A Shed Load of Rinpoche(s)

January 14, 2026 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

Following on from my various dreams I have been looking at internet based information on Tulkus and Rinpoche types. The first comment is that there are shed loads of these. There seems to be a pecking order.

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In some circles it seems that their words are hung upon and that they may be put on a pedestal. On-line there is controversy about iffy teacher-student practices. This provokes heated commentary and in some cases attack. It seems very emotive.

Looks like a minefield to me.

Academic practice in the UK has changed considerably in the last few decades. In the past people used to get shit-faced drunk and there was “intermingling”. This is frowned upon these days. Though no doubt some non standard interaction continues. Many academics marry students…

If people want to check my academic credentials feel free…

Based on what I am reading it looks like a barge pole jobby. That is steer well clear…

I know that I don’t know but I am now less inclined to find out. I am not glamoured thereby.

Some Rinpoche dudes get to meet presidents of countries…

If you are famous and well known you can charge a few hundred dollars for online courses…

The comment that I have in general is that a lot of the teaching material on line is of a somnambulance inducing length. It would not pass muster at a modern higher education establishment. The presentation skills need polish and focus is better than rambling…

It reaffirms for me that “guru yoga” is dangerous both for the acolyte and the guru. It also suggests that the time for gonadal basal yoga is passing. That stuff is old…wrong century…

It has been interesting having a good read around. The “discussion” on line reminded me of the Sutra below.

This idealism in which people are deified and then crucified for their failings remains a problem not just in religion. A well loved star can be cancelled and lambasted on the whim of an allegation. The worshipper takes no responsibility for the down fall of the previously worshipped.

I don’t know what those hundreds if not thousands of Tulkus and Rinpoches are doing with their lives.

They can’t all be angels…

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The Sutra Preached By The Buddha On The Total Extinction Of The Dharma

(Taisho Tripitaka 0396)

The Buddha was silent, and made no response. After Ananda had repeated the question three times, the Buddha told him, “After my nirvana, when the Dharma is about to be extinct, the Five Mortal Sins will foul the world, and the demonic-way will flourish exceedingly. The demons will become monks, to spoil and wreck my Way. They will wear lay dress [rejoicing in cassocks] and multicolored clothing. They will drink wine and eat meat, killing living things in their desire for fine flavors. They will not have compassionate minds, and will hate and envy each other.”

“At times, there will be Bodhisattvas, Pratyeka-buddhas, and Arhats, who cultivate merits diligently and treat all beings with reverence; being the objects of the people’s devotion, they will impartially preach and convert. They will pity the poor and keep the old in their thoughts, and take care of those in poverty and difficulty. They will constantly persuade the people to worship and serve Sutras and images, doing all good acts that bring merit; their wills and natures will be kind and good. They will not harass or injure people, but sacrifice themselves to save others. They will not spare themselves, but will put up with insult, being benevolent and harmonious.”

“Should there be such a being, the gang of demonic monks will unite in hating him, slandering him and blazoning forth his errors. He will be expelled and banished; they will not let him remain at that place. From then onwards, they will all fail to cultivate merit according to the Way. Temples will be empty and desolate, and will no longer be repaired, but will be allowed to fall into ruin. The monks will covet nothing but material goods, accumulating them without distribution, not doing good deeds. They will deal in male and female slaves, plow the fields and plant them, burning off the mountain forests and harming all living things; they will not have compassionate minds. Male slaves will become monks, female slaves will become nuns; they will have none of the merit that comes from practicing the Way, but rather will be filthy and depraved, foul and turbulent; men and women will not be kept separate. The reason the Way will become shallow and weak, is all because of that type of person.”

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.

Unacceptable Hypotheses

September 26, 2025September 26, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

How we view and to an extent assimilate our notion of world is underpinned by a number of hypotheses which we may deem fact or gospel. Counter hypotheses are therefore cognitively unacceptable. This is because they can literally change our world and view thereof. Different hypotheses can upset the mundane power balance. And we cannot allow that can we.

