Okar Research Notes....October, 2012 - August, 2013

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King Vishtaspa of Balkh (900 BC?)...Zarathustra and his followers wandered until they found a sympathetic friend in King Vishtaspa, who lived in eastern Iran or in Bactria, modern Afghanistan....

The Asura - Deva Worshippers .... Conflict and Separation (1500 BC)...King Vishtasp's victory resulted in the deva worshippers living in Bactria, leaving or being pushed south through the Hindu Kush mountain passes into the upper Indus valley (today's Pakistan). It is possible that the Indus valley had previously been populated by deva worshippers, and that those from Central Asia migrated to join their co-religionists...


Mithraic Median Empire (700 BC)...According to the Histories of Herodotus, the Medes were called anciently by all people 'Aryans'...

Masmoghân: The Chief Magian (521 BC)...Ustûnâwand [near Rhagae] is said to have been in existence for more than three thousand years, and to have been the stronghold of the Masmoghân of the land during the times of paganism. This word, which designates the high priest of the Zoroastrian religion, is composed of mas, 'great', and moghân, which means 'Magian'...

Shenlha Okar Iconography: The White Turban... On his head was a white turban.... on his feet he wore patraongden boots from Shangshung ...

Shangshung, Ling & Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring... According to the "gZi-brjid", Olmo Lung-ring was also known as Shambhala in Sanskrit...

Deities: Ganas, Gi-kod, Thorse and Werma of Kailash...360 Gi-kod or 360 Werma-deities.....live on the holy mountain Tise (Mt Kailash), which is also believed to be the residence of the Hindu god Siva...

Shiva, Shiwa Okar, Shenlha Okar & Mt Kailash Deities...Shiva means "the One who is eternally pure"....... the main 'Bon' deity, Shenlha Okar, is none other than Shiva Omkar living in Kailash by Mansarovar.

Ancient Nomadic Bards & Poetic Oral History...A hereditary caste of professional poets in Proto-Indo-European society has been reconstructed by comparison of the position of poets in medieval Ireland and in ancient India in particular....

Celtic Druids, Persian Magi, Indo-Europeans (7000 BC)... Sun worship may have played an important part of their beliefs....it was known in the ancient world that the Druids were the "Magi of the North"...

Japanese Shamanism & Solar Kingship (175 AD)...Noh probably originated in ancient matsuri in which shamans allowed deities to possess their bodies so that they could tell their history and explain their powers...

Ancient Rome & Central Asia (800 BC)...Many of the gods that Romans worshiped came from the Proto-Indo-European pantheon, others were based on Greek gods....

Bala Hissar: (Bala = Elevated...Hissar = Fort)...Bala Hissar is an ancient fortress located in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan. The estimated date of construction is around the 5th century A.D....

Shams = Candle/Light/Sun.......Bala = Elevated/Higher...Shams is the Arabic word for "sun" (شمس). ........Bala is from Dari Persian, meaning, “elevated"

Land of the Dakinis & Uddiyana...Uddiyana is not an invisible, celestial buddha field where people cannot go.... it is said that it is located somewhere in what is now known as Pakistan....

Abrahamic Religions...Judaism, Christianity and Islam....In the oldest biblical literature (12th–11th centuries BC) Yahweh is a typical ancient Near Eastern "divine warrior" who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies; he and Israel are bound by a covenant under which Yahweh will protect Israel, and Israel in turn will not worship other gods...

Garsha: The Lahoul Valley (700 AD)...the Lahaulis are of Tibetan and Indo-Aryan descent.... Fairer skin and hazel-colored eyes are commonly seen among the Lahaulis....the Lahaulis follow a combination of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism....

Garsha: The Lahoul Valley (700 AD)...the Lahaulis are of Tibetan and Indo-Aryan descent.... Fairer skin and hazel-colored eyes are commonly seen among the Lahaulis....the Lahaulis follow a combination of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism....

Oddiyana: The Śākta Pīṭha...Shakta Pithas.....Skt., pitha; Altars, Seats or Thrones of Divine Female Energy...

Ancient Kashmir & Uddiyana...the birth place of Garab Dorje not simply as 'Uddiyana' but as being close to Lake Kutra in the region of Dhanakosha; thus indicating present day North-eastern Kashmir (now Pakistan) - a region right in the middle between Chitral, Gilgit and Swat. ...

Kalachakra: Oddiyana & The Kingdom of Shambala... there was a kingdom of Oddiyana, in the north west of India, which had two parts – one was the main kingdom which was large and the other was governed by a prince of Oddiyana and was called Shambala, or Sambala... the region spanning eastern Afghanistan, Oddiyana, and Kashmir.
Greco-Bactrian Region: Buddhist Era Kings (900 BC)...the Trungpa Vidyadhara....pointed to the Kingdom of Shambhala, an ancient (some say mythical, some say real, 'most CCL....could care less') Kingdom of Central Asia ruled by a lineage of enlightened monarchs....

