I have been contemplating recently about the notion of getting a new name at Jukai and wondering if this can be a cause of pride, or elevating the ego. However, on closer inspection it seems the other way around.

From an early age we have an attachment to our given name (or some variant of it, occasionally something else) by which most people call us. By taking on another name it seems as though identity is not so solid. Already I am known by several names - dad to my kids, Andrew to my family, Andy to my friends and several different usernames on internet forums. It has taken this possibility of a dharma name to breach this solidity, though. Not only is the self not solid and unchanging, what I and others call it is too. Our name is not so much tattooed on our body as pencilled in, leaving space for the other titles we will have over time.

Does anyone else have any feelings about this?

Gassho
Andy