Spiritual Name: Reminders of Self - n2amma

[Guest guest]

Salutations,

 

The last time I met Amma was two years ago.

Recently I was having some self-doubts.

Amma came and lifted me up again.

Yes our Amma is Love and Compassion.

Amma's Love pervades everything.

Amma's Compasssion is boundless.

 

Amma Bless

 

Eknath

 

n2amma <a1driane wrote: How cool is that!!? Isn't that most

beautiful? Amma's Love pervades

everything.

 

 

Ammachi, "Donn Koh" <dklily wrote:

>

> Salutations,

>

> Spiritual Name: Reminders of Self

>

> I had just been given a spiritual name two days ago and now two

days

> later,

> I am getting an article in the eVoice-of-Amma elaborating about the

> significance

> of having a name from Amma.

>

> I am so thankful.

>

> Amma Bless

>

> Eknath

>

> 8 February 2006 - Talassery, Kerala

> At their request, Amma has given many of her devotees "spiritual

names"-

> typically Sanskrit or Sanskrit-derived words that indicate divine

> qualities, spiritual principles or are names of gods or saints in

> themselves. For example, Vinaya (a feminine name

meaning "humility"),

> Mahesh (a name for Shiva, meaning "Great Lord") or Chaitanya

> ("consciousness"). Over the past 35 years or so, Amma has given

> thousands of people-from all countries and of all ages-such names.

> At the beginning of the 2006 Bharata Yatra, Amma was spending some

time

> with all the brahmacharis, brahmacharinis and devotees who would be

> accompanying her across India for the next two months, and Steve,

an

> American devotee in his mid-twenties, took the opportunity to ask

Amma

> what a spiritual name is all about.

> "I was hoping Amma might tell me what the benefit and significance

of

> having a spiritual name is?" he asked.

> "Amma doesn't force you to change your names," Amma said. "You

come to

> Amma and ask her to give you one. In India it is the tradition for

> parents to take their babies to ashrams and ask the Guru there to

name

> them.

> "Just by getting a name, you won't change. The change has to

happen from

> within. At present we are strangers to our own Self. We need to

awaken

> from that state."

> Amma then asked Steve, "What would your expectation be in

receiving a

> spiritual name?"

> "I would expect that it would be something that would represent my

> personality and that it would be something that would grow within

me as

> people called me that name," he answered.

> Smiling at the young man, Amma said, "We are born nameless. Then

our

> mother and father give us a name and we become very attached to

it. Amma

> is not interested in changing your names. Your parents will be

hurt if

> you forsake those names. But since you ask, I give them to you.

Just by

> changing our name or taking up new clothes [i.e. the clothing of an

> ashramites], nothing will change. Change must come from within."

> Amma then said that, on the other hand, if we reflect we will

realize

> that we have had many births, many mothers and fathers, and many

names.

> "Think, 'What is eternal?' Maybe in our past life, we were their

parents

> and it was we who named them. These names are not eternal."

> Amma then said that taking a name from a Guru is like taking a new

> birth. "This doesn't mean that you have to actually die. In truth,

death

> is taking place each and every moment." (Amma then said, kind of

as an

> aside, that for her, death is just another experience, like taking

a

> bath, changing your clothes or brushing your teeth.) She then

continued,

> "When Amma gives you a name, it is like taking a new birth. You

become

> identified with it and it reminds you of your True Self. If you are

> focused on it, the name can really help you to realize your true

> nature."

> Amma then explained how in the world everyone is attached to his

name,

> fame and position in society. In the name of freedom, she said,

people

> have no problem killing or torturing one another for money or

pleasure.

> Everyone wants to be the boss; no one wants to accept anyone else's

> ideas or opinions, she said. "But in spiritual life we are trying

to go

> beyond all this. Taking a new name can be a step in this

direction. Now

> we are trying to include others in our prayers. Now we are trying

to see

> others in our own Self and our Self in others."

> Amma then shared the experience of one who has gone beyond and

realized

> his identity with the Supreme Self. "A Guru needs nothing from this

> world. He lives as if in a glass case. He can see both the world

outside

> as well as his own Self. He sees the world in his Self, and his

Self in

> the world. But he remains totally detached."

> Amma reiterated, "It is one sun that reflects in a thousands

different

> pots. In a similar way, once you realize your identity with the

supreme

> consciousness, you transcend all names. But, first, the ahamkara

[the

> notion of "I" and "mine"] must go.

> "In order to transcend the ego, we must become humble. Only when a

seed

> goes down into the soil and breaks open does it merge into the

soil and

> become a tree. As long as the ego is there, there is no hope. A

> spiritual name helps to remind us that we are, in fact, the

Paramatman

> [supreme Self]."

> Amma then explained some other ways in which having a spiritual

name can

> help one striving on the spiritual path: "When you hear someone

call the

> name, you will think of Amma, because she gave it to you. Also, as

you

> hear the name constantly, it makes you constantly inquire to see

if you

> are living up to all it signifies."

> Such names also help us maintain awareness of our dharma, Amma

said:

> "When you get married, you exchange rings. The ring reminds you of

your

> beloved. And if later you start becoming attracted to someone

else, your

> ring serves to keep you aware of your dharma. A spiritual name can

be a

> similar type of reminder."

> "You also have a responsibility to live up to your dharma," Amma

told

> her children. But she then added that she, of course, will help

them to

> do so.

> "All names and forms have a purpose in the world. They have a

meaning.

> They have a dharma," Amma said. She then gave the example of how

someone

> illegally cutting down trees in a forest might not listen if a man

> approaches him and tells him to stop. But if that man returns in a

> police uniform, surely he will listen.

> "In the end, we must go beyond all names and forms," Amma

said. "But the

> name is quite helpful in getting us to this stage. If a thorn gets

stuck

> in our foot, we take another thorn and use it to pick it out. Venom

> itself is used as an antidote for poison."

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit your group "Ammachi" on the web.

 

Ammachi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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