Hui Chao: Bactrian Pilgrimage (726 AD)...Hyeocho arrives in Gandhara, where Buddhist art reached brilliant heights. He goes north from there, passing through Oddiyana, and then west, to Afghanistan. He visits Bamyan and then heads to Tokhara....

Phrom Ge-sar and Khorasan Tegin Shah (680 AD)... the reign of Fromo Kesaro (739-746) and may have contributed to his transformation in later historical tradition into the Tibetan national hero Gesar, whose figure still survives today in the folklore of the territory of ancient Gandhara....

Ancient Bactria: Numismatic History (700 AD)...Bactria.....highly urbanized and considered as one of the richest of the Orient .... "The extremely prosperous empire of the thousand cities of Bactria"...

King Gesar, Tazig, Hor & Bactria (700 AD)...Tazig: appears to signify Persia. 13 days horseback ride from the Kingdom of Ling...(about 250 miles)

Nālandā University & Nava Vihara University (5th C. AD)...Nava Vihara.....near the ancient city of Balkh in northern Afghanistan..... the center of higher Buddhist study for all of Central Asia, comparable to Nalanda Monastery in central northern India...

Kingdom of Balkh: 2500 BC...between the 26th and 20th century BC was the most important period in the history of Balkh...

Mahasiddha Tilopa & Oddiyana (988 AD)... Uddiyana is located somewhere in what is now known as Pakistan. Many great masters of Tibet, as well as scholars of China and India, have visited Uddiyana, the source of Tantrayana teachings....

Enlightened Monarchy in Ancient Central Asia...Much of the Trungpa Vidyadhara's work, especially in the last ten years of his life, was dedicated to propagating what he called "enlightened society," ...as a model, he pointed to the Kingdom of Shambhala, an ancient (some say mythical, some say real, most could care less) kingdom of Central Asia ruled by a lineage of enlightened monarchs...

Great Eastern Sun & Ancient Central Asia...Khorasan" is derived from Middle Persian khor (meaning "sun") and asan (or ayan literally meaning "to come" or "coming" or "about to come"), hence meaning "land where the sun rises"....

Kāśyapa Buddha (5th C. BC)...One day, instead of sermonizing, the Buddha held up a red flower. No one knew what to make of this. Then his favorite disciple Mahakasyapa smiled knowingly...

Nikbanou: Yazdegerd & Chak Chak (7th C. AD)...Chak Chak is where Nikbanou, second daughter of the last pre-Islamic Persian ruler, Yazdegerd III of the Sassanid Empire, was cornered by the invading Arab army in 640 AD. ...

Sacred Fire: Fire Puja & Fire Offering...The fire offering ceremony is a special ceremony.....called "Jin Sie" in Tibetan language, and "Huo Gong" in Mandarin Chinese. It is one of the sacrificial rituals for worshiping divinities in which people will burn the tributes, crops, tree branches and incantation tallies to pray for peace and harmony.....The fire offering ceremony is not held frequently...

Gautama Buddha: The Fire Sermon...The Ādittapariyāya Sutra..... is a discourse from the Pali Canon, popularly known as the Fire Sermon. In this discourse, the Buddha preaches about achieving liberation from suffering through detachment from the five senses and mind....

Iranian Buddhism (1st C. BC)..._The Muslim conquerors of eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and Transoxania in the mid-8th century found Bud­dhism flourishing in a series of prosperous trading communities along the old caravan routes to India and China...

Bactria: The Lalitavistara Sutra (3rd C. AD)...According to early Hinayana biographies of the Buddha, such as the Sarvastivada text The Sutra of Extensive Play (Skt. Lalitavistara Sutra), Tapas­su and Bhallika, two merchant broth­ers from Bac­tria ( Balkh today in Afghanistan), became the first disciples to receive layman’s vows. This occurred eight weeks after Shakyamuni’s enlightenment, traditionally ascribed to 537 BCE. ...

The Origins of Vedic Sanskrit (1500 BC)... there is a proposed substratum in Proto-Indo-Iranian which can be plausibly identified with the original language of the BMAC ( 2300–1700 BCE, centered on the Oxus River).. Moreover, Lubotsky points out a larger number of words apparently borrowed from the same language, which are only attested in Indo-Aryan and therefore evidence of a substratum in Vedic Sanskrit....

Sacred Mountain: Taht-I-Suleiman (1000 BC)...According to the UNESCO, the Taht-I-Suleiman mountain is "the most complete example of a sacred mountain anywhere in Central Asia, worshipped over several millennia...

