Photo via Mister 536 (on flickr.com)
Back in June, we’d told you this was possibly going to happen — though one had to wonder if it was a prank.
But, nope, it seems to be official: today LA Lakers forward Ron Artest will have his name legally changed to Metta World Peace. As his publicist says about the name, “Metta is his official first name; which in the Buddhist tradition means loving-kindness and friendliness toward others and his last name is World Peace.” (Though Artest might want to see the article by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, which contends that an more appropriate translation of metta might be “goodwill.”)
More on the name-change here, via this CNN article — which reminds us that we’ll soon be hearing the name Metta World Peace on Dancing With The Stars.
And of course, if you’d like to assign yourself a pseudo-Buddhist name, there’s always My Buddhist Name, an online name generator. Let us know what you get. As for me, I’m apparently “Prince Dharma Intent.”