Remember those scenes in Avatar, when the people of Pandora would look each other in the eye and say, “I see you“? Well, once you read this article, you’ll realize that these three little words take on a much deeper meaning and is part of an amazing tradition and greeting that you can use today to feel more connected.
Read on. This greeting is spectacular and reminds us that we are all connected.
After reading a piece I wrote about “Pandora and Nave—Are They Real?” Vishen asked me to write something about a particular part of the movie Avatar that most people probably thought insignificant and that he and I knew wasn’t.
Ok, here’s a little something.
This is A (good) solution. Not THE (only) solution. Solution to what? Read on…
About 20 years ago I was on a safari in Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda). As we traveled through the villages and Serengeti savanna I noticed a recurring event. When one of the indigenous people would approach another, they would pause, face each other, look directly in each others eyes for 5 -15 seconds, say something and then continue on their way. This would happen in populated villages and in very remote areas where there may be only one human every 20 square miles.
After a couple weeks of noticing this I asked one of our guides from the Samburu tribe what the natives were doing. He said they were greeting each other. “How are they doing that? What are they saying?” I asked.
“One of them says, ‘I see you.’ Connecting through the eyes, the other replies, ’I am here.’”
This struck me. I’ve traveled to and worked in 94 countries so far and have seen many different customary greetings—hand shakes, bowing, kissing on cheeks one, two or three times, hugging, touching foreheads… but none quite like this. I have a file I call “Fancy Stuff” for things that tickle my fancy, and that illustrate or demonstrate a truth or useful principle. This goes in that file.
For those of you who saw the movie Avatar, you saw a something similar, but not as complete. The Nave on the planet Pandora greeted by saying, “I see you.” Because I’ve made the Samburu greeting into an exercise I sometimes use in my seminars, I received hundreds of emails from former participants calling attention to the similar greeting in Avatar. Vishen recognized that as I gave him the exercise for one of his staff meetings.
Well, here’s my take–If you’ve done any work in the personal growth, self-development, transformational education or spiritual study fields then you’ve heard about the importance of being present and being here now. Books are written about that. Courses and seminars are conducted around this. One way we can recognize truth is that it endures. The counsel to live in the present moment has endured through millennia. It passes along a truth about how to have a good life.
Great advice. But, how to do that? There are many techniques and practices taught. I have many I use and present in my seminars and talks. Some take years of constant practice and eternal vigilance. Some can work quickly and repeatedly. This simple Samburu greeting is one of the latter. It is a simple method for coming present and connecting at a heart level. We can do it anytime, anywhere with anyone. All that’s required it to pause, look, choose. And then let it go and move on. There will be another opportunity to apply that simple formula.
This will take us much deeper and farther than the superficial “Hi, how are you? I’m fine” greeting in many cultures.
The eyes are the windows to the soul. When we connect with the soul, who we truly are, all things positive are present—joy, acceptance, compassion, understanding, cooperation, loving, peace of mind, humor, ease, simplicity and more. That is the nature of the soul. And isn’t this what we truly want, a positive experience in life?
The soul is always in the eternal now. The present. Connecting with the soul in this Samburu and Nave way is guaranteed to bring us present. And thus, guarantees a good moment. Add these moments together more frequently, and for longer periods and we have more of what we want.
My Samburu guide told me something else that I didn’t get at first. He said that in their language the greeting also meant something like, “Until you see me I do not exist. When you see me, you bring me into existence.” This speaks toward our deep connectedness and that we are in fact All One.
In our seminars we have experiences of that connection to the level that our “all-oneness” becomes a real experience and knowing, beyond just a nice mental theory and concept. From that understanding naturally flows peace, cooperation, respect, honoring, hosting, giving and serving. For when I know that truth I wouldn’t harm another because that would only be harming myself. My altruism is selfish. And my selfishness can be altruistic (Another way we can recognize Truth is that it is paradoxical).
Many want to understand something, or get clear, before they take action. The universe isn’t designed that way. Understanding follows experience. It does not precede it. The only way you can get that this is all true is to do it.
When I consider greeting another in ways similar to the Samburu and Nave I’m aware that I have a protected part that resists and doesn’t feel safe if I let down some of my guard and protection. I’m concerned about what they might think of me. And if I let that resistance stop me I’m stopping myself from getting the very things I say I want. So, what have I got to lose? I already don’t have the thing I say I want. As the Nike ads say, “Just do it!”
That’s an answer to many of the questions you’ve been asking in your personal private moments. True? Comment below.
If you’d like to have your own experience of this, and much more, the next thing I’m doing for the general public is my annual Idaho Wilderness Experience.
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We all say I see you to the little kids in our lives, why not the adults too? This reminded me of a little poem I wrote almost 40 years ago. Nothing am I,
With never a you,
With never a you
To bump in to. Thank you for the story. I have found that most people are uncomfortable when you do it but it's fantastic when you connect.
