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THE LEGEND OF IN EASTERN AND WESTERN INTERPRETATIONS

Victoria Ornitrieva Religious Studies

MC GlLt UNIVERSITY November, 1997

A thesis submitted to the FaaiIty d Graduate Shidies and Research in partial fuffilment of the requiramentr of the degree d Master Arts- National Libiary Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington OttawaON KIAW OaawaON KlAW Canada CaMda

The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une Iicence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, dism%uteor seil reproduire, prêter' districbuer ou copies of this thesis in microfoxm, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de rnicrofiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique.

The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thése ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. I would like to give my deepest thanks to professor Richard Hayes, my thesis supervisor without whose encouragement and guidance this thesis would not be possible. 1 am endebted to al1 the librarians in Canada, USA and Russia who assisted me with the collection of materials and data. Many thanks are also due to people who expanded my knowledge on the Shambhala legend. Among them are MichaiI Chiriatiev, president of the Roerich and society of St - Petersburg, Daniel Entin, director of the New York Roerich Museum, Edwin Bernbaum, the author of The Way to Shambhala, and -pa Mipham Choogyal- 1 would like to give my special thanks to the - pa lama Chopgyet Trichen for the blessing of this work. The legend of Shambhala incorporated in the Ti&- Canon, has been one of the favourite motives of Tibetan throughout the centuries. High and laity alike venerated the legend connecting their innermost aspirations with it. For some it represents a mystical millemial country revealing itself only to the chosen ones, while others perceive it as a symbol of the hidden treasures of the mind. This way or the other, the legend of Shambhala remains a living belief for many. The present hardships of Tibet made the legend with its leitmotif of future victory of Buddhisrn, especially viable. When the legend reached the West in the beginning of this century, it inspired many westerners including political leaders, and acquired diverse and innovative interpretations. Conveying the ever cherished human dream of a better world beyond ours, the legend of Shambhala proved to be a ubiquitous symbol surpassing its original Buddhist framework. La légende de Shambhala, incorporée au mon ~ibétain est un des motifs les plus répandus du bouddhisme Tibetain depuis des siècles. Les haut lamas, aussi bien que les laïques, vénèrent cette légende et y associent leurs aspirations intimes. Pour certains, elle représente un pays mystique et millénariste qui ne se révèle qu'aux élus, tandis que d'autres y voient un symbole des trésors cachés de 1 'esprit. Quoi qu'il en soit, la légende de Shambhala reste une croyance vivante pour Le peuple, Les souffrances présentes du Tibet rendent cette légende, avec son leit-motif de la victoire future du bouddhisme, particulièrement actuel. Lorsque la légende parvint en Occident, au début du vingtième siècle, elle inspira un grand nombre d'occidentaux, y compris des leaders politiques, et s'y enrichit d'interprétations variées et innovatrices. En transmettant le rêve humain, chéri depuis toujours, d'un meilleur monde situé par delà le notre, la légende de Shambhala s'est avérée un symbole qui a su dépasser son cadre bouddhiste originaire. CONTENTS

Inircduction

1. Shmbfiala Myth: Crigin and Essence

L, Kclocâkf~: HIst~riczL

3. ShsJnShala and Western Interpretation Earth INTRûDUCTIûN What is the uniqueness of the Shambhala legend thct recaineci i- - LS popularity and significance tnroughour centuries? Why did it turn out to be so alive and inspiring for ncsses ~0thirr the East and the West? 'mat was che original motivation of its promulgators: thirst for power or - conpassiori or DouhFsatîvas? Mat does the Legend tell ils about auddhisrn, religion ir, general, the world, human spirit znQ ILS pocenclal? firrswering these questions means designing the xell-deserved niche that the legend should occupy in . . nrriory snd pnenomenology of religion, The present thesis will attempt to look at these issues, rhougn ihey rriighc require more thorough exmination than that allowec! in the frdmework of an M.A. thesis. In its course we

-1- WLL irace ine hiscary or- the Shambhala myth from its original Indian-Tibetan context into the modern world and discuss the of ten incredible transfo-nztions the legend underwenî - Shapter two of the thesis is devoted Co the history of - - Sc-acakro, the min teaching of ShamDhala chac is ~elievedto have Seen kept there before its coming to India in the tenth cênrüry -A.2. Several versions of the KZlacakra nistory available to us now outline distinct perspectives for future scccy znc research Chat wy contribute to Buadhist studies and elcpand our knowledge of the in India 2ri.d Tibe~. The myth of Shambhala is not exceptional in the sense zhx folklore of the countries neighbouring Tibet is rich iri, stories of mythical or historical places that served as the oirrhplaces and strongholds of different religious beliefs. The comparative study and analysis of the myths similar to the Sharnbnala legend can be reciprocally beneficial; hence chapter one deals with the original Shambhala myth as well as witn its Central and Eastern -9sian counterparts.

Lnapcer ïnree will review mricus interpretâtions of che ShamShala nyth in the West. We will see how the rnyth, having cornpleïely lost ics Tibetan idenïiry, became o weapon in ïhe hands cf àifferent ~>oliticalparties and movements. In chopter four of the Chesis we will exmine some modern Tibetan ana Western trends of the Shambhala rnyth ixe-rprecction. IR conclusion, we will attoompc co look into ciie imer s-yn-tbolism of the legend and to discern its --"uLLiversal message.

Review of Liwature. Fortunately, we have at our disposa1 of the precious . - rnszerlcls of mjur (BkaiD agur) and T!ur (Bstar! agur) collection, known as the r,r>rin, that is the primary va~ic soiirce of information, aiong with the Rrrws' reflererices to Shambhala and its future role in our planetrs sclvztion. Mm and mataaiso contairi passages related to Shambhala. The ~ibe- is primarily valid from the Buddhist point of view as t contains "Buddna Vacana", the words of the Buddha, representing an indisputable authority for MohZyZnî ana Tantric buddhists , According to E .Bernbaum, "rhe Kalstcakrd texts contain sermons delivered by the Buddha in wkich he ciescribes Shambhala and the role it will play in history" (Bernbaum, 28) . Being a "sarvajHZr (dl-knowing) , ~heEnlightened One could not possibly rnislead his devotees. -As the legendary land of Shambnala became known through ~heKaiacakra systern, a part of the T'wm, the latex scholarly researches on Kalacakra by Hoffmann, Mullin, Hopkirs, Newman, Orofino and others, are very valuable. However, the XZlaw Tmea itself, though highly esoteric, coàed, and basically not transla~ed into any European a languaçe, Ls paid much more attention to in the modern academic world than the actuâl place of origination and preserva~ion of this highest - This can be partially explaineci by tne iacic of the scholarly approveci sources, as well as by che extreme vagueness of ahost al1 existent materials 03 Shamjhcla. The most ample and detailed of the recerrt pu~licationson the subject is The Way to Shambhala by - ~.Bern~~-m.Sesiaes chat, we have TIO reiy on racner scattered pieces of infomtion in various Buddhist and Tibetological periouicak chai ac best devote a few lines, or paragraphs, .co Shambnala, usually in connection with tne Kalacakra s~uciies, or Kalacakra Iniriacion wnicn nas recently become vory popular iri the West. hnother body of literature on Shambhala, though rather abuncanc ânC of some acaa&c value, has a preaominantly occult, in otner words, obscure character, and is not esseniiclly effective irr shetiàing light on one of the worlà's most concealed rnysteries. The peculiarity of the topic is

-n-L;i~?i the rnDre ii ioses contacc witn tne original source, the more it loses couch with reality, acquiring more eccentric, sornezines àistorting, ana sometimes, as we shall see lacer, even menacing interpretations, A comparatively recent inilerest of wescern scholars' in the anclenr, syçtems of "sacreci geography" or "geo-nancy" ee~s to be closely connected to the legend of Shambhala- An atiempt is mtide to seek for equally holy, powerfci and auspicious areas that have tangible physical locations on this planet, anci are not so nopelessly iflaccessible as the kingdom of Shambhala. The results of the search that is mostly cdrrieà out in Tibet and Nepal are widely discussed in periodicals,

Bishop, Contwell, Buffetrille, Ehrhard, Stutchbury, Huber, Loseries, Reinhard have been writing extensively on the subject. "Messieurs, lorsqu'en vain notre sphere Du ~onhetrrcherche le chemin, Honneur au fou qui ferait faire Une reve heureux au genre humair, ! "'

SBAMBBALA MYTH, =GIN ES-. The legend of Shunbhala enchants one first of cl1 with its e:4:ceptior,âl s-übii~~ebeâüty. âgeless BZsn drea cf ân cttainàbie empyrean is vividly embodied in tne legend, As al1 .-- . - u ~~pian/rti~iiennisinytns, che legend of Sharnbhala aspires CO elevai;e su~ls&ove rnediocrity and prosiness and direct mincis i~wârdseternity. Narracion aDout tne existence on this planet of beings more refined than ourselves brings a tremendous hope Ter- a foasible crânsfo-mtion of oneself ana subseqriencly chis world. The legend shines like an immaculate pearl in tne sea of - - ~rciuLiies. IL is uneasy co reach, yei not for a sKilleci swimmer. -- ~nîSEraiinaia legena Deing a part of 3ucidnist Canon, snares -. - -~nls nope-giving salvific qualiiy with all worla religions. Tne Shambnala legenci preserves its original aucnencici~y and for centuries has remaineci tne subject of utter veneraiion ana worship among Ti~etans ana Mongois. Sne FZiacaitra - O,wnicn is one of cne mosc frequenï, well-icnown an6 weil-attendeti Buddhist religious ceremonies of nowadays, involves Cne Asian as well as h'estern aciherencs of tne aucidhist fairn. One of tne most siqnir'icanc parcs of ine initiacion is ~heDelief in cne r'usure re~irthin cne ~lissfulcouncry or' Snam'Dhaia. The initiates are supposeci to take part in the great r ' ~llidlbdiLie UL Snambkidla aydinst tne barbarians, i.e. al1 the foes of Buddhism, to die as heroes and, to be eventually reDorn

---

* Rernn~or, P - - Ri hLi~>theqyoFrzncaiso, XX ~ie~lE2. F)aris: Librairie Plon, 1913, p.211. Ln Sharnbhaia. Tnis widespreaa belief adds er~ormously to the concomporâry relevance of the legend. We will now take a closer look at the legend of Shambhala, its roots ana concents, ana iïs place in Buddhisrr. nistory and in the Buadhist world view. The task of finding the most appropriate definition of Sim~bhzlâ is not easy cofisidering the possibiliiy or' niany different neanings of the word3 depending on the point of percoptiorr- What is Shambhsla: A legendary Himalayan abode of wisaon G~Ulongevity, an enlightened state of mind, or z universal symbol of the ? What directions should be fcllowea LO fina it? 1s it in Tibet or China, Gobi or Takia Makcn desert, or, as some lamas assert, in the kingdom of onefs

2 . The Tibetan for the "Shambhala" (%mbhZla) Fs "Sdo 'Sdwngl', "che source of happiness" (see Sarat Chzndra 32s. A Tibetan-English Dictionary, with Sanskric Synonyms, rev. ea. [reprinc ed,, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 19761, p?. 670 cna 1,231. "This translation is not immediately evident from the Sanskrit. 'Shamf (Sk. 'Samf does mean \ -nâppiri_essfând 'tranquilityf, but 'bRalaf is a term of ünceri~izmeacing, possi~ïy derivea from the obscure verbal root '5Ralf, whicn may mean 'Co giver (see Sir Monier- Williams, A Sanskrit-Engllsh Dictions-ry, new ed. [1899; reprint ed., London: Oxford University Press, 19701, pp. 748 crd 1,354) (Bern~zum,270). Gar-je Kfam-trul Rinpoche gives some other versions of the "Snâmbhala" etymoLogy. Accordirig to one of them, "there wâs a mernber of the Sakya clan by the name of Snambhaka who conïrolled this region and thus it received hhs, name". Also, "the Source of Happiness " is another name or Siva ana thus ShxrbCalo is the "Land held by Siva"" (Gar-je K'am-cru1 Rinpoche, 7) . Considering the fact that 'siva is included in the Buddhist pantheon, the latter supposition may be right. A. Senkevitch gives a similar interpretation. His opinion is chat the word "ShambhaIal' derives from one of 5iva's names, Le. "Sambhu" and "alaya" meaning "abode". He mentions yec another version which traces back the etymology of "Çhambhala" to the Sanskrit word "sambari" - meaning "magic" or "sorcery" (Senkevitch, 444) . hearr? Even the geographical locations of the "earth" Shambhala vcry . Gar- je Kram-trul Rinpoche says chat Shambhala ' s "appearance varies according to one's karma" (K'am-trui Rinpoche, 3. The legend itseLZ is engulfed in sucn ün ixpenetrable rnystery that it leaves a vast space for all sorts af fonïasies, guesses and hypotheses, sometimes taking as we shall see later, the most implausible, and not to mention -d~iSCleIlC11lC~ - - IOrmS. -As was rnentioned above, the earliesc references to Sharnbhzla are found in Tanjur and 4 . The oldest written 'information about Shanbhala is dated in the eleventh century A.D. At chai the many original Sanskrit, works were translated icto Tibetan. Before their coming to India and to Tibet in the eleven~hcenxury A.D. cney were supposea CO nave neen preserved in tne lana of Shambhala for about a thousand years. Besicles chct funamenta1 body of literamre, rnany additional works, botn prose and poetry were composed; unfortunately, most of ï3em sire iost. Since oral tradition and transrriission are very vicai in Tibetan Buddhisrn, chey probabiy played the most

4 . As was rnentioned earlier, the works on Kâlacakra cantra mci its cornentaries are still awaiting their Enqlish translài,Ion. Therefore, al1 the information regarding the description of .the Shambhala kingdom basically derives fron two sources: E.BernbaurrPs The Way to ~haÏnbhala and & Geography and History of Shambhala by Gar-je K'am-trul Rinpoche, that are based on the partial translations of the prirrary sources such as "KZong rd01 bla ma ngag dbang biobzang, Dus kyi 'knor 10 'i 10 rgyus dang snam bha la 'i zhing bkod bcas in Ven. Dalama, ed., Tibetan of kl on-rdd &la-ma Nag-dban-blo-bzan (Mussoorie: Vari,. Dalw, 1963) 1: 128-32; the Third , 810 bzang dpal ldan ye snes, Grub pati gnas chen po sham bha la5 rnam bshad' pnags yu1 gyi rtogs brjod dang Scas pa (block print, 50 folios), fols. 41b-44a (cormnonly referred to as Sham bha la 'i lam yig), Tibetan text and German translation in AïSert Grunweael, ed. and trans. Der Weg nach Sambhala, Abhandlungen der Koniglich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaf ten 29, No crucial roie in preservation of tne legenà cil1 our aays. ilegaraing rhe location5 of the glorious kingdom, ihe oarliest cexts poinc co tne north of Boaiigaya, The guiaebooks ilara6 - yiyj ùescribirrq Cile routes io s"iiarriùil;tla usuaily yive very aifferenc àirec~ions ana cnere is no certain consensus on -- a Sfixribnala :s exacz locacion. nowever, cne ciescriprion or ïne icingciorn is given in great aetail. Lt is said tnat the kingaom i co~riple~eiysurr-ouiiüeü by sriow mouncains making it airriost unreacna~le,Some cexrs Say cnac ~o enter Snambnala one kas to - - -. L~'j- aver ïne mounrain ranges. 'me flighc snouid De carriea ou^ with ine help of spirituai powers, not using any macnines. - insiae tnoc outer ring there is another ring of everi higher mcun~ains aiviàeci into eignt parts Dy rivers ana smaller rnomcains. Tnese parts, GT fegions, resemble eîgnc locus petals, each of which contains twelve principalities ruled by a local prince. Thus, tnere are ninety-six princes who are loyal to cne King of Snambhala. As Gar-je K'am-cru1 Rinpoche us, "cnere are 120 million cities in eacn of cne pecals of ihe lotus, making 960 million cities altogether. For each 10 miilion cicies there are 8CG, 000 councies wnicn constiruee one icingciom" (K'arn-cru1 tiinpoche, 7). The cities are full of golaen-roocea pagmas and beautiful parks. At tne very centre of the lotus Elower, in the inner ring -. xes Kalapa, che capicaï or' Snambhala. Two laices in a s~apeor' G! naif rnoori and a crescent and filled with jewels are to the east and wesï of the city, To che souch of the capital there is a park of sanaalwood trees called Màlaya, wnere a huge

3 (Kriich, l915), pp. 70-74" (Bernbam, S?Q), 5 - Here we discuss only the original geographical locacion of Shambhala as indicated in the primary sources. hlen the myth of Shambhala reached USA and Europe, a tendency ernerged to locate it elsewhere, incluàing USA and Russia. KSlacakra . . was built by the first King of Shambhala, Sucaridra. To cne north, che shrines and sacred images are located, as well as "the palace cornplex where the religious kirigs, tne Solders of the castes, reside" (K'am-trul Rinpoche,

