Spiritual Names

Spiritual names are sometimes bestowed on students by their teachers.

In Wayist tradition there is no reason for this other than a pragmatic one—we do it when it it helps is more proficient.

To have a “spiritual name” is not an elevation in rank, it simply means that one’s teacher found it better for everyday practise to identify the student by that name.

Here are some examples.

It may be that the school has several students named Peter. After the eighth time the teachers instructs someone to “call Peter” and someone asks “which Peter”, the teacher may rename that Peter to something more distinctive. I was in ashram with two students and one teacher named Kamala (a female name meaning Lotus Flower). Our teacher renamed two of them, Kamalini, and Kamal, and it made life easier.

Another example can be when a foreigner’s name may sound like something in the local language you should not associate with the person, they rename you. For example, Peter sounds like Sanskrit pitR which means a deceased ancestor. My teacher renamed Peter Johnson to Priyageeta (nightingale) because he had a golden signing voice.

Another example is how Teacher Jean du Plessis became Teacher Yajn. Acharya +Yusa and others in the ashram could not pronounce Jean and never could say the French last name. Clearly, he was destined to get a Sanskrit name. Upon ordination, Acharya +Yusa named him Yajn, which is a contraction of the Sanskrit word yajna which means dedicated to religious service and in particular the fire ritual offered by priests. +Yusa said the name Yajn perfectly suited his temperament and dharma.

Buddha Jesus renamed a disciple in Galilee from Saul to Paul because Saul used to persecute Wayists and in fact killed several teachers. When Saul came to his senses and gained the enlightenment, he wanted to start a Judaic Wayist movement (which he later called the Christians). Jesus renamed him from Saul to Paul, because his old name was hated and feared among the people.

Some people request a spiritual name because they want to anchor or emphasise their conversion of mind from their old ways to the new enlightened person they had become. Teachers usually oblige, happily.

Also see: Why do teachers use the + before and after their names