The probability of me being a leftie has increased in my understanding since being in this marriage. The wife notices when I do things the “wrong” way round. When I have picked up something like a bow and arrow I have started the left handed way. I always wore watches on my right wrist. Being forced to write right handed and having many marks deducted for my messy handwriting and shit drawing may have kept me back. I now have a certain natural “ambidexterity”. I had behavioural problems at school, perhaps the obligatory dexterity had a role.

I found out today that I have been doing my meditation mudras the “wrong” lefthanded way. A mirror image. I look at mudras and think that is odd. My hands don’t do that.

The passive nocturnal dreaming seems to be converging on some kind of recent “Tibetan” life. It is not Tibet-envy. I don’t particularly want to be/have been Tibetan and have no strange craving for Yak’s butter.

The dream this morning has me referred to as Rinpoche. A term often used for reincarnated lamas of some attainment. There are rare cases when incarnations are recognised late in life.

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Rinpoché ou Rinpotché, Rimpoché, Rimpotché (tibétain : རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, Wylie : rin-po-che, THL : rinpoche, dialecte de Lhassa API : rin’potʃe) est une épithète honorifique propre au bouddhisme tibétain. L’adjectif rinpoché signifie littéralement « précieux ». Le titre Rinpoché est généralement réservé à un lama incarné. Il fait référence au fait que le lama est reconnu comme la réincarnation d’un grand maître du bouddhisme tibétain, suivant une tradition spécifique du Tibet.

Également appelé tulkou (tibétain : སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, Wylie : sprul sku, lit. Sanskrit : nirmāṇakāya, « corps d’émanation »), mais dans la majorité des cas, il s’agit simplement d’un titre de courtoisie.

Wikipédia

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I might yet have a career as a ninja action hero in films and as a buddy of Putin {Steven Seagal}.

There is no real likelihood of some senior Buddhist dude saying, “yes, he is the incarnation of Joe Bloggs Rinpoche.”

It seems to me that the rate of recognition of western tulkus is in decline. I have no association with a sangha nor were my parents Buddhist. There was a spurt in recognition occurrence when the Tibetan diaspora took hold.

My behaviour to date is not one of shining virtue and abstemious living. I am not good PR.

There are less Rinpoches than science professors. I have met way more of the latter and only very briefly, en passant, one of the former. By analogy to the US system, I was once an Associate Professor in Physical Chemistry. If I had stayed in that system they might have made me full professor just before I died / retired.

It has often tickled me, the notion of tipping up at Imperial College dressed in full monk’s robes and going around knocking on the doors of people who once knew me, many of whom are professors. I would have to get a swipe card to be let in. They may not let me past security, especially if I was dressed funny.

They may or may not have spoken well of me in then past. I may have pissed a few of them off. The first look on their faces would be precious even for a Rinpoche. You can’t buy that kind of experience; it would be priceless, unrepeatable.

But probably that is not going to happen.

It is possible {though unlikely} in the fullness of time that there might be a Wikipedia page about me. I certainly might be the only one with two EUV and one Quantum Optics patent. I probably have the most extensive physical sciences publications list.

To follow on from the dream I could have both “titles”.

I’ll speculate that it would make me a rather unusual incarnation, were it true and/or real.

In terms of kudos common or garden professors have a contextual kudos which varies. During COVID professorial status was elevated even if they were seen as killjoys. They saved lives. People like Trump don’t like “liberal” or “commie bastard” academics.

In certain contexts, Rinpoches have an elevated status and many seek their blessings. Some have entourages and security. They mix in different circles from ours.

In their own cultural contexts, they have more kudos than profs.

Not sure where this dreaming is headed…

Last night there was no Buddhist / Tibetan influence. We watched a recording of University Challenge and some UK TV. There was no conscious pondering. The whole dream came “out of nowhere”.

There is a part of me that is hesitant to go to bed…

What next???