The King's palace, "larger than that of Indra" (K'am-trul - /j is glittering in the micdïe of che capital compet ing ir, Driqhtness with the suri and the moon. Its roof is mcde of pure goia and che ornaments of precious stones such as diamonds, pearls, emeralds and sapphires . Special crystals are i-nbecdeà in the floors and ceilings to regulate the cemperature of the interior. In the centre of the palace is the golden ~h-irone of ïhe King supported Dy eight carved licns and ciecorated with wonderful gems. The King is the holder of the rnzgic wish-r'ulfilling jewel (Cinekani) given to h by the naga-deities . In Gar-je kW am-trul Rinpoche's description of the SharnDnala King's treasures, Fnstead of CincZnani, we fina an "Fnexhaustible treasure vase, the wish-fulfilling cow, the 32.50~2ha-rvesc 2nd the wish-granting tree" (K'm-trul Rinpoche, 8). The King is surrounded by a splendid retinue always at the recay to perfo-m bis command. He has horses, elephants and al1 kinds of vehicles including an aircraft "made of stone". The S~CKof gold and gems is tremendous, "Al1 the new products for daily samsaric use have been manufactured spontaneously without any efforr ...it is expiaineà thzt ail of this has corne about by the compassionate prayers of the Buddhas and by the force of the kama of sentient beings in general ..." (K'm-trul Rinpoche, 8 ) . Al1 the inhabitants of Shambhala live in absolute peace znà nârmony, free of sichess or hunger. They are al1 of a he~lthyand beautiful appearance and Wear turbans and white cloches. Their language is Sanskrit. Al1 of thern are extremely 9 wealthy but have no need to use their wealth, There are no such chirios as physical punishment or imprisonment as there is nobody to be punished. "As al1 the kings are religious ones, there is not even a sigri, of non-virtue or evil in these lands. Even the words 'warr and 'enmity' are unknown, The happiness anci joy ca cornpete with chat of the gods" (Gar-je K'm trui Xinpoche, 7). Shambhalafs inhabitants are not mortal, but their Iife span is fairly long, about one hundred years- They devote rheir life fully to the attainrnent 02 enlightenment by studying and ?racticing the KSlacakra Tantra, and they bring up their children to do the same. We will later discuss the origin and . . r.;sïory of the KZlacakra Tantra in greater deïail. We my just mention now that Eor the Kalacakra practitioners is not somecning different and distant from everyday Iife, or, in other words, from samsara, Their equality is the core of comric teachings. A tzntric practitioner does not avoià poison; on the contrary, he readily drinks and transfo- it ixo the nectar of wisdom. Thus Shambhaia dwellers are not renunciants or ascetics; they enjoy al1 pleasures of samsara, simlioneorisiy mina them as the means of liberariori,. Thânks to their positive attitude towards the material world, Shambhala's inhabicants are saic! to have aeveloped quite advclnced techrrology, as well as medical and astrological systems. This is che testimony of Tibetân texcs that are believed to have oriqinated in Shambhala, There are also descriptions of special skyiighcs made of lenses acting "like high-powered telescopes to reveal life on other glanets and solar systems" (Bernbaum, -1il). The Kin9 possesses a qlass mirror that enables him to see al1 that is happening miles away. "Stone horses with the power of wind" and "techniques for transmuting one chernical substance into another and ways of harnessing the energy of natural 10 forces such as wind" (Bernbaum, 11) are also described in the :S. The Fnhabicants of Shambhala possess al1 sorts of extraordinary psychic powers such as "the ability to read o.chers' cnougncs, CO foresee the future, and waik at very 'nigh speeds" (Bernbaum, 11) . They may also become invisible if the circumscances demând it, for exarnple in case of intrusion or attack, As a matter of fact, Alexandra David-Neel described an êpisoae which she witnessed nerself in Ti~ec: a Ti~ecanianâ runninq with stlch a great speed that his run reminded more of a flighc, with his feet seeming co be off the ground. Though Shûmbhala may look like a real paradise for the Lay people, the bign lamas consicer it to ~e rather a "Pure Land", an intermediary state between samsara and Nimana. long as ic obeys the laws of ka-i-mo, as long as Ft is tempora-q ir: cm only be a way to Nirvana, the final liberation beyond any . - aüâiicies of good ana evii, heaven ana hell. Good ana compassionate deeds are not enough for enlightenment. Only when ïne fruic of wisdorn is ripe can one become awake. Shambhala is believed to be the best place on earth for accumulating such wisacm. The present, beinq the twenty-first King of Shambhala is Ma-gag-pz (Skt. Aviruddha) As of 1978 A.D. M-gag-pa is said to have been on the throne for fifty years, therefore his successor, Mi-yi seng-ge (Skr;. ~arasimha), wili Be enthroneà in 2028 -4.D. as the reign of Shambhala Kings lûsts one hundred years. There will be tfiirty-cwo Kings altogecher. As their succession will 5e taking place, corruption and dilapidation will 8e ïaking over humanity. Religions will no longer be duLy respected, an aggressive materialism will rule the planet and spiritu21 attainments wili be of no value. The barbarians (Kla- Klo) , fighting each other for power, will be finally united unaer an evil King. After the whole world has submitted to him, Il the hidden land of Shambhala will reveal itself and the King, overwhelnaa with rage that he is lot rhe only mler of che world, will lead a war against Shambhala. Gar-je K'am-trul Rinpoche maintains that ''by the force of previous prayers and the infallible truth of cause and effect, the goddess Re-ma-te, (2x j in accordance with her wishes, will come to be the cpeen of this La-lo [ma-Ho] kingw (Krm-trul Rinpoche, 11)- S~E-dill goint io Shmbhala as yet unconquered. The Wa-kio kin9 will have all kinds of mighty terrible weapons at his disposal. This final batcle of Shambhala wich the Ha-klo army will be held in 2425 A.D. Then the thirty-second Shambhala King, iiudra Cakrin (The Wrathful One with the TWheel), will lead nis a-my- against the barbarians and will destroy them, thus bestowing the "perfect age1' for ac least a thousand years6. At that time the whole world will turn into Shambhala with no sickness or poverty, and no need to work to earn a living. Even reat at saints and sages of the past will return to life to i~achrrue wisdom, and many will attain enlightenment ~hrough the practice of the K3lacakral1 (Bernbaurn, 23) . As we can see, the Snambhala myth is not very different from other dreams and hopes of humanity for an ideal society. Sirniiar legends, stories and fairy tales exist ir! the folklore tradition of every country. The dream itself is very human and

6 . There is a controversy on the terns of the "golden age". Lmas use the number of Shambhala Kings and the length of their reigns for their calculations. The dates they get are different because they take the Buddha's death as the starting point of their calculations, and according to some Gotma died a little before 2000 B.C. while the usual version implies it happened around 500 B.C. Besides, some lamas suggesr that sometimes the reign of Shambhala Kings lasted nore or less than a hundred years. The common belief is that ihe thousand years of the golden age will be followed by yet another battle with the subsequent advent of . practical, tnere is nothing philosophically sophisticated and extrzordinarily loft-ÿ &out it. No one wouSa nind living a happy, healthy and Long life free of worries, diseases and wârs- Xowever, in addition to this rather mundane part of che Shambhala legend, it bears a great spiritual significance for the TiDeean people. First of all, it presents the ideal mode1 of Ruman existence, which is only justified by the West for -,Le _ ülcimate liberation. ünder the present trâçic circurnstances of the Chinese invasion and the extermination of Buddhism in nLmec, -. the legend may acquire even more tangibilicy. Though scholars (Tucci, Hoffmann) agree that the opposing Kia -klo forces are of Muslim origin, it is a peculiar coinciderice thac some of them will actually be Chinese: "In the future, there will be rncriy nationalities of La-los including the Hotu-zi) ând

Trer!-drtuu ( then-gru Iu) people in China.. ." (K1am-trul liinpocne, 9) . Even thcugn we are separaced by four or five hundred years from the tirne of the final battle against the KJc-klo, the prediction nây already have sone historical relevance. Thus, it is not hard to i-magine what dense inportance tne legend, especially its last part, connected to the victory of Buddhism, has for the Buddhist believers who were deprived of their homeland and cheir faith. If we look ot the victory which is supposed to be universal, from the Buadhist standpoint, we will see not just a mere overcoming of external enemies denoted as Kla-klo. It could be as well interpreted as the annihilation of the interna1 darkness of one's ignorant ego and the triunphal manifestation of love and compassion towards "the last blade of grassw that is to be liberated. The kingdom of Shambhala where everyone is preoccupied with spiritual practice for the purpose of eventual liberation can be perceived by believers as a pier, or some kina of departure point for the distant shore of nirvana. Since 13 Shambnala is extremely hard to reach, especially in our time of dogeri,erâtion, believers pray to be reborn there, CO participate ana Cie in ics great battle against barbarians thus ensuring ineir nexi during cne milienium chat is said to follow the battle, To make that possible, one should accumulate enough rnerit. In inis respect the belief ir? Shambhala has mcch in comon with the Maitreya myth which is oqualiy popular among - &ïacliiists. 12 fact, cne aecisive Shambhaia battie over darkness is the prerequisite for the inauguration of the golden age, hence of MzFtreya1s advent. Both myths encourage the acquisition of good karma that alone can bring one closer to Snxbnala or (and) Maitreya. Whereas the myth of Maitreya is prevalent in al1 Buddhist cou?tries, Shambhala has an espockally personal link wieh the Tibetan kart. It is a part of life of every Tibetan, and now proba8ly more chan ever. The belief that high lamas had their previous incarnations in Shambhala and will be reborn there evencuâlly is widespread. The Panchen Lama, for example "is supcosed to have been MaEjuSrFkirti, the King of Shambhala who sinplified the ieachings of Kalacakra and founded the present line of twenty-five Kings" {Bernbaum, 29). According to the Tibetcns ' belief s, the Pancnen Lama will incarnate as Rudrzt Cakrin and other high lamas will participate in the war as his officers. "Many of them jviz,, the lmasj already know the names and the ranks they will have: The Dalai Lamafs senior tuccr, for example, will be c? colonel in charge of the 5th Division, with the name of Senge Rinchen" (Bernbaum, 30) .

Parallel Legends. The existence of a rich variety of similar rnyths sharing the same archetypal concept (we may here cal1 it "Shambhala 14 orchetype") points to the vital significance this concept holds for 2 h-mari psycne. IL reflects a deep inherited striving for "anoiïherl', "better", "ideal" state of existence. The cornmon feccurê 02 à11 Shmbhala-related mychs is a belief in heâve~ily khgdom on earth. We will now look at sorne Eastern and Central Asiar;, myths chat my clarify sorne aspeccs of Shmbhzla. The Fiindu parallefs of Shambhala are so strikingly similar chat tkey right put into question the precedence of the TiDetâr; m-yth. According to the Hindu viewpoint, the periods of darkness 2nd golaen zge constânily succeed one another. When the conditions get especially bad, as for example, presently, Visnu mniEests himself in various reincarnations7 , nine of which have âlready been manifested, The tenth incarnation as Kalki is yet ;c ccrr~e. The Riras describe the pitiful conditions of chat age in oirnost the same tenns as KZlacakra texts: rdcaitn --- - cnd piety wii7 decreâse aay by daÿ, until the world will be wholly depraved. Then property alone will confer rânk: wealth wili 5e ïhe oniy source of devotion; pâssiori, will be the sole bond of union between the sexes; fclsehooa will be the only rneans of success in litigâtion; û.in Be~n~aum,821

7 . The ten reincarnations of Visnu are as follows: Fish, Tortoise, Wild boar, Lion with human -head, Dwarf, Dasta Rama, RZxta, Krisqa, Buddha*, Kalki. This particular reincarnation of Visgu is not approved by Buddhists. On the contrary, it is suggested thât Buddha might have been an incarnation of Vi.s~u, not vice versa, According to the great Tibetan historian Bu-ston ( 1290-1364 ) cne nincn incarnation of Visju was not Shakyamuni. "This legerîd which daims Vishnu to be regenerâted as Buddha reflects the fact that Buddhism declined and was absorbed -ir,t~ - Elinduisrn ifi Iridia from the 8th century, thereby creating confusion between the images of Buddha and Vishnu with each orner" (Dâmdiasuren, 46) . 8 . From the Va- 4.24, trans. in H.H. Wilson, trans., The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, ed. F. Hall (London: Trubner& Company, 1868) 4 : Visnu. * will then reincarnate as Kalki in the village called Shdfiala ! } He will gather and lead che greac amy against the evil forces riding a beautiful white horseg, holding a

sword in his hand. Ee wili then re-establish righteousness upon earth; and ne minos or" those who live at the end of the age of strife chall be awzkened, and shall be peflucid as cryscâl. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that ceculiar cime shall be as seeds of human beings, and shall -ive Dinh to a race who snall follow the lctws of the goiaen age of puririy (quot. in Bernbaum, 83) According co E.Sernbaum, there is one Sanskrit version srhich directly refers to Rudra Cakrin as ~alki". Sesides, some

4 . In some versions of the legend Visnu's horse is called YP~alki. Indian art often depicts Vis~uwith a winged steed, or wich the head of a horse, In the Tibetan myth the Shambhala Kicq enters i~to"tne meditation of the best of norses" (Sernbaum, 84) thus defeating the barbarians. In both myths hcrso s~~clisesthe supernarural power of both Kngs to cvercome the evil forces.

'O. From the Vishnu Ruana, p. 229-

11 . E. Bernbaum refers to Vira and Chandra, Kalacakra- Tantra and Other Texts, Pt.1, p.339. nong rd01 bla ma mentions Kings of Shambhafa with the names of incarnotions (Skt.avatar) of Visnu in Sham bha la 'i zhing Skod, Tibetan i3uddhist Studies, 1: 134-35. of his successors have the names of Rama and other incarnations of Vis~u.IL is saià also chat the name of rne general, ïhe assistant of Rudra Cakrin in the crucial combat, will be Xanm-anàa. Ii sounds almost the same as Hanuman, the rnonkey goa of the ~àrniïmwho helped Rama to defeat the demon RZvaga- aozh Kalki and iicdra Cakrin are supposed to be born in Shcmbhala. The only difference between Hindu and Buddhist legenas is iha~in Hindu version Sha-abnala is a sn~allvillage the location of which is not specified, The region that Kalki 1ç supposed to conquer lies between the Ganges and Yamuna river in Che North India- There is an actual place called "Shambhal" in chai region. However, K&l&î RU-'' claims thaï after each conquest Kalki avatara always cornes back to his birthplace, meaning ir is located elsewhere. Hindu texts, as well as TFbetan, describe Shambhala as an extraordinary place. Kalapa, the capical of che Tibetan Shambhala, also appears in the Hindu nyth but sirnply as a place where a sage King named Maru dwells. 3e is supposed CO join Kalki in the final battle after which he will become the avatZra1s assistant in establishing the golden age .. Though the Hindu influence on the Buddhist myth is quite possible, "the prophecy of Kalki represents a fairly lare development of Hindu mythology that may have borrowed some of its featüres from Buddhism" (Ber-nbzum, 84). Obviously, Ft was rather o. mutual influence, and it is hard to judge which one was prior to which. Leaving the question of seniority aside, the inportance of the two myths lies in the sense of the ul.i_iversality of the prophecy they share- Tt is interesting to point out that the Hindu version suggests that the Kalki

12 . See Hazra, R.C. Studies in the Upapuranas, Calcutta Sanskrit College Research Series, No 2 (Calcutta), 1958 ) avatara advents not just once but whenever the world, In its ecerrial revoiution, reûches its utmost decline. This feature mignt be as well applied to the Tibetan version. mentions another blissful norrhern coiintry that has a great resemblance with Shambhala. It is Uttarakuru (Northern Kuru) : On the south of the Nila mountain and ~henorthern side of Merii âre the sacred Northern K~rus, O King, which are the residence of the siddhas, the enlightened sages. The trees there bear sweet fruics and flowers, . .Some of tne trees, again, O King, yield fruits according to the will of the plucker. There ore again some other Crees, O King, chat are called milk-yielding, These always yield milk and the six different kinds of food of the caste of Anrita itself [nectar of immortality] , , . The people of that country are free frorn lliness and are always cheerful. Ten thousand and ten hundred years they live, O Kingi3 and never abandon one another (quot. in Bernbam, 8 9 ) Mociern scholars" date the myth of Uttarakum as far as 9re-Buddhist tirnes. Its locarrion lies in the same direction as Srmnbhaiâls, to the north of the Ximalayas which is often Fdentified as Kunlun mountains, Pamir or Altai. This situates - - uctcrakuru in the basin of Tarim (SItZ; river, or sornewhere iri Siberia, the most probable locations of Shambhala. E. 3ernba-m suggests that Uttarakuru could once have been an actirsl country located in a beautiful oasis of the Tarim

13 . From the -ata 6.8, adapted from trans. in Pratap Chandra Roy, trans., The aha ab ha rata of Krishna- Dwai~avna Vvasa. n.ed. (Calcutta: Datta Bose & Co.. 19251

14 . See Harshe. Mount Meru. D-140; Buddha Prakash. Uttarakuru, "Bulletin of Tibetology '2", NO. 1 (1965). p.28; Nirmal C. Sinha, Notes and Topics, "Bulletin of Tibetology 2", No 1 (1963), pp.35-36; Shyam Narain Pande. Identificatio~, -of the Ancient Land of Uttarakuru, "The Journal of the Gânganatha Jha Research Institute 26", Pts. 1-3 (1970), pp.725-27. river, and its rich natural resources couid have beerr pootically praised with a pe-Msçiblo embollishment. Like Shanbhala, Uttarakuru is said to bo &le to conceal its mysteries and treasures by becomlng invisible CO ordinary h~~mafieyeç. Amthex mysterious country closely related to Shambhala ' 5 is Clmolmgrinp . IL is consldered to BE ine Dirchplâce of BOR, tfle Fndigenous religion of Tibet. In both cases we nave che sme concept of the new enlightening teachings cornhg frcrr! s remote nysterious country, exactly the same way ZGlecakra ~eachingsnave criçinated from Shambhalz. FOT Bon practitioners, Shambhala is Olmolungring which -- l~catednorthwest of Tiber, behind the snow rnountains, arid wherc its King, Shenrab Mi-wo [gshon Rab mi ao), the great reacher cf 3cn, bras born fourteer, centilries before Budma Shakyamuni, Le. in 1917 B.C. The description of Olmolungring i very sixilar to that of Shambhcla. It has the sme lotus- flower shape with eight regions - petals. The only difference is c5at instead of the palace in the centor we find o rnountain Yungdrung (gyung drung), (nine - nine ways of Son) wirh Shenrab's throne on it. ~t- is also surrounded by tonples, cities ana parks, Just as the Indian yogis dared tc sesrch for the KZlacakro teachings in Shambhala, sorne Tibetsn yogis t ravelled to Olmolungring for the additional Bon ~eachings. As the legend States, before his visit to Tibet She~rabshot an arrcw thus creating a passage through the muxain rages, therefore everybody who decided to discover Olmolungring should follow "the arrow way" which is as

15 . 01 symbolises tne unborn; Mo, the unaiminishing; Luq, the prophetic words of Shenrab Mi-wo, the founder of Bon; and Ring, his everlasting compassion (The HandSook of Tibetan Culture, 13) , romantic as a flight recommended for of S'nctmbhala. Bonpos consider a great horiour to be reborn In Olrnolungring and pray for this precious opportunity as &auhisis pray for their rebirth in Shambhala. Shenrsb. as well as Kalki and Rudra Cakrin, will too appear at the dark zge of degeneraiion. He will not fight, though, Sut will bring a new form cf the old teachings to revive the abandoned ssiriïuai~ty.-. Keeping in mind the antiquity of the Bon religion and ics initial resistânce to the adopcion of Buddhism, followed Sy the subsequent assimilation with the latter, the Bon irifluence on the later Buddhist mythology is quite conceivable. On the other hand, the Bon Canon was not written aown until long after the Budmist Carion was es~ablished. and much of the Bon Canon appears to be copied ahost verbatim from the Buddhist Canon, which was Cranslaced from Sanskrit and Chinese. In China we also find myths relating to Shambhala. In the T'¢ng ciynasty poe-rn A Song of Peach-Blossom River a fisherman discovers a wondrous hidden country. an embodiment of an idecl Taoist sociecy. An older Chinese rnph tells us abouc the palace of the goddess Ksi Wang Mu, the Queen Mo.ther of ~neWest situatea in ïhe Kunlun mountainsL6. Eere we nave the same concept of paradise on earth with sorrows abandoned and

- -- - 16 . One of the possible locations of Shambhala. The location of Hsu Wang Mu palace corresponds ahost exactly to Sharnbhala location as some las see it. According to Chinese leqena, the goddess lives on a jade mountain north of the Kunluns and West of the Moving Sands "., -which coula refer to the shifting dunes of the Takla Makan desert ...,This would pst her palace northwest of Bodhgaya, the place of the Buaciha's enlightenrnent, in or beyoncl the Tarim Basin, the most likely location for the historical version of Shambhala" (Bernbaum, 87) . wishes fulfilled, where once every six thousand years Hsi Wcinq MG invices al1 rhe immorcals to éasée ïhe peaches of Fmrnortaiity growing in her garden. According to the Chinese sources, King Mu of the Chou Dynasty has visited Ksi Wang Mu around 1000 B-C, Lao Tsu, tne legendary founder of is believea to have lefc for the abode of Hsu Wang Mu where he is supposed to reside untiI now. E. Bernbaum rr~entions the versiori suggested ~y Wolfgang Bauer according to whicn Hsi Wang Mu refers to the original name of a place west of thina". The myth of Hsi Wang Mu which is older tnan the Shmbhala mych couid have been known In the areas of Cencral Asia wnere tne teachings of Kalacakra presumably took their origin. Tne Scythian nomads of the Asian steppes, who lived cromd the firsc rnillenriium B-C., had legends about a place sirnilar to Sharnbhala and Uttarakuru, E. Bernbaum's suggestion

