On Taking A Spiritual Name

Here am In Pune, India, in the early 2000s, shortly after I was given my spiritual name, Deva Arani.

More than two decades ago, I received my spiritual name: Ma Deva Arani.

For me, taking this name was a symbol of my commitment to my inner journey, a way of honoring a life increasingly devoted to my own authenticity and longing for truth. My name came through Osho, whose teachings and active meditations had already been part of my life for several years. I spent time at his meditation center in Pune, India, where I participated in several life-changing group processes, including Primal, staffing the Path of Love, Tantra, etc. What a time of healing and growth for me.

When I took my spiritual name, what mattered most to me was the sense that I was committing more fully to myself. I wasn’t seeking more knowledge so much as learning to trust my own internal wisdom.

The meaning of this name touched me deeply:

Deva means divine. Arani is the name of the kindling sticks traditionally used to create sacred fire. Each of us carries these divine kindling sticks— arani — within us and with friction, our inner flame can be kindled.

I loved that image then, and I still do. Life provides plenty of friction. The invitation is not to escape it, but to work with it and discover what it can illuminate within us.

After I was given the name, it took me a while to grow into it. At first I was Arani only among my spiritual community. Over the years, I began introducing myself as Arani to new people I met. I kept my legal name, Tanya, in my professional life as an attorney, where I already had many years of relationships and history.

Gradually, more and more people began calling me Arani, while my birth family and oldest friends continued to know me as Tanya. At some point, something shifted. I went from being surprised when someone called me Arani to being surprised when someone called me Tanya.

Arani had become my true name.

Today, Deva Arani is also the pen name on my books. When I first received it all those years ago, I could not have known how it would travel with me or where it would land. I only knew that it felt true.

Perhaps that is what a name can sometimes become: not simply a declaration of who we are, but an invitation we spend a lifetime growing into.