The Quiet Dragon & the Luminous Vow

I distinctly remember the day my teacher, the Reverend Daijaku, gave me my dharma name. It never occurred to me that I might receive one, and she presented it with her usual calm, wise demeanor as we sat in her small office in San Francisco for one of our weekly meetings as I prepared to take a formal bodhisattva vow. Joryu Myosei. Quiet dragon, luminous vow. I was speechless. I was more than a little bit in awe that she saw and understood me so deeply and thoroughly and that she had managed to capture my essence so perfectly in four characters, representing two ideas.

And she did know me well. After sitting with her weekly for two years, where she served as my clinical supervisor so that I might learn the art of being a therapist, I had stayed on as a student of the dharma, meeting with her monthly for several years. Until the day I shared that I had received a message, I needed to take a formal bodhisattva vow and had no idea how to proceed.

It was then that she suggested we meet more often to hold space for that inquiry. And from there she guided and challenged me over the next seven months to create something alive and uniquely my own. To this day it remains one of the most profound and sacred experiences of my life. And in advance of my ceremony, she bestowed my name. The Japanese characters and their romaji translations were taped to a piece of stationery from Gampo Alley Monastery and folded a bit haphazardly. I still have it. Along with her notes that she shared during my bodhisattva ceremony on why she chose it and what it meant.

I loved it, but at the time and for a long while after, I really didn’t know what to do with it. So I held it close, engraved on the inside of a bracelet that I’ve worn daily since taking my vow. It is equally engraved in my heart. I even imagined ways to have it tattooed on my body, but never found the right representation. Until recently.

After 12+ years of practicing sincerely but quietly with my vow and my name, I got a spiritual tap on the shoulder, another message, during my last retreat. I had attended with the intention of reconnecting with my vow to see what felt alive and what wanted to move through me now that I was becoming an empty nester. And the message I received was clear and unequivocal. “It’s time.” The full message was that I needed to embrace my dharma name, step into my vow fully and publicly, and to create more opportunities for people to gather in community for meditation and inquiry. So while it feels a bit daunting, it’s another one of those spiritual directives that I’ve learned to just surrender to and follow. So this is me doing that. It seems I have finally grown into my name. Through sincere practice over the years, the dragon had grown quiet enough and the vow, luminous enough that I could express it in my teaching and one-to-one inquiry work with clients, using my dharma name going forward.

So after the retreat, I began preparing to use my name and share my vow with more people. The website with the upcoming retreats, gatherings, and reflections would join the inquiry work I already cherished. And as part of using my name, I got curious again about its meaning. What were the energies and symbolism that I was embracing as I embodied Joryu Myosei? In addition to rereading what Jaku wrote for my ceremony, I did a little online research on the characters and their meanings. Here’s what I learned. And I would add that once again, I’ve got a lot to practice and to aspire to!

Jo means “gradual, steady, slow, quiet,” as well as “to become, to complete, to accomplish.” So far, so good. I can work with that. Ryu means “dragon, noble, prosperous, flow.” When used together, Joryu means quiet, still, or purified dragon. It’s also the word for the part of the river that contains the headwaters and means “flows from source.”

I love the dragon half of my name. From what I learned, dragons and serpents hold profound spiritual symbolism across cultures. In Asia, dragons symbolize wisdom, strength, and courage, while possessing the ability to manipulate the forces of the universe for the benefit of others for both spiritual enlightenment and divine protection. Western cultures often view dragons as symbols of transformation and spiritual growth, representing the journey through chaos to enlightenment. In Africa, serpents and dragon-like beings are revered as symbols of wisdom and creation, embodying natural forces and spiritual transformation. And Latin and South American traditions feature serpents symbolizing fertility, renewal, and the harmonious balance between earthly and spiritual realms. In short, all around the world, these mythological creatures serve as powerful symbols of spiritual evolution, guiding humanity through transformative journeys and connecting earthly existence with higher realms of consciousness and cosmic understanding.

Wow! The dragon symbolism really resonates with the fire and passion I have for life, for people, for awakening and its expression in the world. Those who know me well, laugh and shake their heads when I share this part of my name. I keep emphasizing that I’ve gotten a lot quieter as I’ve matured, but they still give me knowing looks.

Myosei means “bright, clear, wise, light,” as well as “the state of being illuminated by light and seeing clearly.” Myosei is the luminous vow that lives in my heart and radiates out from there. It speaks to the deep intention, the heart practice, a surrendered state of being to something much larger than myself. This is the part of my name that I am coming to know more fully now. I have been a dragon all my life, more or less skillfully. I have tended to keep the deep heartfelt parts of myself, the luminous vow, more hidden or protected throughout my life. Available to friends and family who know me well and to my clients and students, but pretty carefully guarded the rest of the time. Opening up my heart gradually changed me over time with some bigger leaps along the way. This last year has been a bigger leap. I have ideas about why, but it’s actually not important for me to know. What does feel important is the recognition of what wants to move through me and be expressed now. And it is simply Love, with a capital L. Joyfully and with abandon, to radiate Light and Love and, in so doing, to invite and welcome everyone I meet to do the same. And also Wisdom. The shared Wisdom that moves through all of us and that arises in magical ways when we practice and send time in intentional community. Love, Light and Wisdom, I can get behind fully! Even when it’s hard.

So taken together, Joryu Myosei points to the whole of me, where the quiet dragon represents the resting fire of my life force energy, a fierce and protective love, and the luminous vow represents the softness of light, a warmer, more gentle love. The meaning and power of my name still takes my breath away. And humbles me. I realize it is both a name and a practice. Living up to this name and fulfilling my vow will require a lifetime of practice – and perhaps more! And I love that. I am forever grateful to Jaku for bestowing it and for inspiring me to keep practicing with joy and creativity as I attempt to embody it in my life and work. Stay tuned.

Always,
Joryu Myosei

PS I also wanted to share a little something about the intention and meaning behind my logo because, like my name, it too captures my essence and intention. When I started to prepare for this shift several months ago, I asked my favorite visual artist to attempt to capture “quiet dragon, luminous vow” in a logo. Something simple, modern, elegant, timeless. A kind of impossible task, really. Or so I thought. What she came back with was more than I could have imagined or hoped for. She really knocked it out of the park! The line represents the essence and the flow of the quiet dragon, swirling through air or water in ways both powerful and playful. The luminous vow is depicted as a pearl in the stylized “O” of my name. In Eastern representations, dragons often carry a pearl or precious stone that holds the forces of the universe that they manipulate to help others. So the dragon line and the pearl in the logo are the visual rendering of my bodhisattva name. There are more dragon lines flying and flowing around the site. And my immediate, next thought is – herein lies the perfect design for the tattoo I mentioned earlier. Now to find the artist that can render it with ink!