Since the Scythians were probably an offshoot of the Aryan tribes who invaded India in the second millennium B.C. and brought with them the Vedic mythology of k'induism, rhe rnyth of Utcârakuru - and Shambhala - may have originated among the nomads of Central Asia and migrazed along with them CO the Inaian subcontinent - and to Europe as well (Bernbaum, 91)

Other relevant parallels can be traced in some regions of Central Asia, for exanple Kirgyzia and Mongolia. According CO the Kirgyz legenas, there is a great mountain named Muztagh Ata situsted in the western end of tne Kunluns with the city Janaidar on its summit. A magical plum tree grows there resembling the peach tree in Hsu Wang Mu kingdom, but ~filike che peaches brirrging immortality to everybody who

L I See Bauer, W. Search for Happiness, p. 95 tastes them, the plms of Janaidar release from immortality. The legend cells of a sage, who goc a chance to return home Sy eating the plums. This is reminiscent of the Buddhist iàeâl of who refuses to enter Nirvana until al1 sentient beirigs achieve it. It is noticeable that the sage was ïaker~ ~ackfiorne by c rider on a white horse. The sane features that are present in other Shambhala related myths are found here: the sacred mountain and lake, nagic fruits, sâgacious inhabitants, inaccessibility of the blissful land znd ïhe gift of Liortality thaï LE grants. Russian folklore had tales and legends about mysterious cities, islanas snd c~untriesruled by the sâges. Some of crie Starovery (Rus. Old Believers) who escâped the ~ersecüciori.~of the Orthodox Chürch in the sixteenth cei-tury A. D., settled down in the Alrrai" mountains, between Mongolia md Siberiâ, They have a legend about Belovodye (The White Waters), ûlso known as the White Mountains or White Island, a Land of truïh and wisdorn hidden far behind the greât deserts and rnountain ranges. MtaF inhabitants have stories about the acrenpcs rio reach the blessea countrylg. In his book Altai- Gimalci (Aïtai-Hinalayas) N. Roerich describes how he learned from the local inhabitants, that the first news of Belovodye haà corne from Küïmyks 2O and Mongols. The original source was

18 . Altai was the crossroads of different religious routes such as Old Believers, Buddhism in its Tibetan Lamaist form and Shamanism. ". Russian explorer of Tibet N.M. Przhevalr sky mentions that about 1860, one hundred and thirty Old Believers from Altai hâd reached the lake Lobnor in Tibet "presumably in the search for the blessed land of Belovodye" (Rudzitis, 21) . 2 O . Kahyks - Buddhist population of Siberia. In the sixceenth century A.D. Buddhisrn had spread from Tibet to Mongolia, Buryatia and Kaïmykia in the East Siberia and many 22 probably Suddhist, though for the Old Believers who blamed the deviation of the Official Church frorn whx they believed Co be the purest form of Christian faith, Belovodye became a symbol of their own aspirations for the future restoratlon of ïhe true spiritual Church of Christ. Nevertheless, the location of Belovodye corresponds to the Tibetan one found in Kazzjur. - easc from the Tarim basin in the mountains of norrheri, TiDer. Edwin Bernbaum suggests that the name "White Wacers" may refer to the salt deposits east of the Takla Makon Desert. We my draw here another parallel, i. e. another name of the Tarim river is Sita as we rnentioned before. If ~hisis a Sanskrit nme, it rneans "white". Cari- "White Waters" of the Russian legend refer to that? Fie find the story of the earliest journey co Belovodye in the "Sacred Legend of Belovodye", an account iecorded in 1893 irii one of che Russian Orthodox monasteries in the Tambov r~gion.The legend tells us about the very dawn of Russian Lhrisïianity. In 987 A.D. orifice Vladimir (known also as Vladimir the Red Sun) sent special embassies to different cosnrries in order .co choose the right religion for Russia ( then RI- Thpre x~reqix d~lenations nl tnq~ther. Then,

- Mongol and Kalmyk tribes had corne under Russian influence wLtn Lhaâ continued to bs the "spiritual home for the Russian subjects of Asiatic origin" (Ngawang Rabgyal, An Cverview of che Tibet-Russia ~elationshi~,"~ibetan Review", vol.XXV, No 2, February 90, p.10). In 1767 Russian Tsarina Sacherine the GreaZ (1729-1796) received a letter and a gifr: £rom the Seventh (1708-1757) for the first time in tne history of Russian-Tibetan relationship, At the same time the first Buddhist monastery in Buryatia that exists until now, was built . 2 1 . In 986 A.D. Prince Vladimir? a arandson of the Great orincess Olga, carried on the talks with Bulgarian konammedans, Khazar Jews, Gelman Christians and Greek Christians frorn Byzantium. In 988 Russia accepted the Greek 23 according to his own prophetic dreams and the advise of -=,-ner.=--. Sergei, a saint whose opinion he highly respected, Viodimir decided to send the seventh embassy te Belovodye thot cccording CO the anciens legend was an abode of divine beauty ând truth that couid be reached only by the called ones. Z'cther Sergei was appoinred DY ~hePrince to head che expedition consisting of 333 of his best wârriors and se-rvariis. 9kifry-six years krad qassed after tnat and nobody expected tnem to be back, when one day an old mnk arrived to Xiov from Constantinople. Expecting his death soon, rie disclosed a remarkable story at the confession, He was that farner Sergei who hâd been assigned to find Belovodye. He tben told a striking story of his adventures and hardships on che way, and how finally, having lost al1 his -eople, he reached che holy land of Belovodye known also under other nm~es stlch as "The Lanc of Living Fire", "The Land of Luminous Spirits", "The Land of Living Gods". Father Sergei said chor the tirne had not corne yet to comprehend al1 the sublime wisdom of Belovodye dwellers but it would be revealed CO the irus~wor~hyones in due time. Only seven people can roach Belovodye once in a hundred years and only one can stay there as long as he wishes. Father Sergei mencioned also that from there he was able to see al1 the events in the world and niake "cut of Dody" visits to different places such as Kiev and Constantinople. This is reminiscent of the high technologies of Shombhala described in the Rhnjur. Another name that should be mentioned in connection to Shmbhala is the legendary personality of ~esaZ~,or Gesar

Orrhodox form of Christizinity. 22 . The origin of the epic is unclear. As A. Fedotov points out " the greater part of the epic must have originated from among the nomadic tribes of North Eastern 24 Khan, a famous hero of the national epic of w,is very popuiâr with Tibetans, ~on~ols'~and other Central .aian populations to this day. A number of scnolars such as G. Roerich, Kozin, Nekludov, Stein, Houston, Fedotov, and recently Namkhai Norbu, interested in the topic. Alexandra Daviè-Neel, a famous explorer of Tibet, devoted tl book The Superhuman Life of Gesar of Ling to the epic hero in whicn Gesàr's link witn Snambhala is mencioned, In the course of history Tibetan lands added new features to the original epic a~d"cransfomed ic irito a vehicle for e-xpounding 8uddhist

Tibet" (Fedotov, A, Versification in the Epic of Gesar of Ling. "The Tibet Journal", vol. XIX, No 1, 1994, pp.17-21). The fiomcàic tribes who would corne to the North Eastern Tibet from the steppes of Central Asia, could have considerably inEliienced Tibetan folklore wi~htheir own epics and songs, cherefore &su of ZiAzng represents a compilation of various folklore motifs. Ge-1ugs-pa school of believes that the epic was composed by a Tantric lama-bard whereas che nomads of ma-rn and Hor provinces of Tibet consider Gesn of Z&ng to be a "poetical record of wars fought in crie ancient past" (Fedotov, 18). According to Namkhai Norbu, "even if we accept the historicity of the king of Ling, portrayed in the legends as a kind of superhuman hero endowed with the same miraculous magic powers as a yogi, manûsiddha or terton (gter-ston) , (revealer of sacred treasures!, it is difficult to establish exactly when he lived 2nd wnether he could really have accomplished, in the span of a single Iife-time, al1 the innumerable deeds recounted ri the poems ...lm (Narnkhâi Norbu, 4). G, Roerich refers to the attsnpts of "Grunwedel anc Potanin to prove tnat che Gesar legend was influenced by the legends about Alexander the Great popular in the East,and that the name 'Gesctr' is nothing but a Tibetan interpretation of the word Kaiser-Caesar" ( [translation is mine], G. Roerich, p. 331, 1993). 2 3 . Since the story of Gesar Khan became first known in Europe (1836-1839) owing to the translations of its Mongolian versions, it is the Mongolian versions of the epic that has been studied by scholars more extensively than the Tibetan ones.

(she) might encounter as interna1 natural obstacles to be overcome on the way to enlightenment? We are noc ale to ariswer these questions unless some further research is conciricteè. Xowever, we my note that the concept of a final battle against the barbaric forces pertains to the Kalki and Shzmbhala myths only. May we assume that it was a later addition Co Buddkrist and, possibly, Hindu myth as well, yLcvokec.c. r by the Islamic threac? Could rsne zoncepc of "gooa versus evil" combat be an adoption from other religion(s)? If this is so, we may suspect chat the Sharnbhala legena originally airned at spiritual growth involving a great amount of psychoiogical struggle, and only later, under specific political circumstances, this f ight was extended to external mes. We attempted here to look at some pasallels to the Sn~hâlânyth fmnd in the neighbouring Tibet countries. Similar myths can Se certainly found al1 over the world - in aricie-rlrï Greek mythology, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islom, Sufism, even Cornmunism. Homer's "Odyssey", The Middle East pic of Gilqmesh, medieval leqends of che Holy Grail, Dante's "Divifie Comedy" can be classified as related to ShcmDhaiâ for cl1 of them raise tne quesrrions of the ulti-mie spiriiual quest. The nistory of the appearance of KZlacakrâ teachinçs in India and later in Tibet is a relatively well-studied subject conpare8 ïo the iiiige body of mimaTa-, yer unrouchea by scholars. History of KZlacakra is important for Our purposes as ï3e only original textual eviàence of the possible existence of Shzmhhala, In KZlacakra Tantra Shambhala is presented not as some sort of supernal abode but as a seclilded, yei tangible place. Shambhala and KÉilacakra are closely interrelated, moreover each is the source of the other. Shsrmbhala became kriown to us primarily through the KZlacakra texts, which in their türn -. clam ïhe rnythical kingàom to be their place of origin and perseverance. Unlike the majority of Buddhist composed in rhe fom of Budcfha's conversstions with his disciples, Kalacakra Tantra portrays a sermon by the Buddha in the form of the Kalacâkro deity to the Shambhala King Sucàndra (reçarcied as the emanation of the bodhisattva ~ajra~ani'~),who along with his nirieïy-seven subjects came al1 the woy from Shambhala 5y rnagical powers of flight, to the of ~an~akataka~~in South India as it sheds more light on possible locations of

22 . "This is significant because Vajrapa~iis the chie£ redsctor of the teachings. Vajrapani and his various emarrations serve 2s the intermediaries between the Bcdàha and ordinary human ~eingsin tne transmission of the Vaj rayana doctrines" (Newman, 58 ) .

" . DhZnyakaf aka (Skt. accumulated rice) that "has been located in the proximity of the village of Fmaravati in the Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh in India, was the site of a marble stupa of considerable dimension, probably dating back to the second century A.D. or earlier, that was razed to the oroufici in the nineteenth century by a petty raja- Vestiges of the stupa are now preserved in museums of India and Europe (Orofino, 12) . nistorical Shambhala if one ever existed. KZlecakra canera belonos to the highest ciass of fnuttaraZ6 tantra which implies that its practitioners are likely to reach enlightenmen~ In their Iifetirne. Unlike other Anuctara chat appeared in India, KZlacakra had been presenred - ror thousands of years in the land of Shambhala until it was introduced to India in the tenth century A.G. by an Indian yogi . EGlacakra consists of three main parts. Outu -a-a deals wich astrological, historical and geographical issues; in ocher words, with external worlds. Xtanaz ltjlarrtra concentrates ori îne human body; it includes informacion on chanriels, winds, drops and mind; Karr&& is the ritualistic part referring Co various initiations ànd rites. While ocner M-uttara tantras normally have four initiations, Kalacakra has eleven", the cwo principal stages of which are che generation and the cornpletion processes. The Tibetan sources disaçree on the date of tne Kalacakra preoching. Some maintain that it happened rigbt after the &xkihar s ~nii~n~enment'~;others beiieve that the preaching at

2 6 . Anuttara (Skt.) - that which nothing is superior to. 2 7 . For rhe detaiiea descriptions of the KZlacakra initiations see Lhundup opa ai Jackson, Roger. Newmari, John-The Wneel or" Time The Kalacakra in Context, Madison, Wiscofisin: Deer Park Books, 1985., Dalai Lama, Hopkins, Jef frey, Tenzin Gyatso. Kalacakra Tantra. Rite of ~nitiation. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1991., Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey. Kalacakra Tantra. Dhzramsala, H.P:Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1994. 28 . According tc H, Hoffmann, Buddha preached the mlacakra Tantra at the two places sïmultaneously, i.e. at the Vulture peak near Rajagrha and at the stupa of DhZnyaka;aka i~-southern India near the sacred mountain Shriparvata associated with the nme of Nagarjunai The stupa "must have been an important centre of Buddhist Tantrismm (Hoffmann. 124) . 29 Dhanyakacaka took place before the Buddha's , Le. in the year of his passing awayZ9. Sucandra brougnr the teachings back to Shambhala where he wrote down the twelve cFLoüsanc verses of the Mülatantra (basic iext) with the lâcer commentaries, and built the Kglacakra mandala. The successor of 3 0 Sucafidrc, Ma-Ejur;rikTrti, (âlso known as Y&as ) simplified the original tantra in order to regain the interest and respect to

-7- - L~~TS~CTLGof tnirty-five million rishis (Skt. r~i)who ieft Shambhala to becorne the followers of another faith cts they foünd KZlacakra tanera too long and ~orn~licaced~~.As if. Hoffmann points out, this episode "is obviously a reference to

39 - According to Rva and Brc traditions, the Buddha ~reaching of Kalacakra at Dhanyakapka took place in the year of his Passing Away. However, mas-grub-xje argues that the preacning followed the Supreme Enlightenment of the Buddha oei159). 30 . YaSac became the first KaIki (Tib. rigs-Idan) of Sharrbhala "by combining al1 the castes of Shambhala into one vtijrc fmily" (Newman, 64). "In the Buddhist Kalacakra literaturo the epithet "kalki" assumed the specific meaning of sovereign-master, from "kalkah", a kind of tenacious paste or a paste used as plaster or cement, because he binds in unity, he cemenis ihe four castes, by conferring on therr. the adamantine initiationt' (Orofino, 12). This event had been prophesied by ihe BudcVia (see Newman, p.64)-

3 1 . King Ydsas taught the rishis Sri Efilrea, the aSridged tantra ( laghutan tra) that nowadays rêpresents the basic tantra for the Kalacakra system, Later Yasas taught some additional tantras entitled I'sri lG&ca&zat'nt=ottua Tantxrrhdanjirari (Peking #5) (Newman, 63) . He also redacted the /Sri ICdhacakzr- Taxzttrprtbb. (Peking P6) which is a condensation of the p-- -w (Newman, 63)- Those texts mostly consist of the buddhavacanam. The following two texts cornposed by Yasas, survived till today: the PradarSanZmmmt&~a,parik1LJ.h namm (Peking #4610) and the Trï~daysptrakah (Peking #2087) ,, a clcsh with some foreign religious system" (Hoffmann, 126). ünfortunately he does not specify what "religious system" tnat could be. What he does mention, though, is the apparent Lresence of tne foreign influences in Kalacakro. H. Hoffmann affims that the very fact that Klacakra originated in the rnysterious coiintry of Shambhaia with the definice fion-Indian location, points to the probable contributions of the foreign ie~cnings3 2 to the Kalacakra system. Historians agree upon the introduction of the KZlacakra to India sixty years before its appearance in Tibet. Le. in 966. Xziacakra ~ecameknown in Fndia under King Mahipala of Bengal who reigned c. 974-1026 (Hoffmann, 126). However, as Hoffmann, Neman, Roericn and other scholars indicate, the stories about the person who first brought Kalacakra into India Vary, even within che accouncs of the same historian. 3 3 The Indian custom according to which initiated yogis receive a new name after ecch -riew ~nltrâtion,*.. makes the task of identificatiori, rather difficult. Bu-ston, the fa-mous Tibetan historian, describes two versions or* Che scory as presented by two Tibetân traditions, Le. Bro and Rwa. 3 4 According to Rwa tradition, KZlacakra with

32 . H.Hoffmann thoroughly analyses these pcssible foreign influences iri, his article Kalacakra Studies 1. Manichaeism, Christianitv and Islam in the Kalacakra Tantra. 3 3 . Sum-pa mkhan-po writes: "The KZlacakra was brought from northern Shambhala by Tsi-lu-pa, Pi-to-pa or the great KilacakrapZda, which may be correctn (pot in Hoffmann, 126) . 34 . "Rwa" and "Bro" are the names of the two Tibetan clans (Newman, 66) . Rwa derives from the translater Rwa Chos rab who traveled to Nepal to study under pandit brnantaSri for five years, ten months and £ive days. After that both the and disciple went to Tibet and continued their work of translators and promulgators of Kalacakra. Bro tradition takes its origin from SomanZtha who, 31 its cornmentaries known as the -saetva cbqxu~arrived in India during the reign of tnree kings Dehapala, Jaugangapz and Kanâuj . A pandit of outstanding knowledge called Cilu ( fsi lu) decided co find the hidden kingdom of Shambhala in order Co receive the highest teachings of the ffilacakra as he realised thac enlightemnent could not be achieved without them. On his WQÿ he met a stranger who asked him where he was qoing- Having leârned rhût Cii~was deteznfned to obtain KZlacakra reachings, the strslnger suggested that Cilu could listen to them right there. With the realisation that the man was che emanation of 'la~ju'sr~~',Cilu prostrated himself before him. Thus. having received al1 the teachinqs, Cilu brought them back Co India. Later he resided in che present day Ciittack (Orissa) ana had three disciples upon whose request Cilu wrote down the coimentaries. 3 6 One of those threo, Piào (or Pinda:" 7cZs.a tooether with Ero Shes rab grags, translated the VimalapxahM inco Tibetan. 3 5 . Newman points to a number of discrepancies between the Rwz ana Bro versions. For example, ne notes that "none of the Kalkic in the the frme we are considering (after Pundarika and before Raudra Chakrin) are emanations of either or Avalolciteshvara" (Newman, 72) . 3 8 . According to Newman, there are only two works âctribused to Cilu in Tibetan Tanjur: a cornmentary on Guhyasm-ja (Peking #2709), and a short instruction on the Sadahgayoga (Peking #2090) . "Neither of these texts is intrinsically related to the Kalacakxa or the BdM8atttn Corpus (Newman, 72) . 3 7 . Newman pays a special attention to Pinda acarya considering him to be the most probable historical figure in promulgation of the Kalacakra doctrine. ~ipakkara~rij fT3na knowri alço as Atisa, refers to Pinda as his guru in his Sodhipathapra&pa (Peking #5343; vol.103, 21/5/1-4), and describes Pinda as a monk who "came from Suvar~advipa, i.e. Java" (Newman,72). One prayer of the Bro tradition speaks about the 32 became a distinguished expert in Bodhisrtm Co-. He, in his --un, becane a guru of KZlacakrapZda the Elder. Ir is said that KZlacakrapZda the Elder went to Shambhala (Newman, 68) with the assistafice of Wnite . On his way he met AvalokiteSvara who led him to the mandala situated in the Shambhala capital, Kclztpa. Hdving received 211 the necessary initiations he cane back to india. His disciple Kalacakrapada the Younger, also k~o-mas "Bodhipa" and "Nèlendrapa". He went CO NZlandZ anu placed the of "the Powerful One in Ten Forms", the s-mol of the Kâlacakra, 3 8 above the gates of the monastery and below it he wrote the following verses:

Thcse who ao not how rhe Pu&&bu&ha 3 9 , do not know the -sai@ti. Those who do not know the -tX, do not know the Gnosis Body of Vajradhara. Those who do not know the Gnosis Body of Vajradhara, do not know the Mantrayana. -Ali those who do not know the Ya~trayana, are smsaric: they are separate fs-m the path of Bhagavan Vajradhara (quot. in Newman, 69) . "blessings of Kalki Sripala at the end of the southerri ocecn" (Ne-man, 72) from which Nemn assumes that Pinda Scarya and Kalki %lpZlû are one and tne sa-me person (Newrnan, 72). 38 . Kalacakra mantra is represented by interwoven Tibetan lemers (aM AH InM IoO HUBf IœYZ )PL LZI WR RA YA HtBS Pm) of different colours symbolising the unity of the macrocosm and the rnicrocosm. It often appears above the gates of Tibetan monasteries.