For a long time, according to history, mankind imagined a flat Earth with earth at the centre of all things heavenly. Others suggested a heliocentric solar system and a quasi-spherical planet. Such views were considered heretic and punishable. For a long time the hypotheses of heliocentricity and orb-like planet were totally unacceptable especially to those in power, in the church. The infallibility of a human pope kept bums on seat and pennies on the collection plate. The infallibility of the pope was deemed factual and not hypothetical. It was the sort of “fact” that was enforced at the end of a blade or a noose.

Human history is littered with old hypotheses which have been used as the reason for slaughter. Hypotheses can be used to justify blood and murder.

The implications of a spherical globe are significantly different from a flat “2d” world. There is no edge off of which to sail. Without a round planet we would not have satellite TV nor surveillance satellites. A flat earth would be bad for NSA and CIA. The hypothesis of a quasi-spherical planet is game-changing in its implications.

An example of a hypothesis which is unacceptable to some is that Jesus was and is the long promised biblical messiah, the saviour. A significant population in the world find such a hypothesis unacceptable. No rabbi could accept this hypothesis and others see him more as a significant prophet. Were a rabbi to accept such a hypothesis it would radically change the assimilation of world and the recounting and recollection of history. You can argue that there is a vested interest not to accept such a hypothesis.

Some hypothesis cannot therefore be accepted because the implication of accepting them is too vast, it changes far too much.

Scientific causality and locality was a notion of Newtonian mechanics. Quantum entanglement kind of fucked with this idea and people like Einstein found this a swede masher and difficult to accept. Nowadays there is a burgeoning quantum aspect to science, business and technology.

One could argue that there is precedent for old, dated hypotheses giving way to newer more widely applicable ones. Things of significant implication always face resistance and slow uptake.

I like the idea of a how a change in hypothesis can fundamentally and significantly alter how a world is and has been assimilated. A benign example of this is when adopted children find out they have been adopted and search out the backstory. The world is turned upside down for a while, perhaps permanently. Modern DNA testing has scuppered many a dubious narrative about parenthood. The hypothesis that Bob was dad to Alice was incorrect, it was Sergei in reality.

A while back somebody insisted that I was a so-called Man of Action and for many years dozens of people interacted with me on the basis of that hypothesis. It underpinned their assimilation of our interaction. It was a hypothesis which may not have been well founded. People might struggle to re-assimilate the world and the nature of interaction given an alternate notion.

Hypothesis can be a close relative of assumption. The working assumption here in France is that I am “anglais”. It is the first “hypothesis”. It is pretty easy to change intellectual understanding of this but still people behave towards me as if I have the same orientation as an English. Although the hypothesis has changed its latent implementation remains.

Based on various visions and dreams I have had one can draw up at least two different hypothetical explanations. These might be radically different in implication both locally for me and more globally.

The simplest explanation is that the nocturnal dreams and waking visons are a form of hallucinatory psychosis. I am off my trolley and provided that I don’t cause any discomfort / break laws there is no need to have me locked up in a psychiatric unit. I am not a threat to anyone and by and large understand my day to day reality such a taxes and medical appointments. Although socially isolated I am not dangerous to myself or others. This is a facile hypothesis with only a very local implication. It does not impinge outside of our immediate geo-location.

Another interpretation is that some of the dreams are to do with previous incarnations of mine. If we accept this as a hypothesis then we can assimilate an explanatory narrative which has me having several Buddhist flavoured lives etc. As this stands it has no wide implication. It is the sort of thing someone well into their cups might claim down the local boozer. No drama. Just another hippy-trippy fruitcake believing something which cannot be proved nor directly unequivocally disproved. Disproof is implied from lack of proof. If however this points at a tulku incarnation of a high lama, this has wide implication in at least one context. Some would struggle to accept this as a hypothesis specifically because of the way they see me and have behaved towards me. It would need a rewrite of life narrative.

This points at an obvious. Hypothesis can not ever be completely separated from context; they are nearly always highly context specific.

In 2009 I had a “conversation” early one morning walking around a wood near Tring. In that I was told that I was a very close disciple of Buddha, Siddartha. Implied that I had been a contemporary of him and spent time with him. The default hypothesis of psychotic hallucination or schizophrenic voice hearing explains this easily.

