My Death – pārasaṃgate – Phowa – Dream 04-01-2026

January 4, 2026January 18, 2026 ~ quantumdreamer ~ 1 Comment

Here is this morning’s dream / vision which started around 5 AM and which persisted and replayed many times after that. It is now an “event” which I can hold and “visit”.

The dream starts with an elevated view looking down on a man in a magenta monastic sleeveless tunic with his hands held in his lap. They are in partial mudra. He is sat on a carpeted floor loosely cross legged with back leaning against a bench or sofa for support. He has a light faded plumb coloured blanket over his shoulders which has an inlaid fine embroidered pattern. I know him to be dead and my erstwhile body.

The scene changes to before. I am sat up in a hospital bead with a painted white metal frame. I am in a nursing home or hospital like facility. I call a nurse to me. I say that I think it is time and could she bring be my blanket and the cat. I am helped out of bed and down the corridor to a “sitting room”. I sit on the floor with my back against a bench. On each side are cloth privacy medical screens on metal frames with wheels. They are light blue-light green in colour. I am shielded from view. People in the corridor cannot see me. A mid-sized oxygen cylinder is brought and laid horizontally on the floor. A small clear plastic tube runs from the cylinder and is looped once around my head. There are two small outlet tubes which are fitted to my nostrils. The gas is flowing. I can see that the pressure regulator on the cylinder is tending towards empty. It is not yet in the red. The orderlies are not concerned because I will probably die before it runs out. I make myself comfortable on the floor and my grey cat is brought to me. She is very much like Bowie the stray cat we “rescued” here. I am given the cat and she sits briefly on my lap. I stroke her and she nuzzles. She then wanders off. Two attendants come with my blanket which they put around my shoulders.

I adopt the infinity mudra in which the thumb and middle finger of each hand are touching each other and the two rings so formed are intertwined to form an infinity or 8 sign. As I do this in the dream I can feel the “chakras” in the palms of my hands and feet instantly energised while I am sleeping in “real” life. It is “electrifying”.

I start to chant quietly to myself in the dream.

“gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā”

Slowly this changes to deep voice. I then focus on my crown or sahasrāra chakra which I “unscrew” to open it in readiness. I am making the way clear for me to go beyond form.

The scene changes to several weeks ago in the dream. I know we are last century. I am in the hospital bed and discussing with two white young male doctors. I am explaining to them that I need to make preparations for my death, my passing over. They are unconvinced that such thigs are necessary. Medical science does not believe in them. I suggest that there may be some things that medical science does not yet know and ask that they please humour a dying man. What I am asking is harmless and will not upset the running of the facility. One of the doctors says that he still does not believe me. I say that we shall see because I know that the time is approaching soon. We will find out. Not today but soon. They agree to help out.

I am now sat back down on the floor. I can feel that my face has been recently shaved and that I have bathed. I feel clean. My hair is still in a buzz cut growing out, a few millimetres long. I focus again on the sahasrāra and continue to chant lightly slowing fading this out. I can feel a first wisp beyond my body. The view shifts so that I am sat observing the body as if in a mirror. We are close a few feet apart. Slowly out of my crown a golden-yellow cloud of mist rises up and swells out. Like a murmuration of sorts. In amongst it I can see flecks of shining gold which catch the light and there are deep flecks of indigo-blue near glass-like threads and like tiny shiny fish scales. The cloud is filled with tiny sparkly mirrors glistening in the unusual supernatural light. The cloud moves slowly and expands. I look down to the hands. I can see them and feel them. At the moment the cloud is still anchored in the body. The right hand opens the finger-thumb mudra to break the infinity seal and the cloud detaches from the body. The head previously upright lolls slightly forward in what I know to be my physical death.

I look at the cloud for a while and then my consciousness merges with it, into it. I am liberated of body. I wait in the room for a while and then it is gone from view.

I wake knowing that I have seen a death of mine. Over the next few hours the scene replays. I know that I died consciously in this dream and vision. I know that I had prepared and that it had mostly gone according to plan..

Dream Yoga or Milam – Waking Up In The Dream

December 30, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

I’ll kick off with a speculation. This is that many people encounter their own personal room 101 in the dream state and experience that as a scary nightmare.

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This morning I had imagery in the dream state which might have unsettled me. It did not. It is more likely to cause others to metaphorically “shit a brick”. If you are fully aware {and confident} of the fact of dreaming there is no need to fear. This skill can be transferred in to “real” life (IRL). You can face fears in your dreams and thereby realise that most of them are made up and nearly all of them are distinctly out of proportion.

I’ll speculate that dreaming practice can be used to face the illusory quality of many fears.

