How We Greet One Another

[InLove]

Hello, and Peace--

I have been given permission to post this by proxy from BruceDLimber from a thread on the Baha'i board:

And you'll often encounter the word "Allah'u'Abha" (pronounced close to "Allow-Abha"), which means "God is Most Glorious" and is used by Baha'is world wide as a greeting.

And Bruce has told me more--I will post that in a moment.

Thanks,
InPeace,
InLove

 

[InLove]

Hi--Peace--

And my question is always whether or not it is appropriate for others to use an address to those in a certain faith--here is the answer from Bruce:

Yes, non-Baha'is can definitely use "Allah-u-Abha" for greeting Baha'is--or even others, if they like.

Thanks again, BruceDLimber, for your contribution.

Coming up next--some answers from my Muslim friends--sorry it is taking me so long--had to go out of town--Father's day, ya know--love my Dad.

InPeace,
InLove

 

[InLove]

Peace to All Here--

The following quote is part of a post on a thread (one which was very helpful to me) on the Islam board entitled, "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful."

Thipps has graciously allowed me to post this part of the conversation here (I believe I, Brian was being addressed in this particular post, and "friend" had also been a part of the discussion. Thipps has since added more, which I will post next. But for now:

The islamic greeting is the one both you and friend quoted. The difference is only in the degree to which it is applied in speech. You used 'Salaam Alaikum' which is the shortest one. A higher degree of it is 'Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullahe' . Yet the highest one is 'Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullahe wa barakatuh.' Basically, it keeps adding on to it. The rule for the one who answers the greeting is that he should answer with the same or better degree.
If you say 'Salaam Alaikum', then i can answer by any of the 3 degrees. i.e.
'wa alaikum salaam' ;'wa alaikum salaam wa Rahmatullahe' ; 'wa alaikum salaam wa Rahmatullahe wa barakatuh'.
On the other hand, if you say 'Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullahe wa barakatuh' which is the highest form of greeting, then i can only answer by equalling it and saying 'wa alaikum salaam wa Rahmatullahe wa barakatuh'.

All meanings etc. can be found at:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/referen.../term.ASAK.html
Hope this helps.
And Allah knows best.
__________________
May God guide us all.

 

[InLove]

Peace to All Here--

This is what Thipps has added (addressing my request at the beginning):

Wa'Alaikum salaam,
Yes you can use it but add the following to it as well. I forgot about it and it occured to me now.
There is an element of how the salaam is said that shuold also be considered.
If some says 'Assalaamu Alaikum'... he/she can say it in a regular tone but it can also be said with emotion to express happiness at meeting the person. In the first case, one can reply in the 3 manners I explained before... but for the second case, since the person said it with emotion, so if you simply reply "wa 'Aalikum salaam", then it should also be with emotion so that it is equal to the greeting made... otherwise you can reply by adding one or both of the extra phrases that were mentioned.
This is in accordance with what Allaah said in the Quran:
“When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally” [Quran, 4:86]
Love is one of the duties of Islam and one of the pillars of the Islamic system. One should give salaams to those whom one knows and those whom one does not know, out of sincerity towards Allaah; one should not try to impress other people by giving salaams only to those whom one knows and no-one else. This also entails an attitude of humility and spreading the symbols of this ummah through the word of salaam [Al-Qaadi said in Ikmaal al-Mu’allim (1:276)]
And Allah knows best.

Thank you, Thipps--

InPeace,
InLove

 

[InLove]

Peace to All Here--

Going to go to the Judaism board next. That means I have to ask bananabrain. Pray for me. .

InPeace,
InLove

 

[InLove]

Hi, and Peace to All Here--

Shalom, bananabrain--

In case you are reading this thread, I was just teasing a bit with that. Just want to make sure you know I really wasn't trying to offend. I figure you know that, but thought I should say so anyway . Just looking for your astute contribution, if you so desire.

