Research Notes on the Kingdom of Shambhala

KAILAS region: Khyunglung Naljor (Silver Palace of the Garuda Valley), the ruins of the ancient Shang Shung capital (?) are located at the base of Mt Kailas in the Sutleg Valley. Strong ancient Irano-Persian influences. Siva (Shiva, Shiwa) as the main deity of Kailas. The 360 Werma Deities dwell in Mt Kailas. Did the mountain 'fly' from the north as early Tibetans believed? Shamanic traditions of flight on juniper drums. "Dawa Sangpo and his entourage 'flew' back to Shambhala after they received the Kalachakra teachings." Histories of Shang Shung which are being translated in Italy should add light to this area. 33 Kings of Shangshung.

"Until the eighth century, the country of Zhang-zhung had been an independent kingdom with its own language and culture. It lay in what is now Western and Northern Tibet and the center of the country was dominated by the majestic presence of the sacred mountain of Mount Kailas........ Just to the west of Zhang-zhung there once existed the vast Kushana empire which was Buddhist in its religious culture. It was an area in which Indian Buddhism interacted with various strands of Iranian religion-- Zoroastrian, Zurvanist, Mithraist, Manichean, as well as Indian Shaivism and Nestorian Christianity. ...... All this suggests that certain trends within Bon actually do go back to a kind of syncretistic Indo-Iranian Buddhism that once flourished in the independent kingdom of Zhang-zhung before it was forcibly incorporated into the expanding Tibetan empire in the eighth century. This "Buddhism", known as gyer in the Zhang-zhung language and as bon in the Tibetan, was not particularly monastic........"

gekhöd -(ge khod ) - a category of Bön deity. There are 360 of them, matching the days of the year. They live on Mt. Kailash, the axis around which the world rotates, around which the sun revolves in its 360 day cycle. According to the Padma Kathang, the Gekhöd were part of the original nine stages of evolution of the phenomenal world out of emptiness.

"A glimpse into ancient Persian cosmology is the royal city of Hagmatan (Hamadan, Agbatana, Ekbatana)[50E 32N] built in 800 BC by King Deioces (Daiukku) of the Medes. Seven concentric circles within walls, each higher than the preceding wall as one passed toward the center hill where the palace stood. The 7th and highest wall was painted gold (sun)...the 6th was painted silver (moon)...the 5th wall was painted orange...the fourth was painted blue...the third was painted red...the second black...and the outermost wall was painted white. Orange was the fiery morning 'asman', blue the noonday 'asman', red for the evening asman. The array of colors chosen for the encircling walls of the royal city was similar to that of the robe of warriorhood and sovereignty described in the Denkart." (Campbell: 1968...pg 97)...

"The encircling walls of the royal city had an array of colors. Orange for the fiery morning asman, blue for the noonday asman, scarlet for the earth fires of the evening asman, and white for the water of the all-encompassing sea, called the Wide Kasa in the Avesta. These are similar for the robe of warriorhood and sovereignty described in the Greater Bundahism and Denkart. The robe is the sky palace of self-moving (mainyu) substance, which is both mansion and garment of the sky gods. The warriors often wear a military cloak and are sometimes armed with shields and bows and arrows, as on the Capsua fresco." .....Mithraic iconography.....pg 98

Until the seventh century, Zhang-zhung existed as a separate state which comprised the land to the west of the Central Tibetan Provinces of U and Tsang and generally known as Western Tibet. The historical evidence is incomplete but there are some reliable indications that it may have extended over the vast area from Gilgit in the west to the lake of Namtsho in the east, and from Khotan in the north to Mustang in the south. The capital of Zhang-zhung was a place called Khyunglung Ngulkhar - 'The Silver Palace of the Garuda Valley' - the ruins of which are to be found in the upper Sutlej Valley to the south-west of Mount Kailash. The people of Zhang-zhung spoke a language which is classified among the Tibeto-Burmese group of Sino-Tibetan languages.

"The land of Shambhala lies north of the Tarum River." (Sita River in Eastern Turkestan? or the ancient Tarum (Tarim) River (no longer in existence) which flowed into the Safid Rud at the base the Caspian Sea. The second location is the focus due to it being the orignal homeland of the Shakya tribes. The first Rigden Kings are usually described as Shakya Kings.

"The central pericarp is elevated a bit above the surrounding lotus petals, and on it stands Kalapa. Its palaces are made of gold, silver, turquoise, coral, pearl, emerald, moon crystal, and other precious stones. In front of the thrones are crystal looking glasses that allow one to see far into the distance. North of Kalapa are wooded, craggy, crystalline peaks. On the faces of the peaks are depictions of the Buddhas and the Gods. South of Kalapa is a sandalwood pleasure grove. In the center of the grove is the mandala circle of Kalachakra made by King Sucandra. East of the grove is a miniature Manasa lake. To the west is a white lotus lake. ....The Kalki (the lineage king of Shambhala) and his queens possess the four aims of life: sensual pleasure, wealth, ethics, and liberation. They never become sick or old, and although they always enjoy sensual pleasure, their virtue never decreases. The Kalki does not have more than one or two heirs, but he has many daughters who are given as vajra ladies during the initiations held on the full moon of the Caitra each year....The houses in the villages of Shambhala are two storied. The people have fine bodies and appearances and they are very wealthy. The men of Shambhala wear caps, and white or red cotton clothes. Women wear white or blue garments pleated and patterned with beautiful designs." (John R. Newman....1985)

the country of Olmo Lungring where Tonpa Shenrab descended from the celestial spheres and took up incarnation among human beings as an Iranian prince. The mysterious land of Olmo Lungring (`ol-mo lung-rings) or Olmoling (`ol-mo`i gling) is said to be part of a larger geographical region to the northwest of Tibet called Tazig (stag-gzig, var. rtag-gzigs), which scholars identify with Iran or, more properly, Central Asia where in ancient times Iranian languages such as Avestan and later Sogdian were spoken. According to the “gZer-mig” the traditional etymology of the name Olmo Lungring is as follows: “`ol” means “unborn”, “mo” “undermined”, “lung” “the prophetic words of Shenrab”, and “rings” “everlasting compassion”. According to the “gZi-brjid”, Olmo Lungring was also known as Shambhala in Sanskrit and it continues to be known by this name among Tibetan Buddhists even today. Moreover, it is said that in ancient times it encompassed fully one-third of the known world a statement which could apply to the historical Persian empire.