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Dream yoga or milam (Tibetan: རྨི་ལམ་རྣལ་འབྱོར་, Wylie: rmi lam rnal ‘byor, THL: milam naljor; Sanskrit: स्वप्नदर्शनयोग, svapnadarśanayoga)—the Yoga of the Dream State—is a suite of advanced tantric sadhana of the entwined Mantrayana lineages of Dzogchen (Nyingmapa, Ngagpa, Mahasiddha, Kagyu and Bönpo). Dream yoga consists of tantric processes and techniques within the trance Bardos of Dream and Sleep (Standard Tibetan: mi-lam bardo) Six Dharmas of Naropa. In the tradition of the tantra, the dream yoga method is usually passed on by a qualified teacher to his/her students after necessary initiation. Various Tibetan lamas are unanimous that it is more of a passing of an enlightened experience rather than any textual information.{{In Tibetan Buddhist traditions, dream yoga is often taught alongside the practices of the illusory body (gyulu) and the clear light (ösel). Classical sources such as the Six Dharmas of Naropa describe these as interconnected methods within a single cycle of tantric training, aimed at maintaining awareness across waking, dreaming, and deep sleep states. Contemporary teachers likewise present them as complementary practices: daytime illusory-body training supports lucid dreaming at night, and both practices are considered preparatory for recognizing the luminous nature of mind in clear-light meditation.

The ‘dream body’ and the ‘bardo body’ have been identified with the ‘vision body’ (Tibetan: yid lus):

In the bardo one has…the yilü (Wylie: yid lus), the vision body (yid, consciousness; lus, body). It is the same as the body of dreams, the mind body.

In the yoga of dreaming (rmi lam, *svapna), the yogi learns to remain aware during the states of dreaming (i.e. to lucid dream) and uses this skill to practice yoga in the dream

Bon

Mi-lam, also known as dream yoga in the Tibetan tradition, is a method for remaining aware during the dream state in order to realize the emptiness of dreams & apply this realization to both dreams & waking life. In Bön, dream yoga is part of Dzogchen teaching, which stresses the clear light nature of the mind, while inducing lucid dreaming and conscious transcending of dream imagery.

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Excerpted from Wikipedia

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The Six Dharmas of Nāropa (Wylie: na ro’i chos drug, Skt. ṣaḍdharma, “Naro’s six doctrines” or “six teachings”) are a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa (1016–1100 CE) and passed on to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa Lotsawa (c. 1012).

Another name for the six Dharmas is “the oral instruction transmission for achieving liberation in the bardo,” or “the Bardo Trang-dol system”. Bardo here, refers to the three bardos of waking, sleep and dying. They are also referred to as “the path of means” (thabs lam) in Kagyu literature. They are also sometimes called the Six Yogas of Nāropa (though not in the traditional literature which never uses the term ṣaḍaṅga-yoga or sbyor-drug)

Lineage

The teachings of Tilopa (988–1069 CE) are the earliest known work on the six dharmas. He received these from various teachers. According to Glenn Mullin, Tilopa’s lineage teachers were the mahasiddhas Nagarjuna (not to be confused with the Madhyamaka philosopher), Lawapa, Luipada, Shavari, and Krishnacharya. Furthermore, the sources for this compilation of tantric practices were said to be the Guhyasamaja Tantra, the Hevajra Tantra and the Chaturpitha Tantra.

Nāropa learned the six dharmas from Tilopa. Nāropa’s student Marpa taught the Tibetan Milarepa, renowned for his yogic skills. Milarepa in turn taught Gampopa, who wrote various meditation manuals (khrid chos or khrid yig) on the six dharmas, which are collected in the Dakpö Kambum (The Manifold Sayings of Dakpo) in a section titled “Meditation manuals on the six dharmas of Naropa” (na ro ‘i chos drug gi khrid yig). From Gampopa these teachings were passed on to the various Kagyu sub-schools and lineages where they remain a central practice.

Excerpted from Wikipedia

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I’ll speculate that it is possible to consider me reasonably skilled at dream yoga and without doubt, prolific at it.

A recent dream excerpt suggested familiarity with Naropa.

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“The scene changes to some kind of school / dharma centre. There are a number of children playing there and they are under supervision. There is a teaching hierarchy and embedded method. I arrive with a couple of people and go through to look at the day book which records what happens. It is clear that I am there to teach more than just the children. I sit in the “staff room” and add a few elements to the book, specifically my dream about the Snow Tiger. A woman teases me that I will need to use shorthand and not full text. The centre is up in the mountains and has a great view over the valley below. I open up the blinds some more to look out. They are all wondering what it is that I will do.

I am joined by a tall woman with long blonde hair. She has a faint American accent and is heavily pregnant. I ask her how long she has got left. Not long. I say that she could have it on the 30^th of August and have the same birthday as me. That way the kid will always be a bank holiday baby. She asks what it is that I am interested in. I say that I have an idea around Naropa and that I am well placed to speak on Naropa. In my orb are some things related. For some reason I have a distinct sense of familiarity with the woman. The young man from before will be joining us as some kind of understudy to me.”

