Secret Names
Friday, January 25th, 2008From Buenos Aires, Argentina. . .
I would like to know how to get a spiritual name in
order to grow in my sadhana.
Spiritual names are generally given to students during initiations into spiritual lineages.
Each of us is both an expression of all of Reality and an individualized, unique styling of Reality. A spiritual name is like a beacon. It illuminates and points a student toward Self-realization in a way that is attuned precisely to that student’s individualized, unique “flavor.”
Over time, a student may be given more than one name. Each name is a catalyst, assisting the student to relax and come into a greater degree of open awareness. When the work of one name is completed, another name may be given. Or it may also be that a student is given one name for all time.
Both the Satyananda lineage and its parent, the Sivananda lineage, give preliminary spiritual names. However, there are many people who do not have a connection to these lineages, or to any other.
If this is the case, you can still work with a special kind of spiritual name by doing a practice called “secret name.”
Here is the practice.
Ask yourself two questions:
1. What would I die for?
2. What is Self-realization or liberation to me?
For instance:
If a person feels that he or she would die for compassion and that self-realization is being awake, then that person’s secret name might be “compassionate awakeness.”
Or, if a person would die for peace and his or her idea of Self-realization is freedom, then that person’s secret name might be: “peaceful freedom.”
To discover your secret name, meditate on the questions for a while so that you can find the most uncontrived, honest answers for you. Then make your secret name from these answers.
Install your secret name in your heart. This means, repeat your secret name silently to yourself 108 times while letting your awareness rest in your heart space–the center of your chest.
You can remember your secret name at any time, especially when you find yourself entangled in difficult emotions or situations. Let it relax and guide you by reminding you of your true purpose. In this way, you will be less distracted and your sadhana will progress more quickly.
Never tell anyone your secret name as it works best this way.
In Ma’s love,
Shambhavi
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