Who am I? I am Vidyā

I am Vidyā. I was born with my eyes open. I was never asleep. There was never an awakening for me. It didn’t make life easier if that’s what you think. It just made my life different. My purpose here is clear. My purpose is to teach. To awaken as many people as I can. I am the alarm clock that will wake you up and make you understand the choice you have. The impact you can have. We are the particle and the wave. We are one. There’s no future. There’s no past. There’s only here and now. That is the eternal wisdom.

“Lead me from unreal to real. From darkness into light. From mortality to immortality.” Just like the Hindu Pavamana Mantra says. It’s that simple.

I was born in Struer in Northwest Jutland and I was baptised Henrik but I’ve never really been able to relate to that name. But as a boy, I wasn’t aware that I could change it. My name was Henrik and that’s how it was. In my teens, I grew out of the name Henrik. It simply did not fit my personality at all. Like a caterpillar that pupates and becomes a butterfly, I felt something new was coming. I knew I had to change my identity in order to grow. I chose the name Sebastian because it could encapsulate the person I was becoming. I knew it was too soon to “reveal” the name of my soul. Neither I nor the world was ready for it. On a deeper level, I was well aware of who I really was, but also that it was premature to unlock this truth. It was too early to stand up. It was too early for me to show who I really was. The name Sebastian became my next greenhouse in which I could grow and develop new aspects of my personality that I would never be able to as Henrik. I could sense that I needed more knowledge, more insight and more hardening – I wasn’t mature enough.

My soul is called Vidyā. So I have three names: Henrik, Sebastian, Vidyā. Names of three subsequent stages of development. Three different resonances or dimensions, if you like.

I still respond to Henrik when I am with my father or the rest of my biological family. To Sebastian with my friends and my chosen family, and to Vidyā when I am in spiritual contexts with people who know me as a teacher or master.

It’s actually not that complicated. In many other traditions, it’s natural to recognise the different stages of life. Some have manhood trials, confirmation or similar “coming-of-age” ceremonies when they leave the phase of childhood and become an adult. They all celebrate that life has different phases. That we evolve. That we develop throughout life. Otherwise without comparison, the pope – when elected – also takes a new name.

It is probably only in our tradition that people are belittled or ridiculed when they take on a new name. “That’s nonsense. If you were baptised with that name then stick with it”, is a comment I’ve heard several times.

If you need a new name that better resonates with who you are – do it. Some seek out a master, some go to a numerologist, while others just know. There are many ways to do it. I just want to remove that feeling of it being wrong if you want a new name. Everything is changeable and you are not branded cattle after all. The only thing that is constant is change.

I am Vidyā and I am the teacher. Again, and again and again. Life after life after life. Reincarnation after reincarnation. It’s that simple. There is no beginning and there is no end.

This is the House of Vidyā. This is the home of souls. I hope this house may become your home too.

House of Vidyā – knowing in the soul

I believe