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In the context solely of dreaming I am perhaps well placed to speak upon such things. It is clear to me that the so-called “spiritual” dream yogas may have little to do with the psychological approach to REM based studies and Western {psycho} interpretation. The aim of yoga being liberation and not having a groovy far-out time {man}. Nor is it about getting research papers published. An instrument based upon electromagnetism is not necessarily well-suited to the study of consciousness phenomena.

The basis {and goal} of dream yoga can be said to be waking up in the dream. That is waking up to that fact that you dream both at night and during the day. The “reality” in which you propagate your life is a largely social-political mental construct replete with wildly swinging emotions. What you think is real is illusion. That fear of missing out, is just some shit you made up. Yet somehow you place importance on something made up. Hence the endless cycle of rebirth.

If you can be lucid in your dreams at night, it follows that you have experimental evidence that you can be lucid in your dreams during the day. IRL…

If you know you are dreaming then you are less attached, less obsessed and a tad more free. To be aware and passive during dreaming is to observe in a detached manner. One can in this sense be mindfully aware of the dream as it evolves, reel to reel, on the inner screen. Thus one can transfer an operational observational mindfulness onto the apparent events and happenstance of the day. One has a clear mind, a clear light. One sees the folly of the day to day; one has to interact but can do so without obsession. After all it is only a dream. You have to live. You do not have to be so utterly beholden to what you imagine to be happening.

Dreaming loosens obsession and reduces the gripping clinging interpretations made of concrete mind. Things are less polarised, less black and white and adamant.

Dreaming above all opens mind to new perspectives and knowledge. It is never by way of what I call portcullis-mind.

If you can wake up in the dream at night, you can and must wake up during the day…

That is the inner logic of dreaming.

Two Golden Dragons – Ogyen Trinley Dorje Karmapa – Laser Start-up Dream 29-12-2025

December 29, 2025January 7, 2026 ~ quantumdreamer ~ 1 Comment

Here is last night’s dream in two parts. The first had around 2 AM and the second part after 5 AM. In between I went downstairs to watch some YouTube and have a snack. Plutonium by people at Nottingham Uni was one of the clips.

The dream starts with me in an indeterminate space where I am inquiring of a disembodied voice. I ask for advice on why I am having trouble sleeping. It says, “It is because of the dragons, the twin dragons you have inside of you, the restless dragons. They keep stirring.” I note what the voice is saying.

Then in full visual field I can see two spectacular highly ornate golden dragons, “Chinese” in character. Theye are Li dragons with no discernible legs, serpentine in appearance with fearsome heads. I know that these are Mu {moo phonetically} dragons. They are my dragons, in me. I remember “collecting” the first Chinese dragon two decades ago. These dragons “swim” inside me. They are a part of me. They are also Vajra dragons.

{I understand Li to be fire in the dream but note that it might refer to the longer word Loong on waking.}

The image of the dragons persists for a very log time on and off. They swirl. They face each other.

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They then chase each other head to tail in an animated ying yang. They present over and over, in various shades of iridescent gold. They are present on the orange-yellow and red flag of Bhutan. They are druk and dragon, dragon druk. They are most definitely oriental and not western dragons. I feel them writhe in me like the opening sequence to “The Crying Freeman” film. Despite my real world handicap, I feel lithe, flexible and able. The dragons are on my skin and under it, in me. I am dragon like able.

I see the double Vajra dragons of Bhutan..

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I can see people in a Himalayan street with long golden dragon “puppets” held aloft on sticks dancing through the streets in procession. The puppet dragons are blowing in the wind and harsh Tibetan style horns are playing. There is celebration. They are making the druk, the dragons dance. It is a dragon dance, festival.

The image of golden two dragons head chasing tail disembodied in space against a cloudy thunder sky replays, over and over. I see dragons against a summer sky. I see dragons against the stars in the firmament. These are the two golden dragons, nimble and fluid.

I awake around 4 AM France time. I am unsure if I will get back to sleep. I have an ultra-present image of Karmapa Ogyen Trinley in my visual field. I understand that he is doing a morning meditation. I take some medication and go downstairs for a snack. The visual image of Karmapa remains very strong even when watching TV. I “tell” him to send someone for me if he is that interested. I go back to bed half expecting the Karmapa to materialise.

I doze off and find myself in an industrial unit on a technology park. I have taken it over at a bargain price and I am auditing the space therein. There are rooms for offices, rooms for labs and rooms for production. I am collecting together a group of people in an ultra-high technology laser based start-up. I have with me a youngish man and an organiser-able woman. She is taking notes and commenting where needed. She is my right-hand “man”. I show the man the lab spaces.

