Name Change!

But does the rose still smell as sweet?

Ah, Shakespearean alliterations.  Think I'll stop now. 

But a name change has occurred, as the header reveals. I have a new partner? No, I have a new name. New names are given when one takes refuge with a teacher. It signifies the qualities of the student. This ceremony was different than my first though.

The first time I took refuge was in 2003, and I went through a small ceremony, and repeated a few lines of which I knew nothing. Then I was handed a card with my refuge name: Jangchub Gyaltsen - Victory Banner of Enlightenment. Okay, cool. Enlightenment is what I am after. The whole process was rather low key and almost insignificant, or felt so anyway.

Not so this second time around. Rinpoche taught the three of us essentially what it meant to take refuge, and the relationship of refuge to hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana, culminating in Dzogchen. We repeated the refuge vows after each level. All in all, it summed up taking refuge in the Buddha nature we all have. Then he had us come forward, and he snipped off a bit of hair, and anointed our head with water. I recall the hair represents consciousness, and so he established a link between him and the three of us. Then he had a little bowl, and some folded up pieces of paper, and some that were rolled. The folded pieces had names for the males, and the rolled were for the females. Two of us, one of her. Typically, I fish around for the hidden one, the buried one, the underdog looking one. Not this time. I pick it and give it to Rinpoche, and so we all did.

Turns out I picked the name of Rinpoche: Jigme. Jigme Senga is the name I picked. It means Fearless Lion.

Gulp.

Suppose there might be some challenges around this name now? I'm not certain there is any significance in picking this name. I have formally asked Rinpoche to be my teacher before I took refuge. He is still reviewing my application, and my mind could easily think there is. But this is just a refuge name. I'm not a teacher or anything remotely similar. Just another sentient being on this rock making my way along the path.

Would I mind any significance? I suppose not, because right now it's irrelevant. If a time comes when it is relevant, so be it. I'll attend to my now as fearlessly as  I can, and see what happens. In the mean time you'll know why the name on the header changed.