InPeace,
InLove

 

[InLove]

Peace,

I've seen someone around here who wishes people "metta," the Buddhist term for "loving-kindness."

Yes--thanks for that, Saponification--I have been wondering about that. I notice it is often used at the end of a message, as well.

InPeace,
InLove

 

[Nitai]

Hare Krishna

The explanation and the purpose of greeting other persons with the words Hare Krishna is as follows.

Hare means the energy of God, Krishna. That energy can connect one to Krishna, God. Whether one hears or says Hare Krishna the spiritual sound vibration Hare Krishna will act and gradually bring one closer to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even if one don't believe in the power of the words Hare Krishna, the sound-vibration Hare Krishna will still have an effect on the elevation of consciousness.

Conclusively, to greet each other with Hare Krishna is very beneficial regardless ones faith. Hare Krishna.

 

[InLove]

Peace to All Here--

Cool, Nitai ! Thanks for that--I had kind of wondered, but wasn't quite sure how to ask yet. Appreciate the contribution.

Also--more of the latest--I have great responses from the Judaism board, thanks to dayaa and bananabrain--I will post those replies as soon as I can--just making double-sure it is okay with them.

I was also thinking about this--in the late sixties and early seventies, lots of young people in the U.S. (and I'm sure in other countries) used the greeting "Peace", which irritated much of the older generation because it was, at the time, associated with hippie culture and "flower children" and the anti-war movement. Isn't it funny how things evolve, and how the meaning of the word never changed, just the perception of it?

Just thinking....

InPeace,
InLove

 

[Vajradhara]

Namaste all,


Namaste and its deriviate, Namakser are greetings from, today, the Nepali region. of course, when these terms origniated, it wasn't Nepal... but, that probably doesn't matter at this point all that much.

in any case, there are several translations that could be used to express the meaning behind the term, the one that i use is thus:

"i bow to the divine in you. when you are in that place in you and i am in that place in me, there is but one of us."

whilst this isn't a typical Buddhist greeting, really, more of a Sanatana Dharma sort of thing, i still use it since it connects more easily with more beings, in my view.

 

[Nitai]

Hare Krishna

Interesting translation of namaste. Hmm.

"i bow to the divine in you. when you are in that place in you and i am in that place in me, there is but one of us."

It is however, very impersonalistic. The mayavadi school considers all the souls are ultimately the one Brahman. This philosophy is wrong. If all of us would be God then we would be not now in illusion and miserable in so many ways. IOW God is always God, one without second. Illusion cannot be greater than Him. Thus also the miseries of this material world cannot touch Him.

So, if you still want to give a translation to namaste then the 'divine in us' should refer to Paramatma or the Supersoul that is next to our soul. This is very proper because the bodies of all living entities are considered to be the temple of God, the Supersoul.

 

[InLove]

Hi--Peace to All Here --

Thank you for the translation of "namaste" (as well as "namakser"), Vajradhara. I was hoping someone would post something about it. It is a beautiful greeting, and while I have heard other translations, I can't remember exactly what they are. This is the one I have heard most often.

InPeace,
InLove

 

[Vajradhara]

Namaste Nitai,

thank you for the post.

Hare Krishna

Interesting translation of namaste. Hmm.

"i bow to the divine in you. when you are in that place in you and i am in that place in me, there is but one of us."

It is however, very impersonalistic.

naturally. i use this greeting with a bit of a "nod and a wink" since, ultimately, that which is divine in us is not us and the divine part is simply a manner of speaking..

The mayavadi school considers all the souls are ultimately the one Brahman. This philosophy is wrong. If all of us would be God then we would be not now in illusion and miserable in so many ways. IOW God is always God, one without second. Illusion cannot be greater than Him. Thus also the miseries of this material world cannot touch Him.

indeed, should one hold the view that you have, this would be the way to see it. clearly, Buddhism does not share this view

So, if you still want to give a translation to namaste then the 'divine in us' should refer to Paramatma or the Supersoul that is next to our soul. This is very proper because the bodies of all living entities are considered to be the temple of God, the Supersoul.

from the Buddhist point of view, it would be Buddha Nature which is what is being referred to.

however, as that is a rather complicated thing to explain in a greeting, it seems much more appropos to use a term like "divine" which can mean a great many things to a great many people and is, probably, more likely to result in a positive dialog.