30. The Prtmdibud8rr is the basic or root tantra (mIstcntrâ) of the K-alacakra system. The Pu-- has not been preserved in Sanskrit and was not translated into Tibetan, therefore 3& ItlUaclItca together with its comentary Vimalaprabha written by the Kalki Fundarika, the son of Shmbhala king YaSas, present ly functions as the müla tantra.

4 0 . The verses are taken from the ViF.lrpm (S) 33b, (T) 419-420. NanUsrnrpStZ is the short title of the KalacakrapZda then debated with five hundred pandits of Naf and3 nonzscery ând, having defeated them, initiated them as his disciples, 4 1 Soon Kâlacakra doctrine became widespread among di2fereri.c social groups such as royal family members, kshatriyas and mercnants. Pandit /SamantaSribhadra of Nepal ilearc Kalâcakrû from the five rnasters afid followed one of them, ~acjukirr i . The Bro tradition says that Kalacakra came to India during -ne reign of Xalki Sripala of Shambhala. A couple who practised the Yamantaka yoga was rewarded with the birth of a son. When ïhe bcy grew up he heard abouc the taught by in the North and he became determineci to receive zhat Dha-ma. T'ne trip to Shdhala endangers the life of anyone who atternpts to reach it, therefore Kalki 'hipala appeared before che youth asking his aestination and purpose. The story ic similar to that of Cilu. Kalki initiated the youth into K2lacakra and caught Mm for four mon~hs. When the youth returned to India filled with knowledge "like a vase filled to zhe ~rin"(Newman, 70) he became known as KalacakrapZda. Among numerous disciples of Kalacakrapada, Nalendrapa becarne the most reriomed as KalacakrapZda the Younger. According to Neman

4 1 . In Hoffmann's opinion, it was not ESlacakrapZda, but Cilu himself who went Co Nalanda and won the debate, He presumes that Cilu and Kalacakrapâda the Elder represent the same person whereas Kalacakrapada the younger is just anotner name of the pandit Nadapada, who was the abbot of Nalanda monastery defeated by Cilu in the debate and became a master of Kalacakra teachings himself. Hoffmann writes: "In another place Padma dkarpo mentions that Tsi-lu-pa [Cilu] is also known as tne "qreat KàlacakrapEida", whilst NadapZda is also known "the Lesser Kalacakrapada" (Hoffmann, 128). The Blue Annals refers to both Kalacakrapzdas as "father ana son" (Roerich, p. 755) . "sorte accounts Say that Kalacakrapâda the Younger and Xu'alerxirapa were guru and disciple. The next in succession is SomanStha of Kashmir, the son of â braiunan fstïher and a buddhist mother. He was learning the Buddhist Dharma from pandit Brahmanapada wheri the latter received che sek-sa4' and a commentary on the ~e..~tra&+yd' from a Qisciple of KQlâcakrapZda che Elder, Somanatha read them and went to Magadha where he became initiarieci ny both Kalacakrapadas. After that Somanztha won a debate with a Kashmiri panait Ratnavajra who, fearing to lose his disciples, asked Somanatha CO lecve. Thus Somanatha went to Tibet to introduce Kalacakra there . ,.\s we nentioned earlier, Rwa and Bro traditions were tne nain streams bringing KZlacakra into ~ibet~~from the eleventh chrorigh the fourteenth centuy. Among the most fmous scholars and propagators of Kalacakra in Tibet were the historians Bu ston (1290-1364) and Taranatha (ISE-?), the founder of the Gel~gpa scnool Tsong kha pa (1357-1419) and Sakya Pandita i 11W-1251) . Kalacakra became ûn inseparable part of Gelilgpa

3 2 . The Seke- is a section extracted £rom the fifth chapter of the Par-- (Newman, 84).

4 3 . The Sakapt&@@ (Peking if7 & 4609) treats the Kalacâkra initiacion rituals. It is composed of ihree blocks of verses from the /Sri XEïarrlrra, two from the third chapter and orie from the fifth (Newman, 86) , 4 4 . George Roerich in his Studies in the Kalacakra points to the fact that althouah Ka-lacakra is often believed to have been brought to ~ibét by ~ipafikara'srfjiiana, or Atisa, "Somanatha seems to be the first preacher of the KZlacakra doctrine in Tibet and is said to have been the introducer of the Sexagenary Cycle (1027 A.D. ) " (Roerich, 164) . According to G-Roerich, Xisa appeared in Tibet fifteen years later (about 1042 A.D.) and died in 1051, also his biographies do not mention his preaching of the Kalacakra. strrdy and pract ice. Tashilhunpo rnonastery was especially famous for its school devoted to mlacakra. The Third Pcrncnen Lam wrcte a bcok Shrakhr hri Hg (Guidebook to Shambhala)45. It belongs to a-*g genre (Tib, passport or guidebooks), and accoraing ro Newn, the parc that describes the route CO Shambhala and the means to get there Ys based, to a great ei:seriC, on another 'guideliookr trmsïatea from Sanskrit, the KalZpSimtara (Entrante to Kalapa), the capital of Shambhala; Pekinq $5908" (Newman, 77). In his Studies in the Kalacakra G-Roerich gives the most cietailed account on Tibetan scholars and historians who reported on KZlacakra and Shambhala in different thes. Roerich also sells us abouc the first Europeans who spoke about ~riânbhala~~and made an âctual attempt to find it (Roerich, pp. 154-158 ) . Besides that, ne mentions some Shambhala 'i lam-yig texts of Kham provirrco that are extremely difficult to End. The Eighch 3alai Lama introd'clced mlacakra ïo his rnonastery Namqyal which subsequent ly became a centre of mlacakra study cnrJ practtce. The present fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, represents the Kalacakra that takes its origin in the Pat-ddibucWha teachings at the Stupa of Dhhyakafakâ. He became the first to introduce these teachings to the West. The Chi~ese invasion that took place in Tibet in 1959

2 5 . Albert Grunwedel translated the text into German and mblished it in the "Abhandlungen der Kon" (Bayerischen Akad. her Wissenshaften. vol. III, 3, Munchen, 1915). 4 O . Jesüit fathers, Stepen Cacella and John Cabral having learned about the existence of Shambhala during their visit to

Bhutan, decided to find the route leadina to Shamhhala- in 1627 (Wessels. Early Jesuit Travellers in cekral Asia. 1603-1721, the Hague: Martinus Niihoff, 1924). One of them has possiblv become a prototype of father Perrault, the hero of The ~ost Horizon by James Hilton. scattered Iibetan refugees ail over the globe. As a sesuit,

wisdom of Tibet, disseminated, yet alive, is searching for new picices, riew Loilowers . -hother reason for iritroducing the

r invasinn of the thirteenth-f~urteenth rentllries that

- . . - -- rrQm zhe a of religiou~ hocrie Ka~ccakra represents the last attempt to revive the slowly declininq ma ceçeneracing ~uadhisrncf Iniia 81 --7 iberal Dorrowirigs poweriuliy deveioping systems of Shivaism, frorn the --. - and, in car, of :.cskncism, 2nd alo rrcm f~reiÇz, western teachings, thus increasing attractions- -- for both rhe pries~hootia~j CR~ laity (Eoffrtann, IL~). - LE the opifiion of ~anycholars (lioerich, Hof Err!!nn, Neman, T~ecr~bâiiin), the KZlaczkre system uridoubtedly becme exposed to tne influence of foreign rel-iginns during its Tndian period. G.

certain pârallels of this school with i

G 7 . wtfxua----ys (ed, Morris, part II, 22, 2; 198, 8) mentions the Kalavada as one of the different philosophical systerns; "The Buckha-itr (ed. Cowell, XVIII, 55) shows the Buddha pronouncing himself on the Kalavada. Both the Kalacakra ana the Kalavada have an intimate connection with ascrology"

(lioerich, 159). Stcherbatsky- qives- a full account on Kalavada- - in La Theorie de la Connaissance et la Logique Ches les 37 The Puranic Kalkin rnyth mentioned earlier, has so much in common with the myth of Shambhala that scholars tend to view it as rhe main prototype for the later Shambhala rnyth. G.Orofino calis che kingdom of Shambhala a mere "transposition and adaptation of o myth already found in the Vishnuite tradition" -. (Ororino, j From chat we may infer thot the whole system of Krlacakra did not oriqinate in Shambhala as it ~laims~~,but rocher havifig enrereà Inaiâ from some Centrzll Asian or (and) Near Eastern location, absorbed Indian and other mythologies. Thds having being transfonned and supplemented in this cultural arid religious melting pot, it finally reached Tibet where the K~lkin rnytn acquired Its Buddhist counterpart with â11 nêcessary additions and alternations. It is hard to imagine what the original ZKZlacakra looked like prior to ics arriva1 to C?li~e~, 'Sri macaka with its commentary VïmaZapz- which is ~:?ern~sc authentic source of all the data on Shambhala, is, as we said earlier, only a part of vast and lost Kalacakra

3 - iliercture. The clues could have been losc with t Tnough still dernanding a great deal of scholarly efforts to be proved, tnis explcnstion seems to be a very cornforcable one. It is much more convenient, than, for example, searching for the traces of Sha-mbhala ir! ocher religions including the inaigenous BOR of Tibet, Until now the lack of written evidence keeps this search

Bouddhistes Tstrdifs (Paris, 1926) (Roerich, 159). 4 8 . This statement, however, totally depreciates the BuddBavacana and rejects the fact that Kalacakra had been Yâugni by Shakyamuni at the stupa of Dhanyakataka to the Shambnala King. Most of the buddhists probably Eind this explmation plausible enough not to look for other versions of Kalacakra origine Acccrding to G. Tucci, "origination of KZlacakra in Dhanyakacaka as expounded by the Buddha is a pious tale". At the same the he admitted that "there is rnuch truth in the rest of the narrative" (Tucci, 1949 p. 212-213) . at the hypothetical level, Similarly, we have very limited knowleaçe on those pandits and yogis who introduced Kalâcakra to India and lacer brought it to Tibet. Who were they? What schools or limages did they beiong to? What made rhem seek PazaznS-? The oldest written source on the history of Xclacakra that has reached us is Bc ston's account of 1329. Eis sources rernain unknown. John Newman argues that despite its obvious dependence on ihe Kalkiri, mych, 'lit does not mean chat the Buddhist Shambhala is a nere fiction" (Newman, 83). J.Newman suggests that the location of tne Buddhis'L Shzmbhala as aescribed by Vïmalapzabha', corresponds to the Uighur kingdom4' ( f lourished circzi 850-1250) if we suppose that ShambhaIa exis~ecin the eieventh century A.D., i,e. the time of the KXacakrals appeardnce in India, The verificaciori of this theory certainly neecis a separate study of "the entire matrix of the 11th - ceritxry Asian history together with the nocives or the Kalacakra myth-makers" (Newman, 84). There could be a large variety of religious trends and tenets that :=lacakra could possibly have passed through on its way CO Tibet. In his Gramniar oE the Ti~eta~,Language Cso-ma de Koros maintains chat KZlacakra arrived in Tibet via Kashmir (Csorna de Kcros, 192). We know that Kashmir at that "Lime was one of the areas where Indian Budàhism prospered. This does not, however, exlude a possibility of other religious influences, such as, for instance, Kashmir Shaivism. According to ~0thG. iioerich and Hoffmann, the problem of possible

9 4 . V'Z- locates Shambhala on a latitude north of Tibet, Khotan and China, north of the Sitâ river that according to the descriptions of the Chinese traveler Hsuan tsang (7th century) and the Tibetan traveler, Man lungs Guru (13the century) was identified with the Tarim river in Eastern Turkistan (see Newman, 84) . Manichean and other Near Eastern influences on the mlacakra- deserves ccholars' attention, One of the nain centres or Manicheisrn 3r?d ddhs, and a possible loccrtiorr of the Snzrrbhcls kingdom, was Kest Turkestan. E. Bernbaum assumes that "Sogdian merchants from the region around Sâmarkand and the valley of Ferghona spreza the teachings of Mzni to China and could corrceivably have taken the Kalacakra to I?diaw ( Berribarn, 441. The same author informs us thât H. Hoffmann "clairns to have traced the route described by the guidebooks to Shambhala inca ïhis region cf the Pomirs irhere he thinks the kingdomsa once existed" (Rernbaum, 44) - The archaelogical finds in the creâ, for exdmple â nuge Buddha statue of Karatepe, proved the long history of Buddhism there that, in spite of the Muslim ---invasion, survived umil the cwelfth century. If we can trace the history of PMr Buddhisrn it cauld open yet ariother pers~ectiveon ShamDhala arid Kalacakra. In his book Po Tropam Sredinnoi Asii (Trails to Inmost Asia) G, Roerich writes about a Bon nonastery in the province r>f HOE that had irrzges of Kalacakra deity. Whether it presents c icter Buddhist addition to Bon or it has native derivation is not known. He also mentions some Bon texts on ECalacakra (p-335) e1-hat have never been examirieci. According to John Reinolàs, che Ban version of Kalacakra is considered to be incomplete and classifies âs "krLyZtantra", not "anuttaratantra". The Bon version of Shambhala, the legendary kingdom of Olmolungring, is located in the same area of the Parmirs betweeri, Samarkand and Alrr-2-&ta. Comparative analysis of Kalacakra in Bon and Buddhism coulà be very beneficial for the EGlacakra-Sharnbhala studies. It is very likely that the role of Bon in the history of

50 . 010 Tadjik people living in the Pamir region know about Shambhala as "Djambal" meaning in Tadjik a "fairyland". KZlacakza (and Tibetan Buddhism in general) is far maerestim~tea,We know Chat the time of che KZlacakrâ ârrivâl tlo Tibet corresponded to the period of Bon revival tiiere, heaced 5y Shencfien Luça, a discoverer of imgortant Bon texts in 1017 A.D. Tt is also known that the country ~tia-~hun~~~,the crzale of the 30ri teachings, situated to the Wes~of Tibet (in the êighth zefitury it wâs ânnexed to the latter), had Immediate

c~l--~ralLLL- cvnzecticns with ine Persian empire in the Wesc and wFth the Iranian speaking Central Asia. The Bor, teachings are 5elieved CG Rave corne to Zha-Zhung from Tazig (rncdern T'adjih) or Iraniafi Central -AsLa. This areû is specifically pointed out 'uy schclars as che most feasible source of the 'Caalacakra, hence rhe xost plausible location of Shambhala.

So fâr we discussed tne Shambhaia legenà as presentee iz mjur and Tanjur, as well as its countewarts in otner zyr5oiogies. But the legenà appearing to be the strançest ~eliefin hea-~errlykingdom on earth, had a great impact on the Nuscer~,wcrlc. In the following cfiapter we will see how the 'nistûry of Snambhala continued in the West. In other words, we -dili -.Ld~z sur attention from the "classicalw Shambhalâ of Tibetm Csnon to its more "folklore" versions thst emerged alncs: centuries later.

'l. The romanCs of Zha-Zhung can still be seen in the North and West remote regions of Tibet, Chapter three of the present thesis traces the development of the West' s interest towards Shambhala. The ~ewerinierpretations ne legenà receivec in the Wesï, nmely in Tsarist and Soviet Russia, USA and Nazi Germany, and the nos? oad ways of Its mûnipalotion tnere, enrich our perception of tne 5riginal version -naking visible i~snitherco unknowr, facets .

Since the tirne of its arriva1 to the West, the legend of Shmbnalo fascinated arrd inspired many of its religious and political figures. The following chapter tells about people whose life 2nd work were dedicated to Shambhala ideals that they were eagerly committed to realise, and about those who saw the Sharbhala legend as a powerful vehicle for realisation of tneir egotistic cravings. Sometimes the first 2nd the second rnerged in peculiar curves of history. Although the legend of Shambhala reached Europe in the 5 severi.seeriïh century A.D. 2 , It acquired its popularity in rhe western world in the nineteenth century when it became one of rhe favourite subjects of the mystics, orientalists, and al1 sorts of adventure-seekers. Subsequently, its psychological ana geogrâ-hical frontiers have considerably extended. Having been transplanted in the alien soil, the legend bore the

52 . According to G. Roerich, the first rnentioning of Shânbnala by Europeans was made by two Jesuit fathers, Stepnen Cacella and John Cabral auring tneir visit to Bhutan. In 1627 they paid another visit to Tibet in order to find the road io Shdtnbhala (Xembala, as they called it) which they rriistook first for Cathay (Gaina) and then for "Great Tartâreâ". (See Roerich, GI Studies in the Kalacakra., p. 157- 158). See also Wessels, C. Early Jesuit Travellers in Central Asia, 1603-1721, Hague: Martinus Niihoff, 1924, pp.314 ff. fruit of an unprecedented novelty of explications, Western -gba~oa began to create its own Sbabhaïa folklore. The keen western interest in Tibet has a history of exee cent-&es ~eginningwiïb che &oremen-üoned visits of Curopean rnonks to the land of snow, This history rias passed thrclign the staqes of missionary strivings, mere curiosity incluàing many vain attempts to reach Lhasas3, scientific and -~olizlcGi cravings, anà ffnai'Ly, xrcer ado,rüron -&aï gzew especially intense in the twentieth century. This pcrticuiariy acute attention and reverent attitude to Tibet ana the eastern culture in general, can be partially expidnea by cremendous poïitical irlcüs of -de ~wensiern century that shattered much of the former beliefs and ideals. The confused and desperdte "lost generation" looked around in search for the "lost horizon". The geograpeical eleva-ion of Tibet became equaI ro iis s~iritcal Icfti~ess tkat lies pristine, mysterious and prornislng as "a nermecically-sealeu vesse1 enclosed 5y vast walls of ice arid Stone, surrounded by inhospitable, freezing deseris" (Bishop, 34 ) . Tiber starreci ~ehglookeà upon as a ucopian land, as ~han~ri-la~~,"a storehouse of spiritual

5 3 . The full account on the history of the c?iscovery of Tibet Dy Eirropean travellers and their jorirneys to Lhasa, is four,d in Bishop, P. Drearns of Power, ch. 2.