On an optical table there is an ultra-fast laser system with harmonic generation. We can see blue and green laser beams. It is a new type of time domain spectrometer /device. It is small footprint and completely novel. I say that we need to attract investors and grow the company.

Two men in suits join us and take the tour. They want to know what my objectives and milestones are. I say to them that under no circumstance will I adopt that old-fashioned way of thinking. They say that it might be difficult to attract investors if I do not. I say that I have a small track record, this is not the first time I have done this. One asks what is the first target. I say it is to manufacture and sell the first unit. After that all will be easy. He asks what the sale price is. I reply that it is a quarter of a million. He says that this will not pay many salaries. I say that people will work here for joint ownership and not for pay.

I take them all to lunch at a canteen in a neighbouring company. The woman serving knows me and although I have no money she is happy to put it on my tab, my account.

Back in the facility the people are setting up desks and computers. Some investors are coming. That investment must be on equal share. There can only be one type of share, no fancy preference shares. The younger people are nervous and sceptical. I am very relaxed because I know that the technology is one of a kind, unheard of. It will be easy to attract the investment but more difficult to invent an entirely new way of operating as a company. I have my dragons inside and they are auspicious.

The dream ends and it is 9 AM!!

The Tulku-Rinpoche Thread – Some Thoughts – Dream Follow Up.

December 23, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

I’ll kick this off with an observation. Much to do with Tibet is complex and almost impenetrable to the minds of those not raised there or deeply embedded into the culture thereof. The political history too is highly complex and subject to rapid changes and swings in direction. The iconography is also highly stylised and complicated.

It is fair to say that the recognition of high lama reincarnations is an ongoing hot topic between Tibet and China. To the extent that it is a political hot potato. This due to the influence and sometime power wielded by the Panchen and Dalai lamas. There is some evidence of divide and rule Chinese shenanigans historically. The Chinese have sought to provide a legal and bureaucratic framework for the within Tibet recognition of Tulku incarnations. Perhaps subjecting it to ancient quasi-Confucian bureaucracy.

You need a “chit” from the government to be an official Tulku incarnation…

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The Articles of the State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5 are as follows:

These “Management measures for the reincarnation of living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism” were passed at the administrative affairs conference of the State Administration of Religious Affairs on July 13, 2007, and will be implemented on September 1, 2007.

On August 3, 2007, China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs issued a decree that all the reincarnations of tulkus of Tibetan Buddhism must get government approval, otherwise they are “illegal or invalid”. The decree states, “It is an important move to institutionalize management on reincarnation of living Buddhas. The selection of reincarnates must preserve national unity and solidarity of all ethnic groups and the selection process cannot be influenced by any group or individual from outside the country.” It also requires that temples which apply for reincarnation of a living Buddha must be “legally-registered venues for Tibetan Buddhism activities and are capable of fostering and offering proper means of support for the living Buddha.”

Reincarnation Applications have to be submitted to four governmental bodies for approval, specifically the religious affairs department of the provincial-level government, the provincial-level government, State Administration for Religious Affairs, and the State Council.

Excerpted from Wikipedia

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Traditionally there have been a number of means used to recognise Tulku incarnations. The first being a letter of intent or clue as to the future nature and place of incarnation left by the soon to pass Bodhisattva. Then dreams and visions play a role in finding the incarnation. The new incarnation may recall his name and make verbal claims as to prior birth when young. Candidate Tulkus are often tested with belongings of prior incarnations, especially if the candidate has had a relatively recent death. The idea being that a newly incarnate might recognise his old stuff. An incarnate adept may show untoward high aptitude in study. People may recognise the essence of their erstwhile teacher. Ultimately it is the clairvoyance of the pure wisdom mind of a currently incarnate high lama who might give the seal of approval. An alternate is a shamanic golden urn drawing of lots akin to the Hogwarts sorting hat. The ritual points directly at the newly incarnate being from among a list of candidates.

The Tulku practice in general often has controversy with sometimes competing claimants for the same throne or titular lineage head-ship.

A number of Western Tulkus have been recognised including a possible dakini incarnation. These recognised Tulkus have not generally gone on to fit the traditional modus operandi of a Tulku birth for a being born in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan etc. They do not have training as a child and hence may not be well prepared to adopt the role as lineage holder or enthroned head. They are changed by their western influence and perhaps body. There is some discussion that such western tulkus are a “failed” experiment. Some Tulkus are discovered late. Some in the crib.

Most of the recognised Tulkus have an interaction with Tibetan Buddhism of some form or another, already. Logic says that if they did not they could not be recognised because there would be nobody around them to recognise them.

I have had quite a number of dreams in which things Tibetan have popped up. I have had a dream with a cabinet and a dream with a rosary. These might be prior life artefacts. I have had dreams with Naropa and various Dalai lamas and Karmapa. I have had dreams with other Buddhist masters like Dilgo Khyentse and Chogyam Trungpa.