 

[InLove]

Hi, Peace!

Well, bananabrain has been rather busy lately, (mazzeltov, Mr. and Mrs. bb! ). But he did find a minute to stop in on the Judaism board and post a helpful response, as has dayaa. The two explanations concerning the greeting "shalom" complement one another, as dayaa explains in the last quote.

i can tell you about some of your question at least.
the spelling you have used seems to be pretty standard although probably it doesn't matter exactly how you spell it because originally it would be spelt in hebrew. shalom means peace the same as salam in arabic. in arabic we say asalamo alekom which means peace be upon you....i don't know if they have a similar expression in hebrew. as far as i know there is no reason why you shouldn't use it as a greeting when adressing jews. i usually do.

hope this is helpful

"shalom", as dayaa says, is spelt as already discussed (at least in english) and is more or less equivalent to "salaam" in arabic, same three-letter root, that's how semitic languages work. "shalom aleichem" is our equivalent of "salaam aleikum" and elicits the same response, albeit it is a formal greeting rather than a colloquial one.

it also has a connection to the concept of "completeness" and the name of jerusalem - which can mean, among other things, "city of peace" or "city of completeness" or "city of fullness". it is also connected to the name "solomon", which in hebrew is "shlomo" - an appropriate name for a "complete" monarch and one whose brain must have been as full as his heart.

as for appropriateness, you don't really need to say "shalom" to jewish people (it might in some circumstances come across as kissing up!) but most will appreciate the effort. "hello" will be perfectly OK! my own general signoff on the board, for example, is semi-formal, because the people i know here i am on varying terms of formality with.

b'shalom (or "in peace" if you like!)

bananabrain

as far as i'm concerned you can post my bit on your other thread. that's fine....except i think mr bananabrain probably explained better from the jewish point of view. or maybe you could post both responses together....they show the link between jewish/arabic + muslim culturally and linguistically quite nicely.

Thank you both for your kind and helpful replies! (I love this thread.)

InPeace,
InLove

 

[smkolins]

If I might elaborate.... Baha'is also say Allah'u'Abha as a "goodbye". Literally it means "God the most Glorious", or "God of Glory". This is one of three forms of what Baha'is call the "Greatest Name", a name-symbol of God (not that God doesn't have other names - infact the "Greatest Name" is a Name of God....

The least superlative is Baha'u'llah, then Allah'u'Abha, then Ya'Baha'u'l-Abha. The first is "Glory of God", then "God the most Glorious", the "The Glory of the Most Glorious!" Baha'is use the first as the title of the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, the second in greeting/parting and prayers, and the last in some prayers or scriptures.

A fine detail is that "glory" is one english word. Sometimes Baha is translated as "splendour".

A permutation is the name/title of the Son of Baha'u'llah - Abdu'l-Baha which means "Servant of Glory"....

In terms of using it as a greeting it is in the manner of Islam - but they tend to use other terms along the same lines. In general it is a way of calling out the remembrance of God as a way of begining a conversation with another. In that sense it is vaguely similar to nameste as was mentioned.

 

[InLove]

Hi, and Peace to All Here--

Allah-u-Abha, smkolins (Hope that is right)

Thank you! I appreciate you stopping in and adding that. I am learning so much--and whatever I am not learning quickly, I can take my time because I can study it right here!

I think I have some more coming from my Muslim friends--just want to find out one more thing---

LOL--I wonder if anyone thinks I am crazy for getting so excited about this little study! I admit I am fascinated...

