In the footsteps of the Kingdom of Shambhala: A city of light in the Himalayas

  • 2017
Shambhala Kingdom

“No heart ever suffered when he went in search of his dreams,

because every moment of search is a moment of encounter,

with God and with Eternity ”

- Paulo Coelho -

Shambhala, also known as Shambalà or Shamballa , . The legendary kingdom, the city of light, the wonderful sanctuary beyond the borders of time. I invite you to close your eyes and evoke the resplendent image of this mystical place that very few have achieved, except in the depths of their dreams. Because man has always known the way, but he has long forgotten it.

He had crashed in a ghost forest along with his co-pilot. The two wandered terrified and starving. They struggled to survive for two months, and found the city by chance. They were attracted to what they thought were the lights of a city on the edge of the forest. The buildings shone at night. They found it completely unknown. It did not resemble any other city in history: a wonderful and dazzling place, which tempted them emotionally, and made them stagger blindly there. ”

- I'm glad we met that Steve. I'm glad now. What a beautiful place! In this kingdom there are not only legends, defenders of justice and things like that. There is also beauty, wishes can be fulfilled, and much more ... I don't know how to describe it Utopia? Peace? Perhaps a vision of the future of all peoples. A place like paradise. Maybe it is paradise.

- You have done all this way in search of paradise- I said softly.

- In search of peace.-he replied- Maybe that is the exact word. ”

- Robert Holdstock (Fragments) -

Shambhala origins

Although no one can say for sure, it is said that the term Shambhala comes from the Sanskrit Sham, a term that means TRANQUILITY . Therefore etymologically Shambhala defines a place of tranquility. A haven of peace. A shore of spirituality for those who dare to start in their search.

Recall that the West ignored almost everything about Shamb h ala before Helena Blavatsky's studies revealed the Ancient Wisdom of the East to the European and American public of the late nineteenth century . She claimed to be in contact with the inhabitants of Shambhala, and that they transmitted a part of her ancestral wisdom. Following the diffusion of its messages, the fabulous City of Light entered the consciousness of our time.

Readers interested in knowing more about Helena Blavatsky and her Theosophical Society, can consult the following articles, also published in our magazine:

https://hermandadblanca.org/la-teosofia-mundo-moderno-evolucion-perspectiva/

https://hermandadblanca.org/que-es-la-teosofia-y-que-son-los-teosofos-por-helena-p-blavatsky/

https://hermandadblanca.org/la-voz-del-silenACIONhelena-blavatsky/

Blavatsky's contribution is well known. However, few people know that they were two Catholic missionaries: Esteban Cacella and Juan Cabral, the first Europeans in modern history who gave a story about Shamb ha la, imagining at first that it was only an alternative name for Cathay (ancient denomination of China ). Subsequently they changed their mind.

Father Cacella, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, lived twenty-three years in Shigats, where he died in 1650, and noted the existence of this one. fabulous country in the reports I wrote. The lamas felt such respect for him, that they even proposed his services to lead him to Shambhala . His companion, Father Juan Cabral, wrote in 1625 : According to my opinion, Shambhala is not Cathay, but what in our maps is called Great Tartary.

However, the origin of the Shamb hal to be legendary is much older. Born with the Eastern belief that there is a galaxy of enlightened spirits working in the service of light, living apart in some inaccessible place in Asia. Over the centuries, historians, philosophers and adventurers have sought their exact location in the Himalayan mountains.

Today almost all experts agree to place the City of Light somewhere in Tibet .

Literary Shambhala: Reference to Shangri-Lha

No doubt the myth of Shamb has become popular in the subconscious of our modern society, thanks to James Hilton's famous work " Lost Horizons ." In this novel, published in 1933 (a few decades after the Blavatsky Theosophical Society introduced the concept of Shambhala in the West) a group of foreigners are lost in the Himalayas and after many hardships, they manage to reach Shangri- Lh a . A fertile and beautiful place hidden in the middle of the mountains, where its inhabitants live in peace and perfect harmony. It could well be the dream image of paradise. With the help of their citizens, foreigners get out of the mountains. But later they try to return to Shangri- Lh a and never find her again.

The work is beautiful, powerful and easy to read, enclosing a strong symbolic content.

Later Hollywood was responsible for taking the story to the cinema and immortalize the name of Shangri-Lha .

To such an extent it became popular, that in 1997 after repeated arguments by Chinese and foreign specialists, the government of the Chinese province of Yunnan solemnly declared that Shangri- Lh was in the autonomous territory of the Tibetan Nationality of Diqing in the northwest from Yunnan province, on the borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region . It is an area of ​​about 25 thousand square meters, covering the districts of Zhongdian, Weixi and Deqin . In Tibetan, Diqing means a place of happiness and good luck and this is the place tourists visit when they want to travel to Shangri-Lha .

However, nothing has to do with the Chinese city, with the fabulous Shambhala, lost in our memory.

Where is the authentic Shambalha? Reference to the Kingdom of Agharti

The Names of Shamballa: The City of Light

The first thing we must ask ourselves is whether Shamb h ala is a physical place, which we can access on our plane, or on the other hand it is a spiritual city that only the High Initiates can reach.

To answer that fundamental question, let's review through history.

Where is Shambhala?

The myth has received different names over time, but its essence has always been the same.

For Buddhists, it is about Chang Shambhala: the lost paradise of the Himalayas, source of eternal wisdom.

The Chinese tradition locates the city of Shambhala in the Kun Lun Mountains.

For the Hindus, it was Kalapa or Katapa, the abode of the perfect men .

