There may be more to a name than one might imagine. Just think about it. At the molecular level, everything is energy vibration: light, waves and atoms. It is said that thought waves and intention can have the power to change the structure of water, then what to speak of the effect of sound vibration in a name, when we are made largely of water?
Some time back I wrote about my cats, Sole and Luna, and how uncanny it was that their personalities so well matched their names. I went to Connection festival and the experience was all about connecting to Self, other and the Divine. Transition festival, on the other hand, marked the transition from mind to heart as the main driver.
My first given name, Melanie, means dark woman. Not surprising then, that Kali - or the energy associated with this goddess archetype - becomes so present in me when it is time to cut the crap and bring conscious awareness into a situation. Malini, the name given to me by my spiritual master, is sweeter. She tends the flowers in the garden for devotional offerings. I can see how that is happening in my life somewhat, where each flower is a person. For this I also like to call myself a butterfly.
Why all this pondering names? The usual synchronicities I guess, when more than one person brings up a random subject in such a timely way.
Recently I have returned to finding great joy in chanting the names of Krishna. Krishna is the name denoting the ultimate personality of absolute consciousness, that attracts all particles of consciousness to interact with it through life itself and the transcendental planes beyond. Rama is its aspect as bestower of bliss, or reservoir of all pleasure, while Hare hails them both.
I've taken to chanting the Maha Mantra - Great Mantra - with great relish again. I feel grateful and I feel to give praise and thanks and I feel to offer myself in service to that great absolute.
My first given name, Melanie, means dark woman. Not surprising then, that Kali - or the energy associated with this goddess archetype - becomes so present in me when it is time to cut the crap and bring conscious awareness into a situation. Malini, the name given to me by my spiritual master, is sweeter. She tends the flowers in the garden for devotional offerings. I can see how that is happening in my life somewhat, where each flower is a person. For this I also like to call myself a butterfly.
Why all this pondering names? The usual synchronicities I guess, when more than one person brings up a random subject in such a timely way.
Recently I have returned to finding great joy in chanting the names of Krishna. Krishna is the name denoting the ultimate personality of absolute consciousness, that attracts all particles of consciousness to interact with it through life itself and the transcendental planes beyond. Rama is its aspect as bestower of bliss, or reservoir of all pleasure, while Hare hails them both.
I've taken to chanting the Maha Mantra - Great Mantra - with great relish again. I feel grateful and I feel to give praise and thanks and I feel to offer myself in service to that great absolute.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Mantras have long been known to have a transformational effect on those who chant them due to the specific vibration of the Sanskrit syllables affecting the human condition. Whether this is true or not, the fact remains: chanting feels great and makes me feel connected!
They say "Chant and be happy". Sounds true enough to me! It is certainly interesting that, at the point that I transitioned from being driven by mind to heart, the name most closely associated with love and devotion, in bhakti yoga, sprung spontaneously to my lips.
A name is not identity ... it is sound vibration that gives a thing its properties. For example, I recently came to know that Las Vegas is a Spanish name for a lush plain, yet Vega in Sanskrit means the impulsive expression of the senses and the genitals ... and we can all see what is happening there! Definitely worth some curiosity about what's truly in a name, don't you think? Is it time to practice more awareness regarding uncanny matches between names and properties of the holder of that name?
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