54. This word became a part of the world dictionaries as an oriental-style synonym to the Greek "utopian owing to James Hilton's book Lost Horizon that was first published in 1933 and fascinated the mystically inclined Americans and Europeans. According to Bernbaum, <onts book was inspired by the writings of the Catholic missionary Abbe Huc who travelled in Tibet two hundred years after +&e mentioned above Jesuits Cacella ana Cabral, ana other Christian -fissionaries. (See Bernbaum, E. The Way to Shambhala, pp. 18- 20) , The author of the Lost Horizon could have been as well influenced by Nicholas Roerichvs Shambhala pubfished in 1930, wisaom", and finally "as a lancimark from which the West has siruggled to ochieve a sense of its own identiçy" (Bishop,

Social ana political reasons aside, there were more subtle psycnologlcal grounds for this ionging - for pnilosophies and religions of the East. Jung classified such a Icnging as "responses of the psyche" (Bishop, 48) iri Che worlà tnat nas been too extrovertea, too preoccupiea with the stüày and control over external matters such as science and technology, and alrnost cornpletely neglected the inner space, chat is predoninately revered in eastern cultures as a keysrone of religion, i.e. or' man's connection with cosmos- Xeanwnile Jung criticised Doth western and eastern âpproaches as being too attached either to "outer" or to "iwer man", Those seeïned to be the two extremes to appease. Many were the attempts co find tne "golden mean", to eluciaate the enigmatic West-Easc antagonism. We shall now see how such attempts were undertaken in 3ussia, the country chat due to its geographical location, possesses a rare opportunity to intermix Asian and Westem features . This unique amaigamation inspired Russian pnilosophers for centuries. Various movements of phiiosophical thcught sucn as "Siavophils", "Westernis.cs", and later "Vostochniki" (Rus. Orientalists) and "~urasians"~~,

-. -- -- ana Dy otner writings of that author. The Reader 's Digest Grea t Encyclopeaic Dictionary incroduces Shangri-la as "any imaginary hidden utopia or pâradise". Bocn "utopio" and "shangri-la" were words invented by English writers with the tirne difference of four hundred years. 5 5 . "Vostochniki" and later "Eurasians" were particularly preoccupied with Russia-Orient rapprochement. Stressing The Asiacic neritage of Russia, "Vostochniki" called for the "fusion of Slav and Oriental under the benevolent rule of the 44 aimed at defiriing the balancing roie of Russia in the West- -~ast controversy, They were seeking synthesis and namony, ihe hamny as powerful as being able "to combine the two grect iniiiâls of spiritual nature - imagination and reason, ana to unify the qlobal history within our civilisation" [, -~~~ilslation v- is mine] 56. This trend of ilussian philosophy became known as "Russian idea" which lacer was to constitute one of cne core issues of Russian literâture. In a n~tshell, this idea implies some kind of exceptional spirituality, a nctionzi panacea that Lmplies a certain salvific potencial on a global scale. Salvation here is viewed as purely spiritual, ZOi in terms of imposition of new political systern or super- aàvariceci technology. A sense of unification, of brotherhood ana "so~or" (?.us. "gacilering", also "tenple") is inherent to

White Tsar" (Vsn der Oye, D.S., CCI~ournament of Shadows, "Tibetan Review", vol. XXIX, NO 1, Jan. 94, p. 16) . The myth of the "White Tsar" wâs invented by N. Przheval'sky, the fmous explorer of Asia, In 1887 he wrote: The nomad Moqols ...the Kussulman Chinese, and the inhabitants of Eastern Turkestan ...are al1 more or less possessed with the ides cf becominc subjects of the White Tsar, whose narte, equâlly with that of the Dalai Lama, appears in the eyes of the Asiacic masses as surrounded with a halo of mystic IFght" (ibid., p.16). Travelling extensively in Asia, including Mongolia ana Tibet, Przheval'sky was well familiar wich the Shambhala prophecy of the future Redeemer-King, therefore we rnây ififer that he based his idea of the "White Tsarn on Shambhala legend. Due to his status of a national hero and close connection of Przheval' sky with the Emperial family as a tutor of the thirteen-year-old Tsarevitch Nicholas, this iaea received a wide response in Russian society. 5 6 . These words belong to P. Châadaev, the initiâtor of the "Westernists" movement, Chaadaev was a contemporary and friend of the fmous poet AJushkin. sa . The October revolution was partially inspired by the sanie idea, though in its most distorted hideous form. the "Russian ideas7". N. Berdiaev, a well-known philosopher of ~hecwentienth century, wrote: ". . .we have to rise above the two contradictions - eastern and western, Russia is a grand and conpiete East-West by God's will" ( [translation is mine], qüot. in Linnik,U. --Vostok i Zapad. Conflict ili syntez?, (Ecsi and Wesr . Conflict or synthesis? [translaticn is mine]:) "Serdtse magazine", No 4-5, 1993, p,111), Ostensibly owing CO ne aforemencioned golirical instability and feebleness of old mentality, the second half or- the nineteentn century and the first half of the twencietn in Russia, were marked by the especially strong quest for some core and unifying orinciple of al1 religious doctrines. To penetrate this principle meant to have the key to the fate or-, numankind. BesFdes those who saw Russia as the only future saviouress of the world, there were a few rare individuals whose views were not confined in a narrow nafionslistic framework but had a universal vision. The most famous of these seekers were Elena Petrovna Blavzttsky (1831-1891) and the Roerichs. Their lives and work were to surpass the 1imitocions of one's ncïion, culture and rnind. Shâmbhala apparently becarne an exemplary mode1 of such far-reaching

6i jeals. The Russian artist, writer and philosopher Nikolai i(onstantinovFtch Roerich became a living embodiment of this endeavor. His whole life was devoted to the establishing of a spiritml briage between the West and tne East. Roerich is k~ownnot only as an outstanding artist but also as a great conrioisseur cf Oriental art, culture, philosophy, and as an ardent traveller. His whole family shared that passionate ;ni-atact tnr.r=rrlc yh,~E~~~~~. --*----Ci b LU..-&-- ~n- 1923 the Roerichs comenced their famous Central -Asian expedition that lasted five years and covered the vast terzitories in USSR, India, China, Mongolia and Tibet. During this joiirney N.llcerich created five hundred paintings59 that becme an tinusual chronicle of the Central Asian countries and peoples. The aim of the expedition was to study t~e 6rchzêoi~gic0i relies, to collect materials on ethnography, folklore and linguistics and to create the basis for future research works. The inrier movirig force of the e-xpedition was the searcn for the craces of Shambhala that signified for the Eioeriths the sacred znifying symbol of all human ûspirations afid al1 religious creeds, N.Roerich describes many legends ïbac he collected &out Shzmbhala, in his expedition diary Altai-Himalaya and in his book Sharcibhala. Diu the Roerichs ever find Shambhala? That we do not know. However, there are a few indications giving a positive answer CO the question, Some of l\;.Roerichls paintings depict people chat might look like Shambhala rnessengers- One of the psincirigs presents N. Eioerich dressed in Orienta!, cloches ad holding a glimrnering casket in his hands, presumably a qift from SRanbiialo Mahatmas. The paintings can be as well rhe artist's phantasy. Once George Roerich was approached by a womcn who asked hLri if Shambhala really existed? He immediately answered: "Yes, and 1 was there myself" (G.N. 3erFkh. Materialy Ubileinoi Konferentsii, (Materials of the Jubilee Conference [translation is mine] ) p. 45) . Being a

se . Earlier we referred to the works of George Roerich, a renowned orientalist, the elder son of Nikolai Roerich. 5 9 . Some of these paintings are exibited in the Roerichls Museum in New York city. scholar, George Roerich was probably less affected by the pcssior, for micism t~anotirer maibers of the merich' family, and such an answer could have been just an excuse on his part, Nevertheless, according to the discourses with G.Roerich recorded in ~i~a~~upon his arriva1 to the Soviet .-- . ünron in 1957, the Roerichs "had ~?sLted the secret laboratories of Shambhala and met with the Great Brothers and Siscers of the White Brotherhocdl' iKhramclienko, V. Mezhdunarodnaya Missiya Eleny Rerikh, (International Mission of Eiena Reri,k!! [israrrsl~ti~is -rrri~ie]) "Serct-ise", No 1, 1993, p.20). Elena Petrovna Blavats kaya (Madame Blavatsky) was the -FFrçt propagaior of Shanbhaf-a fege~ldin the Wer~.In 1857, in London she met Mahatma Moria who, she believed, was ner Cestinea spiritucl mentor. She claimed that since that tirne her contacts, both physical and telepthic, with Moria and cher "Hirna1aysn Mahatmas" wno presnma~iy resided in Shambhala, began. However, her writingsa on the subj ect are of the sane cryptic charactor as ahost al1 writings on Shanbhâla, and according to her biographer, A. Senkevitch, "we have to be very patient and delicace to be able to discriminate the wheat from chaff in the field of her

6 O . These recordings are kept in the archive of 3-R-Rudzite, daughter of the former president of Roerich's societÿ of Riga.

61 . E. Blavatskaya who inherited a writerrs talent from her mother, wrote a few books, the first of which Isis Unveileà, Raa received ari excitea response from the public. Charles Darwin became the main opponent to the views expressed in the book. Fier fundamentaf work The Secret oct tri ne analysed the key problems of existence, the origin of the universe and humankind. Her most popular book From Caves and Jungles of Hindustan gives the panoranic view of india of the second half of the nineteenth century. uncontrollable imagination, to discern fortuitous from eiernal., ." ( [translation is mine], Senkevitch, 048! . According to J. Fuller, a modern theosophist, Xavâtskaya spent cvo years in ~ibet~'stuàying under che ouidânce of Tashi-lama (Sinlcevitch, 452). In 1875 together with Colonel Olcott, E, P. Blavatskaya founded a Theosophical cociety in New York. T'ne sociecy was the rlrste. co i~lcroduce rhe Eastern religion and philosophy to the West, Its goal was CO establish ïhe min body of che worldwide brotherhood without any discrimination of sex, nationality or religion; ro sïudy ail rhe philosophical and religious reacnings, especially those of the East and antiquity, in order to show rhat they al1 comprise the sarne tr-rth; to investigate rhe supernatural phenornena and to develop man's extrasensory capaclties. Theosopniscs believed chat the worla was mied by the so-called spiritual Elders from Shaihala, also called the "TL;fwLAl~e 6 Brotherhood 63 - In 1880 WSinnett, an editor of the Bombay newspaper "FaymIrl', faund r,he so-called "maiiamas ' let~ers"on his desk. Later, others began to receive similar letters full of lofry oriqinai thoughts and explanations on the basic notions of Hiniiuism and ~uddhism~~.In the twentieth century N.

2 - According to Russian poet and journalist VSidorov, Slavatskaya had spent about seven years in Tibet (Senkevitch, 452) ,

8 3 . E. Blavatskaya claimed to have visited the secret cencres of the White Brotherhood the members of which oossessed supernatural esoteric knowledge and magicel technologies lost since the time of the Atlantis.

6: . Nurnerous expertises showed that the character of the woras-aivision looked a bit Russian. These letters were published and became known under the title Letters of Mahatmas to Sinnett, or The Chalice of the East. i.i."LiC,* \+FU. -,\dt=L;c=i' ----- 3 --- =- 3ritor -i ------I ~CXLLU ---v ric- ~UEL~C>.ET a3- -

fron the sgiricual patrons of humanity. Suqrisinqly. the

C. pi~~eLii LCI~JUII. Guerj i;'it: LULC Li-lai :Jüi;-i RUSS~U~LwVlu~it L~PULi

-'--.--- -.^-LA- * ---C 1 -----1--1-- -- C.L--LL-1- LL-L CLiCLt 'N=;C u CLLCL 3VCILiC3 UL ALZUWIGU~G ULL JLLGILWL:~IG LLLCL

65 Her voluminous writinqs on "Aqni Yoqa" and Teachino of the Livina Ethics beinu revered by the numerous followers of the Roerichs, are mocked bv sorne as a bad imitation of aiavatskayaT s Secret Doctrine. n-- -L 1-2 CU~LLAATL~-A. S. IsSrënrîye Proizvedeniyë, (Selected Works ) ~31.2,~-~zdatelstvo "'Khudozhestvennaya Literatura, f.loskve, 1965, p,33j. N. Roerich was as well aware of the chrene~tionoCl- - Belovcdye legend. Iri his book Serdtse Asii (Eeart of Asia) N, Roerich also referred to a Russian monk

W~Odied in one of the rnori,asteries on the volgz in 1925. The records forind c?fter his death described the way to the land ------L.L Ll~~-ilzkz?tl~s aza saxe i~dicztions tu thorr teackings. It xas fomd out that the monk had once travelled to the --..?-ixc;ayas. The Russia-Tibet relationship having started in the sixtvezt5 cerixry A.D,, acq-dired a rather interesting cume in che beginni~q of the twentieth century due to the activities D? rhe Euryaïian lama Acpan Dorjiev (1853-1938), a ;?ersonality, equally politically and religiously significant . TT-risv~-.q - spex twerity years LE the Dropung monastory in Tibet, he received m excellent training in philosophy and religion ZE~abccinec! a gesne degree. Agian Dorjiev becme the tutor of the Thirteenth Dalai Lai, Using his great influence on the n-7 -: U~Lcl -d~i~-, EorjLev was trying to persüade hLq thcc Nicholas II was in reality an incarnation of Shambhala in^", and tnat Russia as "the Northern ~harnbhala"~~could be the only

- - oc . i3y thct time Orzhewalsky's idea of the "White Tsar" was srill tremendously popular. We may note here that the tenaency CO see a wordly nonarch as a divine incarnacion was very strong in the East. In China, for example, the rnyth of Mairreya was used for different political ends. Thus, a few -.~hes ifi tne history of China, tne emperors proclahed cheixselves to be incarnations of Maitreya (see Spunberg, Haraacre, 3 1; . 07 . On page 4 of Der Weg nach Shambhala Grunwedel mentions a book that is supposedly kept in St-Petersburg, Rüssia that traces back the Romanovsl dynasty to Shambhala. According to J, Snelling, Dorjiev was repüted to have presented to the Dalai Lama a pamphlet that "contained an 51 "protector of the Tibetans and Mongols against Chinese, ~a~anese~'and aritish oppressorsw (Andreyev, 13 1 . Being a Buddhist, Dorjiev was weI1 aware of the powerful impact of Siraïhala legend on the Asian peoples. His plan was to unify the Buddhist peoples of Mongolia, Tibet and Russia for the sake of Buddhism, security and prosperity of those nations. It was unàer the slogan of Shambhala that such a mifificarrion wocld have become possiDle, Dorjiev visited Russia on many occasions, met the Tsar and the Ministers as an envoy extraordinary of Tibet, His goal was to establish a Tibetan mission in St .Petersburg and to sustain further gooàwill between Russia and Tibet , These maneuvers of the Siberian lama panicked Great Britain so that it crgently assigned Younghusbandrs milita- expedition to Lhasa in 1904 to enforce a trade treaty on Tibers- Consequently, Dorjiev's name became notoriously known in connection with The Great Game that Russia and Great

enmeration of the good acts of Emperor Nicholas II, in the direction of furthering the happiness of the worid" (Sneiling, 283) . 3. Snelling adds that "there is no evidence that Dorjiev ever wrote such a text, though one along apparently similar lines was certainly published by the Kahyk lama, Darnbo Ulyanov, under the- title ~reaskazaniya Buddha O Dome Romanovyh i Kratkii Otcherk Moih Puteschestvii v Tibet v 1904-7 (Predictions of the Buddha abour the House of Romanov and a Brief Account of my Travels to Tibet in 1904-7, Snelling, 283) .

