Question: How can I manifest my spiritual name?

Sri Chinmoy: First you have to be conscious of your name. Your name and my name have the same meaning. Only in my case, my family added ‘moy’, which means ‘full’. Your name is Chetana, which means ‘consciousness’. My name is Chit, which also means ‘consciousness’. ‘Moy’ means ‘full’, and the combination becomes Chinmoy.

I have done my task by realising and manifesting my name. How? By crying inwardly, sincerely and constantly for years and years. If you also cry like that, then you will also become fully conscious. If you are not fully conscious, then it is impossible for you to realise the significance of your name.

Consciousness pervades the entire universe. How many times a day or a week or even a month are you aware of the significance of this momentous name? Sometimes months pass by and you are not aware of your name. Like that, many — almost all — of the disciples do not try to remember, let alone become conscious of, the meaning of the soul’s name that they have been given. They forget that it is not just a name.

Previously you had one name, and now you have another. But there is no difference unless you consciously remember the meaning of your new name. Previously your name was Loren. But there is no difference between Loren and Chetana unless you constantly feel that Chetana is not just another name. You have to give importance to your soul’s name; otherwise, it does not help you.

If you give importance to the form, then one day you will be able to give full importance to the essence. Your soul’s name and your soul are like a temple and a shrine. If the temple is not properly honoured and attended, then the shrine will fall into disrepair. The shrine is the significance of the name Chetana, which is the predominant quality of your soul, and the word Chetana is the temple. If you do not think of the temple, then how will you think of the shrine inside the temple? So when you say “Chetana,” or when somebody else says it, immediately think of the temple. The essence of the soulful word is the shrine. Without a temple, the shrine will be destroyed by the hostile forces. But if you remember that you have a temple, which is “Chetana,” then you will also remember that there is a shrine inside it, which is the essence or quintessence of the word. In this way, the form and the spirit go together.