To accept the “conversation” as factual or hypothetically correct would be a push for some, particularly those who have made my acquaintance.

In 2011 I had a dream which pointed at Bakula one of Buddha’s closet disciples, a scholar who came late to the path according to text. He is named as arhat in scripture and hagiography has him as an enlightened being. I am less convinced that enlightenment of a disciple happens in a single lifetime just from hanging out with the Siddhartha dude. In certain circumstances he is revered as a kind of Buddhist “saint”. Prior to the dream I had no conscious memory of having heard the name Bakula.

The facile invocation of grandiose psychotic dreaming is easily made. Maybe I want to be important subconsciously and made up a story to make me significant.

For me to accept it as hypothetically possible is not tricky. For others it may be harder. For example what does one do with that? How does one treat a reincarnated person who actually met and hung with Siddartha? What is the precedent? What is the protocol?

Quickly such a hypothesis becomes cognitively unacceptable. It cannot be proven true and it would take more evidence than Mulder and Scully could ever furnish for it to be believed, no matter how much we may want to believe. I’ll suggest that there may be many hypotheses which describe an aspect of reality which are totally unacceptable. These hypotheses may be before their time. In time they may become less unacceptable until such time as people are ready to believe them.

Careful if you believe, you might fall off the edge of your world…

A Bit Gobsmacked – Dream Follow Up

September 3, 2025September 3, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know if you can imagine what having dreams like the one I had this morning does to the start of your day. To go from that to the cat saying hello and wanting her breakfast is a little odd. One needs to ground firmly back in day to day reality. The dream partially mashed the swede of the wife when she read it. It is a swede masher dream. You cannot un-have a dream like that!!

What I did not mention in the dream write up was the insistence and persistence of the name Je Tsongkhapa, during the dream and subsequently. An account of him and his teaching can be found at: Tsongkhapa

Having a dream that intense can unsettle. I am more accustomed to them than most. I was unsettled and did not awaken “rested”. It is the first dream I have had of myself in full Tibetan Buddhist garb and with a Gelug yellow hat. There is an implication in the dream that I am perhaps a seat-holder of some kind. The dream was very tantric with the Vajra-bell of emptiness playing a major role. In that context there was a hint of knowledge keeper and maybe even gterma or terma. The snake being the dreaming symbol for wisdom.

Of course I may simply be tapping in to the “buddha-field” and bringing back images.

I am not aware of any tulku of my current physical age and educational background being recognised. In the context of things Tibetan it would already strike as unusual. I am not a hairy-arsed Tibetan yak minder nor am I a relative of a big high lama. I don’t hang with the sangha. Why would a “pikey” from rural Brittany be having these dreams? Is it the Korrigans or the pixies?

Anyway my appointment for a cardio stress test has come through. I will have an ultrasound whilst on an exercise bike or they will give me dobutamine to make my heart race. They want to see if the pump works well enough for my operation to go ahead. The molecule looks pretty water soluble to me.

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Maybe they should do a post dream or in-dream ultrasound to check out my left ventricle function. My dreams are exciting enough.

Given the dream this morning I am wondering what next, what might happen tonight?

We shall see…

Nirmāṇakāya DNA and Alien Autopsies

August 23, 2025August 23, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

Following on from a theme in this morning’s dream write up we have:

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The Nirmāṇakāya (Ch: 化身, 應身; Tib. sprul sku; the body of transformation, emanation, manifestation or appearance) is a reflection of the Saṃbhogakāya, one of the myriad magical manifestations created by the Saṃbhogakāya. It is also called rūpa-kaya, the “form body” or “physical body”. The Nirmāṇakāya generally refers to a Buddha’s human-like appearance in imperfect worlds like ours, which appear for limited periods of time and seemingly die in paranirvana. It is usually associated with “historical” Buddha figures, like Shakyamuni Buddha. It is thus the most historic, temporally and spatially contingent, and humanistic aspect of the three bodies.

