Since many people I know on Facebook have been wondering why I have now adopted there my sannyas name instead of my birth name, I thought it worthwhile explaining a little bit what this means to me.
I have dealt with the meaning of sannyas itself in other posts, notably here. To avoid misunderstanding, it is absolutely not a badge of membership of any organization or religion. As Osho has said, “By becoming a sannyasin you are not becoming a part of a certain organization – this is not an organization at all. By becoming a sannyasin, you are becoming courageous enough to accept a certain fact: that man exists in aloneness.”
But what is the importance of the change of name, and of the name itself?
Clearly, the name has no particular importance. A name is just a name. Names are not endowed with magical properties. I like my sannyas name, it does not mean anything to me (in Sanskrit it means something like wilderness, being the origin of the word “jungle”).
In fact, what is important about it is precisely this: that it has no meaning. If it had meaning, it would shape me. I would try to become it. This is not the point at all. It is not about becoming, but about unbecoming.
As long as we believe we know, we are ignorant. It is only when we acknowledge our ignorance, that knowledge begins. This is why I find it important to drop my birth name. Not that there is anything wrong with that name, and of course I continue to use it in all sorts of contexts. The problem with it is the problem with any birth name, and that is that it has acquired meaning; I imagine I know who that person is, and others do too. Yet all this meaning has not emerged organically from the core of who I am; it has largely been constructed by others and by myself in opposition to others before I was conscious enough to understand.
In order to make a fresh start it is very important to recognize that I do not know who I am. Who I am is a mystery to me, a marvellous journey I have scarcely even embarked upon. I do not know Jangali. When I write the word, it is unknown to me. Therefore I choose it. I don’t know if this is what Osho had in mind. But I think his message was on the same lines: people came to him identifying with an image of themselves, and he just found this funny, and wanting to get them asking questions by playing with them.
It is not that I have assumed a new identity; rather, I have disassumed the old identity, all identity, all notion of myself and all willingness to be defined by others. Those who think they know me find it easy not to listen. They have expectations as to what they will hear, and this is then what they do hear. I want to invite you to stop imagining you know – anything – and listen; of course not just to me, but to each other, to the birdsong and the change of seasons, to the laughter and the silence….
I cannot of course prevent Jangali coming to mean something. It will become a personal brand. Perhaps if that all becomes too much and gets in the way, I will change it again. But at least it will be a label whose meaning is derived from the journey of my adult, spiritual self.