

5. Thank you so much for this explanation..this is beautiful!!

Namaste... :)

[Pachamama]

9. Here's another description/definition of Namaste I found from Yoga Journal

http://www.yogajournal.com/newtoyoga/822_1.cfm

The Meaning of "Namaste"

What does "Namaste" mean? My yoga teacher says it every week after our practice and I've always wanted to know.

—Rita Geno

Aadil Palkhivala's reply:
The gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another. "Nama" means bow, "as" means I, and "te" means you. Therefore, Namaste literally means "bow me you" or "I bow to you."

To perform Namaste, we place the hands together at the heart charka, close the eyes, and bow the head. It can also be done by placing the hands together in front of the third eye, bowing the head, and then bringing the hands down to the heart. This is an especially deep form of respect. Although in the West the word "Namaste" is usually spoken in conjunction with the gesture, in India, it is understood that the gesture itself signifies Namaste, and therefore, it is unnecessary to say the word while bowing.

We bring the hands together at the heart chakra to increase the flow of Divine love. Bowing the head and closing the eyes helps the mind surrender to the Divine in the heart. One can do Namaste to oneself as a meditation technique to go deeper inside the heart chakra; when done with someone else, it is also a beautiful, albeit quick, meditation.

For a teacher and student, Namaste allows two individuals to come together energetically to a place of connection and timelessness, free from the bonds of ego-connection. If it is done with deep feeling in the heart and with the mind surrendered, a deep union of spirits can blossom.

Ideally, Namaste should be done both at the beginning and at the end of class. Usually, it is done at the end of class because the mind is less active and the energy in the room is more peaceful. The teacher initiates Namaste as a symbol of gratitude and respect toward her students and her own teachers and in return invites the students to connect with their lineage, thereby allowing the truth to flow—the truth that we are all one when we live from the heart.

[Sugarbleus]

13. Again, deeply moving and beautiful

Thank you for this; I may have to go back and revisit what I do or don't understand about yoga/Buddhism and/or meditation

Former 60's spiritual "seeker" here. :hi:



edit for typo

[blm]

2. What a beautiful post.

My soontobe four year old is crazy about Kerry. She met him at his announcement speech in SC. He held her cheek as if he cherished it. She tellls everyone that John Kerry is her friend. heh

[Pachamama]

3. After meeting him and seeing him genuinely interested in her letter and

with what he said, I'd say its fair to say he is the children's friend....your 4 yr old is right....he is her friend and cares about our kids future....:)

[MuseRider]

6. How wonderful.

I'll bet he treasures it. What a good thought from your kids, Mama T will also love it. That is just too sweet, thanks for doing it, thank your kids.

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. Awwww,

how sweet of your daughters. He's right. This election IS about our children. They deserve a country they can be proud of. Thanks for the post! :hi:

[Pachamama]

8. It was a really amazing experience...He held the letter in his hand and

looked at it and actually "read" it and just smiled....he then asked if he could keep it and I said my 4 year old had intended it for him to keep....

He will make sure our children are cared for - that no child is left behind (given that the recent #'s show 18% of American children are below the poverty line), that every child had a good education, that there are headstart programs and afterschool programs, that children in America have healthcare, can afford to go to College, have a clean environment and are truly safer in this world....

The children are our future....:hi:

[sherrem]

10. Thanks!!

What a beautiful story :)

[Pachamama]

11. Next time you watch John Kerry, you'll notice he does the Namaste gesture

to all the people....its a very kind, noble and good-hearted respectful gesture to the people...its his desire to connect to the people, to be present with them and be there with them as one. He is a good man. Having had this moment with him was something I will treasure forever....I was without a doubt going to vote for him, but I had the opportunity to basically deliver a message from my children that he welcomed and as far as I am concerned he let me know 1:1 that mine and the other children will be safe with him....I took great comfort in that and I think my fellow DUers should know that and take comfort too....I believe I am a very good judge of character and the 3-5 minutes in which I talked with him was as if for a moment in time it all stopped around me and it was just him and I, two people exchanging a "Namaste" and him sharing with me his committment to our children, to our future. I trust this man with my children's lives.

:hug:

[kimchi]

12. What an incredible story!

Thank you for sharing the gift of heart and energy you and your children exchanged with John Kerry. I'm inspired and humbled at the same time. I will hold him to his promise--and I'm also convinced he means to keep it.

Namaste
Kim

[Pachamama]

14. I just had to share this with my DUers -This is the type of personal story

we will never "hear" on the news and I think sadly, these kind of things can't necessarily be captured on film, although I don't know, if you had been there and watching, you would have felt it and witnessed his genuine caring and love for our country and its citizens. I can't imagine in my wildest dreams how the same encounter would have gone with Bu$h....He probably would have smirked, hunched his shoulders and said something clever like "thanks - what a good artist she does" and then said to me "Nam'ass what?".....Anyway, I feel so happy right now....

:pals:

Namaste

[Swamp Rat]

15. Namaste

:hug: