Your name represents your spirit. When your name is called, your souls and spirits follow your name.
When a person is born, the name written on the birth certificate is also recorded in the spiritual realms: heaven and the underworld. If you have changed your name and used your new name for years, it is likely that your new name has become active spiritually. In this situation you can use your new name to perform daily recitations and address your Little Houses. However, it is still advisable to lodge the Application for Change of Name (A sample can be found in Appendix B).
When you lodge the Application for Change of Name, you are also updating your new name with Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, officers who are in charge of name changes in the heaven and the underworld, and all other spiritual beings.
You can download the Application for Change of Name form at www.GuanYinCitta.com.
Use yellow A4 size paper to print the application form. Fill in both your original name and new name on the application form. Fill in your original name where it says, “Devotee’s original full name”, and your new name where it says, “Now changed to” and “Devotee’s full name”. If you are lodging the Application for Change of Name on behalf of your child or family members, please fill in the applicant’s date of birth according to the Gregorian calendar.
Fill in your current location, which is the location where you are going to perform the ritual to lodge the Application for Change of Name, in the “Location” field (e.g. “Beijing, China” or “Sydney, Australia”). Finally, fill in the date field, using the date of burning the application form.
It is best to burn the application form on a sunny day. The best times are 6am, 8am and 4pm.
Instead of printing, you can also hand-write the form on a yellow piece of A4 sized paper based on the Application for Change of Name form at www.GuanYinCitta.com.
You can lodge the application form at home if you have a Buddhist altar. First, light the oil lamp(s), then offer incense and read out the application in front of your altar (you may kneel while reading it). Then recite the Great Compassion Mantra 7 times and the Heart Sutra 7 times before burning the application form (from top to bottom).
If you do not have a Buddhist altar at home, then you can go to a Buddhist temple to lodge your application. You should first kneel and bow to every Buddha and Bodhisattva at the temple, then read out your application in the Guan Yin Hall, in front of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, “I, , come to today, to pay my respect to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in this temple. May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva be my witness and verify that my original name has been changed to . May all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in this temple be my witnesses.” Next recite the
Great Compassion Mantra 7 times and the Heart Sutra 7 times before burning your application form (from top to bottom) in the container where incense sticks or papers are burnt.
You only need to lodge your application once. If, for some reason, you think that your Application for Change of Name did not go through you can lodge your application again.
It is best if you can lodge the Application for Change of Name personally. If a child is too young and is unable to perform the ritual, parents or other family members can lodge the application on behalf of the child.
You do not need to lodge the application for a deceased person. Just use the name they used most often while they were alive.
If you have been called by several names in the past and now you want to lodge the Application for Change of Name, you can pick the name that has been used most often as your original name (generally names that have been used for more than a decade are already active spiritually). Alternatively, you can also write all the names that have been used in the past under “Devotee’s original full name.”
If you are unsure of your original name, for example, if you were adopted, you can lodge the Application for True Name. You can download the Application for True Name form from www.GuanYinCitta.com (A sample can be found in Appendix C).
How to determine whether the Application for Change of Name has been successfully lodged?
- Your instincts play an important role. First of all, it is mostly based on the feelings of the person who changes their name. Generally, we change our names to improve our conditions. After having lodged the Application for Change of Name, you should feel happier, as if you have opened up your heart and eased your mind. You should sense an immediate improvement in your mood and that your fortunes are already changing for the better. If you experience the above, your application is successful. If, after lodging the application, you feel the same or even worse than before, or have bad feelings, then your application may not have been successful, or your new name may not be suitable for you.
- Second, you should recite more of the Heart Sutra. People who do more recitations of the Heart Sutra will grow in wisdom, and form a connection with their new names. When others call you by your new name, or during special occasions when your name is used, you will know that the new name is associated with you.
- Third, the success of lodging the application is also determined by the energy field of the new name. Has your new name been used by someone else? If someone else is already using that name, and your energy field is very close to this person, it would be very difficult for your new name to take effect.
- Fourth, it is essential for the Application for Change of Name to be active spiritually. For example, if you changed your name over ten years ago without lodging the Application for Change of Name, then this name should be active spiritually to some extent since you have been called by this name for over ten years. However, as you have never lodged the Application for Change of Name, this name has not been officially registered in the spirit world, your spirits and soul tend to depart from the body very easily. Therefore, once you have lodged the Application for Change of Name, you should be called by your new name in full as many times as possible. It usually takes three months to 100 days for the new name to be active spiritually.
- Fifth, you can recite Little Houses addressed to the “Karmic Creditors of ” and observe the effects after burning them. For example, if you used to feel lethargic and have nightmares but now you can see improvement in your condition, then it indicates that your Application for Change of Name has been successful.
Once you have lodged your application, each day before reciting sutras and mantras you can say your new name a few more times to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in front of the altar. This is very helpful in allowing your new name to take effect.
Before lodging your application, you can begin by reading out the text on the application form once. Then you can recite the Great Compassion Mantra 7 times and the Heart Sutra 7 times. As the final step, you can burn the application form.
It is better to lodge the application on the 1st and 15th day of the lunar month, as these days are auspicious and favourable. The best times to lodge the application are 6am and 8am.
If your application is unsuccessful, you can lodge it multiple times until it is successful.
Generally, as soon as you have lodged your application, you can start using your new name to fill out your Little House. If you are unsure whether your application is successful for the time being, you can address your Little House to the “Karmic Creditor of ()”. This format can only be used temporarily as an interim solution and should not be used in the long term.
If your application is unsuccessful after your first attempt, but you have recited and burnt your Little Houses using your new name, these Little Houses will still be effective as soon as your application is successful in your later attempt.
