TV Channel

Indra came to stop Maruti from eating the sun. Indra rode a giant elephant named Airāvata. When Hanuman saw that elephant, he thought it looked like a giant watermelon. He thought, "This is even better than eating a giant orange. I’m going to eat the watermelon." So he grabbed the elephant, thinking it was a watermelon, and decided to eat it. Indra said to Maruti, "You can’t eat this; this is my elephant." Maruti replied, "Are you crazy? It’s not an elephant; it’s a watermelon." Indra became angry and struck Maruti down with his lightning bolt. Hanuman fell to the ground and hit his jaw. One meaning of the name Hanuman is "the one with the swollen jaw." Hanu means jaw in Sanskrit. This story is the origin of that name. He fell to the ground and was hurt. If you get hurt, what would your father do? Hanuman’s father came to help him and also became angry. Do you remember who Hanuman’s father was? The wind, yes. Do you know what the wind does when it gets angry? This wind did not blow; he stopped blowing completely. He went on strike. This meant there was no air left to breathe in the world. Everyone began to suffer, and plants started to die. All the other gods were worried because without air, how could they live? They came to the wind god and said, "Can you please start to blow again?" He said, "No." They asked, "Why not?" He replied, "Because my son got hurt." I would like to speak about one point which seems small but is not unimportant: the yoga name. Many of you have received a spiritual name from Swāmījī. What I observe is that we use it quite differently. For some, like Lakṣmī, that person is only Lakṣmī to me; I don’t know any other name. Others, for example Natasha, have also received the name Lakṣmī, but no one knows it. Some always say, "I am Natasha, but my yoga name is Lakṣmī." It is about how you identify yourself, what name you give yourself. Some immediately identify with the new name, and the old name ceases to exist. Some take it as an additional name, mentioned sometimes like a special title. Others put it in a box; it exists, and you can mention that they have a yoga name, but basically no one knows it and no one uses it. That is like going to a restaurant, ordering food, but never touching it. What is the use of that? Let us think about what a name really means for us. When Swāmījī speaks about the fundamental question in yoga, "Who am I?"—if someone asks you, "Who are you?" the normal answer is your name. But what is this name? It was given after the birth of this human body by your parents. Basically, it expresses our identification with this human body. This identification is the root of our suffering. We identify ourselves as this human body. Therefore, we say, "I am born," and we are therefore afraid to die. So, first, it is a wrong identification. That is a very basic thing. Second, I guess none of us had parents who were truly saints. None of us was born as the child of saints. That means the name our parents gave us expresses their mental state. Often, if a sportsman is in fashion, parents give that name. Some star in music or pop culture becomes fashionable, and many children get the names of these pop stars. Je to karma. Sometimes that can be very heavy karma. Sometimes, the English word is that you are ashamed to say your name. In India, for example, I had a yoga program in one city. I was invited by Mr. Money. Special vibration. Every time, everyone thinks, "This person is in contact with money; he had a high position." One disciple of Swāmījī—I won't say who—has the name Eitelbus. That is a combination of two German words. Eitel means arrogant, and böse means bad or malicious. Just think of that vibration. That is like a curse, such a name. The strongest curse I came across was when I was a teacher in a school for a while. In the morning class, I had to check attendance by reading all the names one by one, and each person had to say, "Yes, here." Of course, they knew each other; the name was no surprise. But one girl had the name Beate Fick. Fick in English means, really, what you think: "fuck." Every morning, everyone was laughing at her. Can you imagine what it means to be in her skin? Every time she had to say her name, there would be a smile or more. Can you imagine what a blessing it would be for her to change her name? A name has such power, and we know this from Swāmījī. Whenever he speaks about mantra, he speaks about the power of the name of God. The name of God is even stronger than God Himself. Remember the story from the Rāmāyaṇa. When they were building the bridge to cross over to Laṅkā, they wrote the name Rāma on stones, threw them in the water, and they floated. This divine energy was so strong that the bridge could be built. Then Rāma also wanted to write. He wrote "Rām" on a stone and threw it, but that stone sank. Rāma was embarrassed and said, "What is that? When I do it, it doesn’t work." His bhakta, perhaps Hanumān, told him, "Yes, whom you drop, no one can help." The power of the name of God, of the divine vibration, is the essence of mantra. So the essence of our mantra is the name of God, and that is this divine power. When Swāmījī gives us a yoga name, it is like a second mantra. It is something to realize. There is another story Swāmījī sometimes told about the power of the name of God. One man, when a boy was born to him, gave his son the name Nārāyaṇa. It is common in India to give