My only direct linkage with Himalayan Buddhist tradition has been Karma Kagyu and the Dzong in London where I did Guru Rinpoche and White Tara initiations under Akong Rinpoche.

Only of late have Tibetan scripts made an appearance in dreams. And only of late have I had Tibetan coloured robes. I am reasonably comfortable with the notion that I have had several Buddhist incarnations stretching back. I have “resonance” with certain teachings. I am not however of a purely Buddhist orientation. I also have Toltec and Occult leanings.

My attempts to “find” a named person in a prior life so far, in Himalayan Buddhism, are without success or obvious candidate. There is a possibility of an Indian incarnation way back and there is much to do with the nagas.

I can see numerous problems. Were I to be recognised as some “important” geezer that would raise the question as to what to do with me. Am I better kept secret? It would be a rare occurrence for someone with my extensive scientific background and advancing age to be recognised. It provides both problem and opportunity. I am a quantum superposition state of Buddhist and scientist-geek. Potentially I am bi-lingual. The legal ramifications in the complex Tibetan system are unknown to me. There may be some weird socio-political stuff about which I know zero.

Clearly as being outside of Tibet I would not fall under the Chinese bureaucratic decree. I don’t fit the Beijing criteria.

It could be a public relations nightmare for the academic institutions to which I once pertained and at which I taught. How would they handle the press which might result? How would they deal with a Tulku incarnation in their PR and blurb? For example although Chogyam Trungpa claimed he studied at Oxford, I can find no mention of him in the PR. He of course was a controversial figure who went on to found Naropa university in Colorado. August UK academic institutions can be ultra-conservative and protective of reputation. It might take hundreds of years before any open acknowledgement.

There is no way for me to pursue this thread other than to research and dream. It is possibly best left in an obscurity as a mild anomaly…

We shall see what dreams may or may not follow…

Buddhism – Rinpoche – Dream 22-12-2025

December 22, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

Here is this morning’s dream had after 6 AM this morning. It is out of the blue considering what I have been exploring in terms of old French manuscripts.

The dream opens in the front room – sitting room in a large home in the English home counties. The wife and I are visiting a young woman and her family. She is a younger version of Dupinder from Aussie MasterChef. In the dream context she is an ex-student of mine and early twenties. She has a nice posh English accent with only the faintest hint of Indian accent. We are there with her sister and mother and father. They are middle-upper class and moderately wealthy. They are highly educated. I say that people like her family have added a great deal to UK culture and life. Their springer spaniel dog comes in and they are worried that the dog will bite or snap at me. This is its usual behaviour with strangers. It comes over to me and I offer it my right hand in a loose fist to sniff. It is very suspicious and growls slightly. I re-offer my hand and emanate warmth along it. The dog sniffs it and then sits to lick my hand. It lets me stroke it and then lies down in front of me, close, calm and happy.

I notice some Buddhist texts on the table and small statuette of Buddha. I comment to “Dupinder” that I did not know she was Buddhist. She says that yes they have been going to the local temple/centre on a regular basis. Her parents have been life long and as of late she and her sister have taken to it too. I ask what denomination. She says that they are Theravada and no fuss Buddhism. I explain to her that I have more than a passing interest. She boots up her lap top and shows me pictures of her centre. It is housed in a wider building run by Tibetan Buddhists as a cross denominational dharma centre. On the outside of the building I can see Tibetan writing and roman scripts. The building has been purchased using the wealth of the Tibetan Buddhist “church” in exile. I ask who oversees the project and she says that Rinpoche does. I inquire further and she says that Rinpoche, a supposed Tulku, is titular head of the dharma centre but others run it day to day. The centre is in a town just outside the north of the M25.

At this point her father interjects. He asks me if I am a Rinpoche too. He has had a sudden intuition that I am. Caught slightly off-guard I say that yes it is more than possible that I am a Rinpoche, a reincarnated lama too. He says that he suspected this from the moment he first set eyes on me and from the way his daughter has spoken of me. He says that he thinks that I should go to the dharma centre to see if I am recognised. I say that I don’t think that it works like that. Me tipping up in such a manner would not go down well. For some reason he is very happy and he invites us all down into the big conservatory to have a light vegetarian snack / dinner. There are metallic thali plates with curries in little bowls, rice and breads.

The dream ends.

1747 – Dream Follow Up

December 6, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

The date mentioned in the dream the other day was 1747.

Typing 1747 into Google started this thread…..

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Asie

12 mars, Tibet : mort du général Pholané ; son fils Gyurme Namgyal lui succède à la tête du gouvernement tibétain (fin en 1750). Il complote avec les Dzoungars contre l’occupant chinois.

9 juin : Momozono succède à Sakuramachi comme empereur du Japon (fin en 1762).