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Nirmāṇakāya (Chinese: 應身; pinyin: yīngshēn; Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, tulku, Wylie: sprul sku) is the third aspect of the trikāya and the physical manifestation of a Buddha in time and space. In Vajrayāna it is described as “the dimension of ceaseless manifestation”

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Diverse nirmanakaya (Tibetan: sna tshogs sprul pa), these nirmanakayas manifest in numerous ways and forms to help sentient beings in any way possible, these may even include seemingly inanimate objects like boats or bridges. There are many forms and types of these, and can include:

Born or animate diversified nirmanakayas (Sanskrit: janmanirmāṇakāya; Tibetan: སྐྱེ་བ་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ, skye ba sprul sku) are the emanations of Buddhas who are born in the world in a natural way (womb, egg, etc) and guide sentient beings in various forms, like a king, a bodhisattva, and so on.
Inanimate diversified nirmanakaya, inanimate emanations, like valleys, mountains, boats and bridges
Artisan nirmanakayas (Sanskrit: śilpanirmāṇakāya or śilpinnirmāṇakāya; Standard Tibetan: བཟོ་བོ་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, bzo bo sprul sku) the emanation which appears like an artist or artisan (or even as a work of art) in order to awaken beings. {This can include science – my note}

From Wikipedia

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Normal “sane” westerners may struggle with the notion of a nirmanakaya manifestation. They would find Saṃbhogakāya even harder to swallow. Yet they listen to the Dalai Lama.

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Saṃbhogakāya

The Saṃbhogakāya (Ch: 報身, 受用身; Tib. longs sku) refers to the divine magical bodies of the Buddhas which manifest for the benefit of noble bodhisattvas. It can be rendered as “co-enjoyment body”, and “communal bliss body” (when reading the prefix saṃ- to refer to ‘together with’ or ‘mutual’) or as “complete reward body”, “total enjoyment body” (reading saṃ- as “complete”, “thoroughness”). The Saṃbhogakāya is described by the Mahāyāna-sūtrālamkāra as that which “brings enjoyment of dharma to the circles of assembly.” The term is usually associated with more supramundane, cosmic or otherworldly Buddhas. For example, Sthiramati names Vairocana, Amitabha and Samantabhadra as Saṃbhogakāya Buddhas.

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To me it is not all surprising that I have the word nirmāṇakāya in my dream this morning. Way more surprising was that I had a mobile ‘phone!! In esoteric thought a nirmāṇakāya manifestation can be a thought projected form of either temporary or quasi-permanent duration made by an adept or master. This form is usually for communication. These need not to be full carnal and would have no need for the DNA building blocks of a human form. These nirmāṇakāya are behind legends of magic and apparition / disappearance of certain masters. They are said to be made out of thought substance.

The most common form of nirmāṇakāya is the tulku of Tibetan-Bhutanese Vajrayāna Buddhism. All of these woman or womb born tulkus would need biological DNA in order to evolve into adult humans. According to the legend these reincarnating masters often have non-mundane capabilities. Their minds are trained and differ. But biologically they ought to be the same. A DNA test would most likely return human DNA.

Human beings worshipping at the altar of modern science like “proof” and carrying out a DNA test / autopsy might appeal to the Josef Mengele mentality. Just as if we found a real alien from outer space. Some would want to slice them open and have a look inside.

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Like a sociopath with a frog or harmless animal, humans like to experiment on other species. There is a whole industry in animal testing.

It is also possible that people see a nirmāṇakāya either as a waking vision or in their sleep and dreams. If you see a nirmāṇakāya or saṃbhogakāya buddha or bodhisattva in your dreams that is considered auspicious and a good thing. Even if that is a bit of a trouser changer so to speak. Such a manifestation is likely to be a noteworthy and impactful dream.

In my opinion a womb born nirmāṇakāya will probably have human DNA. A thought projection nirmāṇakāya may not have any chemical substance whatsoever, nothing to put in a mass spectrometer or for PCR work up. Nothing to do an autopsy on when they die.

