Flex Mentallo

Bucky is wearing a diaper! And Cap has short sleeves. I think the Aussies were making fun of us! Well, somebody has too.

That is stunning! Thanks for the encouragement guys - it's always appreciated!

I understand that there were a number of science fiction stories published in the 1930's based on the myth of Shambala, but I'm having difficulty tracking them down and I'm curious to know what they were (see Serendip). Any ideas guys?

"Nowadays, no one knows where Shambala is. Although it is said to exist, people cannot see it, or communicate with it in an ordinary way. Some people say it is located in another world, others that it is an ideal land, a place of the imagination. Some say it was a real place, which cannot now be found. Some believe there are openings into that world which may be accessed from this. Whatever the truth of that, the search for Shambala traditionally begins as an outer journey that becomes a journey of inner exploration and discovery." The Dalai Lama

Whatever its historical basis, Shambala gradually came to be seen as a Buddhist Pure Land, a fabulous kingdom whose reality is visionary or spiritual as much as physical or geographic.

"The land of Shambala lies in a valley. It is only approachable through a ring of snow peaks like the petals of a lotus ... At the centre is a nine-storey crystal mountain which stands over a sacred lake, and a palace adorned with lapis, coral, gems and pearls. Shambala is a kingdom where humanity's wisdom is spared from the destructions and corruptions of time and history, ready to save the world in its hour of need." Kalachakra tantra

"Shambala is a magic land, unlike any place on earth, and rests in the shadow of a magnificent white mountain." (Mount Kailash, sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists, lies to the east of Tsaparang.)

"In Shambala, the people lived in peace and harmony, faithful to the principles of Buddhism, and the concepts of war and sorrow were unknown."

In this doctrine, the place named Shambala appears as a mystical conception, a spiritual rather than a geographical goal. The Buddhist Kalachakra tale tells of a land behind the Himalayas, ruled by a gracious King Sucandra, who was the first to learn the Kalachakra doctrine from Buddha Sakyamuni himself.

This idea of a lost kingdom somewhere in the Himalayas has also circulated in Tibetan Buddhist teaching for centuries, and may well itself have been told at the court of Akbar. The name Shambala first appears in a text known as the Kalachakra tantra - or Wheel of Time teaching. The Kalachakra doctrine belongs to the highest level of Buddhist Mahayana teaching, and those who follow it can reach enlightenment in just a number of years rather than a whole lifetime.

"One of the caves proved to be the entrance to a tunnel; that led upwards in a wide curve inside the rock, from time to time lit up by narrow openings in the outer rock-wall. With a beating heart I followed the tunnel, climbing higher and higher … I stepped into the light of sun again and realized that I was standing on the very summit of Tsaparang."

His book, The Way of the White Clouds, contains a moving account of his visit. "While emerging from a gorge and turning the spur of a mountain - we suddenly beheld the lofty castles of the ancient city of Tsaparang, which seemed to be carved out of the solid rock of an isolated, monolithic mountain peak, we gasped with wonder and could hardly believe our eyes".

Fascinatingly, they include paintings chronicling the construction and consecration of the temple, in which it is as if the long lost kingdom returns to life. Musicians celebrate the completion of the temple. There are princesses, visiting dignitaries from Kashmir wearing turbans, and artisans hauling the building's huge timber beams into place with the help of animals.

They represent some of the greatest Buddhist art yet surviving, though many works were damaged during the later cultural revolution.

When the German-born Lama Anagarika Govinda (Anagarika means "homeless") made a pilgrimage to Tsaparang in 1948 he was astounded to find the art of this lost kingdom had scarcely been affected by the passing centuries.