68 . The Japanese also tried to exploit the legend of Shambhala recruiting some Mongolian lamas as agents. J. Snelling maintains that "during rituals perfomed in the datsans of Khorinsk aimak to hasten the intemention of the King of Sharnbhala, the lamas produced pictures in which the amies of Shambhala were shown emerging from a rising sun - 'an indication of Japan'" (Snelling, 244). Britain led for the control over ~ibet~'.Some Western scholars, such as W. Filchner, cûnsider Dorjiev to be d spy recruited by the Russian Intelligence in the end of the nineteenth cerir~r~~~.The personality of Agwan Dorjiev still rernains enigmatic and before rendering any final judgement, some documentary support should be obtained. Unfortunately, the most precious archive that cotild sned considerable light on Dorjiev's life and work was destroyed completely in 1919 when the (dâtsan) in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), which served also as Dorj iev' s residence, was looted by the Bolshevics. It is worth noting that this temple Duilt in 1915 under close personal supervision of Dorjiev and with the participation of Fedor Stcherbatsky, N. Roerich, G.Roerich and others, was devoted to the Kalacakra deity. Dorj iev, an ardent and skilful diplomat, was able to continue his work even under the Soviet regime. During that time he was recognised as the representative of Tibet in the

69 . A. Andreyev carefully studied the documents of the archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and other archive documents, which led him to conclude that "the peculiar policy of courtingr the Dalai Lama. .. seems to have less to do with possible designs on Tibet itself than with Russia's political and economical interests in neighbouring Mongolia and China" (Andreyev, 12). 7 O . However, A. Andreyev finds no proof of that opinion. Be rather sees Dorjiev's work as "mediating and consulting service" for both Russian and Tibetan goverment S. According t~ another schoiar, David Schirmnelpenninck van der Oye, who researched the issue of the Great Game, "England's decision to invade Tibet was motivated more by Viceroy Curzon's Russophobia than by a realistic assessrnent of Tsarist policy. Russia never really had a policy for Tibet. British perceptions of St. Petersburg intrigues at the Potala were nothing more than the flickering shadows cast by real tournaments elswhere in Central Asiaw (Van der Ove, D.S., Tournaments of Shadows, "Tibetan ~eview", vol. fi, NO 1, Jan. 1994, p.19) . Russian federation. Besides his old dream of the unification of Buryatia, Mongolia and Tibet, his other great concern was the adaptation of Buddhism to the state atheist ideology71. His fmous slogan was that "Buddhist doctrine is largely compatible wi th the current Communist tradition". A,Andreyev aff inns that "it looks as though he wanted Buddhism, to hùn basically a godless ethical teaching rather than a 'religion', to merge with or even replace the officially supported atheism at some time in the future" (Andreyev, 13) The ideas of Buddhism and Comuriism compâtibility were not unusual at that time. Since Buddhism, an atheistic teaching, proclaimeci the equality of al1 living beings, it was declaxed the religion of the oopressed masses. Early Soviet political literature presented Buddhism as a "miqhty movement of tremendous masses of tne poor" (quot- in Benz, 155) . However, this policy changed drastically under Scalin. In the mid-thirties lama Dorjiev did not avoid Stalin's repressions. He died at the age of eighty-six in the prison- hospital of Ulan-Ude- Roerich and Dorjiev should have met at least during the Zuddhist temple construction. Were they friendç? Collaborators? Drepung monastery where Dorjiev spent two decades of his life belonged to Gelug school and was one of the Kalacakra studies' seats. It was also, as George Roerich informs us, the monastery with the greatest ntunber of Mongolian lamas from whom Dorjiev could have learned about a possible Siberian location of ~hânbhala'~which later allowed to refer to Russia as "northern

7 1 . Cne of his innovations was the establishment of the agricultural communes of lamas, 7 2 . In Mongolian mythology Shambhala is believed to be located in Siberia, to the North from the centre of the Earth, mountain Sumbur-Ula (Meruj , According to E. Roerich, "Until now (mid-twenties or thirties, V. D. ) many Mongols and Tibetans link the notion of Shambhala not only with Siberia 54 Shambnala" , Tbere must be some connection between Dorjiev' s years of scudy in Drepung and the construction of the Kalacakra temple in St. Petersburg. According to J. Snelling, Dorj iev Vas a practLtioner of Kalacakra and took Shambhala myths very seriously ... he linked them with the potential he saw in the great heartland of Central Asia for a glorious E3uddinist regeneration" (Snelling, 7 9). This cou1d partly explain Xrjiev's zeal to mify the Buddhist peoples of Asia under supervision and protection of the Russian "White Tsar". Can we suspect that he was driven not only by ambitious political pursuits and that he used politics as a mere implement for the embodiment of loftier ideals? Dorjiev would not abandon his work under any circumstances. He was diplornatic and persistent enough to be able to find compromises with any government. Even duri~g che years of Stalin's dictatorship he was still scruggling to preserve the Budàhist tradition. Perhaps the two Buddhist monasteries in Buryatia existing until today, owe their survival to Dorjiev. Lacking more precise information on the religious side of Dorjiev4s ~ife'~,we cannot decide whether it was politics or religion that bore a primary signiflcance for him, or, perhaps, as A, Andreyev supposes, both "were absolutely inseparable for him in the imperfect materialistic world of oursn (p.14) , Was Dorjiev a Russian spy as it is accustomed to believe, or a Shambhala agent? Although the key to this mystery was probably burnt dom together with but with Russia, as the land of the future attainments" (quot. in Rudzitis, 74). 73 . The National Archive in Lhasa contains an interesting correspondence between the Tibetan and Russian government including that of Dalai Lama and the Russian Tsar. A. Andreyev points out that Western scholars are not yet familiar enough with these documents, the lama's archive at St-Petersburg Budùhist temple, what is obvious to us is Dorjievfs devution to the same unification, peoce and integration ideals that we may call "Shambhala ideals" that as weU inspired Roerich and Blavatskaya. Such devotion is always tinted with what we may call "spiritual patriotism". In its narrow sense this tem can be similar to the "Russian ideaw mentioned above, However, taken in a broader context, it may eventually expand, if not lose, its original national identity . Consequently, a utopian land like Shambhala 8ecomes ari iaeal mode1 for an earthly country, in Dorjiev's case, for his native Siberia and Russia that, as ne beiieved, suited best for "Shambhala on Earth", or in his own words "Northern Shambhâlaw. St may seem a generalisation, but we may aiso suspect that Dorjiev's struggfe for tne consoiidation and prosperity of Buddhisrn in a generally non-Buddhist country was his modest contribution to the realisation of the Kalacakra prophecy . At the same the, considericg his close relations with tire Tnird Daiai Lama, Dorjiev could nave been a participant of the great geopolitical intrigue that was organised by his compatriot Zharsaran Badmaev, an Imperia1 family doctor. According to this plan, the whole territory of China was to be annexeà to Russia. Badmaev, being a relative of the MongoLian Jenghis man clans, was personally interested in the restoration of their former glory. If his plan succeeded, and the Qing empire of China was overthrown by Russia, the Mongolian clans could nave restored their power in Tibet, regions of South Siberia and possibly in China. 74 Thus, the myth of Sharnbhala and "white tsar" could have been mere

75 . See Gusman, Vladimir. Shambhala i Shambhality. "22", Munich, 1989, No 63, p. 175-176. instruments in the hands of political conspirators. The myth, once used in political interests, can later enslave its own propagators and become firmly implanted in their minds. "Thus, Jenghis Khan began to be associated with Brahma and the future Mongolian ruler - with Maitreya" ( [translation is mine], Gusman, 176). Pernaps, this explains the popularity of the Shambhala leqend and certain mystical expectations connected to it at the the of the RoericBsW Central Asian expedition. Coming back to the Shambhala epic of N-Roerich, we may add that besides the sheer scientific, cultural and religious ambitions of his mission, there were some political concerns that he was involved in, and some of them stiil remain rather purzling, like those of his predecessor Lama Dorjiev. Igor Srravinsky once rmarked about N. Roerich that "he looked as though he ought to have been either a mystic or a spy" (quot. in Snelling, 229). In Altai-Himalayas we find passages reflecting N. Roerich's positive attitude towards the October Revolution and personality of Lenin. For example, we find such statements as: "The great personality of Lenin is devoid of negation.. .it was this integration that paved his way to al1 parts of the world...we have travelled through twenty four countries and reaLly witnessed how peoples accepted the magnetic power of Lenin.. ." ( [translation is mine], Rerikh, 1974, p.246) Such an opinion reveals Roerich's complete unawareness, or perhaps, refusal to see things as they really were. Under the sway of the so-called Red Texror, thousands of churches (including the unique Buddhist temple of St-Petersburg) and monasteries, were looted and exploded, priests and rnonks tortured and murdered along with tens of thousands of innocent people. Al1 that had been done in the holy name of 57 the Re~~lstF~xthat, as Berdiaev precisely remarked, was "whipping up the peoples towards the bright fmuro" j [translation is mina, Berdiaev, N. Sstoki i Smysl Russkogo Komunizmci, p.87 (Sources and Essence of the Russian Comteni,%) E trémslaeion is- Hune] , p. 87 ) . We know that che Roerichs were in Firtlstnd wnen the Etevolution ,-a, and a-fterwards fived in USA and Icdia. An emigrant isolation from the Russian iife could create a con3Fderable- distortion of the- Res~Fchs-' vF& of Ft. In the- twenties, the Russian Revolution, and the Soviet Russia berne tne embodiment of the hopes for changes, of a new era for hurnanity. In the beginning some representatives of the Russian irrtelligents-i* wekomed the "trans&orming rovclutionary wind". The Roerichs aid not avcid this bitter mirage. In cheir innocence they went as far as to see the C. breathing of Shambhala in it. - 4 In 1924 N. Roerich visited the Soviet Ehbassy in Berlin in order to gain the support of the Soviet envoys in CentraL Asia for his expedition. His plans were fully approved 5y Minister Foreign Affairs Chicherin. 75 the Roerichs received, witn the permission of the same Chicherin, visas to e~terthe USSR. There they met with the rnembers of the Soviet governmeo,t Chicherin, Lunacharsky and . K. Kr~pskaya, the widow of Lenin. N. Roerich presented to them his painting "Mâitreya - the Victorious Onen along with the unusual gift brought front the Central Asian expedition - a casket containing Himalayan sgil "for the grave of Our brother Mahatma Lenin" and a letter addressed to the Soviet

7 5 . These documents are now kept in the persona1 archive of Chicherin at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. Goverment, ostensibly written by the aha atm as? Here is the full translation of this letter:

We know in the Himalayas about your fulfillments. You nave abolished the Church which had become a breeder of lies and superstitions. You have eliminated petty bocrgeoisie that had become a conduit of prejudices. You have destroyed the prison of up-bringing, You have cmshed the family of hypocrisy. You have burnt dom the army cf slaves. You have squashed the spiders of iucre, You have closed up the doors of night brothels. You have freed the land from financial traitors. You have acknowledged that religion is a ieaching of the all- pervading matter. You have conceded the pettiness of private property. You have guessed on the community evolution. You have pointed to the significance of knowiedge. You have bowed before the Beauty. Yoil have brought al1 the might of the cosmos to the children. You have opened the windows of the palaces. You have seen the urgency of putting on new houses of the commonwealth. We have stopped the uprising in India when it was premature. We have also recognised the propitiousnoss of your movement and we are sending to you al1 Our aid, c~nfi-Mngthe unity of Asia! We know that many achievements will be accomplished in 1928, 1931, 1936- Greetings to al1 seekers of the Common Nealth! ([translation is mine]. from Thomas, A. Shambhala-Oasis Sveta, p.19 (Shambhafa - Oasis of Liqht). If we accept that the letter was composed by some Himalayan yogis whom the Roerichs might have met during their journey, the propnetic abilities of the first turn out to be rather poor and their very spirituality can be put into question. The prediction regarding "the great achievements" of the thirties sound aLmost like black humour, sfnce these years vere among the bloodiest in the history of Soviet ~ussia".

76 . The letter is presently kept at the same Chicherin's archive. 77 . According to Anàrew Thomas, Mahatma Moria did condemn Stalinrs labour camps in one of the letters to 59 Perhaps, we are too rîear-sighted to understand the grandeur of the Maha'Unast plans, and some twenty million human lives is the right price for tQe future paradise! It is hard to image such blood-thirsty Shambhala inhabitants. Most likely, the author of the letter, whoever he was, took the teachings of Marx-Engels-Lenin as theoreticaliy very beneficial for the numôn race, and even close to ~uddhism'' being completely unaware of the practical implementation of those teachings. But that is an excusable blunder for naive romantic people, not for the astute dwellers of the Himalayan peaks. The words denoting destruction and negativity are used too often in the letter. One way or another, the author of the letter remains unidentified and the last person who could have shed light on the whole matter, Svyatoslav Roerich, tne younger son of the Roerichs, died in India in the nineties. However, the phrase "-mity of Asia" sounds EamiIiar and remirids of the grand Dorj iev' s proj ect - We can also suppose that the Roerichs as the "envoys of Shâmbhalan were suggesting chat Soviet Russia should accept the eminent guidance of Mahatmas, and it was 3ussiaas rejection of it thai resulted in trernendous tragedy for the country. In his letter to Roosevelt dated October 10, 1934, N- Roerich writes: "The Russian goverment receiveci strict warnings in time, and we are witnesses of the sad resuits of their re j ection . .. " (Quot. in Khramchenko, V. Mezhdunarodnaya

- - -- E. Roerich, anà expressed his wish to see the liberalisation and humanisation of the Soviet system. Was it not too late a regret for an enlightened seer? '*. Roerich, as well as Dorjiev, saw the resemblance of Communism and Buddhism. The Chinese invasion of Tibet and almost total destruction of Buddhism in the country proved this resemblance to be another man invented myth. Missiya Eleny Rerikh, (International Mission of Elena Rerikh "Serdtse", No 1, 1993, p.19). In 1926 the Mongolian government also received a gift fron N.Roerich, his painting "The Great Horseman" depicting the leader of the last Shambhala battle, Rigdea-Dragpo, or Rudra Cakrin. 79 A strong belief of Mongols in Shambhala wâs iised by Sukhe Bator, fighter against the Chinese and White Russian rule and the founder of the Xongolian People's RepuSlic in 1921, He was a ridiculous example of a Buddhist rovolutionary. The following marching Song was composed by : "Let us die in this war and be reborn as warriors of the King of Shambhala!" (quot- in Bernbaum, 18). We may recall here another incident. Trying to get rid of the Khutuktzis lineage of Mongolian lama-rulers, the MorqoLian Party Congress issued an odd resolution: "-..and as there is a tradition that after the Eighth Incarnation he wilZ not be reincarnated again, but thereafter will be reborn as the Great General Iianmnd in the realm of Sharnbhala, there is no question of installing the subsequent, Ninth Incarnation" (quct. in Bernbaum, 18) . Roerich and Dorjiev had much in common in terms of the enigmatic character of their missions. It is hard to say whether they were secret collaborators of Bolsheviks and 7 9 . Another less known Roerich painting of that time presented Lenin with empkiasized Mongolian Eeatures wearing a traditional Lamaist hat. prornulgators of their ideas in Asia, or preservers of Buddhisrn and Spirituality in general, disguised as Comrnunist sympathisers for the sake of their success. In the twenties, Dor j iev was the organiser of "scientific and propagandist expeditionsw to Tibet, the participants of which "the Comintern-recruited Buryats, Kalmycks and the Narkomindel (Ministry of Foriegn Affairs) emissaries, disguised as Süddhisr pilgrims, were not only to preach the "world international", but also to carry a radio-station, a cinema projector, and some quantity of weapons for the Tibetan amyw (Andreyev, 13 ) . Was there any co~ectionbetween the Roerichs ' sxpedition to Tibet that happened to take place at the same tinte and worried a lot the British intelligence service, and these "Comminternn crusades of Dorjiev? Shambhala, Buddhism and Comnism were curiously intermingled in the Roerichs' and Dorjiev's lives. The most extreme and scandalous hypothesis that could corne ot;t of the above information is that the rocts of Bolshevism probably lie in some sort of secret society or claiming to be linked to Shambhala, but can it be Shambhala of the Tibetan legend? Eowever, if we corne back to the sources, the Ou- -cakra does contain some rather bellicous passages, In hi3 Ka1 acakra Studies 1. HeImut Hoffmann identifies the seven heretical or demon-kings who are to be conquered in the final battle of Shambhala. They are Adam (Àrddha), Henoch (Anogha), Abraham (varahi), Moses (~Üsa), Jesus (T'sa), Mani (MathanTya) and Mohammed (Madhumati) (Hoffmann, 1969, p.59). Thus, defining its enemies representing major world religions destined to be annihilated, Buddhism appears to us in its uncommonly aggressive form. A vivid example of an "aggressive Buddhistw is the 62 legendary personality of Baron Ungern von sternbergso who attempted to fom the "order of Military Buddhists for an uncompromising fight against the depravity of revolution" (Osseridowski, 240). Unlike the 2oerichs and the Red hero Suhe Eiator, Baron Ungern perceived the revolution as the "curse wfiicn wiil conquer the world, blot out culture, kiil morality and destroy al1 the peoplen (Ossendowski, 240) . Wlack Baron" aroüsed fear, hatred and respect as a mercifess exterminator of the Red Commissars whom he saw as "murderers of al1 contemporary spiritual culture" (Ossendowski, 249) . His Militant Buddhist Order was supposed to be based on the principles of a very strict monastic discipline. His plan to unify al1 Asian peoples resembled the one of Dorjiev. The difference was that Baron von Sternberg would prefer China to take tne legisiative authority. This united Asian state was tu become a strong barrier against revolrition and a preserver of cultural treasures. Wkereas Suhe Bator was fighting for the Reci Shambhala, Baron Ungern proclaimeci that his soldiers woula aie for "Shambhala of the New Jenghis Khan-Maitreya" ( [translation is mine], Gusman, 178) . -other Shambhala- related legend that inspired Baron Ungern was the legend of Agharti. According to Ossendowski, who in his turn heard the legena from a Mongolian lama, in ancient times, there was a certain Mongolian tribe who hid themselves underground escaping from Jenghis It is believed also that Buddha

8 0 . Baron Ungern von Sternberg knew Badmaev who int roduced him to the Mongolian bogdo-gegen and the Third Dalai Lama. "Black Baronw could have been another participant of Baàmaev's Central Asian intrigue. His detachment was defeated and driven out of Mongolia. *'. This legend correlates with the Russian legend of the city of Kitezh that miraculously saved itself O from Tatars1 raid by disappearing under the water of the 63 Gotama had visited Agharti in his old age and brought from it sorne sacred learning. The latter is likely to be a paraliel to the Kalacakra teachings that, according to a few Tibetan sources, Budàha had preached in the year of his Parinirvana. Then Agharti should have existed Fndependently from Shanbhala. Was it another formerly flourishing Asian kirigdorn whence KaIacakra could have caken its origin? Roerich menrions Agharti in his works, other than that there is no convincinq information on that Shambhala subterranean counterpart. The etymology of its name is obscure. The other two countries whose political leaders were particuhrly interested in .the Shambhala legend were USA and Germany. We shall now discuss their visions of "Shambhala on Earthw éhiis completing the chapter on Shambhala in tne Western world, N.Roerichrs inspiration by the legend of Shambhala took the form of the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace. The aim of this international treaty that was signed by the representativos of twenty-one nations at the White House in the presence of President Roosevelt, is the protection and preservation of art and çcientific riches. In 1933 at the Third International Roerich Peace Banner Convention Sir Frânces 3. Grant declared: The East has said that when the Banner of Shambhala woula encircle the world, verily the New Dawn would follow. Borrowing this Legend of Asia, let us determine that the Banner of Peace s~allencircle the world,

Svetioyarskoe lake and turning into the abode of virtuous sages, From the to time one can hear the bellsv ringing and chanting coming from the depth of the lake, This legend inspired Russian composer Rymski- Korsakov and writer Melnikov-Pechersky who used it as the plot for his novels In the Woods and On the mountains. carrying its word of Light, and presaging a New Morning of human brotherhood (quot,in Bernbaum, 21) . Henry Wallace, a secretary of Agriculture of the United S~ates, became a follower of Roerich's ideas. He persuaded Roosevelt to endorse the pact. In 1934 Wallace sent Roerich on a governme~t-sponsored expedition to Central Asia "ostensibly in search of àrought-resistant grasses, but âccording t~ Newsweek magazine, around the Department of Agriculture the Secretary's assistants freely admitted that he aiso wanted Roerici-r to look for the signs of the Second Coming" (quot. in Bernbaum, 21). E. Bernbaum maintains that Wallace probably associated the future Shambhala King with the coming Messiah. In 1940 Wallace won the vice presidency under Roosevelt. However, in 1948 his career was destroyed 5y a conservative columnist Westbrook Pegler, who published Wallace's correspondence with Roerich as "Gum Letters". E- Bernbaum remarks that "if Roosevelt had died before the 1944 election instead of after it, a man deeply influenced by the Tibetan myth of Shambhala would have becorne President of the United States" (Bernbaum, 22). In his book Shambhala-Oasis Sveta (Shambhala - Oasis of Liqht) Andrew ho mas*^ affirms that tnis could have saved thousands of lives in Vietnam and Korea, and that the reconciliation policy towards Russia and China could have started much earlier than it actually happened. Another American statesman strongly influenced by Roerich's ideas, was Corde11 Hull, the founder of the United Nations. Andrew Thomas describes another episode of Mahatmasv

82. The real name of Andrew Thomas is Andrey Tomashevsky. Fleeing frorn the Russian revolution, his parents emigrated to Manchuria where he spent twenty years. He then lived in China, Japan and fndia studying with pundits, Buddhists and Taoists . He considered himself N. Roerich' s disciple. interference in the course of the world politics. According to him, this incident was shortly mentioned by American Broadcasting program. During the secret meeting of the Security Councif, attended by representatives of different countries, an unknown person suddenly stood up behind the presiaing Sir aenegal Row. The ta11 stranger dressed in oriental cloches and sanùals, made a few comments that containeci the answers to al1 the agenda points and showed that further discussion was worthless. Was he one of the ~aha-mas'~~a member of some "Shambhalic sect", or just a commercial trick of the Raaio company?