Big Cheeses and Kudos

June 8, 2025June 8, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

I’ll speculate that Herr Trump sees himself as a big cheese and wants people to kiss his ring. The orange don, Donald, has a big army, navy and air force. I doubt anyone looks forward with unbridled glee at the notion of a public meeting with him. These meetings are a necessary evil. He is not a pleasant man. In societal terms he is a high kudos being, though some may not wish to brag about their associations with him. He is not universally good PR. He can be bad for business. He has a lot of power.

Kudos is context specific. To a MAGA wannabe an endorsement from the “don” is manna from heaven.

We are watching recorded University Challenges on YouTube. Quite often there are questions on Nobel Prizes and Laureates. These prizes are high kudos and should you win one it will boost an academic salary and secure your job. Universities like the kudos of bragging about Nobel Laureates.

“Look at us we are special!”

Even though I was recently incarnated as a scientist I struggle to recall who won, with whom and for what. I have even met a few of these winners.

According to Professor Google there are / have been around one thousand Nobel Laureates. This means that England football captains are less common and world cup winning England football captains a positive rarity. In some {most} contexts football is more important and more significant than someone boffinacious. Aside from a few like Einstein, people know the faces of Beckham and Lineker better.

Lhamo Thondup the Tibetan tulku also known as Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso or H.H. Dalai Lama is one of only 14 reincarnations. To many in the world he is a high kudos being and his face is easily recognised. He has met Bush, Obama, Cameron and Merkel inter alia. It is good PR to be seen in his presence. He is a spiritual big cheese. He gets invites.

People can speak in awe of people like Friedrich Nietzsche. You must be brainy to read him. Strangely he played a big part in my interest in Buddhism

“Goodreads” attributes the following quotations to Nietzsche.

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“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.”

“Truths are illusions which we have forgotten are illusions.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

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In academic circles it is more accepted to quote him than Padmasambhava. The latter is a very high kudos figure in Tibetan Buddhism, a supposed Nirmanakaya of Buddha.

Many big cheese are also legends in their own lunchtimes, others are not, they are humbler than that. In the UK, research assessment exercises have sought to measure peer esteem or kudos. This is such a subjective thing and wholly non scientific yet those keen to get research grants played along with something close to a convenient heresy.

The ascribing of kudos is a very personal and hence subjective thing too. We have the phenomenon of fans who attach much kudos to their heroines or heroes. They may even pay for used clothing or bath water. Kudos is attached to corporeal relics of saints and Buddhas. The essence which may have once imbued the relic is long departed. Perhaps saints have way more than eight fingers and two thumbs so everyone can get a relic.

Despite the positional power which kudos affords in a socio-political sense it is not real. You cannot measure it with a laser and a detector. When you die you can’t take it with you.

People can make huge faux pas dancing upon the minefield of kudos. Kudos is another word for something we desire in a social-construct sense. We may seek recognition or affirmation from the herd, the shoal. Even if we are awarded with a measurable trinket, kudos is impermanent. One can fall from grace off one’s glittery platform shoes like Gary did. A fall from the lofty heights of kudos is difficult to bear.

We may hold things important which others do not. We may fail to attach importance to something revered by others. We may be arrogant in our notions of what is significant and to which we ascribe our personal kudos.

Trying saying kudos, kudos, over and over!! Very quickly is starts to sound silly.

Some people want to become important, significant big cheeses. Some imagine they already are. Many have a sense of grandiose entitlement.

Just as some want to be top dog others want to be a big cheese.

“If you thought $30 for a pound of blue cheese was expensive, wait till you hear how much this Spanish blue cheese just sold for.

Clocking in at $6,682 per pound, a wheel of Cabrales blue cheese from northern Spain earned the title of the world’s most expensive cheese after a 2.2 kg (4.85 lb) wheel was sold at auction for €30,000 ($32,408.10).

The auction took place at the 51st annual Cabrales Cheese Competition held in the Principality of Asturias. Bidding started at €3,000 and quickly rose as passionate turophiles battled for the right to own the first-place cheese.

In the end, restauranteur Iván Suárez won the prized wheel. Suárez told Spanish news outlet EFE that “the passion for the land” and “recognizing the work of all the cheesemakers” made him buy the cheese.”

