Your Name And Fate

A lot of people believe that what you are called and your fortune are linked; a good name will give a person good fortune, so they want to have a good name for good luck. Is this realy true, do you think? To help you work out your answer, there is a story which illustrates this well. Here is the story:

There was a big temple, which had many monks. Each of the monks wanted to have a good name for good luck. They approached their teacher and asked to change their names. Because there were so many students, the teacher told them to find their own names and then he would do a changing-name ceremony for all of them. They agreed.

There was one particular monk, who really believed that changing his name would bring him good fortune. So he went out and searched for a good name. Along the way, he saw the procession for a person who had died, followed by sad relatives and friends. He asked people for the name of the dead person. They told him, "His name was Ayuko." He commented to the people, "Ayuko means being alive. So why did he die?" They laughed at him and said, "It is merely a name. Nobody can escape death." He continued his journey to find the good name for himself.

Then he passed a wealthy man’s house. There he saw the man hitting a woman. He asked the man why he had hit the woman. The man said, "She owed me money and cannot repay it." The monk asked the woman’s name, "What’s your name?" She answered him, "My name is Thanika." The monk said, "Thanika means wealthy lady. Why don’t you have money to repay your debt?" The man laughed at the monk and said, "It is just a name. It doesn’t mean that she is rich." The monk sighed and decided to go back to the temple. He thought to himself, "It is pointless finding a new name as it is nothing but a word."

On the way back to the temple, he met a man, who asked him for directions. The monk told him the way and did not forget to ask him his name. The man replied to him, "My name is Vithiko." The monk exclaimed, "That name means knowing the direction. Why do you get lost?" The man laughed at the monk and walked away. The monk was now sure that a name is merely a word. For this reason he gave up searching for a new name and went back to see his teacher and said to him, "Teacher, I won’t change my name. I will keep the same name, because a name is just a word. It is just a label we use for calling each other which makes communication easier. " The teacher reassured him of the correctness of his view by saying, "You are right. Names are merely words and fate depends on actions. The most important thing is to do good actions; learning Dhamma and putting it into practice to gain knowledge and wisdom in order to develop your life. This is what is important." The monk agreed with his teacher, saying, "Yes sir, I will remember that. Thank you."

It is true that a name is just a word and fate depends on actions. When we understand this, we should have the intention of learning to avoid bad actions, to cultivate good actions and to cultivate wisdom. This is the path to developing a good life.
Now do you still believe in the link between the importance of a name and fate?