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From a Treasury of Lives

ཕོ་ལྷ་ནས་བསོད་ནམས་སྟོབས་རྒྱས།

Polhane Sonam Tobgye

b.1689 – d.1747

Polhane Sonam Tobgye (pho lha nas bsod nams stobs rgyas) was born on an auspicious day in the autumn of 1689. His mother Dolma Butri (sgrol ma bu khrid) was the daughter of a well-known artist, and his father Pema Gyelpo (padma rgyal po) was a government official who served variously as a soldier and civil official. While little is known of the extended history of Polhane’s family, his namesake estate—Drum Polha (‘brum pho lha), near Gyantse (rgyal rtse)—was a gift for his grandfather’s service to the Fifth Dalai Lama (ta la’i bla ma 05, 1617–1682) during a rebellion of Tsangpa officials in the late 1650s.

Before his birth, a local lama instructed the boy’s parents to call him Gonkyab Dorje (mgon skyabs rdo rje) and declared him the reincarnation of Ganden Tsewang (dga’ ldan tshe dbang), a recently deceased Mongol war hero and erstwhile monk at Tashilhunpo Monastery (bkra shis lhun po). This identification was affirmed in auspicious meetings with the Fifth Paṇchen Lama, Lobzang Yeshe (paN chen 05 blo bzang ye shes, 1663–1737) and Desi Sanggye Gyatso (sde srid sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1653–1705).

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Sonam Tobgye also left a mark on Tibet as a patron of religious institutions. Aside from the aforementioned protection of Nyingma institutions, he endowed and restored monasteries all around central and western Tibet, including Ganden (dga’ ldan), Sera (se ra), and Drepung (‘bras spungs), Tashilhunpo, Nartang (snar thang), Reting (rwa sgreng), and many smaller institutions in his home region of Upper Nyang (myang stod). From 1729 onward he increased the scale of the Great Prayer Festival (smon lam chen mo) in terms of alms, food offerings, and overall attendance.

Polhane sponsored the production of the first printed canon in central Tibet, the Nartang Kangyur, published in 1730–32, and Tengyur, in 1741–42. He also underwrote the Golden Manuscript Tengyur (gser bris ma), an ornate 225 volumes composed entirely in golden ink, which remains in Ganden Monastery to this day. These projects were far from economical and speak to the king’s desire to outdo his predecessors in the eyes of the clergy. His biography emphasizes that neither Lhazang Khan, Taktsepa, nor Kangchenne were able to complete the Kangyur, a project initiated under the Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso (tA la’i bla ma 06 tshangs dbyangs rgya mtsho, 1683–1706). Such sponsorship of Buddhist foundational material was key to his performance as king of Buddhist Tibet; in practical terms, reproducing the scriptures was a necessary step in his obligation to his Buddhist subjects.

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Shortly after the Prayer Festival of 1747, a boil appeared on the king’s neck, and after a short bout with illness, he passed away. Several years later, his remains were laid to rest in a reliquary in Ganden Chokhor Ling Monastery (dga’ ldan chos ‘khor gling) in the Yarlung Valley. His presence remains in Lhasa as well, where an unassuming maṇi wheel (bar skor ma Ni lha khang) he sponsored as a young official has been rebuilt on the Barkhor following its destruction in the Cultural Revolution, standing directly between the former ambans’ office in the Tromsikhang (khrom gzigs khang), the Nangtseshar, or Lhasa City Court (snang rtse shar/shag), and the Jokhang; a fitting locale for this larger-than-life diplomat, administrator, and patron.

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J. Arya Moallem is a PhD candidate in History and East Asian Languages at Harvard University. His dissertation research focuses on the life and times of Miwang Polhane Sonam Tobgye, and works to situate his particular mode of lay kingship within Qing, Inner Asian, and Early Modern contexts.

Published March 2022

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The Tengyur or Tanjur or Bstan-’gyur (Tibetan: “Translation of Teachings”) is the collected commentaries by great buddhist masters on Buddha Shakyamuni’s teachings. The Tengyur is included in the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, which consists of all of Buddha Shakyamuni’s teachings together with the commentaries on the Buddha’s teachings. The Canon also includes the Kangyur, which is repository of the Buddha’s recorded teachings, placed before the Tengyur in the Canon.

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Before today I do not recollect hearing the word Tengyur

Anaesthetic Recovery Room – Tibetan Temple Dream 21-11-2025

November 24, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

Here is Friday’s dream had around 14:00 – 15:00 hours CET time as I transferred out of operating theatre after hip replacement surgery and into the post operative recovery room.