New Record for World’s Most Expensive Cheese Josie Krogh | August 29, 2023

Surveillance – Trinity or Agent Smith?

June 3, 2025June 3, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

From time to time, I get these dreams in which I am under surveillance and otherwise being spied upon. In our days of online intelligence gathering, a euphemism for stalking, monitoring of and snooping upon others is a common pass time. Very few who do such a things self-perceive as being Agent Smith an enforcer of the socially conditioned Matrix. They may imagine themselves a free Trinty hacker when they are anything but. Snooping, stalking is about control and attempts at power over. It is about status quo and positional power. Agent Smith is everywhere. Maybe you are Agent Smith and you are as yet unwilling to accept that reality.

Governments, according to conspiracy theories, routinely monitor their citizens. The NSA, DGSE and GCHQ may collect data on individuals including me. I would hazard a guess that they may have better more productive things to do. The news rhetoric is about external cyber threats and not internal state control. We are already in a pseudo-big brother world. The data on individual is readily available. Advertisers try to sell us shit with annoying “personalised” adverts. Search engines are now crap. They only show content paid for by pushers of goods. As a tool their use and efficacy has dropped markedly. They are very biased.

Some people are control freaks and this leads them to try to control all aspects of their lives even to the extent of narratives about the past. It is safe to say that these individuals are very far from liberation, stuck firm in the quicksand of endless saṃsāra. By “stalking” others they have an illusion of control over them.

Now I am dreaming of people spying on my DNA results, people from my last employer near twenty years ago…

It raises an interesting speculative question.

Is the DNA of a nirmāṇakāya birth the same as a normal one?

To answer this one would have to do a double blind study measuring the DNA of many tulku incarnations and compare to that of normal citizens to see if there was a statistically different significance. I doubt any reputable journal would accept that as a suitable subject for publications. Imagine a Nature article

“Nirmāṇakāya DNA: Structure and Function”

How would it compare to:

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Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid

J. D. WATSON & F. H. C. CRICK

Nature volume 171, pages 737–738 (1953)

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Sometimes people just cannot resist snooping on others….

Being a Part of a Wider Story

May 13, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

We all have stories about our lives which we tell to others, we have the so-called curriculum vitae which we use to gain {or otherwise} employment. More often than not we may be bigged-up in our own version of our events, our narrative assimilation. Rarely do we cast ourselves villain. In our stories there are other people, other cast members, upon whom we may apportion blame. The “baddies” are not us or ours. There is propaganda and PR about our role in the world. To imagine that we recollect and then retell with 100% accuracy is delusional. Our perception is not omniscient and our bias remains. Our stories contain fiction and are skewed.

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From time to time events can happen which can get us to completely re-evaluate our lives and the events therein. Our erstwhile self-diagnosed angelic roles may be called into question. How we see someone can change dramatically and that can unpick our previous narratives.

I can envisage this story, told piecemeal in the blog, being part of a much wider picture. One that could attract media attention and upend many things. For example, were I to be outed as a tulku then everyone who has ever interacted with me might change their story. There may be a few lines in a newspaper and even a wiki page. People could have an interesting snippet to add to conversation over dinner. Some might view an incarnation as a science academic interesting, if only for a fleeting moment. Before they watch the next TikTok.

“When I knew him, he was a right piss artist…Tsk, Tsk.”

In other contexts, some might imagine tremendous luck and an auspicious meeting.

This is of course hypothetical. In this corner of the internet, I am not a part of a wider story. It is / I am unknown. But you never know when our stories might come crashing down.

Because of what I can envisage I am pretty confident that I could handle it. Not that I am likely to need it.

Unless people are monitoring this blog, only a tiny few people know. If it is being monitored then that too adds to some wider story, which in the fullness of time might emerge. It adds flavour and spice. Secrecy is always a tasty plot line.

We sometimes are a part in a wider story of which we are almost completely unaware.

You the reader may be a part of one, which you may or may not ever become aware of.

One day everything you thought you knew, might change.

Then again it might stay the same.

The Prof and The Rinpoche – Dream Follow Up

May 9, 2025May 9, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

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???