"Nowhere has the life of Buddha been represented with so many details, with such a richness of scenes and with such a movement as here at Tsaparang. These frescoes have to be singled out as works of art. … Still above, the Buddha standing with the pindapatra in his right hand, indicates his resolution to deliver the famous first sermon. He starts walking towards Sarnath and en route meets the ajivaka Upagana, here represented with the ascetic stick: it is to him that he reveals his proposal to go to Banares to preach the law. The scene of preaching is, in fact, represented on the following panel. The Buddha sits on a throne covered by a rich canopy, with his hands in the attitude of the preaching mudra. On the basement of the throne are the traditional symbols of this culminating moment in the life of the Saint of the Sakyas namely, in the middle, the wheel representing, according to ancient symbolism, the first preaching; and on both sides two deer, reminding of the park actually called “the Deer Park”, where the famous ceremony was pronounced. Around him, in the act of devoted concentration and kneeling as a mark of homage, is a numerous crowd of every kind of creature: garuda above, nagas slightly below, gandharva and kinnaras, and then deities guided by Brahma and ascetics. The five emaciated yogins praying in the foreground possibly reproduce his first disciples." Giuseppe Tucci

Rediscovered in Calcutta in the 19th century, Andrade's account was republished in 1926 under the title Discovery of Tibet, and Hilton's Lost Horizon, published seven years later, obviously owes much to this work.

The Tsaparang mission was not a success. Brother Manuel Marques, who had accompanied Andrade on his initial mission was still there in 1642 but by 1650 the mission was abandoned. There were several reasons for failure. There had always been opposition from the Jesuits in Goa and those sent to Tibet after Andrade's death lacked his vision and vigor. The perceived favoritism towards the Christians was viewed negatively by the Buddhists of Tsaparang, and in 1830, upon the departure of the Jesuits, the locals cajoled the king of Ladakh to invade, ultimately leading to the demise of the kingdom.

Ironically, Andrade had no conception of it's meaning. Indeed he typically displayed nothing but contempt for the various eastern religions he encountered. (He was a champion of the Inquisition in Goa where he thought nothing of whipping sadhus who dared to cross his path.)

Andrade set about establishing his mission, communicating his comments in letters back to Goa. In one of these he became the first to publish the now ubiquitous ‘Om mani padme hum’, the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with Avalokiteshvara the Bodhisattva of compassion. (Mani means "jewel" or "bead" and Padma means "the lotus flower", the Buddhist sacred flower.)

Andrade stayed only twenty five days in Guge but a year later he was back in Tsaparang with a Jesuit group. On Easter day, April 12th 1626 he laid the foundation stone of the first Christian church in Tibet. The king had provided an excellent site, close to his palace, well positioned to receive the morning sun. To ensure greater privacy a road was shifted to avoid the church area.

During this first stay Andrade was favorably regarded by the king who sent him a departure gift of 2,000 rare figs and a letter of safe conduct. "...we give him full authority to teach us a holy law. ...We shall not allow anyone to molest him in this, and we shall issue orders that he be given a site and all the help needed to build a house of prayer. Moreover, we shall give no credence to any malicious accusations of the Moors against the Padres, because we know that, as they have no religion, they oppose those who follow the truth."

Despite the harsh environment and isolation, there is no doubt that the kingdom was flourishing. He relates that a caravan of more than 200 traders arrived carrying coarse silks and a great quantity of porcelain from China, an event which was said to happen every year.

Andrade and Marques arrived at Tsaparang, the capital of the Guge kingdom, in August 1624. Strategically located on the Silk Road, Tsaparang was then a thriving fortress city, but due to its unfertile land, it depended totally on imported food. "From the supplies, such as corn, rice, fruit, grapes which were sent me by the king’s order I cannot but conclude that Tibet is a fertile country, but then the capital is a great exception, for it is the most barren spot I ever saw. ... The food is mainly imported, even figs, peaches and wine, and all this has to come twelve days’ journey..... On account of the sterility of the country, Kashmir merchants say that hell lies just underneath it."

"Immediately beyond this place there rise lofty mountains, behind which lies an awful desert, which is passable only during two months of the year. The journey requires twenty days. As there is an entire absence of trees and plants here, there are no human habitations, and the snowfall is almost uninterrupted; there being no fuel travellers live on roasted barley meal, which they mix with water and drink, taking with them nothing that requires fuel to cook." Antonio del Andrade Abandoned by his guides and with only two Christian companions Andrade continued northwards despite heavy snow, intense cold and problems with altitude. "Our feet were frozen and swollen, so much so that we did not feel it when later on they touched a piece of red-hot iron…to this must be added a great aversion to food of any kind, and a violent thirst which could hardly be quenched by eating snow."