It happened June 27, 1987 at a Course in Miracles gathering at Lake Forest College, near Chicago.

I'd just met a young lady named Keldwyn Teves. "How did you get that name?" I asked in wonderment, fully expecting she would say, "My parents gave it to me!" Instead, she said:

"I changed my name from Gail about two-and-a-half years ago. I never liked my name much, and I just decided to change it."

In an instant, I decided that I , too, wanted to change my name. Then began a remarkable process that brought in my new name in about two minutes.

"The hardest part in changing your name," Keldwyn said, "is to decide what you want to change it to. Once you know, you can have a new way to introduce yourself to new people you meet. Over time, more and more people will call you by your new name. The people who knew you before will be slow to adopt it. Your parents probably never will. If you want to, it's easy to change it legally. Just go to the courthouse and fill out a paper."

"What shall I call myself?" I wondered aloud.

"Why not meditate on it?" she suggested.

With that prompting, I spontaneously chanted "Ommmm," the most powerful meditation I know. In rapid succession, I was reminded of "Oman," an accomplished musicians whom I'd already met at the Festival.

It was then a small step to "Omar." I'm fluent in Spanish, having lived in Chile, and "mar" means sea. The enchanting sea is at once unfathomably vast and deep, balanced in power and serenity.

"I've got it! I've got it!" I said ecstatically. "It's Omar!"

"Let me write it on the back of your name tag," Keldwyn volunteered. And here's how she wrote it, "OMAR!" With four capital letters and an exclamation mark. Quite appropriate, I thought, considering my shyness as a child.

Pinning my new name tag to my lapel initiated a process of discovery that continued throughout the Festival. As word spread that someone had changed his name, people came to congratulate and share insights on the meaning of new name.

No. 1: "You've always been "OMAR! you know!" "No way," I responded, thinking she didn't understand that it had just come in. "Wasn't your name Howard?" "Yes." Well, drop the "h" and the "d," invert the "m," and you've got it. "Oh my God!" I responded.

No. 2: "OM" is a powerful meditative chant that produces resonant sounds in one's head. I'd gotten high many times meditating in resonant OM circles, where people chant for enlightenment, peace, and unity!

No. 3: "Your name has total gender balance," one pointed out. It's got the "Ma." That's feminine. It's also got the "Ra." That's masculine. "You're both!" (Maybe that's why I get along so well with both genders.)

No. 4: I now share the last three letters of my name with my son, "IngMAR."

No. 5: The "O" and "R" of my name appear in the name of GLORIA, my loving, loyal wife.

No. 6: My new name, like my birth name, contains the Spanish "AMOR," Love!

No. 7: "Oma" in German means "grandmother."

No. 8: It shares three letters in the name of my paternal grandmother, "MARia." (Another Maria was my best female friend other than my wife at the time.)

No. 9: Years ago, "The Omar Man" delivered baked products to people's homes throughout the Midwest, I was told. Three companies with which I was then involved - Food & Energy Breakthru, Inc., Xylan, Inc., and Fiber Farms, Inc. - added fiber to baked products!

No. 10: And I'm still in the delivery business as a "holistic circuit rider." I enjoy traveling to see and work with people. Expect anything else? OMAR = ROAM.

No. 11: Reverse the sequence of "OMAR!" and you have "RAMO." In Spanish, that means "branch." "Ramo" also means "power" or "force."

No. 12: The first three letters reversed become "Ram," a powerful name. You've heard of "Ram Das?"

No. 13: "OMAR" is phonetic in pronunciation - and easy to pronounce in Spanish, whereas "HOWARD" came out as "Oward," since the "H" is silent.

No. 14: The name is numerologically complete. "A" is "1," and "R" is "9"...the second time through the alphabet. It's alpha and omega.

No. 15: "OMAR" suggests an Arabic, Middle Eastern quality. I am pleased to be associated with the Middle East - and now have a new incentive to be concerned about what happens there.

No. 16: "OMAR" was the right-hand disciple of Mohammed, the one who spread Islam across much of the world.

No. 17: I also have new reason to explore Middle Eastern stories involving Omar Khayam. I watch with interest movies starring Omar Sharif. (Although I learned to play bridge as a child, it never really interested me.)

No. 18: If you saw the name tag with my original name, "Howard," you might note that the pen didn't write the "O" well. As someone pointed out, "it appears as a premonitory black hole, leading straight through the name tag to your new name."

No. 19: When Keldwyn wrote my new name on the opposite side of the name tag, it appeared below the symbol "411Y" -- the building and room to which I was assigned for my first workshop. The universal information number. "Y" means "YES." One person pondered, "Call 411 to get whatever you need!" Someone else noted, "No, Y means why. No need to call 411, because universal wisdom provides you with everything you need to know." Ah, intuition!

No. 20: Checking common letters, I've got "MOAR." Abundance in my future. And may one day visit Rome "ROMA."

These are highlights that came with my "new" name, more than 10 years ago. If you prefer, call me "Howard." I did not change my name legally. I am still Howard, too.