Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
13th April 2017
Name
“Identity”
Everyone in this world is known by a name. A name identifies a person and a he or she responds to a name. The nature of a name provides a deep understanding that a person is an illusion of light, which the enlightened have proclaimed.
Though a name belongs to him or her, it is rarely used by either him or her. It is always the other with a name who uses the name of another. Therefore, it is each other who uses the name of the other and does not use his own name.
Firstly, every vegetable, animal, object and an element in the earth has a name, is known by a name and identified by a name. Therefore, it is intriguing to know who could have been the first person to be named and also the nature of a name of anything that exists, including man.
The clue to this deep understanding is in the way an insect, bird or an animal is identified and named. They are identified, when they are not visible, by the sounds that they utter, which is an evolved function of life.
Primitive man too uttered sounds as a function of nature, because primitive man did not speak any language. Intellect evolved and so too the sounds that life uttered through man.
Therefore, modern man too utters evolved sounds as a function of nature, but these evolved sounds appear as a language, albeit illusory, because every letter in a particular language is a phoneme, meaning a unit of sound.
Primitive man responded to sounds from each other and the response was a function of life and not primitive man. The particular sounds uttered and the response to it evolved to synchronize.
Similarly, when modern man utters a particular sound, it gets a response from the other. As the sounds and the response to it are synchronized as a function of evolved intellect, the sound uttered is understood as a real name, albeit illusory, by modern man.
The synchronicity of sound and response, which is a function of evolution, not only gives the deception of a name but also gives the deception of cause and effect.
The deception of cause and effect is strengthened in the human mind when a pet responds to its name. There is no cause and effect situation, but only a singular movement of sound and movement of the pet which are synchronized.
Similarly, when a human responds to his name, it is not a cause and effect situation, though it appears to be. It is only a singular movement, which is the sound of the caller and the movement of the other human evolved to being synchronized.
Therefore, who was the first human to be named cannot be determined accurately. The nature of a name can be deeply understood to be sound, if the understanding evolves to happen.
The enlightened have rightly proclaimed that life is a play of light and sound. The deep understanding of a name and the response to it reveals the wisdom of the enlightened that life surely is a play of light and sound.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2017
Editor’s Note:
‘Our little life is rounded in a sleep’ is a poetic, yet dramatic description of man’s condition as observed by the poet Shakespeare in his play The Tempest.
Awareness of this condition is poignantly revealed by this article. Man will continue to live deceived by the authenticity of cause and effect, albeit illusory, until the play of life is understood. Both the deception and the understanding are gifts of life.
Julian Capper, U.K
German Translator’s Note:
"Without a name you are nobody", this is the common belief. And it is true, because the name is the label onto which all other labels are glued in the time of our life. The labels describe our character, our origin, our status in society, you name it. However, labels are not the truth, but depend on the point of view. And the name is the biggest label deceiving man and woman about their true identity. This article “Name“ by Dr. Shankar helps mankind to become aware of their true identity.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.