InPeace,
InLove

 

[InLove]

Hi, and Peace to All Here—


Re: Muslim Greetings:


I was writing “Asalaam-o-alaikum”, which is fine, but thipps informs me of the following (the extra “s” is only underlined for emphasis, not for regular usage):

Use two s's in the beginning so that it is written as: Assalaam-o-Alaikum. Makes for a better transliteration.

Also, I asked:

…am I correct in thinking that "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful" is a heading that is used on all Islamic written documents? (I realize, of course, that this is the English translation…

...if it is indeed used on written documents--is it only on sacred writings, or is it stated on other items, such as everyday correspondence?

thipps replied:

It is a starting point. To remember your Lord before you start something. I've seen it used here in saudi arabia on letterheads of university documents (no scripture whatsoever) & at the beginning of Masters & Doctoral theses even and yes of course in the beginning of official/unofficial islamic books as well. We are taught even to say it before we start to eat, which is again to remember our Lord before we begin to eat; for no doubt, it is He who is The Sustainer, The Cherisher and The Provider of us all.
Hope this helped.
And Allah knows best.
__________________
May God guide us all.

Yes, it does help—thanks again to thipps. I have more replies coming from the Islam board, I think…


Seems fitting to end this post with “Allah knows best, and may God guide us all”


InPeace,
InLove

 

[shunammite]

Hello all <---what the heck kind of greeting is THAT???

To me I guess it means like a shout out to anyone who can hear me...and talk back...

I don't mind how someone greets me, hostility is fine...but real CONNECTING is what I look for...I think it is hard to find because it is so dangerous...

Either you get pregnant or one of you kills the other...or maybe...you can hold hands and just be friends, but I doubt it.

I know that mysterious answer would take some explaining...but I think all human interaction is kind of like Cain and Abel "talking" in a "field".....or like Jonathan and David...who also met on the field, and their souls were knit together.

I put everything through a "bible prism" but I'm not affiliated with any christian church...but Matt 5:43-48 speaks of how even the publicans salute those who salute them, but to be children of the heavenly father one "salutes" rather indiscriminantly...

Again it's relief from "aloneness" that I want...and in order to give no offense people may say nothing at all really...and so we remain separated...I think a real "salutation" takes a chance...by being somehow SPECIFIC...defined..."peculiar"...and that the other person will embrace you anyway even if you seem "strange"...

Also a real salutation is not like this one...but is "brief"...and trusts the other person to fill in the empty spaces...but you guys don't know me from adam...and well...I wanted to "connect", lolol...

Hi Y'all <----from Georgia, lol...

 

[InLove]

Hey, "Y'all" (for you Shunnamite--I'm from Texas, so I am quite comfy with that one!)

Thanks for your contribution. Yes, I think you connected well. And you really delved into the heart of why I started this thread.

Since I may have to be out again for a while, I thought I'd add something that has been on my mind for a while: The consensus here seems to be that generally when one makes a positive gesture with a greeting, it is appreciated by the party being greeted. So, for the most part, it is okay to employ a greeting one is not so familiar with in his or her everyday speech in order to make the connection to which Shunnamite and some of the rest of you referred.

Here is something to ponder, though. I think we are wise if we do not use a greeting until we know exactly what it really means. We could offend, or be seen as patronizing. Even more than this, however, we could actually say something we do not believe. Any thoughts?

InPeace,
InLove (be back as soon as I can)

 

[Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine]

Some interesting information I got concerning one of my greetings:

I spoke with one of my many former professors about greetings a while ago (he was my Gaelic professor) and he told me something rather interesting: Gaelic (Irish) tends to invoke G!d at the beginning of most greetings, followed by Mary, then each Irish saint starting from Patrick then.... Anyway, the Irish also say "Cead mille failte", which translates to "One hundred thousand welcomes" (which I believe is about how many saints the Irish Catholics claim [I know. Shouldn't say that. ]) Anyway, cead mille failte has some "accent" marks (for correct spelling/pronunciation), but my computer is acting up on the international alphabet keyings.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine