Here is this morning’s dream.

The dream opens at the confluence of two rivers in mountainous terrain. The river beds are strewn with dark grey-black rock. The river levels are low as is the resultant river. It is clear that from time to time and in rainy season torrents flow. Around the rivers are dense rainforest like trees. I am on a “beach” to the side of one of the rivers. There is a sense of antiquity and of “ago”. I know that I am near a village which is on a major trade route into / across the mountains. It has been the scene of major battles.

I look down and can see that I am wearing only some saffron-yellow trousers. They are held up with a drawstring at the waist and the ankles are similarly tied. They are loose fitting. My head is freshly shaved and without hair. My body is Asian and early twenties. It has no body hair. I am of a slight yet muscular build. I have a tattoo of my left forearm which I cannot see. I am with an old man with white hair and wispy beard. He is dressed in cotton trousers and jackets. He is an elder.

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I am not of the village but have been assigned to it. There is an upcoming festival and I have been chosen to represent the village. Tribes will be coming down from the mountains for the festivities, which will be extensive over a number of days.

I point at a red rock on the shore. I say to the man that this could be ground up for face paint. {My mind interjects it is iron oxide}. He says yes and notes it. He will send one of the women back for it.

He has in his hand a cane upon which is a small pad. I am now supposed to kick the pad as he moves it. The type of kick is a roundhouse. He encourages me to swing the whole leg and not flex it at the knee. {My mind interjects that this not like a Japanese roundhouse mawashi-geri but more like a Muay Thai kick}. He moves the pad around getting me to kick low and high. He says that I must focus on the thigh kicks as these will deaden the legs of my opponents. He says that this is a key part of Muay Thai. He encourages me to kick low very hard and fast as we move around the beach. This “way” goes a long way back. He then gets me to work on a front stop kick which prevents the opponent from getting close. He says that I should tap into the warriors of old from this part of the mountains. The tribes coming down are savage and ruthless so I will have to be on my guard and at my best.

He says that although I am not of the village as the Buddhist priest, I should know its ways.

I have worked up a sweat. He suggests that I dunk myself in the river. Which I do.

The dream ends as we walk towards the village and I am amazed at how this body feels in comparison to the one in which I am sleeping.

Dream ends

* I note than in my waking dreams of me as a Buddhist priest I had a Sanskrit tattoo of “om mane padme hum” on forearms.

This is perhaps my Thai Buddhist lifetime, one of three putative Buddhist incarnations.

Link to Thai Sak Yant Tattoos