Incredible as it may Sem, But the names of Shdhala and Agharti were pronounced a quarter of a century later, at the Nuremberg Trials. The mystical theories that constituted the basis of German Nazism were analysed by French authors Pauwels and Bergier, in their book Utro Maqov (Mominq -of the Magicians) that was published in the 1970s. In 1974 another book on the topic The Occult Reich by Brennan, appeared, but generally it was a repetition of the facts previously discovered by Pauwels and Bergier. Utro Maqov discloses the history of the secret that Hitler and his myrmidons belonged to and beliefs wnich they devotedly shared. Among those were the beliefs in the "Supreme Unknown" mlers of the world's destiny. One of these rulersr abodes was Shanbhala presented as the city of violence and and another was Aghart i . The original

83.~drewThomas suggests that the stranger was probably Mahatma Kut Khd, one of Blavatskaya's mentors. He deducted this presumption from the fact that one of the stranger's phrases exactly corresponded to the one extracted from Kut Khumi letter written in 1882, source of their knowledge, however, was the Gobi that some thiriÿ-forty centuries ago flourished as a great civilisation, Here we find some similarities with the beliefs of the Rosicrucian Order. The international fraternity of ~osicrucians*~founded in rhe fourteenth century A.D., claimed to have presenred the ancient knowledge that is kept in Shambhala, The Gobi desert occcpies a very distinguished place in the Rosicrucian system. They believe in a legendary oasis in the Gobi desert, a remnant of the ancient vanishing civilisation supposediy of Atlantis or Lemuria. According to Rosicrusian doctrine, this oasis was once an island in the sea inhabited by a godly race that , like Shambnala inhabitants, possessed supernatural powers. This sea extended throughout Central Asia and eventually transformed into a desert in the process of the world cataciysm. Like Shambhala, it is well concealed from the non-initiated. Nazi occultists assumed that the dgrants of the Gobi were the forefathers of the Azyans. Thus, it was a matter of honour to conquer the entire territory of East Europe, Turkestan, Pamir, Gobi and Tibet in order "to return to the sourcesn. Swedish explorer of Central Asia, Swen Hedin, whom Hitler admired, was, according to Pauwels and Bergier, an important mediator in the process of foundation of the Nazi esoteric doctrines. Numerous expeditions to Tibet had been dispatched by the Nazis. In 1926 a small Tibetan and Eastern Indian comnity settled in Berlin. When Russian troops entered Berlin, among the killed soldiers they found a

84 . The alleged founder of the order, Christian Rosenkreuz (1387-1484), is believed to have spent many years in Central Asia. (Rudzitis, 83) . thousand ~ibetans" in Gelman uniforms. Hitler had persona1 contâcts with a Tibetan known "as a man with green gloves" !Pauwels, Bergier, 58 ) . Karl ~aus~ofer'~,one of the main ideologists of the group "Tulen to which Hitler ana Rose~erg belonged, trstvelled a lot in India and Far East. He considered Central Asia to be the cradle of the German nation. mocher group, "Ahenerbe" founded by a friend of Swen Hedin, Frederick Hilscher, became a part of "SS" in 1939 ana its leaders joined Himmler's headquarters. This society had fifty institutes at its disposai supervised by professor Wurst, specialist in ancient texts who taught Sanskrit at the university of Munich. "Ahnenerbe" presumably had considerable contacts with Tibetan monasteries. One of its gains was to search for the traces of the Indo-Germanic race. In che midst of war Himmler organised an expedition in search for the Holy Gràil thac, as a symbol or' sacred esoteric knowledge, had always been a synonym of Shambhala, Iiitlerfs mission, according to Pauwels and Bergier, surpassed the idea of world supremacy. His concern was the divine business of creation of a new advanced stage of tne human race, the race of heroes and semi-gods. In this sense, the Second World war was not only a combat between democracy and fascism, totalitarian and liberal systems, it was also a "battle of goas".

85 According to V. Gusman, SuShas Chandra Boss, a former leader of the Tndian National Congress, took a pro-Hitler position and created his own sub-units that fought in Burma and Assam on the Japanese side. In Berlin, his "anny" was presented by an Indian "SS" battalion (Gusman, 184). 8 6 Gausgofer was introduced to Hitler by RudoIf Gess, the last survivor of the group "Tule". He died in prison in 1989. Germany, connected in Hitler's eyes with the ancient centres and sources of wisdorn, was to free the earth of its scum born as a result of unfortunate mutations, and obstrucring the re-establishment of the divine Aryan race. The fulfiliment of these high-flown ambitions demanded human sacrifices to attract the supernatural powers. Having realised the imminent failure of his enterprise, Hicler plunged into an eschatofogical rave, He ordered the execution of prisoners, his own compatriots, his relatives. The Berlin mecro was flooded by his order. That causec! the death of two hundred thousand people. Gobbels and Hitler urged the Germans to destroy their cities, plants, to blast the bridges and railroads to involve the earth in a sort of apocalyptic catastrophe, They proclaimed the death sentence to the world that did not deserve Shambhala. Couid insanity on such a scale derive solely from imperialist ambitions or simply £rom the ravings of a lunatic? Unquestionably, Hitler was far from being psychologically normal. But he was not alone in this contagious insanity. The power of the ideas that guided the Nazi movement pertained, to some extent, to a number of ancient legends and myths, one of which was the legend of Shambhala. Perhaps, tnis presumption needs a more thorough investigation than that of Pauwels and Bergier, nevertheless, it suggests a new perspective of interpretation of the facts that an official version suffices to explain by the "megalomania of a syphilitic and a sadist .. . and a cowardly servility of the crowdn ( [translation is mine] Pauwels, Bergier, p. 52) .

Agiotage around Shambhala did not stop with the Second World war. The legend continued to be misinterpreted and 69 misused in Russia as well as in the United States. Numerous followers of the Roerichs in Sussia have created an odd nychology combining elements of Shambhala, UFO and stories about yetis, or abominable snowrnen who ostensibly serve as Shambhala guardians and guides. According to this mythology, Shambhala is ciirectly connected co al1 the UFO sightings, and yetis are supposed to operate the "flying saucers" and to CO-municate with people telepathically. 8 7 In this case, Sharhala is believed to be extraterrestrial with its closest base located on Venus. Al1 this is closely related to Russia as che future birthplace of Maitreya- Thus, Russia is predestined to play the central role in the world history. kpproxi,mately in the 1970's or 19801s, a former Communist party member Valeri Averianov who got himself involved in parâpsychology and mysticism, blamrd Shambhala as a source of fascism and biack magic. Averianov, on the contrary, represented the kingdom or' Agharti as an antipode tc Shambnala. Averianov and his followers whose aim was to consolidate the communist ideas, declared wâr on world fascism and Zionisrn symbolised by Shambhala! Unfortunately, such cornical phantasies attracted numerous advocates especially in times of perestroika and glasnost. Among them were many military men who considered Russia to be the only opponent to Masonic and Zionist forces of the world. The members of the nationalistic organisation

"Paniat ln (Rus. Memory) became deeply interested in Nazi Aryan theory and decorated their black uniforms with the

-- 8 7 . For Tibetan and Nepalese people yeti is as real as a grizzly for Canadians, Travelling in Nepal, the author of the thesis heard numerous stories about yeti encounters with humans- Yetis are believed to communicate telepathically. familiar emblem. Nowadays there are several organistions like "Pamiatn in al1 major cities of Russia. The United States did not avoid their portion of Shambnala psychosis, though of a less critical fom. The hippie culture of the sixties and seventies, an essential pûrt of which was a keen interest towards eastern religions, gave a rise to the so-cailed move-ent. At large, it was motivated by the same old ideaï of unity in diversity on the Oasis of the all-pervading spirituality- The same old idea. of the West-East synthesis found one of its most deformed incarnations in the "tantric sex tevolution" of Osho, At the sarne the a number of fantastic and prevalently preposterous accounts on Shambhala appeared- Arnor?g them are the books by Elizabeth and Mark Prophet, who called themselves "rnessengers". They mentioned the names of Mahatmas Kut Humi and Moria who are, in their interpretation, Tibetan (?) Mahatmas bringing the essence of "Christic love" to people. 2hother author, B,T, Spalding, presents ShamShala in the five v~lumesof his Teachings of the Msisters of the Far East. His version of Shmbhala resernbles a Fairyland, perfectly fitted for a reunion of Buddha, Christ, Mohammad and 211 ocher great souls. Needless to say, such stories only add to the rnystery wrapping the original legend. The leader of one of the New Age movements is an American who spends most of his time in Kathmandu, Nepal. He calls himself Mâitreya the Buddha and has a large entourage. His oppearance is related to the myth that is ostensibly mentioned in the "Guru LettersW discussed above. According to that myth, Vaitreya was expected to be born in the 1940's or 1950's in the state of Maryland. The latter would eventually becorne an American branch of Shambhala . However, this âuspicious event did not receive due attention because of the 71 UFO landing in New Mexico. The Waryland Maitreya" is preaching now near the great stupa of Boudhanath.

As the passed filling in the white spots on the world maps, a number of those beiieving in the physical Shambhala decreased considerably, Tibetan lamas require more scientific proofs of Sharnbhala's existence observfng how the young generation of Tibetans loses its faith, Even the fourteenth Dalai Lama gives dif ferent opinions on Shmbhala's existence. Sometimes rie maintains that it does exist physically on our planet, while at other times he relates it to other cosmic dimensions. Once he joked that "if you go north in a straight line from India, you'll pass oves the North Pole and everitually corne down in America, so perhaps America is Shanbhala" (qtlot, in Bernbaum, 37) . According to E. Bernbaum, some lamas do accept the possibility of America beinq Shxnbhala, as it has "some of the material characteristics of an earthly paradise" (Bernbaum, 37). Some Tibetan emigrants perceive Americâ as the "realm of gods". With almost a semi- centennial influx of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, the original Tibetan legend of Shambhala, not just Hilton's Shangxi-la, became widely-known. Due to Chinese occupation and developi~g tourisrn, Tibet ceased to be a mystery and is no longer looked upon as Shambhala itself. For many westerners Shambhala had migrated together with Tibetan refugees . For some westerners of today the legendary kingdorn has assurned very corporeal forms as concrete geographical locations. The notion of Be-yuls (sbayul), or hidden valleys, haç been very popular Eor the last two decades. We have already nentioried that the issue of Biiddhist pilgrhage sites, as part of the sacred geography, has been thoroughly exmineci by my western scholars and a great number of articles appeared on the subject that has never been touched bef ore. Numerous Lam-yig, or Tibetan pilgrimage guides, have been translated into European languages and some of the Be- yuls have been discoverea and visited by many. Be-yuls are believed to have been established and concealed by PadmasacriDhava dtlring his travels in the HUnalayas. They were supposed to contain termas (qter-ma)88, or hidden treasures, that were to be revealed in due the by right tertons Igter- ston), or treasure discoverers. A number of Be-yuls are said to be located in Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim. The most famous of "~~ened"~'Be-yuls are Khembalung (mkanpa l~ng)~~of Nepal and Pernako ( PachbKod) (Tib. Lotus Splendeur) of South-Eastern

8 8 . -1 ( mthong drol) translated as the mmBook of t& r-rrd is one of those termas, as well as the Gtii&

89 . After terton opens a "hidden valleyn it becomes a place of pilgrimage for the believers. 9 O . Aïso Khambalung, spelled in Tibetan "Mienpa lung". According to the Tibetan translater of the guidebook to be-yu1 Khembalung, " ' khenpa ' might refer to a type of grass fwhich may be used in making incense) found in the hidden valleyn" (Reinhard, J. Khembalung: The Hidden Valley, "Kailash", vol. VI, 1978, pp.5-13). Tibet that became especially venerated and visited by Nyingma-pa tertons from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. According to Tibetan folk legends, the hidden valleys are protected by the deities assigned by , T'nus, they are impossible to penetrate for inose who do not deserve that karmically. ProtectFve Zosces might manifest themselves in the forms of snowstorms, mists, snow leopards, etc, Buddhist practitioners value these places as extremely beneficial for the practice. The Gbi& to Khelimg says: "It is much betrer CO meaitate one year in this place than a thousand years elsewhere, better to do one rnonth1s retreat here than a year's retreat outside" (quot. in Bernbaun, 64). According to Padmasambhava's prophesies, Be- yuls would turn into refuges in times of troubleg'. The -& to mrmpinforms us that "at the the when the happiness of beings is nearly finished and Tibet is about to be destroyed by foreign soldiers, then it is better to escape to a hidcen place which is located on border of southern Tibet" (trans. Chopgyel Namgyal, "Kaiiashw, vol, VI, 1978, p. 16) This prophecy, as we can see now, has been somewhat proved by reality. Selievers consider Be-yuls to be wish granied and jlessing for al1 iucky visitors. Al1 kinds of obstacles axe supposed to be removed by the mere sight of these lands- During his journey to Be-yul Khembalung, %Reinhard was told that people lived "underground in the cave, but cannot be

". According to E. Bernbaurn, Tibetans did flee "to the safety of remote mountain valleys" (66). They were often persuaded by false tertons who promised to guide them to the hidden valleys. E. Bernbaum asserts, that these people might have settled some Himalayas areas on the border with Tibet, afthough they "generally failed to find the particular sanctuaries they were seeking" (71). seen" ("Kailashn, vol. VIr 1978, p.) Placed there by Padniasambhava, they would only appear in hard times. These subterranean inhabitants are reminiscent of Agharti and Kitezh legends that we discussed earlier. The emerience of Be-yuls of a cornnion man and that of an accomplished yogi, is different. 'Whereas the first might see just a heavenly beautiful valley, the latter can rneet its inhabitants who remain invisible for a ciosed "wisdom eye". A yogi might also find books instructing him on different stages on the path to enlightenment . Thus, there are diff erent levels of Be-yuls, Le. outer, inner and secret. The latter is supposed to be the full realisation of a be-yu1 inside one's heart, the "hidden valley of suchnessw as one Tibetan lama called it. Describing his impression of Khembalung, E. Bernbaum writes:

1 had touched a hidden source within myself. 1 had been trying to determine whether this valley was the Khembalung of the guidebook, but now that no longer mattered. 1 knew that this, whatever it was, was the hidden valley 1 had been seeking (Bernbaum, 61 ) - Aitktough Shambhala and Be-yuls have different traditional roots, they apparently share a nmber of significant characteristics. Shambhala as well as hidden valleys, is a container of al1 kinds of material and spiritual treasures. Like Be-yuls, Shambhala is also associated with the future barbarian threat, and consequent redemption from the evil forces. The guidebooks to both Shambhala and Be-yuls have many common features too. The only difference between them is that Shambhala guidebooks give instructions for only one seeker, whereas Be-yuls' guidebooks can be followed by large groups of people. As in case with Shambhala, Be-yuls present the lands of wordly pleasures and prosperity for comon people, while lamas perceive them as icieal places for rneditation and attainment of enlightenrnent. As c natter of fact, many la-vas corsider Shambfiala to be The groatest "hiciden va7LeyW. So far we have been trying to look only at the external cspect cf che Shambhala myth. Eowever, iïs inner symbolism seems ta be the most significant aspect from the Buddhist pcint of view. rWh.ether or not Shâmbhala exists as 2 çoographical location, the myth has an extrerne power of its mm, and we haci enough proofs for that throughcjut hi~t~q- The longevity and actuality of the legend partially lies in i:s synbciism. Like the Outer and Inner parts of Glacakra Shambhala has its outer and secret, or innermost, meanings- Keeping in mind thet KZlacakra, as any other tantric text, is abundantly encoded, we may presume that the whole legend of Ç!.a-m5iiala being c part of Kalacakra, represents sorne hidden outline c>r instruction for a tantric practitioner. On a cercâin stage of spiritual practice external and interna1 reaiities merge. Entering the niandala of a particular deitÿ xC! cheri visualising this mandala inside one's body and mind is exemplary for tant ric sadhana. Many geographical places, -. - -- rirst cr cii ,ilgrimage sires, are associated with L?iandalas of various deities, and specific spots of those places - with the deicy' s cckrcs , For exarrple, Nyingma-pa adepts perceive Be-yu1 Pemako as the body of Vajravarahz deity. For thern encering ana craversing the valley means a highly esoteric process of passing through VajravarahIts chakras that correspond CO those of a yogi. This presents in short a currently popular concept of "sacred geography". E. Bernbaum suqgesrs that we shculd read "hidden valleys as mps of the rnind that show us the various levels concealed within it" (Bernbaum, 139) . This well refers to Shambhala, E. Sernbaum devotes five chapters to the question of Shambhala symbolism giving ihe most comprehensive analysis of it. Sirice tnis topic is too extensive for a limited thesis volume, we shall crÿ so s~mriseIL The whole landscape of Shambhala, with its blossom-petal skâpe zfia divisiori into principalities with the King's Pâlâce in the centre, has mandala structure, We usually find the crincipi deity cnd his or her ptilace Ln che rnidst cf rncndala s~mboIisFng the innermost mind, or true nature of reality, rhe g~elof 2 yogi. ,madala ca recresent boïh tne minc anc the body. ID- Hinduisrn the head cakra is depicted as an o2ening lottls. In KZlâcakra Tancra the eight-pecaled lotus symbolises the heart centre, that is called the Dharma Chakra (Ski. The 'meel of Truth) . Thus the lotus-shape of Shambhâlà corresponds to the heart chakra of a yogi's body where he is supposec LG reôlise the inner kingàom. Tne Sncmbh~i~King, as the ernbodiment of the innermost mind, rules over differerit levels cf consciousness represented by bis subjeccs. Unlike Sarbarians that rom cntamed outside the kingdom, al1 the Sha.rLiJhals irhâ3itants are loyal CG their enligntened rules. Performing mandala practice, a yogi is visualising the mrlc sürroufiding Mm as mcrrdalr. Tne mndalo sïmcture of Sharnbhala also presumes that the whole world can be seen as Shcl~bhaiâ. Identifying ourselves with the ruler ir, the centre, ana people surrounding us, with the Shambhala cwellers and the eight loms petâls with the eight directions around, we can eventually purify our experience of the world. nirus* we ôre rninLmising and eventually eiiminating the abyss between Shambhâla and everyday life. Yosc lws hiçhly estimate the tezchings of Shamtjhala as the puresc fom of Kzlacakra. According to Sakya Trizin, "al1 otkr fo-rms, such as the written ones found in texts, have their real source deep in the mind, in someone's experience of ihe inner Shâmbhala" (quot. in Bernbaum, 150) . 78 One of the King's possessions, the wish-fulfilling gem, is ~heEX~OCS CintZmal-i, ôIso known as Murbu RinpocRe, tne desirous goal of so many seekers. The Sanskrit words "clnta" cria 'aderiot ing "rriind" and "j ewel", unerringly point to rhe diamond indestructibility and wish-fulfilling nature cf -. . ckc sri~~ç~zenedxind. Trerrtendous wealth of che King and liis subjects stand as well for the unthinkable riches of the mind thct ozce discovered, quench al1 desires. Everybody who reaches the state of the King of Shambhala, beeol?ies c xâster of oneself. According to Chopgyet Tricheri, Rinpoche, "if you can use your body properly, then the body Cecvmes Shâmbhâlâ, che ninety-six priîlcipülities concur in 411 their actions, and you conquer the kingdom itself" (quot. in 3enboii~,1% 1 , Anocner loma, Jomspal, says tnaï Shâmbhala can be experiencod here and now for "there is notirhere where Rigden Drzg-3 (Rigs ldan cJragpo) (Rudra Cakrin) is not, and wnere he is is Shambhala" (quot. in Bernbaum, 155). The cpiaebocks to Shûmbhala speak abouï the enormous distance separatinq us from Shambhala, severe hardships on the wy ac stïperhmcn powers that one shoüld possess in order to reach the goal. We my, though, occasionally, catch a glùnpse of ine ince-most mind as the herders and hunters of Tibetm stcries who incidently stumbled across hidden valleys . Driven bÿ nateriai yearnings, they were not able to stay and enjoÿ peace and happiness that was offered to th-, Similarly, if we âre n3t persistent enough in our searcn for the source of the glimpses, they will corne and go leaving us confined in ael~sion.Tne guidebooks can also represent the instructions for carrying out the metaphysical journey to the concealed cepth of our minc. In this sense the guidebooks to Shâmbhaia can be compared to -, As in the journey that awaits 79 us after death, on the way to Shambhala we are supposed to ovescome our hidden fears, desires and halis appearing iri che fo-ms of various deities and demons, by realising tneir e-nptiness. The tirne of death can be crucial. One text on Shambhala sugqests t?~at"even che Lay attënàants who do not prâctice rneditâtion, can, at the the of death, transfer their bY--scisr;szcssme- io e Fixe Lads ana avoid rebirth iz the lower realms" (quot. in Bernbaum, 153). Though the rumours obcrit ïhe exceptioncl heroes who nave actually travelled Co Shanbnala are still very popular among Tibetsns, the corrtemporcry view of scme f_amcs is that iri our degenerate age Shunbhala can no longer be reached physically but only