a name of Nārāyaṇa or another God, even to those not living a spiritual life. This man did not live a spiritual life; he was quite selfish. But he loved his son above everything. When he was about to die, all his thoughts were concentrated on his son, hoping to see him. All the time he was calling, "Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa." With this thought, he died. When his soul passed, the angels of death came to bring him to hell because he had done nothing good in his life. But then the angels of God came and said, "No, you cannot take him. He has called God, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa." That was his last thought. There was some discussion: he didn’t live a spiritual life; he was just calling his son. The angels of God said, "That doesn’t matter. It was the name of God." He called God, and they took him to heaven. That is the power of the name, the power of the name of God. Now, think of the yoga names you have received. In many cases, Swāmījī gives the name of some aspect of God, some pure divine quality which, when we realize it, transforms us. Some names are more tricky; you have to go deeper. With a mantra and with a name, one thing is similar. When you practice the mantra faithfully for a long time, slowly you will discover deeper and deeper meanings. When we get a translation from Swāmījī, that is just one level of understanding. The more you practice, the more doors open, and you understand deeper what the mantra means. The same is true for yoga names. Some names are not so obvious. For example, one girl—she might be here—received the name Kāyā from Swāmījī. She asked me, "What does it mean?" I was a little baffled because I know it means 'body'. At first I thought it was strange. Then I thought more, and more aspects came to me. In the end, I came to the point: yes, this whole universe is the body of God. This is actually the divine mother. So it fits very well that Swāmījī gives this name to a girl and not to a boy. It takes time to reach such deeper levels of understanding. But when you faithfully identify yourself with this name, it will slowly awaken in you. Let us think practically: what is the importance of our name in daily life? What is connected to your name? I tried to collect a few things. First, your birth certificate, then your marriage certificate—though for ladies the name might change—then your death certificate. Your identity card and passport. Your bank account, your salary, your pension—all depend on your name. Whatever you buy, you buy in your name. When you rent an apartment, it goes in your name. Any business contract goes in your name. When someone dies, inheritance goes in your name. Insurance goes in your name. The driving license goes in your name. What does not go in your name? It is such a basic identification in our life. To change all that has a certain vibration. The yoga name gives us the chance to change that. The best is if you do not have any other name and have only the yoga name. Most blessed are those children who grow up in a yoga family and are given only a yoga name right at birth. That means consulting Swāmījī before or after the birth for the name. That is a big blessing—a divine name from birth. Or, if you manage to get your yoga name officially registered, which is not easy. Swāmījī wanted me to change my name completely, not just as an addition but as a changed name. I had long discussions and negotiations in Germany. They said, "Yes, we understand you are a monk," but they have strict conditions with family names and surnames, so it didn’t fit. I could only get it registered as an addition to my name. Swāmījī was quite disappointed. When we get a name from Swāmījī, it is such a blessing. It is really like a second mantra initiation. It has the power to change our identification completely. Now we have to measure what we do with our yoga name. How do we use it? How do we respect it? How much power do we give this yoga name to transform us, like the man who called "Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa..." thinking of his son, but in reality calling God? If you have the name Nārāyaṇ Purī, every time someone calls you by that name, they call God. This is a smaller center, but they brought most people together when I had a workshop there—a very beautiful, enthusiastic atmosphere. When I came to this ashram, I first saw a real altar with pictures on the wall, a commode, cloths, and everything. All around were pictures of Mahāprabhujī, Śrī Devapurījī, Kṛṣṇa, and Rāmakṛṣṇa—pictures of different saints. This was in Atlanta, in the southern USA, a rural area where people are very Christian, especially Baptists. In such a surrounding, they put all these pictures of saints and an open altar. I was amazed and asked, "Don’t you have any problem?" They said, "No." The people accept it, and I could feel why. This group was so positive, so natural with it, that everyone took it naturally. Our inner attitude is decisive; others react to that. If we are completely identified with our yoga name, it is just natural, and others will take it naturally. So please think about how you use your yoga name. And for those who do not have a yoga name, please take it only if you are really going to use it. Otherwise, it is like a mantra you write on paper and say, "Oh, how nice, I have a mantra," but nothing will ever happen. That is what I wanted to share with you.