Namaste.
I don't know if you've noticed at the end of every show,
I end with Namaste.
And the definition,
I looked it up,
Of Namaste is literally I bow to you.
I had been taught that it also meant the humanity within me bows to the humanity within you.
Desmond Tutu says,
If I diminish you,
I diminish myself.
In my culture and tradition,
The highest praise that can be given to someone is,
Uyubuntu,
An acknowledgement that he or she has this wonderful quality.
Uyubuntu.
It is a reference to their actions toward their fellow human beings.
It has to do with how they regard people and how they see themselves within their intimate relationships,
Their familial relationships,
And within the broader community.
Uyubuntu addresses a central tenet of African philosophy,
The essence of what it is to be human.
The essence of what it is to be human.
To recast the Cartenian proposition,
I think,
Therefore I am,
Uyubuntu would phrase it,
I am human because I belong.
I am human because I belong.
I got chills.
Put another way,
A person is a person through other people.
A concept perfectly captured by the phrase,
Me,
We.
Me,
We.
No one comes into the world fully formed.
We would not know how to think or walk or speak or behave unless we learned it from our fellow human beings.
We need other human beings in order to be human.
The solitary,
Isolated human being is a contradiction in terms.
So we need other human beings to be human.
So I want you to contemplate that for a minute.
And what would that mean to you?
Or what does that look like to you?
To know that you are absolutely bound to other human beings.
Wouldn't you want to be treated fairly and kindly?
And wouldn't you want to treat them fairly and kindly?
So I want to ask you right now to look within and see if you're feeling angry towards yourself or others.
If you're feeling resentful for the way your life is happening now,
Especially now that we're through pandemic.
Where have you ended up?
Are you feeling vengeful?
Do you want revenge for things you may have missed out?
And these are the things that separate us.
These are the things that create divisiveness and division of humanity.
Because the truth is,
Umbuntu,
The truth is the humanity within me recognizes and celebrates the humanity within you.
Namaste.
That's namaste,
Guys.
Umbuntu points out that those who seek to destroy and dehumanize are also victims.
Victims,
Usually of a pervading ethos,
Be it a political ideology,
An economic system,
Or a distorted religious conviction.
Consequently,
They are as much dehumanized as those on whom they trample.
So what he's saying is the perpetrators are also the victims because your humanity is bound to my humanity.
That's Umbuntu.
The humanity in me recognizes the humanity in you,
And we are bound.
We are one.
We are unified,
Always,
Regardless of the circumstances,
Regardless of the appearance of wars and violence and perpetration of harm and all of that.
We are in this together.
So finding a place,
Finding a sense of Umbuntu within you where you can recognize that the person who's done you wrong is also the victim and is losing more than you because of their unconsciousness,
I guess,
Their inability to see beyond their fear and their anger and their resentment.
So practicing Umbuntu,
Practicing Umbuntu as you reemerge in your lives,
Practicing Umbuntu wherever you go,
Whomever you're interacting with,
Just keep it at the back of your mind and allow it to flow through your heart.
Umbuntu.
The humanity in me recognizes and celebrates the humanity in you.
We are one.
And so it is.
Namaste.
