Shambhala

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For other uses, see Shambhala (disambiguation).
Kalachakra thangka from Sera Monastery (private collection).
Kalachakra [1] thangka from Sera Monastery (private collection).

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.

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[edit] 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 Kalkin Kings (Tib. Rigden), a monarch who upholds the integrity of the Kalachakra tantra. 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.[citation needed] 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 Kalkin king will emerge from Shambhala with a huge army to vanquish Islam 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.

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 a Portuguese Jesuit priest and explorer, Estêvão Cacella, in 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 H.P. Blavatsky alluded to the Shambhala myth, giving it currency for Western occult enthusiasts. H.P. Blavatsky compiled a fifteen-hundred-page, two-volume cocktail of bogus Tibetan wisdom, evolutionary science and races - The Secret Doctrine, with its swastika-decorated cover. 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Shambhala in popular culture

[edit] Movies

In the 2004 adventure movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the two main characters make a journey in the city of Shambhala, hidden deep into the Himalayas.

The Three Dog Night song "Shambhala" 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. Shamballa is instead said to be underground.

[edit] Television

[edit] 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 game.

[edit] Anime

The Fullmetal Alchemist movie is titled Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, and touches upon the Thule Society's fascination with the mythical place.

[edit] Books

  • 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. It also details the significance of prayers and positive thoughts in our life.

[edit] Comics

  • 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 Dr. Strange: Into Shambhala. 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.

[edit] 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 has a song called "Shambhala" on his 2004 album "Beat Café".
  • 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.

[edit] Software

The Shambhala codebase and module API, introduced to the Apache HTTP Server in 1995, was the foundation for the Apache 1.0 release.

[edit] 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, Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa, 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] External links

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