When you see a person, whether at your workplace, on the street, at home or anywhere else, the nature of human intellect will make a judgment — “this is okay in that person, this is not, s/he is good, s/he is not, s/he is beautiful, s/he is ugly”. You don’t even have to think consciously about it because within a second these assessments and judgments will be made by you. There’s a possibility that your judgements may be completely wrong because it comes from your past experiences. It will not allow you to experience something or someone the way they are right now. If you want to work effectively in any field, the key is to perceive or accept a person the way s/he is.
Past doesn’t matter. How they behaved or spoke yesterday does not matter. How they are this moment is important. So the first thing is you bow down. Once you bow down, your likes and dislikes become mild because you recognise the source of creation within them. This is the intention behind greeting someone or doing namaskaram. It is a constant reminder that the source of creation is within you too. If you recognise this, you are paving the way towards your ultimate nature every time you do namaskaram.
There is another aspect to this. Your palms have a lot of nerve endings — something that medical science has also discovered. Your hands speak more than your tongue and your voice. There is a whole science of mudras in yoga. Just by holding your hand in certain ways, you can make your whole system function in different ways. The moment you place your hands together, your dualities, likes and dislikes, cravings and aversions, all these things are levelled out. There is a certain oneness to the expression of who you are. The energies are functioning as one.
So namaskaram is not just a cultural aspect. There is a science behind it. If you are doing sadhana, every time you bring your palms together, there is a crackle of energy. When you bow, you offer your greetings to the person. While greeting, you will make the other person perceive you better and s/he will cooperate with you. Only if you are in a state of giving, things around will work out for you. This is the case with every person. Only if s/he gets the support from others, s/he manages to prosper.