I had the distinct sensation of being in a Tibetan style temple at a monastery or other religious centre. The inside of the building consists of a main chamber and a smaller “sanctum” or “sanctuary” at the back. The main building has mats on either side of and aisle leading up towards the sanctum. The floor level in the sanctum is higher than the main building. The ceiling is lower. The “wall” going down from the higher main building ceiling to that of the sanctum is very white. It is decorated in whirling relief design top and bottom. The designs form a row at the top and bottom of the partition. There is a sense that they are or have been golden. The craftsmanship is exquisite. For a Tibetan themed place, it is surprisingly light and airy.

Sat in rows either side of the aisle in the main building are monks in largely magenta robes. There are around twenty of them all special invitees. They are roughly equally spaced either side of the aisle.

In the sanctum there are two raised boxes / benches aligned perpendicular to the monk’s rows. These boxes are higher and decorated in fancy cloths or hangings. Looking into the sanctum are three monastics sat to the left and three people to the right. The one on the right furthest from the main room is me. Everyone else is wearing Buddhist ceremonial hats, yellow. I alone have no headgear. I understand the others to be high lamas. I am dressed in magenta robes.

At the back of the sanctum facing out into the main building is an even higher box / throne upon which is sat a chunky Tibetan man in more yellow / gold robes with the yellow ceremonial Gelug hat. He is younger than me. His robes are brocade and he is Karmapa. I am closest to Karmapa.

There is incense in the air and chanting. I know it to be of Tibetan flavour because of “benza” as in “om benza pani hung” the chanting also has heart sutra, guru Rinpoche and medicine buddha to go with the Vajrapani. The “Benza” is very distinctive. The medicine buddha is for me.

As I come to, I expect to find myself in the temple but am actually in a high specification operating theatre recovery room with lots of kit and women younger than me in blue scrubs. I am disoriented and genuinely surprised. It takes a while to adjust.

The experience fades into normal post operative routines.

Six Yogas of Naropa – First Pass – Dream Follow Up

November 16, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

Following on from the dream this morning here is Naropa with his teacher Tilopa.

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It seems that Naropa was involved in the concept of:

Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, Tibetan: ཕྱག་ཆེན་, Wylie: phyag chen, THL: chag-chen, contraction of Tibetan: ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་, Wylie: phyag rgya chen po, THL: chag-gya chen-po) literally means “great seal” or “great imprint” and refers to the fact that “all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable”. Mahāmudrā is a multivalent term of great importance in later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism which “also occurs occasionally in Hindu and East Asian Buddhist esotericism.”

And that Naropa is known for his six yogas one of which is dream yoga.

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The dream suggests that I might teach on things related to Naropa. At first pass I see some commonality of experience. The notion of void is inherent in his yoga and some crossover similarity might be possible.

This dream is the first dream in a long while to suggest something for me to do….

Snow Tiger – Bhutan – Vajrayana – Dream 16-11-2025

November 16, 2025November 16, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

Here is last night’s dream again out of the blue.

The dream starts in a front garden of a UK house on a standard modern housing estate. It is snowing and I am standing with my Snow Tiger. He is wearing armour like Iorek Byrnison the polar bear in “The Golden Compass” the tiger and I are one and the same. He is a White Tiger. I say that I am the Snow Tiger and I have been sent by Hermes. We are enjoying the silence of the night as the snow falls.

The scene changes and I can see the ex-wife with Manoj and Chris sat chatting around a table in a brightly lit modern house. They are oblivious and do not understand the situation in any way. They are being silly. I go into the room and they carry on regardless. The ex-wife belittles me verbally. In a single movement I grab her by the shoulders and throw her off her chair and away from the table. This stuns them all into silence. She understands that I could have completely broken her and them all. There is no malice on my part.

The scene changes and I am lying in bed. The ex-wife tries to sneak into bed with me and I push her rather forcefully out. She goes to tell my {dead} mother and father what I have done. They say in an attempt to manipulate me that I should not push them away. If I leave them I can not comeback. I am not touched by their threat. I say that I am the Snow Tiger and that my domain, my range is in Bhutan. In the mountains. That is where I live / am. They need to understand the difference between the Snow Tiger and how they think I am. I stand tall on my hind legs and then rest back to four. I too have some form of armour on.

The scene changes and I am in some grand building which is dimly lit. It has the feel of a temple or Dzong. We are in a fairly vast atrium. The colours are dark red, magenta and there are “tapestries” adorning the walls. There is incense and there are people in robes. On one wall there is a vast tapestry which has dark thangka colours and in it a young Russel Crowe sat centrally with a long flowing cape or blanket, velvet. Behind him the scene is crowded with many figures some meditating. Towards a tree is a Tiger on back legs sharpening claws. It is normal coloured. I move towards tapestry and become the Tiger to the tree. The moment I become the Tiger the thangka starts to animate. I drop down to all fours and the become a man again. I am wearing monastic robes.

