Author of popular esoteric books, an Englishman who presented himself as a Tibetan lama. Bob raises him in dialogue 73 for one prediction — that Canada and Brazil would be major nations of the 21st century — and then performs the move that makes him interesting to the series: the prophecy is reinterpreted as a perception of McLuhan, already present in the late 1960s, mistaken by its author for something ahead of him.
Across the dialogues
Used as a test case for how prophecy works in the series — a prediction about the future is re-read as an unwitting report on something already present
The question introduces a deliberately low-status source, which is part of the argument — Bob's method treats popular esoterica as sensitive instrumentation rather than as evidence.
"Have you ever heard of T. Lobsang Rampa?"
The prediction is stated in its original forward-looking form so that Bob can then invert it, and its apparent failure is what forces the reinterpretation.
"So he predicted that Canada and Brazil would be major figures, iconically as nations, in the 21st century."
The general principle behind Bob's readings — an apparent prophecy is a misdated perception, so what looks like a failed forecast about Canada was an accurate reading of a Canadian already working.
"T. Lobsang Rampa was picking up on McLuhan right then, not something in the future."
Connections
Bob's reframe — Rampa's prophecy about Canada was perception of McLuhan, not prediction.