Most of the individuals who carry these titles, I have only read about. It is rare to actually meet one. I have been lucky enough to sit with a few, most recently an Ajahn, and this time I went to look at what the title really means.
In almost every tradition, the highest titles are not ranks. A bishop is appointed and an abbot is elected, but nobody is made a Paramahamsa for years of service, and you cannot apply to be called a friend of God. People give these names to someone because of what that person has become.
If you were ever curious, here they are.
The titles, tradition by tradition
Look at the literal meanings. Nearly all of them describe the person: awake, free, worthy, perfected, close to God.
| Title | Tradition | Literal meaning | What it names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sri / Shri | Hindu | Radiance, auspiciousness | A mark of respect. Doubled (Sri Sri) for a revered guru |
| Swami | Hindu | Master, owner (of oneself) | A renunciate who has mastered the senses |
| Rishi, Maharishi | Hindu | Seer, great seer | One who perceived truth directly, not by study |
| Paramahamsa | Hindu | Supreme swan | A realised master. The swan was said to separate milk from water: perfect discernment |
| Avadhuta | Hindu | One who has shaken off | Free of every social and religious convention |
| Mahatma | Hindu | Great soul | A person of great moral and spiritual stature |
| Sant | Hindu, Sikh | From sat, truth, being | One who lives in what is real |
| Guru | Hindu, Sikh | Heavy, weighty. Traditionally read as “remover of darkness” | The one who brings you out of ignorance |
| Buddha | Buddhist | Awakened one | Fully awake to the nature of reality |
| Arahant | Buddhist | Worthy one | Free of craving, free of rebirth |
| Bodhisattva | Buddhist | Awakening being | One who stays to free all beings |
| Ajahn | Buddhist (Thai) | Teacher, from Sanskrit acharya | A monk who teaches by example |
| Luang Por, Luang Pu | Buddhist (Thai) | Venerable father, venerable grandfather | An elder monk loved for his practice, not his post |
| Rinpoche | Buddhist (Tibetan) | Precious one | A senior Tibetan teacher, often a recognised reincarnation |
| Roshi | Buddhist (Zen) | Old teacher | A master whose realisation has been confirmed |
| Wali | Islam, Sufi | Friend of God | Close to God in this life. The nearest word to saint |
| Qutb | Sufi | Pole, axis | The highest saint of an age, its spiritual centre |
| Pir, Murshid | Sufi | Elder, guide | One who has walked the way and can lead others through it |
| Saint | Christian | Holy (Latin sanctus) | One the Church holds to be with God |
| Elder, Starets | Orthodox Christian | Old man | A guide recognised for discernment, not ordination |
| Tzaddik | Jewish | Righteous one | A person of exceptional holiness |
| Rebbe | Jewish (Hasidic) | My master | A teacher followed for his closeness to God |
| Ba’al Shem | Jewish | Master of the Name | A mystic and healer who works through the divine name |
| Tirthankara | Jain | Ford-maker | One who crossed the river of rebirth and built the crossing for others |
| Arihant | Jain | Destroyer of the inner enemies | One who has conquered anger, pride, deceit and greed |
| Siddha | Jain, Hindu | Perfected, accomplished | Liberated, complete |
| Zhenren | Daoist | True person, perfected person | One who lives in full accord with the Dao |
| Xian | Daoist | Immortal | One who has gone beyond death |
| Elder, Grandmother, Grandfather | Indigenous traditions | Elder | Someone the community trusts for their wisdom |
| Taita, Mamo | Andean and Amazonian, Kogi | Father, priest | Healers and spiritual authorities of their people |
A note on Dato Sri
Dato’ Sri is not a spiritual title. It is a Malaysian state honour, a bit like a knighthood, and the order goes Dato’, Dato’ Sri, Tan Sri, Tun. Sri came into Malay from Sanskrit, where it means radiance, which is why it sounds holy.
What the titles have in common
It turns out the most revered people in every religion and spiritual tradition are masters of self mastery and teachers of reality. They are rarely the wealthiest or the most senior, and often they run nothing at all.
Some of the titles are about mastering yourself: Swami, Arihant, Tzaddik. Others are about seeing what is real: Rishi, Buddha, Sant, Wali.
A lot of them also point past death. Arahant means free of rebirth. Xian means immortal. A Tirthankara is one who has crossed over. Sant comes from sat, which means being, the part of us that does not end.
These cultures did not copy each other, and they still gave their highest names to the same kind of person: someone who remembers what they are.
Thank god for our teachers
A book can tell you what Ajahn means. It cannot show you. Sitting with one does, in a way no page has.
The ones I have met never asked to be called anything. The people around them gave them the title because they could see it in them.
Thank you to the teachers I have sat with, and to the ones I only know through their books. Swamis, ajahns, elders, grandmothers, and plenty with no title at all.
Thank god for our teachers.