According to the Kurma Purana, there is an island in the northern sea called the White Island, home of the great Yogis. Puranic literature describes Shambhala Island, located in the middle of a lake of nectar, with its luxuriant foliage and its palace composed of gold, diamonds, coral and precious stones. To reach the island, one had to be transported by the wings of a golden bird.

- On the Shambalha-lam-yig or Way of Shambhala (rare 18th-century Tibetan book) Panchen-lama wrote that the kingdom of Shambhala is situated in a mountainous region, surrounded by powerful snow-capped mountain ranges. The book warns that the step is allowed only to a select few:

The undesirable will never reach it! Only the one who has heard Kalagiya , the call of Shambhala , sent by the wind or telepathically by the Great Masters, can hope to arrive safely in the Valley of the Wiser Men on Earth ”

- Ancient Russia spoke of the legendary Bielovodye, the Land of White Waters, where holy men of immense wisdom live.

Sr. Blavatsky said that Shamb h ala was an etheric city in the Gobi Desert that served as a barracks for the Mahatmas, the Great Fraternity of Spiritual Masters who work for the light, guiding and protecting humanity. They are also known as Great White Brotherhood . That is why Saint Germain announced on his day that he was retiring to the Himalayas and that he would return after 85 years to help the world.

Nichol ái Roerich, an illustrious Russian artist and intellectual , spent much of his life exploring and searching for the lost mythical kingdom. He called it Kingdom of Agharth i (deformation of Agharta, name of the underground Buddhist paradise ), and was convinced that it was an underground kingdom that extended underground, whose passages were intertwined forming a maze that reached all parts of the world.

A legend from Central Asia speaks of a mysterious nation of underground inhabitants: the Agharti. As they approach the gates of this blessed king , all living beings become silent, reverently stopping their course. I remember now the Russian legend about the mysterious Tchud that penetrated the earth to escape the persecution of evil forces. It also leads to this secret place, the sacred legend of the underground Kitege.

Around the world stories of underground cities, caves with treasures, temples submerged underwater are told! - says Roerich.

He also claimed to be in contact with spiritual guides who gave him a precious object in custody: The Stone of Desires or Chintamani Stone, which had the virtue of empowering the ps faculties Quicas and intellectuals of its bearer.

Although Roerich rose to international fame for his reports on the Underground Kingdom of Agharthi, he was not the first Westerner to investigate the myth. Another great Russian explorer, unjustly forgotten by history: Ferdinand Ossendowsk i, discovered the legend when he became friends with the priest Tushegoun Lama . During his travels, the priest told him something of the almost miraculous powers of the Tibetan priests, and of the Dalai Lama in particulating; powers, he said foreigners would barely appreciate. Then he kept saying: But there is another, more holy and more powerful man The King of the World of Agharti

Subsequently, another Tibetan elder, Prince Chultun Beyli, provided him with more complete information:

The Kingdom is called Agharti. It extends through all the underground passageways of the world. All the underground caves are inhabited by ancient people who have disappeared under the ground. Traces of them are still found on the surface of the earth. These spaces and underground people are governed by rulers who owe allegiance to the King of the World. In the underground caves there is a peculiar light that allows cereals and vegetables to grow and gives people long life without disease. "

Despite his curiosity, it was hard for Ossendowski to collect more data on the mysterious " King of the World" by Agharti, since his existence was hidden from Westerners. However, he got an old lama to tell him about him.

" It is not right for Buddhists to hide it " - explained the lama - " The knowledge of the existence of the holiest and most powerful man in the blessed kingdom, of the great temple of sacred science, is such a great comfort to our sinful hearts and our corrupt lives, that hiding it from humanity is a sin. "

He is in contact with the thoughts of all men that influence the life of all mankind. With kings, tsars, khanes, warlords, high priests, scientists and other powerful men. He understands all his thoughts and plans. If they are pleasing to God, the King of the World helps them invisibly; if they are unpleasant in the sight of God, the king will lead them to destruction. This power is granted to Agharti for the mysterious science of Om , with which we begin our prayers. Om is the name of an ancient saint, the first Goro, who lived three hundred and thirty thousand years ago. He was the first man who met God and who taught mankind to create, wait and fight against evil. Then God gave him power over all the things that govern the visible world.

- How many people have seen Agharti ? - Ossendowski asked -

- Many- answered the lama- but all of them have kept the secret of what they saw there. ”

It is said that this Kingdom of Agharti, seat of the King of the World, is the authentic sanctuary where Chang Shamb h ala stands, the City of L uz . In this way we see how myths intertwine with each other to form a unit that takes on reality. The reality of a wonderful city of L uz where its immortal inhabitants keep the secrets of Eternal Wisdom .

No matter where Shamb h ala is located. Between snowy mountains, in the desert, in the underground world or on an island in the middle of the dream ocean. The Tibetan tradition speaks of four access doors spread across different parts of the world; perhaps each seeker of the Truth approaches Shamb h ala from a different place, depending on the desires of his heart.

Actually, Shamb h ala is not an entirely physical place, but it is a real place and you have to reach a certain level of consciousness to be able to access it.

Finally I want to remind readers of an ancient Tibetan prophecy that says so

When the world enters an era of war and hatred, and all is lost, the King of Shamb has left his secret city with a great army to eliminate hatred and Start a new golden age.

This seems to be a good historical moment for the prophecy to be fulfilled.

Perhaps Shamb h ala's paradise is closer than we think and very soon all the pure in heart can reach it.

MORE INFORMATION in the Manuals: " Shambhala, the Shining ", by Nikolài Roerich, " The Eleventh Revelation " by James Redfield, " The Lost World of Agharti " by Alec Maclellan, " Shambhala, an Oasis of Light " by Andrew Thomas and " The Mysteries of Shambhala ”by Vicente Beltrán

Next Article