Tag: incense

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

~ 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.

My Funeral and Meal Dream {Sicily} 23-05-23

~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

Here are last night’s dreams.

The first dream opens with a setting in a graveyard. The graveyard is a city one and is enclosed by walls. All the graves are very close together. It is winter. Around an open grave there are gathered mourners dressed in long dark coats, some of the men are sporting black hats. There are expensively dressed woman in black with veils. A funeral is taking place. There is a priest dressed in black with a white frilly outer coat. He has a bible in one hand and on the end of a chain a thing in which incense is burning. He is carrying out a service, waving the incense.

I see a large fairly ornate coffin being lowered into an open grave. The coffin is suspended from a JCB and some men are slowly lowering the box with stays.

Amongst the mourners are some “worthies” and a few others who I once knew. I know that this is my funeral and that my current body is in the coffin. I also know that this is totally bizarre. This is for two reasons. I have left instructions in my will that I am to have a no-fuss economy cremation and that it is extremely unlikely that there will be anyone whatsoever at my funeral. I have no desire for any form of funeral.

Once the box is at the bottom of the grave. The priest puts down the incense and starts to read from the bible. The mourners bow their heads. It starts to rain.

The dream fades.

The scene changes and the wife and I are in an alfresco restaurant under a large wooden terrace on the patio of a restaurant. It has an Italianate feel and there are grape vines adorning the trellis. The waiter dressed in white shirt and black trousers comes over to take our order. He speaks first in Greek and then in French. In the dream he is a relative, a cousin of mine from Sicily. The restaurant is family owned and staffed. He is very friendly to us.

He takes our order for starters and brings a bottle of San Pellegrino water together with a carafe of ice-cold local white wine.

They have been waiting for me to come home to Sicily for a long time.

The mother of the house comes over an sits at our table to tell us of what has been happening for the family. She jokes that I need to get some sun because I look a little pasty-white. It won’t do for the family reputation. She leaves us a basket of bread.

Slowly the restaurant fills up and the sun sets. The atmosphere is very convivial. We have course after course and the word has gotten around the village that I have come back.

Soon some musicians arrive and start to play.

The dream ends…