We recently had a question from someone who had heard that praying with the hands folded was closely linked with the common Hindu greeting known as the “Namaste” bow. Is this a rumor or a fact?It is neither.
The origin of folding the hands at prayer is unknown and a version of folded hands can be found in use by followers of many world religions.
For instance, in the Buddhist tradition, ". . .[P]ut your palms together in front of your chest and keep your body straight. Join your palms with your fingers closed, and thumbs and index fingers next to each other. Hands are at a 45 degree angle from the chest. Your arms hang naturally and relaxed at the sides. Eyes to fingertips of middle fingers.
In Hinduism, mudras (special hand gestures) are used to receive and gather an alleged energy that is said to inhabit the universe. While there are many different kinds of mudras, one of these – the anjali mudra - is bringing the palms of the hands together over the heart.
"Anjali mudra is used as a posture of composure, of returning to one’s heart, whether you are greeting someone or saying goodbye, initiating or completing an action. As you bring your hands together at your center, it is believed that you are literally connecting the right and left hemispheres of your brain. This is the yogic process of unification, the yoking of our active and receptive natures."
The Japanese native religion known as Shinto also uses folded hands in prayer. "When you place your palms together in front of your heart and bow slightly, you are practicing gassho In Japan, this gesture is far more than a greeting — it is a symbol of respect, gratitude, and spiritual connection. Rooted in Buddhism and seen in temples, meditation halls, and even modern wellness practices, gassho carries centuries of meaning."
There is also a Jewish tradition dating back into antiquity and documented in the Talmud which relates to how the Babylonian Sage, Rabba (Abba ben Joseph, C. 280-352), used to pray with his hands folded.
As for Catholics, the Caeremoniale Episcoporum (1985) specifically addresses the correct Catholic posture concerning the folding of the hands during Mass and prayer: “When it says with hands folded, it is to be understood in this way: palms extended and joined together in front of the breast, with the right thumb over the left in the form of a cross" (#107, n.80)”.
This hand position has has many meanings, including as an "expression of humble submission to the will of God and of our readiness to accept at His hands whatever chastisement it may please Him to lay upon us. The joining of the hands is a beautiful and most eloquent gesture of supplication."
It would not be accurate to say that the folding of the hands in prayer belongs any more to the Hindu religion than it does to various other world religions.
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