I walk in the scene through some wide “castle” gates along an unpaved road to the gates of an impressive monastery. The gates are several times taller than me and hewn out of a very dark wood. They smell distinctly of ages. The doors have iron rings to open. I open the doors and step inside. There are two men there one wearing a vaguely triangular skin fur hat with an animal skin coat and another more expensively dressed. They have been exposed to the sun and weather. They are military. The more expensive one says that they want to check if I am true. I go to offer my hand and the rougher one breaks his staff into some kind of two headed martial arts weapon. The other one has some kind of flail attached to a chain / string. I know this to be deep tantra Vajrayana. They start to chase me.

Out of my pocket I pull a small decorated golden orb slightly smaller than my fist. I hold it up and out of it comes a stream of light azure blue spheres which head off in the direction of my assailants. The spheres swarm them without harming. The spheres fly around them. I call them back and they “plunk” back into the golden orb. The two assailants are satisfied. I understand that the test was “ago”. I have passed.

We are now in some unspecified European country. We are searching for a missing woman. We have her address in a city. But finding a parking spot anywhere near is a nightmare. We park some distance off and head off on foot. I see her leaving her apartment with a white near transparent headscarf on. I catch her up and holding her arm lightly tell her she has no need to be afraid. She has been in hiding. We go inside a light building and I say that she can relax. She takes off her headscarf and I can see that she is in fact a young man. He has adopted this disguise so as to hide himself and keep safe. I ask if that feels better. It does.

The scene changes to some kind of school / dharma centre. There are a number of children playing there and they are under supervision. There is a teaching hierarchy and embedded method. I arrive with a couple of people and go through to look at the day book which records what happens. It is clear that I am there to teach more than just the children. I sit in the “staff room” and add a few elements to the book, specifically my dream about the Snow Tiger. A woman teases me that I will need to use shorthand and not full text. The centre is up in the mountains and has a great view over the valley below. I open up the blinds some more to look out. They are all wondering what it is that I will do.

The dream ends and I think, “wow, that was a whopper!”

Behind Closed Doors – Nile Perch – Brockwell Park Dream Snippets 29-10-2025

October 29, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

Here are last night’s dream snippets some of them are at 90 mph…

The first part of the sequence begins in London. There are various meetings going on after hours and behind closed doors in which I am somehow the subject / object of the meeting. I am somehow seen as the “problem”. There is one among male UK academics roughly of my generation. I had acquaintance of these. There is one involving people who could be seen as the generation before me and a current university VC. Of these I had passing acquaintance of one female and longer of another male, they are near end of life. The VC is only a bit older than me. There is one meeting which is part virtual with people in the USA. I have never personally met the protagonists. This has a political / intelligence flavour. There is one meeting which is distinctly Tibetan and not London based. The scenes flash by at “90 mph”. In the dream I want to say that they have done nothing which is strictly speaking illegal nor overly dodgy in the view of current normal practices and behaviour. Therefore from my point of view there is nothing to discuss, nor do they have anything which needs attention. They do not need to do anything at all.

The scene now changes to Africa. We are at a camp site near an inland lake or reservoir. We are packing up to catch the plane home. In my pocket I have a small fishing lure, a spinner, a spinning spoon around a “pole” with a tri-pronged hook. It has a small purple feather. Before we leave I would like to try to catch a “bream” or Nile perch. The man I am with draws off some line from a rod reel combination. The line is very thick and strong. I need to tie the lure on with a leader. I try time and again to attach a leader to the line. Each time I do so and give a good tug the leader comes away from the main line. I think, “clearly I am not supposed to do this”. I give up my efforts and help load the safari Land Rovers to leave.

The scene changes to Brockwell Park in Brixton a place where I frequented a lot. It has a lot of stored memories and previously emotive things for me. It was very much a part of my former London life. I am with the wife and some kind of assistant / facilitator. His job is to look after me and my wants. I show him the ponds and explain that the local schools do biology lessons therefrom. I then show him one of the large old style Brixton converted “mansions”. I say that I want to explore to see if there is any draw. To see if it reminds me of my old flat. We break in through the ground floor back door and head out of the front door. The hallway is spacious and there is no damage we easily unlock the doors. I want to head up hill to show him where I used to live. As we go uphill I see a huge building project. A whole terrace has been demolished for a park side new build. It does not look good. Further up the hill another terrace has been removed by the diggers. They have yet to uproot the very old very large trees. They will need to dig deep to make good foundations. I cannot find the building in which my old flat was. I nip into one of the new build shells and hide from the builders to take a piss in a tiny pink WC. I finish and as I leave one of the builders shouts “oi”. I say that I used to live here and was bursting for a leak. He waves me on.

As I come to I note there is no point searching for the past because it no longer exists. I note that as we were non binary about France or England the future may lie elsewhere. I also note that the reason we love this house is the garden and nature, which I may rekindle after my operation(s). I am not seeing clearly.

The dreaming sequence ends…