-Lrouqi; r cea~h na rebirïh. There are also a nmber of acccunts cn visiticg Shambhala in dreams. Such dreams have - - CSXGIIY 2 very lucici charocter enabling a drexner to write hem dom upon awakening. Another Éorm of travelling to iâ2nd pro~àbiy the most suirable one, is ïnrough rneditation. Mter all, it is only with the help of a steady xocirecicn praccice chat we moy transfer our everyday consciousness into the pure primordial wisdorn of Shambhala Xing-. . A relatively new tradition that was born inside the Nyingmo-pc school adopced the myth of Shambhala in a rather revclutionary way. The root text of that tradition, two v~l~nedKZlacakra commentary, wos revealed in the end of the nineteenth century by Nyingma terton Mipham Rinpoche. This C-rrcition àccreaited the legendary figure of Gesar with the grand mission of becoming the twenty-fifth Shambhala King. Nyingrna-pas consider Gesar to be the reincarnation of Padmasrnbhava. As the protector and propagator of Buddhist Fairih he is supposed to be reborn as Rudra Cakrin to dispel 8 O the dark barbarian forces. Moreover, the name of Gesar is co~fieccea CO ïhe pre-Budàhist tezchings of Dzog-cher! (Rzogs cnen) preserved inside the Nyingma school. In the Nyingma leçene entitled The Lord cf Death, Ling Gesâr ana Grect Ferfection by an unknown author from Kham, Gesar is presented cs unique crchecy-e ccrnbining spiricuali~qr of en e~lightonedlana and the secular rcle of a warrior king. This - r-ctio~cf ideâl ~ingshiprefers io ihe oncient conceptioil of câkravartin that can be traced "not only to the earliest Vedic, Düt clso cc the pre-Vedic, pre-Aryan traditions or- India" (quot, in Sponberg, Hardacre, 9). The came Rudra Cckric ?Sso s~ggests ïne direct connection to cakravartin ideal. BeFng associated with the primordial awareness itself ,-. iLlb. ~~~~~~j, Gescr is believea cc conquer ihe barnarions without any ccnfrontation or killinq involved. To comment on -A - L -de hcve cc disclose the esoteric symbolism iinderlining Shambhala prophecy. If we follow the pattern presented above âE5 view 5k.e finol battle of Shcmbhalc as the conflicc occuring in our mind, we may recognise the clash of various secses cs Shanbhalâ enemies in aisguise. These senses- barbarians are projections of our ever-restless ego that :=,es- - - the cieeper iayers of mind in the form of Sirmbhala. Catching the glimpses of these unexplored layers, the êxpcncixj ego is trying to subdue even thern, consequently destroying itself. According to the prophecy, al1 those who wmki aie in tne firial combat woula be reborn in the Pure Land of Shambhala. Thus by attacking Shambhala and by zxmgr:ing tc destroy Buddhism, ignorant barbarians facilitated its spread and the golden âge establishment. The rnigh~y barbarian amy is defeated by Rudra Câkrin's realisation of its illusory nature, not by means of another 81 more powerful ego. This conflict is an Fnevitable stage on the prcct icioner' s path, According to the modern Nyingma tradition, the hero of 3ibo-- Cu -n ana Mongolian folklore, Gesar, is stlpposed to represent a mode1 of an enlightened king-warrior who wisely rdes his coüncry just as che enligh~enedmina subgugaces the struggling senses. The Nyingma-pas ' view of ~hambhala'~and esjeîialiy its final bottle differs from that of the Geliig- pas. The first emphasizes the esoteric aspect of the legend c-rc prophecÿ of Shambhâla, Shambhala is theref ore perceived cs primarily t'ne inner kingdom of one's heart, and its future kitle as the tcniing the ignorance of one's ego by means of piire and direct awareness. This implies the drala (dgra lhalg3 srhcigle, or transfo-wtion and transcendence of negativity embodied by Gesar. For a , the physical e:iissence of Snanbhala is not a primary concern. He aims at establishing an indestructible kingdom in his heart, and . . ckrmgk ;ï, in the worlà, The Gelug school, on the contrary, tends to insist on

42 .Urifortunately the texts that car? broaden our knowledge of Nyingrna-pas' perception of Sharnbhala, such as The Grecit Ccmrnentary on Kalacakra by Mipham enpoche and a poem Gesar Goes to Hel1 by an unknown author from Knam province, are not cransls!tea yet from che Tibetan language. We are aware, nowever, cnar ïnis crend of ~~ingma-pischool concinues rio aevelop . 9 3 - "Dra" neans enemy and "la" is beyond. Drala literally means "beyond the enerny", According to Chogyam Tmngpa, "drala is the unconditioned wisdom and power of the world that are Oeyond arry duâlisn" (Trungpa, 103). This principle became the heart of "", a program launched by Chogyam r-l~rüngpc In the United States in 1977, Its main goal was "to use the image of the Shambhala kingdom to represent the ideal of secular enlightenment, that is the possibiiity of uplifting our persona1 existence and that of others without the help of any religioüs outlook" (Trungpa, 27) . physical existence of Shambhala interpreting its future bâitle 2s 2 real historiccl event that would cake place in 2327. As we have already discussed, many Gelug lamas, iaclulling tne Third Pancilen Ianz, associated themselves with the ficure participants of the great combat- The famous Tibeccn prayer composeà by the Third Pcncnen Lam, 1s saturated with the militant spirit. The following lines of it reselli'ulê the cncient T&l poems 02 war: Your million warriors shall be of many colours- four hundred inousand elephon~sdrcnk with rage, Golden chariots with weapons and young warriors, ALI wiil enter the wrathful war. (quot. in Bernbâum, 23).

-Ml the barbarians, i ,e. representatives of al1 non-Buddh. ist re1igicri.s are to De exterminated. Though, as we rnentiorieci before, the KaIacakra texts classify Christianity, Judaisrn EZG Mznlrheism as barbaricn ~eachings, Islam is seen as ihe rnair, threat to the spirituality exemplified by Buddhism. At e tirile when KZlacckra reached India, Islam haà clrecay annihilated Buddhisrn in Central Asia and was about to do the s&ne in India, As witn most cncient texts, Ft is haro to dete-m-ine which parts of Kalacakra are genuine and which had &or, cadec and superimposed in the srocess of time. The authors, commentators, or possibly copyists of the Kalacakra i~ex.rts, ccüld have adopted the Xuslim cmcept of Jihad into the Buddhist context. This still puzzles those who are inciined to 'oehold Buddhisrn as che most peaceful religion in the world. Those who would live in the year of 2327 would proSâDly have 2 chance to learn whether it is true or not, and to know who after al1 holds the right view, Gelug or y.However, such key Buddhist terms as "arahat" and

" dra - compa l' Idgra-bcompa) (Tib- Killer of the enemies, "bomisattvaW) both derive from the verb "to kill". 83 The interpretation is up to us.

In the process of the present study we have seen how ûfr'ferent ages adced new interprecztioris tc the ShamSnala legend. For some people it was a hope-giving and attainable reziity. 9ror others, it becme G symbol cf the lost jaradise char stayed flawlessly preserved in the inaccessible ~ibetan mcur:-,ains. It was usea as a slogan ana weapon in a desperxe fight for establishing Shambhala on earth, to merge eternal ~riCternpors1, sacred and profane, This atternpt reacned its total absurdity in Nazi and Cornrnunist doctrines. The West has rnari,ifesceci â tonspicuous rendency Co materialise even tne subtlest intangible concepts, reducing them to political or socicl scructüres. It took the myth too verbatin and failed ta adopt its innermost essence. The long-tenn unwillingness of Tiber to unveil iiseif CO the foreigners has tumed out quite sound. Enthusiasm aroused by Sharnbhala was followed by rctker ncive attempts of Roerlch to attrcct the attention of the Soviet governors to the universal message of ShambhaIa zrxi Hitler's ~loodycrusades under che signs of swastika and Sharnbhala. The ancient myth became the moving force of erspolitical intrigues. The West was obvioilsly not ready to embrace the profound message of the legend. The ~rxsfornation of the Shdhala myth becâme sn excellent example of enigmatic relationship between the myth and human mi-n,a. If presented in a scheine, this transformation could be as follows: reality (in the form of a once existent hisrorical kingdom) nultiplied by hope, created a myth which in its turn created its own reality. The latter can be divided into an external aspect that is created and can be characterised by negativity and destruction, and an internal crie chat is to ~e revealec! and is always positive 2nd crea~ive. When a myth (we may cal1 it here an "orthomyth") oversceps its authentic culcurai framework, it may turn inro pseudornythology that instead of liberating human imagination, ensizves i-i. Times of political and econ~micaiupheavals are most favousable for pseuaornythology that penetrates politics c2ci scLence and becomes an instrment of power tnat eventually victimises its creators. WiIl for power that, accordi,rg to Nietzsche, Fs the motive force of al1 .the past and present "supermen", needs to find itself a comfortable rnzsk of c rnyth. Tt nos to prodtice pseudomythology to justify its irnmeasurable cravings . According to V. Gusman,

hihile the reâl historical myth is â legitimate fom cf tb~eritualistic-esthetical vision of the cosmos, Lea s-eciai sysîerm of the world perception based on tradition, pseudo-mythology always derives from the subf ective, ("profane" as opposed to "socred") source and Fs not linked to the tradition passed £rom generction to generation ( [trct?slztiori is mine] , Gusman, l00)-

AS we have seen, the signs of this Shambhala pseudomythology aespite iis szriking nonsense, are scill very distincx in the world. History has too many examples of how the most luàicr~i;sirrctio~al ideas manipulate nasses.

The question of whether the legend of Shambhala oriqincily appeared. as an inspiration for an actuâl bâttle against historical enemies of Buddhisrn or Hinduism, or as y incended at conquering internal enemies of perfection, remains open. If Shambhala existed once as a Sudd~istCentral Asian state, it could be an easy target for Islamic threat. Efforts to preserve Buddhisrn in alien surroundings and awareness of its imminent destruction could resxit in rather aggressive Kalacakra predicïions. On the other hand, it seems quite probable that Shznbh~lacould exist as a comuniiy of sages concealed frorn the world and secluded in the impassible mountains of pres~?lôi3lythe Kun-Luns or Pdrs. Havirrg Deen discovered by lucky few, it could have inspired numerous legends* Dwellings sf wise xen of cII tites, whecner monasceries, forests or caves, were always out of reach of the samsaric world the -. ~z~erationfrcm wnich ~neywere seeking. In fact such remote rncnasteries may exist even today without any external i~ccrference. L. Sernbam refers to Sir Aue1 Stein, a British explorer who "worked his way through nearly incessible gorges of che Pamirs ïo the valley of Rcs~G~, xnere ne found a people who had had virtually no contact with

-,-.c .n cctside world for centuries" (Bernbattrn, 46). In his book Meetings with Remarkzble Men G. Gurdjiev tells about s~iritüal froternities located in che remote arid nord to reach areas of ~urkestan'~. If we assume that Shambhala belorigeà to chat ïype of spiritual settlement, the idea of âny external threat appears to be inappropriate. As WGS earlier rnentioned, the idea of barstle does not appear in other Shambhala related myths. It could be a later zcciticri, ar the very concept of struggle co~ldbe perceived as a metaphor for the spiritual accomplishments as, for e:tmple, suggesced by Nyingma-pas. After all, it is our àual consciousness that sees everything in terms of opposites

94 . Describing his journey to one of these secluded fraterriities, G. Gurdjiev says that during the trip that took about one month he and his cornpanion were supposed to Wear basiiiyks or special hoods that prevent them from seeing and remembering the way (see G. Gud j iev, Meetings with Remarkable Men, p. 149-150). fighting each other. As ali tne dire âttempts to bring about the millenium here anà riow fciied, mzny western cruth-seekers ïurned to inner dimensions. We may suspect that the tendency of inte-rprecinç ~heiegend of Shambholo in more rneiraphysical terms, rather than taking it at face value, arose in the secsnd haiF GI- EMScentury as a reac~ior,ïo che horrors of t~tzlitarianisrn and fascisrn. Nevertheless, such an inrerpretction seerns to be more relevcnt, Ci lecrsr in the modern context, Shambnala as a syrnbol, opens up infinite perspec~ivesfor personal growth. We saw how al1 che attempts to search for êxternal embodied Shambhala and to reduce it to scme ecrthly paradise brougnt about asurdity, or extremely ogctistic and ciangerous ideas. Since, as tne fates decree, che y.is r,o longer sealeci in its Tibetan cache, ii is probably safer for the planet to hold to its pure symbolic i~zerprecoiion. This by no mecins coricels the possibility cf ics âctual existence. An old zrgument saying that noc seeing so;rLecki..ig aoes not deny irs existence is still applicable CO the legendory places like Shambhala. Few believed in the . . 2isccriccl existence of Troy until Schliermnn ' s discovery, It Fs difficult to decide which version of Shambhala :me-yre~leciori is =ore conceivable and accurate. Future sïudy of the subject may find the solution. However, this argument rncy zot present primary impxtance comparirrg to other issues raiseQ by the legend. One of these issues is the symbolism of Si-i&?15hci~ thoc explicitly surpasses .che origirial Buddhist context of the legend opening new dimensions of it, It cc~cealsa universal message for al1 disregarding religious creeds or social backgrounds. According to %M. Kitagawa, tv c LO~the most part, the historian of religions is interested in the mythos...because he or she is looking for the 'horison of religious meaning' derived from myths, symbols and cults" ¢zC "ic is the czsk of tne historian of religions Co look for universal meaning in various religious traditions" (A.Sponberg, H. Hardacre, 20) . If religiono5 is to be understood as "re-ligare", Le. "re-ccnriec-,ioz" or 'Ire- j oining", she legend of Shambhola is in itself a universal religious symbol. An embodiment of the i,m;,cnez;-i ?LLTZE âspirations, it becornes a bridge Setweer! eorth and heaven, man and god. The core of the legend is the belief i,r che physical existence of tne attainable pure knd on earth. Due to that belief the Sharnbhala legend nas acquired süch zn incredible longevity anà vâriety of interpretaticns. Though the legend becarne known to us in the Buddhist context, It i;ncioubcledi:j ïranscenàs âny pcrCicular religious frmework. Some of its distinguishing characteristics that we discussed - h Che flrst- châpter cre not just Buddhist but 211-pervasive. To summârise these châracteristics, we may Say that the Ch~mihslâlegeria i) gives hope for boih present cnd possible fucure existence, 2) encourages -making as an assurance far future soivati~n2nd 3) elevctes the SGUI over mindane âctivities. The symbolism of the hidden Sharnbhala kingdom can be elsû seen in different ways. It car? present a reservoir of knowledge and wisdom in times of decline, guidance of spirituzl evolution and evidence of oiir present rniserzble condition. Just the way it signifies the inner kingdom of the mind, it rrsy refer to the world around us which is still to be discovered and experienced as it really Fs and not as we

-- - 9 5 . The latin word "religion" implies the establishinq of a lost bond, whereas its Sanskrit equivalent "dharma" means an already existing unchanging order. project it with our confusion and egotism. The very existence cf the Skznbholzt legenc! beina a promise or- e potential progress, poirits to the conditioned reality we live in, 2nd so cur obscure stâte of Ininci, We rnoy turn ou lives into the journey to Sharnbhala of our mind. Some authors (Thomas, r?-r~iîgpc) nenticz c rnirror 2s a tool holplng to see Chmbhaiâ. A rnirror Fs placed in che inner sanctum of a Shinto shrine so

CX-+II-CL jelievers con finoilÿ realise therriselves as inseparable from the divine- A Medieval Persian Sufi poem The Conference sf airos tells iis about the journey that the birds tcok to find their legendary king Simurgh. After many years of kordships they L'inally realised that Simurgh neaning "thirty 'cirds" is nothing but themselves and that the journey was xecesscrÿ to vanquish tneir dualistic vision. The journey Srings the reaiisation of the oneness of the path and the gocl. Since the zenith of the mtericlistic cspirotions of rnankind has beon seemingly achieved, at least in some cvc~tries, ~heE'L-rllosi effort should be obviously airected inwards in search of the nidden treasures of the inner 2inezsicns. 'When, before enterinç his parinimana, the Budàhc t~ldhis disciples "to rely only on themselves", did not he

We are free to irrterpret the legend of Shambhala the way we like and chore cm be as rnarry shanbholas as individuals in this world. It appeals to some inherent, yet unknown, part of ccrselves that once discovered, con bring more sacred vision of the world and rnake the legend a skilful rneans of personal 2nd eventüally global evolution. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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