We all say I see you to the little kids in our lives, why not the adults too? This reminded me of a little poem I wrote almost 40 years ago. Nothing am I,
With never a you,
With never a you
To bump in to. Thank you for the story. I have found that most people are uncomfortable when you do it but it's fantastic when you connect.
Dear Terry ~
Thanks for this insightful article. I too was moved by the greeting in AVATAR. In my yoga practice we usually greet each other with NAMASTE which means 'I bow to you'. With my hands at my heart and spoken slowly it feels as if there is an energetic union with the one I am greeting. So yes, there are ways of being that are gentler and kinder. Terry your Leadership Training of 20 years ago inspired me to live more consciously and to enjoy life more. I look foward to more of your uplifting articles.
I See You,
Susan Tabin
Dear Terry ~
Thanks for this insightful article. I too was moved by the greeting in AVATAR. In my yoga practice we usually greet each other with NAMASTE which means 'I bow to you'. With my hands at my heart and spoken slowly it feels as if there is an energetic union with the one I am greeting. So yes, there are ways of being that are gentler and kinder. Terry your Leadership Training of 20 years ago inspired me to live more consciously and to enjoy life more. I look foward to more of your uplifting articles.
I See You,
Susan Tabin
I often take a moment to look at people's eyes and silently do a little prayer: I LOVE YOU, GOD BLESS YOU. I found that vulnerability is a quality of the strong, not the weak. And this is how I've been strenghtening myself... And I SEE YOU my friend. I love you, God bless you! :)
Terry,
I got chills reading this article, especially the part where a person says 'I am here.' It made me realize how rarely 'I am here'. I am often hiding things from myself and others, despite the fact that I do my best to live a life of integrity and compassion. For me to allow someone to 'see me' means allowing them to see all my vulnerabilities and self doubts. And to acknowledge them to myself. I am much better at being 'there for you'.
Thanks for the wake up call, Terry!
For anyone reading this who is considering going to Idaho with Terry, I have just one word for you...GO!
Terry,
I got chills reading this article, especially the part where a person says 'I am here.' It made me realize how rarely 'I am here'. I am often hiding things from myself and others, despite the fact that I do my best to live a life of integrity and compassion. For me to allow someone to 'see me' means allowing them to see all my vulnerabilities and self doubts. And to acknowledge them to myself. I am much better at being 'there for you'.
Thanks for the wake up call, Terry!
For anyone reading this who is considering going to Idaho with Terry, I have just one word for you...GO!
Being a very busy business owner with high goals I know that sometimes I get too focused on the future and not enough in the now, and as Vishen says, it throws of my "flow."
I found this article very valuable for me to connect more with the now, and giving people the honor of making it known that I truly acknowledge them.
But you won'y be hearing me say "I see you" way too cheesy, but I will stop to really engage and say a meaningful greeting and open up my attitude towards them.
So thank you Terry.
Hi Lee,
Thanks for your comment about not saying the exact words. It's the intention that matters. And just doing it.
I often call myself a recovering businessman. I spent the my 15 years out of college doing type A, workaholic, entrepreneuring. I almost killed myself and certainly missed the joy of the process. I didn't learn until later that the pauses are as important as the action, and that people are the priority. And also that there is no there there. It's all here, now. That's a tough one for most doers who want results. Maybe I'll write about that on another blog for Vishen one day.
Being a very busy business owner with high goals I know that sometimes I get too focused on the future and not enough in the now, and as Vishen says, it throws of my "flow."
I found this article very valuable for me to connect more with the now, and giving people the honor of making it known that I truly acknowledge them.
But you won'y be hearing me say "I see you" way too cheesy, but I will stop to really engage and say a meaningful greeting and open up my attitude towards them.
So thank you Terry.
Hi Lee,
Thanks for your comment about not saying the exact words. It's the intention that matters. And just doing it.
I often call myself a recovering businessman. I spent the my 15 years out of college doing type A, workaholic, entrepreneuring. I almost killed myself and certainly missed the joy of the process. I didn't learn until later that the pauses are as important as the action, and that people are the priority. And also that there is no there there. It's all here, now. That's a tough one for most doers who want results. Maybe I'll write about that on another blog for Vishen one day.
Terry,
I SEE YOU!
I also felt inspired by this insightful greeting (from Avatar). But hey, the Sambaru are not alone. It is true to say that in the Mayan culture there is a similar greeting which acknowledges the same source in each of us. This is:
“En Lac'ech”, which commonly means “I am another You”
When we consider the truth of the observation made by Quantum Physics, and to quote a very popular Finer Minds Teacher and non Quantum physicist Burt Goldman,
"When we utilize the energy of infinity that I call a Quantum Energy, you discover that the universe is one big hologram."
Then we can understand that our greeting to one another has the power to acknoweldge our true nature and our true power of being who we really are.
Myself, I beleive that this is so important now, as consciousness rises for all of us, the so-called "2012 Convergence" may be our opportunity to ride on the crest of the quantum wave by simply greeting each other daily,
"I see you - I am another You " !!
Jonathan Eveleigh