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the pali name

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:50 am
by Sokehi
I was always wondering by what standards one is given a certain pali name with ordaining as a novice or bhikku/bhikkuni.

I've heard that it got something to do with ones birthday and the week in which one was born. Is that correct? And if so is there a list available to see what name it would be? just curious ;)

Re: the pali name

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:06 am
by Ben
Greetings Sokehi,
My understanding is that one's name is chosen by the preceptor and the name given depends on the day of the week you were born. The day of the week of one's birthday determines the first sylable of the name. That is how it works in Myanmar and possibly Thailand. I'm not sure about Sri Lanka or Laos & Cambodia.
I'm sure one of our ordained members can provide a more definitive response.
kind regards,

Ben

Re: the pali name

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:14 am
by Sokehi
Thank you Ben, good post :)

I'm quite certain that it works like this in Thailand, since exactly what you posted about "day of the week" is found in the book "Venerable Father - A Life witch Ajahn Chah" by Paul Breiter.

So it seems that the first Syllable is determined but the "rest" is open to the preceptor... but more light on this by some venerables here would be wonderful :)

Re: the pali name

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 6:53 am
by UhBaUnTaUh
It isn't from Tipitaka tradition. It's a Thailand tradition.

Don't be serious about it, if you don't live with mongs in thailand or your bhikkhu friend(s) are not form Thailand.

Re: the pali name

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 6:04 pm
by sumedha ^0^
Hello. I happened to come across this post and thought to share what I know about the Sri Lankan monastic Pali name. From my understanding, there are two parts to a Sri Lankan monastic Dhamma name. The first part is named after the village of the monk who enters the monastic life and the second part is selected by the monk's preceptor and it usually points toward some aspiring character. For example, Bhante Madawala Seelawimala (Bhante = Sinhalese equivalent of venerable, Madawala = village name, Seelawimala = rustless virtue). With Sri Lankan monastic, we usually address them without the village name component so just Bhante Seelawimala or just Bhante in general. If for example we happen to come across a Bhante Rahula and another Bhante Rahula, then the village name component is used to distinguish the two such as Bhante Wapola Rahula and Bhante Pallawela Rahula. In Pali, "Rahula" means fetter and "Seela" or "Sila" means virtue or good conduct and "wimala" means no rust whereas "mala" means rust.

Re: the pali name

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:05 am
by PadmaPhala
mine is an autonym... no one is allowed to change it now because æ like it :)

Re: the pali name

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:39 am
by Gatasaro Bhikku
Ben has it right. That's how I got my Pali name, which no one uses. I'm Than Don to everyone. I think Gatasaro means one who scares cats, but I could be making that up.

Re: the pali name

Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 3:42 pm
by melancholy
it seems in the buddha's time they did not worry about name calling, so vinaya says nothing about it. prince siddhartha gotama became gotama. son (putta) of saree became sareeputta. as already mentioned here, usually the teacher decides the name or the criteria, sometimes the abbot wants all the monks to have a part from his own name eg. "nanda" from the teacher added to "saddha" becomes "saddhananda". this leads to repetitions since limited options.

sometimes some students (perhaps radicals) pick a one for them which inspires them of a certain aspect of the dhamma like "samadhi" or "attadipa". which is good in a way since our parents did it for the first time so when born as monks why not get a name which reminds our goal or a favourite quality. i too like the idea that the bodhinyana monastery in perth, australia, the newcomers get to choose their own.

Re: the pali name

Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:46 pm
by TheNoBSBuddhist
Gatasaro Bhikku wrote:Ben has it right. That's how I got my Pali name, which no one uses. I'm Than Don to everyone. I think Gatasaro means one who scares cats, but I could be making that up.
My problem is that when I first read your forum name, my brain saw 'Gastric Bypass'....

Naughty brain! :toilet:

:namaste: