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:''For other uses, see Shambhala (disambiguation).
In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, 'Shambhala' (also spelled 'Shambala' or 'Shamballa') is a mystical kingdom hidden somewhere beyond the snowpeaks of the Himalayas. It is mentioned in various ancient texts, including the Kalachakra Tantra[2] and the ancient texts of the Zhang Zhung culture which pre-dated Tibetan Buddhism in western Tibet. The Bön[3] scriptures speak of a closely-related land called Olmolungring.
Shambhala (Tib. ''bde 'byung'') is a Sanskrit term meaning "place of peace/tranquility/happiness". Shakyamuni Buddha is said to have taught the Kalachakra tantra on request of King Suchandra of Shambhala; the teachings are also said to be preserved there. Shambhala is believed to be a society where all the inhabitants are enlightened, actually a Buddhist "Pure Land", centered by a capital city called Kalapa. An alternative view associates Shambhala with the real empire of Sriwijaya where Buddhist master Atisha studied under Dharmakirti from whom he received the Kalachakra initiation.
Shambhala is ruled over by a line of Kulika Kings (Tib. ''Rigden''), a monarch who upholds the integrity of the Kalachakra tantra. Some scholars believe this figure developed out of the myth of the Hindu conqueror Kalki, a similar personage [4]. However, the dating of Hindu texts come into question, as Buddha is also mentioned in many of those texts. The myth of Shambala and its location is also more developed in Buddhism. The Kalachakra prophesizes that when the world declines into war and greed, and all is lost, the twenty-fifth Kulika king will emerge from Shambhala with a huge army to vanquish "Dark Forces" and usher in a worldwide Golden Age. Using calculations from the Kalachakra Tantra, scholars such as Alex Berzin (see his website) put this date at 2424 AD, however modern scholarship is rapidly changing this view and the very sources of both datation and the lineages are largely now discounted (see the modern historical doubts about the whole Kalachakra chronology where it is said among others that "...Scholars such as Helmut Hoffman have suggested they are the same person. The first masters of the tradition disguised themselves with pseudonyms, so the Indian oral traditions recorded by the Tibetans contain a mass of contradictions.").
Indeed, based upon the uncertainty of any dates relative to the time of coming of the Kingdom of Shambala many present-time Buddhists believe both that the fall of old Tibet and the on-going ecological disaster, are the signs of present-day coming of this prophetical event. According to still unpublished research, Geir Smith believes that the author of the lineages of Kalachakra Buton Rinchen Drub, saught to create a deity, Kalachakra, or at least it's legend which was to enshrine a great secret of Tibet. Indeed, at the date of his birth, at the end of the thirteenth century, the greatest massacre of all time was carried out by a Buddhist mongol khan, Hulagu, under stewardship of a Tibetan Drigung school of Tibet. This massacre was totally Buddhist in conception because it was ordered by the Buddhist Grand Khan Möngke Khan, Hulagu's brother. This massacre invloved the Sack of Baghdad, and is considerd to have spelt the final doom of Islam that has not recovered from it ever since and still harkens back to that as a reference to lost glory.
Why should Buton, have wanted to enshrine secrecy around Kalachakra, written false dates and occulted the real destiny of the Shambala Kingdom ?
For a very simple reason which was that politics took their toll on the Hulagu empire of the Ilkhanate, and his brother Khublai Khan won over him, and two years after the Sack of Baghdad by Hulagu his Tibetan faction was overthrown or beaten in Tibet by the Sakya School burning the Drigung main-temple. Buton was Sakya and thus he wrote the history of his school's view which was of course to hide the un-buddhist fact of their political maneuvering and of the Buddhist quashing of the Buddhist rival of Hulagu and his Drigung spiritual masters.
The truth behind this cover-up is today what can be thought to be the real Shambala behind the secrecy and muttering of incomprehensible Tantric secrets: it is thus that behind the five hundred years of hiding, is revealed that not only was Baghdad razed by buddhists, but that the responsibility of it lies also to others. Indeed, the reason for Buton and Tibet's hiding this for so long, is explained in that Hulagu's forces were not, as for them buddhist in the least, apart from a few Chinese buddhists: his army, which was the vastest that the Mongols ever mustered, was comprised of Christians, Muslims, (among which Persian Shiites but also Sunni Muslims as well) and all kinds of other faiths of the manifold origins of his army.
Tibet's interest was thus not to involve in this victory that they couldn't accept as tolerant and peaceful buddhists. It was thus best forgotten and hidden although the victorious and wrathful nature of Kalachakra does reflect the pride that they did derive from this victory over a most dangerous and wrathful enemy, Islam, incarnated by Baghdad. Shambala thus incarnates in truth today, the responsability for this massacre - that is one of the worst, if not the worst of all of History - (see List of wars and disasters by death toll) but not only for buddhists: also for all these the faiths that ruined Baghdad together in alliance: Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus etc... Shambala thus represents a hidden bad conscience that is now unearthed by the modern discovery that everything behind the chronologies of Kalachakra are false. (This section is open to further resaarch and study, please implement the elements in it.)
Shambala thus does represent a modern coming to terms with a historical time - put into parenthesis - occulted by History and by Tibetans, that shows to one of it's most horrendous episodes. It represents not only the figure of maybe 400 000 to one million killed during the Baghdad Sacking, (close to 50 million in modern figures' equivalent, and this was a one week's time of killing !) but also it directly links Buddhism to the Mongol destruction that all in all, represents in today's reactualized figures something that approaches a 500 million toll. The moral responsibility of Buddhism in this thus explains it's hiding it for five hundred years and also, the secrecy put into occulting it's content still today, as this really represents dynamite for Buddhism and it's conscience. But it should also do so for the three other religions that are likewise involved in that terrible time of history, and that all have likewise wanted to hide it. Interestingly, this same period is the same milestone used as reference by modern Islam for whom also uses the Sack of Baghdad and of the Abbasid Calphate, is it's historical milestone and watershed. This is the same period which likewise also marks Kalachakra's chronological start with the print left by it's main author Buton. Thus one can find the same imprint of the past from within Islam on the opposite side of the battlefield. For this one can look at Osama Bin Laden for example who uses Hulagu as a reference in one interview, to describe what is most evil in the past.
To sum up, Shambala represents the whole world's four religions unknown and thus unconfessed and unatoned-for sin of the worst crime of Humanity, an unconceivable self-sacrifice of Humankind of it's own evil elements. A crime of man upon man.
The Hindu Kalki Purana suggests this 25th Kulika King will be Kalki, an avatar of Lord Vishnu.
As with many concepts in the Kalachakra Tantra, the idea of Shambhala is said to have an "outer," "inner,' and "alternative" meaning. The outer meaning understands Shambhala to exist as a physical place, although only individuals with the appropriate karma can reach it and experience it as such. As His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama noted during the 1985 Kalachakra initiation in Bodhgaya, Shambhala is not an ordinary country:
''"Although those with special affiliation may actually be able to go there through their karmic connection, nevertheless it is not a physical place that we can actually find. We can only say that it is a pure land, a pure land in the human realm. And unless one has the merit and the actual karmic association, one cannot actually arrive there."''
There are various ideas about where this society is located, but it is often placed in central Asia, north or west of Tibet. The inner and alternative meanings refer to more subtle understandings of what Shambhala represents in terms of one's own body and mind (inner), and the meditation practice (alternative). These two types of symbolic explanations are generally passed on orally from teacher to student.
Although Chogyam Trungpa, founder of Shambhala International, came out of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, in his teachings Shambhala vision has its own independent basis in human wisdom that does not belong to East or West or any one culture or religion [5]. Shambhala kingdom is seen as enlightened society that people of all faiths can aspire to and actually realize. The path to this is provocatively described as the practice of warriorship — meeting fear and transcending aggression, and of secular sacredness — joining the wisdom of the past and one's own culture with the present in nowness.
The Chogyam's teachings led to the founding of a Shambhala Grade school in Halifax, Nova Scotia - The Shambhala School.
Ancient Zhang Zhung texts identify Shambhala with the Sutlej Valley in Himachal Pradesh. Mongolians identify Shambala with certain valleys of southern Siberia.
The Western fascination with Shambhala has often been based upon fragmented accounts of the Kalachakra tradition, or outright fabrications. Tibet was largely closed to outsiders until very recently, and so what information was available about the tradition of Shambhala was haphazard at best[6].
The first information that reached western civilization about Shambhala came from the Portuguese explorer Estêvão Cacella in the early 17th century. The Hungarian scholar Alexander Csoma de Köros, writing in 1833, provided the first geographic account of 'a fabulous country in the north...situated between 45' and 50' north latitude'.
During the 19th century, Theosophical Society founder HP Blavatsky alluded to the Shambhala myth, giving it currency for Western occult enthusiasts. HP Blavatsky compiled a fifteen hundred page two volume synthesis of Eastern wisdom, evolutionary science and races - ''The Secret Doctrine. ''The Secret Doctrine'' ''made an especially powerful impression in Germany, refueling the 'theories' of the Third Reich about the Aryan master Race. Those 'theories' preoccupied two major figures in the Third Reich - Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hess leading to the German Tibet expeditions (1930, 1934-5, 1938-9)[7]. Later esoteric writers further emphasized and elaborated on the concept of a hidden land inhabited by a hidden mystic brotherhood whose members labor for the good of humanity.''
The mystic Nicholas Roerich[8] and the Soviet agent Yakov Blumkin led two Tibetan expeditions to discover Shambhala, in 1926 and 1928.
Madame Blavatsky, who claimed to be in contact with a Great White Lodge of Himalayan Adepts, mentions Shambhala in several places without giving it especially great emphasis. (The Mahatmas, we are told, are also active around Shigatse and Luxor.) Blavatsky's Shambhala, like the headquarters of the Great White Lodge, is a physical location on our earth, albeit one which can only be penetrated by a worthy aspirant.
Later esoteric writers like Alice Bailey (the Arcane School) and the Agni Yoga of Nicholas and Helena Roerich do emphasize Shambhala. Bailey transformed it into a kind of extradimensional or spiritual reality on the etheric plane. The Roerichs see its existence as both spiritual and physical.
Related "hidden land" speculations surrounding the underground kingdom of Agartha led some early twentieth-century occultists (especially those associated with Nazi or Neo-Nazi occultism) to view Shambhala as a source of negative manipulation by an evil (or amoral) conspiracy. Nevertheless, the predominant theme is one of light and hope, as evidenced by James Redfield's and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's respective books by that name.
★ In the 2004 adventure movie ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', the two main characters journey to the city of Shambhala, hidden deep in the Himalayas.
★ The Three Dog Night song "Shambala" was featured in the ''Slums of Beverly Hills'' (1998), starring Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin and Marisa Tomei.
★ In the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' movie ''Conqueror of Shamballa'', the plot revolves around the Thule Society's desire to open a portal to "Shamballa," which is instead said to be underground.
★ In the 1937 film "Lost Horizon" where several passengers are taken on a plane to a utopian society that is surounded by tall mountains where people age very slowly, although it is referred to as Shangri-La.
★ The series '' includes a visit to Shambhala, and Kwai-Chang Caine, the lead character, is a "Shambhala master".
★ The animation Full Metal Alchemist depicts shamballa as the place where alchemy is present, coexisting with technology.
★ Shambhala is featured in the 1997 episode ''The Bangalore Falcon'' in The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.
★ The song "Shambala" by Three Dog Night is featured in the TV series ''Lost'', episode 310 (Trisha Tanaka is Dead) as Hurley and Charlie confront their fear of death that is weighing them down. The song is also featured in episode 320 (The Man Behind The Curtain.
★ In the computer game "Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine" Shambala is an old and nearly empty monastery in Kazakhstan.
★ In the role-playing game WitchCraft, Shambala is one of the Dream Realms in Hod.
★ In the video game "Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer", Shambala is the title of one of the goals in the .
★ In the computer game "Beyond Atlantis", Shambhala is the place one is trying to reach, by gathering the Atlantian road.
★ The myths of Shambhala were part of the inspiration for the story of Shangri-La told in the popular novel ''Lost Horizon'', and thus some people incorrectly assume that Shambhala is synonymous with Shangri-La.
★ ''The Secret of Shambhala: The Search for the Eleventh Insight'' by James Redfield. In this novel Redfield describes a search for Shangri-La or Shambala where all structures, tools, and objects are made up of energy fields.
★ Shambhala Sun, a magazine inspired by the vision of Shambhala.
★ Shambhala is a point of destination for several characters in Thomas Pynchon's novel ''Against the Day''.
★ ''The Shadow'', published by DC Comics, says The Shadow learned his apparently superhuman skills while visiting Shambhala. In Howard Chaykin's 1985 miniseries, ''The Shadow: Blood & Justice'', Kent Allard (the Shadow) defends Shambhala from a plot by the real Lamont Cranston.
★ Also used by Prometheus, the "anti-Batman" villain created by Grant Morrison in his JLA run, it was considered the source of all evil and he was trying to discover it.
★ Marvel Comics published a graphic novel in 1986 called ''. The eponymous hero sought "Shambhala" as a metaphor for greater enlightenment.
★ In the 2000 AD ''Judge Dredd'' comic ''Shamballa'', Judge Anderson and a cohort of scientists and other Judges from around the world travel to Shambhala, deep underground beneath the Himalayas, searching for the cause and solution to cataclysmic events worldwide.
★ Shambhala (music festival) is a yearly music festival held in British Columbia, Canada for five days.
★ Three Dog Night had a multi-platinum hit song called "Shambala". It was written by Sufi poet Daniel Moore and originally recorded by songwriter B.W. Stevenson.
★ The Rockapella musical group performed a cover of the above song, on their ''Smilin'' and ''Primer'' albums.
★ The Beastie Boys have a song called "Shambala", on their ''Ill Communication'' album, which features samples of monks, presumably Buddhist, chanting, and segues into "Bodhisattva Vow", an avowed acceptance of the Buddhist lifestyle in rap.
★ The The Tibetan Song and Dance Troupe of Diqing has an album titled "Shambala is not far away."
★ The black metal band Alpha Drone have a song called ''Shambala Serrano''.
★ The rap groups Jedi Mind Tricks and The Lost Children of Babylon often referenced Shambala in their early recordings.
★ Afrika Bambaataa & WestBam have a song "Agharta - The City of Shamballa"
★ Donovan included a song called "Shambhala" on his 2004 album Beat Cafe.
★ The first track of the album "Tai Chi Too" from Oliver Shanti & Friends is called "Journey To Shambala."
★ Matthew Sweet has a track called "The Big Cats of Shambala" on his ''Living Things'' CD.
The Shambhala codebase and module API, introduced to the Apache HTTP Server in 1995, was the foundation for the Apache 1.0 release.
★ Hyperborea - A mythical Greek land.
★ Kalachakra - The Vajrayana Buddhist body of scripture which introduced Shambhala.
★ Kings of Shambhala - A summary of the seven Dharmarajas and twenty-five Kulika Kings.
★ Sanat Kumara - The deity believed by Theosophists to be the god of our planet is said to live in a city called Shambala on the etheric plane.
★ In the movie, , the nazis believe that Edward Elric's homeland Amestris, which is in another world, is the legendary Shamballa.
★ White Magic (Alice A. Bailey) - White Magic adepts said to be able to spiritually travel to the etheric city of Shambala.
1. Tibetan Mandala, Art and Practice, The wheel of time ed. by Sylvie Crossman and Jean-Pierre Barou, 2004. pp.20-26
2. The Tantra by Victor M. Fic, Abhinav Publications, 2003, p.49.
3. The Bon Religion of Tibet by Per Kavǣrne, Shambhala, 1996
4. Hindu Miths by A.L. Dallapiccola, The British Museum Press, 2003, p.26
5. Shambhala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa, Shambhala, 1988
6. Prisoners of Shangri~La, Tibetan Buddhism and the West by Donald S Lopez Jr, The University of Chicago Press, 1998
7. Himmler's Crusade by Christopher Hale, John Wiley & Sons., Inc., 2003
8. Roerich East & West by Kenneth Archer, Parkstone Press 1999, p.94
★ Berzin, Alexander (2003). The Berzin Archives. ''Mistaken Foreign Myths about Shambhala''.
★ Martin, Dean. (1999). "'Ol-mo-lung-ring, the Original Holy Place." In: ''Sacred Spaces and Powerful Places In Tibetan Culture: A Collection of Essays''. (1999) Edited by Toni Huber, pp. 125-153. The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, H.P., India. ISBN 81-86470-22-0.
★ Bernbaum, Edwin. (1980). ''The Way to Shambhala: A Search for the Mythical Kingdom Beyond the Himalayas''. Reprint: (1989) St. Martin's Press, New York. ISBN 0-87477-518-3.
★ Jeffrey, Jason. Mystery of Shambhala in ''New Dawn'', No. 72 (May-June 2002).
★ Trungpa, Chogyam. ''Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior''. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 0-87773-264-7
★ Le Page, Victoria. [1] ''Shambhala: The Fascinating Truth behind the Myth of Shangri-La.'' Quest ISBN 0-8356-0750-X
★ Allen, Charles. (1999). ''The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History''. Little, Brown and Company. Reprint: Abacus, London. 2000. ISBN 0-349-111421.
★ Martin, Dean. (1999). "'Ol-mo-lung-ring, the Original Holy Place." In: ''Sacred Spaces and Powerful Places In Tibetan Culture: A Collection of Essays''. (1999) Edited by Toni Huber, pp. 125-153. The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, H.P., India. ISBN 81-86470-22-0.
★ Shambhala Buddhist Community
★ Victoria LePage
★ Shambhala Publications
★ Shambhala Sun magazine
In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, 'Shambhala' (also spelled 'Shambala' or 'Shamballa') is a mystical kingdom hidden somewhere beyond the snowpeaks of the Himalayas. It is mentioned in various ancient texts, including the Kalachakra Tantra[2] and the ancient texts of the Zhang Zhung culture which pre-dated Tibetan Buddhism in western Tibet. The Bön[3] scriptures speak of a closely-related land called Olmolungring.
Shambhala in the Buddhist Kalachakra teachings
Shambhala (Tib. ''bde 'byung'') is a Sanskrit term meaning "place of peace/tranquility/happiness". Shakyamuni Buddha is said to have taught the Kalachakra tantra on request of King Suchandra of Shambhala; the teachings are also said to be preserved there. Shambhala is believed to be a society where all the inhabitants are enlightened, actually a Buddhist "Pure Land", centered by a capital city called Kalapa. An alternative view associates Shambhala with the real empire of Sriwijaya where Buddhist master Atisha studied under Dharmakirti from whom he received the Kalachakra initiation.
Shambhala is ruled over by a line of Kulika Kings (Tib. ''Rigden''), a monarch who upholds the integrity of the Kalachakra tantra. Some scholars believe this figure developed out of the myth of the Hindu conqueror Kalki, a similar personage [4]. However, the dating of Hindu texts come into question, as Buddha is also mentioned in many of those texts. The myth of Shambala and its location is also more developed in Buddhism. The Kalachakra prophesizes that when the world declines into war and greed, and all is lost, the twenty-fifth Kulika king will emerge from Shambhala with a huge army to vanquish "Dark Forces" and usher in a worldwide Golden Age. Using calculations from the Kalachakra Tantra, scholars such as Alex Berzin (see his website) put this date at 2424 AD, however modern scholarship is rapidly changing this view and the very sources of both datation and the lineages are largely now discounted (see the modern historical doubts about the whole Kalachakra chronology where it is said among others that "...Scholars such as Helmut Hoffman have suggested they are the same person. The first masters of the tradition disguised themselves with pseudonyms, so the Indian oral traditions recorded by the Tibetans contain a mass of contradictions.").
Indeed, based upon the uncertainty of any dates relative to the time of coming of the Kingdom of Shambala many present-time Buddhists believe both that the fall of old Tibet and the on-going ecological disaster, are the signs of present-day coming of this prophetical event. According to still unpublished research, Geir Smith believes that the author of the lineages of Kalachakra Buton Rinchen Drub, saught to create a deity, Kalachakra, or at least it's legend which was to enshrine a great secret of Tibet. Indeed, at the date of his birth, at the end of the thirteenth century, the greatest massacre of all time was carried out by a Buddhist mongol khan, Hulagu, under stewardship of a Tibetan Drigung school of Tibet. This massacre was totally Buddhist in conception because it was ordered by the Buddhist Grand Khan Möngke Khan, Hulagu's brother. This massacre invloved the Sack of Baghdad, and is considerd to have spelt the final doom of Islam that has not recovered from it ever since and still harkens back to that as a reference to lost glory.
Why should Buton, have wanted to enshrine secrecy around Kalachakra, written false dates and occulted the real destiny of the Shambala Kingdom ?
For a very simple reason which was that politics took their toll on the Hulagu empire of the Ilkhanate, and his brother Khublai Khan won over him, and two years after the Sack of Baghdad by Hulagu his Tibetan faction was overthrown or beaten in Tibet by the Sakya School burning the Drigung main-temple. Buton was Sakya and thus he wrote the history of his school's view which was of course to hide the un-buddhist fact of their political maneuvering and of the Buddhist quashing of the Buddhist rival of Hulagu and his Drigung spiritual masters.
The truth behind this cover-up is today what can be thought to be the real Shambala behind the secrecy and muttering of incomprehensible Tantric secrets: it is thus that behind the five hundred years of hiding, is revealed that not only was Baghdad razed by buddhists, but that the responsibility of it lies also to others. Indeed, the reason for Buton and Tibet's hiding this for so long, is explained in that Hulagu's forces were not, as for them buddhist in the least, apart from a few Chinese buddhists: his army, which was the vastest that the Mongols ever mustered, was comprised of Christians, Muslims, (among which Persian Shiites but also Sunni Muslims as well) and all kinds of other faiths of the manifold origins of his army.
Tibet's interest was thus not to involve in this victory that they couldn't accept as tolerant and peaceful buddhists. It was thus best forgotten and hidden although the victorious and wrathful nature of Kalachakra does reflect the pride that they did derive from this victory over a most dangerous and wrathful enemy, Islam, incarnated by Baghdad. Shambala thus incarnates in truth today, the responsability for this massacre - that is one of the worst, if not the worst of all of History - (see List of wars and disasters by death toll) but not only for buddhists: also for all these the faiths that ruined Baghdad together in alliance: Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus etc... Shambala thus represents a hidden bad conscience that is now unearthed by the modern discovery that everything behind the chronologies of Kalachakra are false. (This section is open to further resaarch and study, please implement the elements in it.)
Shambala thus does represent a modern coming to terms with a historical time - put into parenthesis - occulted by History and by Tibetans, that shows to one of it's most horrendous episodes. It represents not only the figure of maybe 400 000 to one million killed during the Baghdad Sacking, (close to 50 million in modern figures' equivalent, and this was a one week's time of killing !) but also it directly links Buddhism to the Mongol destruction that all in all, represents in today's reactualized figures something that approaches a 500 million toll. The moral responsibility of Buddhism in this thus explains it's hiding it for five hundred years and also, the secrecy put into occulting it's content still today, as this really represents dynamite for Buddhism and it's conscience. But it should also do so for the three other religions that are likewise involved in that terrible time of history, and that all have likewise wanted to hide it. Interestingly, this same period is the same milestone used as reference by modern Islam for whom also uses the Sack of Baghdad and of the Abbasid Calphate, is it's historical milestone and watershed. This is the same period which likewise also marks Kalachakra's chronological start with the print left by it's main author Buton. Thus one can find the same imprint of the past from within Islam on the opposite side of the battlefield. For this one can look at Osama Bin Laden for example who uses Hulagu as a reference in one interview, to describe what is most evil in the past.
To sum up, Shambala represents the whole world's four religions unknown and thus unconfessed and unatoned-for sin of the worst crime of Humanity, an unconceivable self-sacrifice of Humankind of it's own evil elements. A crime of man upon man.
The Hindu Kalki Purana suggests this 25th Kulika King will be Kalki, an avatar of Lord Vishnu.
As with many concepts in the Kalachakra Tantra, the idea of Shambhala is said to have an "outer," "inner,' and "alternative" meaning. The outer meaning understands Shambhala to exist as a physical place, although only individuals with the appropriate karma can reach it and experience it as such. As His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama noted during the 1985 Kalachakra initiation in Bodhgaya, Shambhala is not an ordinary country:
''"Although those with special affiliation may actually be able to go there through their karmic connection, nevertheless it is not a physical place that we can actually find. We can only say that it is a pure land, a pure land in the human realm. And unless one has the merit and the actual karmic association, one cannot actually arrive there."''
There are various ideas about where this society is located, but it is often placed in central Asia, north or west of Tibet. The inner and alternative meanings refer to more subtle understandings of what Shambhala represents in terms of one's own body and mind (inner), and the meditation practice (alternative). These two types of symbolic explanations are generally passed on orally from teacher to student.
The Shambhala of Chogyam Trungpa
Although Chogyam Trungpa, founder of Shambhala International, came out of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, in his teachings Shambhala vision has its own independent basis in human wisdom that does not belong to East or West or any one culture or religion [5]. Shambhala kingdom is seen as enlightened society that people of all faiths can aspire to and actually realize. The path to this is provocatively described as the practice of warriorship — meeting fear and transcending aggression, and of secular sacredness — joining the wisdom of the past and one's own culture with the present in nowness.
The Chogyam's teachings led to the founding of a Shambhala Grade school in Halifax, Nova Scotia - The Shambhala School.
The Shambhalas of the Zhang Zhung and the Mongols
Ancient Zhang Zhung texts identify Shambhala with the Sutlej Valley in Himachal Pradesh. Mongolians identify Shambala with certain valleys of southern Siberia.
Western fascination with Shambhala
The Western fascination with Shambhala has often been based upon fragmented accounts of the Kalachakra tradition, or outright fabrications. Tibet was largely closed to outsiders until very recently, and so what information was available about the tradition of Shambhala was haphazard at best[6].
The first information that reached western civilization about Shambhala came from the Portuguese explorer Estêvão Cacella in the early 17th century. The Hungarian scholar Alexander Csoma de Köros, writing in 1833, provided the first geographic account of 'a fabulous country in the north...situated between 45' and 50' north latitude'.
During the 19th century, Theosophical Society founder HP Blavatsky alluded to the Shambhala myth, giving it currency for Western occult enthusiasts. HP Blavatsky compiled a fifteen hundred page two volume synthesis of Eastern wisdom, evolutionary science and races - ''The Secret Doctrine. ''The Secret Doctrine'' ''made an especially powerful impression in Germany, refueling the 'theories' of the Third Reich about the Aryan master Race. Those 'theories' preoccupied two major figures in the Third Reich - Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hess leading to the German Tibet expeditions (1930, 1934-5, 1938-9)[7]. Later esoteric writers further emphasized and elaborated on the concept of a hidden land inhabited by a hidden mystic brotherhood whose members labor for the good of humanity.''
The mystic Nicholas Roerich[8] and the Soviet agent Yakov Blumkin led two Tibetan expeditions to discover Shambhala, in 1926 and 1928.
Western esoteric traditions
Madame Blavatsky, who claimed to be in contact with a Great White Lodge of Himalayan Adepts, mentions Shambhala in several places without giving it especially great emphasis. (The Mahatmas, we are told, are also active around Shigatse and Luxor.) Blavatsky's Shambhala, like the headquarters of the Great White Lodge, is a physical location on our earth, albeit one which can only be penetrated by a worthy aspirant.
Later esoteric writers like Alice Bailey (the Arcane School) and the Agni Yoga of Nicholas and Helena Roerich do emphasize Shambhala. Bailey transformed it into a kind of extradimensional or spiritual reality on the etheric plane. The Roerichs see its existence as both spiritual and physical.
Related "hidden land" speculations surrounding the underground kingdom of Agartha led some early twentieth-century occultists (especially those associated with Nazi or Neo-Nazi occultism) to view Shambhala as a source of negative manipulation by an evil (or amoral) conspiracy. Nevertheless, the predominant theme is one of light and hope, as evidenced by James Redfield's and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's respective books by that name.
Shambhala in popular culture
Movies
★ In the 2004 adventure movie ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', the two main characters journey to the city of Shambhala, hidden deep in the Himalayas.
★ The Three Dog Night song "Shambala" was featured in the ''Slums of Beverly Hills'' (1998), starring Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin and Marisa Tomei.
★ In the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' movie ''Conqueror of Shamballa'', the plot revolves around the Thule Society's desire to open a portal to "Shamballa," which is instead said to be underground.
★ In the 1937 film "Lost Horizon" where several passengers are taken on a plane to a utopian society that is surounded by tall mountains where people age very slowly, although it is referred to as Shangri-La.
Television
★ The series '' includes a visit to Shambhala, and Kwai-Chang Caine, the lead character, is a "Shambhala master".
★ The animation Full Metal Alchemist depicts shamballa as the place where alchemy is present, coexisting with technology.
★ Shambhala is featured in the 1997 episode ''The Bangalore Falcon'' in The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.
★ The song "Shambala" by Three Dog Night is featured in the TV series ''Lost'', episode 310 (Trisha Tanaka is Dead) as Hurley and Charlie confront their fear of death that is weighing them down. The song is also featured in episode 320 (The Man Behind The Curtain.
Games
★ In the computer game "Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine" Shambala is an old and nearly empty monastery in Kazakhstan.
★ In the role-playing game WitchCraft, Shambala is one of the Dream Realms in Hod.
★ In the video game "Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer", Shambala is the title of one of the goals in the .
★ In the computer game "Beyond Atlantis", Shambhala is the place one is trying to reach, by gathering the Atlantian road.
Books & Magazines
★ The myths of Shambhala were part of the inspiration for the story of Shangri-La told in the popular novel ''Lost Horizon'', and thus some people incorrectly assume that Shambhala is synonymous with Shangri-La.
★ ''The Secret of Shambhala: The Search for the Eleventh Insight'' by James Redfield. In this novel Redfield describes a search for Shangri-La or Shambala where all structures, tools, and objects are made up of energy fields.
★ Shambhala Sun, a magazine inspired by the vision of Shambhala.
★ Shambhala is a point of destination for several characters in Thomas Pynchon's novel ''Against the Day''.
Comics
★ ''The Shadow'', published by DC Comics, says The Shadow learned his apparently superhuman skills while visiting Shambhala. In Howard Chaykin's 1985 miniseries, ''The Shadow: Blood & Justice'', Kent Allard (the Shadow) defends Shambhala from a plot by the real Lamont Cranston.
★ Also used by Prometheus, the "anti-Batman" villain created by Grant Morrison in his JLA run, it was considered the source of all evil and he was trying to discover it.
★ Marvel Comics published a graphic novel in 1986 called ''. The eponymous hero sought "Shambhala" as a metaphor for greater enlightenment.
★ In the 2000 AD ''Judge Dredd'' comic ''Shamballa'', Judge Anderson and a cohort of scientists and other Judges from around the world travel to Shambhala, deep underground beneath the Himalayas, searching for the cause and solution to cataclysmic events worldwide.
