It is by names that we think of things. With names, we can speak of one thing as opposed to another. There is power in a name; consider the profound impact of hearing your name called. In folklore, knowing the true name of something was said to grant authority over it. Take the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, for example. In this story, a miller falsely boasts that his daughter can spin straw into gold. Hearing this, the king imprisons the miller’s daughter and orders her to spin straw into gold for him, threatening execution if she fails. She sinks into hopelessness, and suddenly, a little man appears in her closed chamber and offers a bargain: he would spin the straw into gold in exchange for her firstborn. The woman agrees to save herself from the King’s punishment, and the imp fulfills his part of the deal. But then her child is born, and the imp comes to collect payment. In desperation, she pleads to keep the child. The little rascal agrees to relent only if she says his name. By sheer chance, she discovers it, and upon uttering “Rumpelstiltskin,” the imp loses his claim to the child.

With this in mind, one might wonder: What is “Sacred Name?” Is it the title given to God in various spiritual traditions? Is it Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva? Is it the inexpressible name written as YHVH in Jewish texts? This name is considered forbidden to pronounce and infinitely powerful. To avoid misuse, Jews refer to God in prayer as Adonai (Lord) or Hashem (the name). Is the Sacred Name a mantram, such as OM?

From the perspective of meditation, the Sacred Name is found in silence. Whether it is a sound or silence itself, it is through entering deep inner silence that one encounters the sacred and discovers the Sacred Name. Only the material requires words. What is real and true is beyond material, beyond words. Silent—the silence that is the source of all. We might say that the Sacred Name is silence, and that sounds, such as prayers or mantrams, lead us to that silence.

Editor’s Note:

Randall Krause has been intensively practicing the meditative practices of the Himalayan yoga sages for more than 30 years and is a senior teacher and senior mentor in the Himalayan Yoga Tradition. He has a Certificate in Yoga Philosophy from Loyola Marymount University—L.A. and a M.A. degree in Interdisciplinary Consciousness Studies from John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California. He formerly practiced law. Currently, Randall teaches and mentors students all over the world via the Internet. Randall is presently leading a bi-monthly Zoom sastanga on Self-Transformation through Ahymsin.

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