There’s a song I like, w/ a refrain that goes: Hold on. Know your name. Go your own way. That seems like such great advice.   I figure it has to apply to most of us, most of the time.

Know your name. It dovetails perfectly with the Buddhist koan speculating on our intrinsic nature: “What did your face look like before your parents were born?” I can’t answer it, at least not in words, but I think I know what it’s asking — what it is about us that is permanent, if indeed anything is permanent…?

It’s a good question — who were you before? Who are you now? What is your true name? Some cultures place a taboo on giving your true name to strangers. It gives them power over you, a kind of entry.

But if you don’t know your name, that too is a ceding of power. So how do you find your name? And what does it mean once you have it…?