Music
★ Shambhala (music festival) is a yearly music festival held in British Columbia, Canada for five days.
★ Three Dog Night had a multi-platinum hit song called "Shambala". It was written by Sufi poet Daniel Moore and originally recorded by songwriter B.W. Stevenson.
★ The Rockapella musical group performed a cover of the above song, on their ''Smilin'' and ''Primer'' albums.
★ The Beastie Boys have a song called "Shambala", on their ''Ill Communication'' album, which features samples of monks, presumably Buddhist, chanting, and segues into "Bodhisattva Vow", an avowed acceptance of the Buddhist lifestyle in rap.
★ The The Tibetan Song and Dance Troupe of Diqing has an album titled "Shambala is not far away."
★ The black metal band Alpha Drone have a song called ''Shambala Serrano''.
★ The rap groups Jedi Mind Tricks and The Lost Children of Babylon often referenced Shambala in their early recordings.
★ Afrika Bambaataa & WestBam have a song "Agharta - The City of Shamballa"
★ Donovan included a song called "Shambhala" on his 2004 album Beat Cafe.
★ The first track of the album "Tai Chi Too" from Oliver Shanti & Friends is called "Journey To Shambala."
★ Matthew Sweet has a track called "The Big Cats of Shambala" on his ''Living Things'' CD.
Software
The Shambhala codebase and module API, introduced to the Apache HTTP Server in 1995, was the foundation for the Apache 1.0 release.
See also
★ Hyperborea - A mythical Greek land.
★ Kalachakra - The Vajrayana Buddhist body of scripture which introduced Shambhala.
★ Kings of Shambhala - A summary of the seven Dharmarajas and twenty-five Kulika Kings.
★ Sanat Kumara - The deity believed by Theosophists to be the god of our planet is said to live in a city called Shambala on the etheric plane.
★ In the movie, , the nazis believe that Edward Elric's homeland Amestris, which is in another world, is the legendary Shamballa.
★ White Magic (Alice A. Bailey) - White Magic adepts said to be able to spiritually travel to the etheric city of Shambala.
References
1. Tibetan Mandala, Art and Practice, The wheel of time ed. by Sylvie Crossman and Jean-Pierre Barou, 2004. pp.20-26
2. The Tantra by Victor M. Fic, Abhinav Publications, 2003, p.49.
3. The Bon Religion of Tibet by Per Kavǣrne, Shambhala, 1996
4. Hindu Miths by A.L. Dallapiccola, The British Museum Press, 2003, p.26
5. Shambhala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa, Shambhala, 1988
6. Prisoners of Shangri~La, Tibetan Buddhism and the West by Donald S Lopez Jr, The University of Chicago Press, 1998
7. Himmler's Crusade by Christopher Hale, John Wiley & Sons., Inc., 2003
8. Roerich East & West by Kenneth Archer, Parkstone Press 1999, p.94
★ Berzin, Alexander (2003). The Berzin Archives. ''Mistaken Foreign Myths about Shambhala''.
★ Martin, Dean. (1999). "'Ol-mo-lung-ring, the Original Holy Place." In: ''Sacred Spaces and Powerful Places In Tibetan Culture: A Collection of Essays''. (1999) Edited by Toni Huber, pp. 125-153. The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, H.P., India. ISBN 81-86470-22-0.
★ Bernbaum, Edwin. (1980). ''The Way to Shambhala: A Search for the Mythical Kingdom Beyond the Himalayas''. Reprint: (1989) St. Martin's Press, New York. ISBN 0-87477-518-3.
★ Jeffrey, Jason. Mystery of Shambhala in ''New Dawn'', No. 72 (May-June 2002).
★ Trungpa, Chogyam. ''Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior''. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 0-87773-264-7
★ Le Page, Victoria. [1] ''Shambhala: The Fascinating Truth behind the Myth of Shangri-La.'' Quest ISBN 0-8356-0750-X
Further Reading
★ Allen, Charles. (1999). ''The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History''. Little, Brown and Company. Reprint: Abacus, London. 2000. ISBN 0-349-111421.
★ Martin, Dean. (1999). "'Ol-mo-lung-ring, the Original Holy Place." In: ''Sacred Spaces and Powerful Places In Tibetan Culture: A Collection of Essays''. (1999) Edited by Toni Huber, pp. 125-153. The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, H.P., India. ISBN 81-86470-22-0.
External links
★ Shambhala Buddhist Community
★ Victoria LePage
★ Shambhala Publications
★ Shambhala Sun magazine
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