Trapussa & Bhallika of Balkh: First Two Buddhists...Tradition has it that Trapussa (Tapassu, Taphussa) and Bhallika (Bhalluka), two merchant brothers from Balkh, Bactria visited the Buddha immediately after his enlightenment, became his disciples and then returned to Balkh to build temples dedicated to him......
Dralas: Hvarena, Khvarnah & Fravashi (550 BC)...FRAVASHIS...."A class of higher intelligences...guardian spirits and prototypes of mankind in its purest creation...the nineteenth day of every month is consecrated to them. They resemble the Vedic Pitrs, the Roman Manes, or the Platonic Ideas...

Kareez: Ancient Water System of Central Asia (2,000 BC)...Bactra—the Greek name under which pre-Islamic Balkh was known—encapsulated Bronze Age settlements around 2,000 BC when its ancient water systems were built....

Ancient Central Asia: 50,000 BC...Archaeologists and historians suggest that humans were living in Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities of the region were among the earliest in the world...

Bactria & the Chinese Explorer Zhang Qian (130 BC)...they had their capital in the north of the K'ui-shui [Oxus] and made it the court of their king. The population of Ta-hia may amount to more than a million. Their capital is called Balka...

The Chinese Buddhist Pilgrim Xuanzang in Bactria (635 AD)...Po-Ho [Balkh]. .....on the north it borders on the Oxus....It is called generally the little Pajariha. ...The products of the soil are extremely varied, and the flowers, both on the land and water, would be difficult to enumerate. There are about 100 convents and 3000 monks, who all study the religious teaching of the Little Vehicle. Outside the city, towards the south-west, there is a convent called Navasangharama, which was built by a former king of this country. ...

Royal Palace of the King of Shambala...Balkh was usually rich rather than powerful, and became the envy and the prize of more warlike neighbors....Alexander took Bactria in 329 B.C.E., and made it his base for conquest and amalgamation of the Greek and Iranian civilizations.....Balkh flourished at the crossroads as a depot and trans-shipment point for the world’s luxuries. “ From the Roman Empire the caravans brought gold and silver vessels and wine; from Central Asia and China rubies, furs, aromatic gums, drugs, raw silk and embroidered silks; from India spices, cosmetics, ivory and precious gems of infinite variety”. With the merchants came monks preaching the new religion of Buddhism, and Balkh became a center of worship and learning, famous for its temples and monasteries....

Kingdom of Shambhala.....The Kalapa Moon Temple.....the country’s capital, Kalapa by name. By night, the city of light is lit up as bright as day, so that the moon can no longer be seen. There the Shambhala king lives in a palace made from every conceivable gem and diamond. The architecture is based upon the laws of the heavens. There is a sun temple and a moon temple....

Kingdom of Shambhala.... The Kalapa Sun Temple...the Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett published speculation that Shambalha was Shams-i-Balkh, a Bactrian sun temple...

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye: Creative Vision & Inner Reality (1813-1899)...The completion stage employs the "mystic vortices" of the body, the cakra, the subtle energy of the subtle body, the five pranas or vāyu, together with the channels, the nadi through which the energy flows in order to generate the 'great bliss' (Tibetan: Dem Chog or bde-mchog; Sanskrit: Maha-sukha) associated with bodhi or enlightenment...

Ösel: Radiant Matter & Radiant Light...Ösel (tib. hod-gsal; 'od gsal), the Yoga of the Clear Light (often translated as 'Radiant Light' (Sanskrit: prabhasvara), referring to the 'intrinsic purity' (Tibetan: ka-dag) of the substratum of the 'mindstream' (Tibetan: sems-rgyud) is a sadhana found in Vajrayana and Bön centered on the state of luminous clarity. ...

Shamanic Flight: Vimāna, Lung-gom, and the Flight of Rigden Suchandra...when the Buddha proclaimed "Kalachakra", ninety seven kings headed by Rigden Sucandra, flew from the Kingdom of Shambala under magical powers...

Diodotus of Bactria (285 BC – c. 239 BC) & Emperor Ashoka...At the heart of the Greek or Roman inspiration of Gandhara Buddhist art lies the fact that its first two patrons were Alexander and Diodotus of Bactria (Asoka)...

World Heritage Sites in Afghanistan...City of Balkh......Paktra, later known as Bactria is ascribed to Kaiomars, and at an early date it was said to have rivaled urban centres such as Babylon. For a long period Bactria was the spiritual centre for the Zoroastrian religion, as well as having a rich temple to the goddess Anahita. Accounts of visitors in the 7th century AD indicate the existence of a significant number of Buddhist monasteries, stupas and other monuments in the city...

Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho (856 AD)...Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho......After 840 it then became occupied by Uyghurs fleeing Kirghiz invasion of their land. The Uyghurs established the Kingdom of Qocho (Kara-Khoja) in 850. The inhabitants of Qocho practiced Buddhism, Manichaeism and Nestorian Christianity....

Kham & Uyghur Qinghai...Large numbers of Sogdian refugees came to Ordu-Baliq to escape the Islamic conquest of their homeland. They converted the Uyghur nobility from Buddhism to Manichaeism. Thus, the Uyghurs inherited the legacy of Sogdian Culture....

Shambhala & Music...I once went to hear the St Matthew Passion in Oxford. This was such a great discovery. Experiencing the tremendous heroism and spiritual passion in that atmosphere of sanctity, that I felt as though the occasion was my own private feast. From the beauty of the music I gained further appreciation of the Western legacy. My Tibetan friend panicked and thought I was in danger of being converted to Christianity...(Trungpa: 1983)...

Veneration & Making Offerings..."Venerate Me and Make Offerings"... "to venerate" derives from the Latin verb, venerare, meaning to regard with reverence and respect. Veneration is practiced, formally or informally, by adherents of some branches of all major religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism.

Melong, Mirror Divination, Goddess of the Turquoise Lamp...Trungpa Rinpoché sent me this eight-point prediction letter in 1973. He wrote it in his own hand, as he was young and able at that time. Rinpoché asked his personal deity for a pramana prediction concerning my activity. During the rituals called létsok, or activity practices, a deity is invoked - a yidam or Dharma protector - and highly accomplished practitioners can ask them questions. Their answers appear in a mirror. Trungpa Rinpoché’s deity for this practice was the deity Lhamo Youdrönma, Goddess of the Turquoise Lamp.Melong, Mirror Divination, Goddess of the Turquoise Lamp

Dadar, mDa' dar, Dadhar, Arrow Divination...shaman's or lama's 'magical' arrow, complete with small shaman's mirror (toli), and pieces of silk.....in Tibetan Buddhism Silk Arrows (Tib: Mda-dar) are arrows with either one or several silk scarfs tied to them which are used for divination, attracting wealth and many other types of both white and black magic.......Wealth attracting arrows (Tib: Nor sGrub Mda-dar) are used to 'hunt' wealth.......Arrows like this are also used in Soul Retrieval ceremonies by Tibetan shamans.

Mu Cord (dmu thag) & Rainbow Body (Jalü)...the first Tibetan kings descended from heaven through rope-like structures called dmu-thag and after their time on Earth was up they returned back to heaven in a similar fashion..

Kingdom of Guge & The Garuda Valley of Zhang Zhung...Guge Kingdom......For centuries Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and the followers of Bon have revered Mount Kailash as the most sacred pilgrimage destination in Asia. It is common for pilgrims to do circumambulation of the sacred mountain, commonly called kora or parikrama. Here four of Asia's greatest rivers - the Indus, the Brahmaputra, the Karnali and the Sutlej find their source....

Dunhuang Caves & The Silk Road (1000 AD)...the largest collections of Dunhuang manuscripts and printed documents, well over 40,000 in total, belong to the National Library of China and Beijing University Library, the British Library in London, Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, the Institute for Oriental Studies in St. Petersburg, and Ryūkoku University Library in Kyoto. ...

Rawak Stupa & Ancient Khotan (8th C. AD)...According to legend, the foundation of Khotan occurred when Kushtana, said to be a son of Asoka, the Mauryan emperor, settled in Khotan about 224 BCE...

King Gheysar: Keyumars, Gayomart, Gar-shāh, Gesar...Fromo Kesaro, the Majestic Sovereign who defeated the Arabs and laid a tax on them. Thus they sent it...

Ancient Ceremonial Dance & Ritual Magic...Both the Buddhist & Bon deer dances held the intent of driving away evil forces to establish a good start to the new year. ...

Extreme Weather Events of 535–536 AD Central Asia...climate changes may have contributed to various developments, such as the emergence of the Plague of Justinian, the decline of the Avars, the migration of Mongolian tribes towards the West, the end of the Persian Empire, the rise of Islam, and the fall of Teotihuacán...

Umm-al-Belad & The Kayanian Dynasty (2500 BC)..._Umm Al-Belaad is the Arabic name given by the native population of Afghanistan's Balkh province to the city of Balkh (Bactra). Umm Al-Belaad means Mother of All Cities. In Vedic literature, it is known as Bhakri, and it became Bactra as the area was Hellenized after the conquests of Alexander the Great. It was from then on the capital city of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom..... Its foundation is mythically ascribed to Keyumar and it was the rival of Ecbatana, Nineveh and Babylon. There is a long-standing tradition that an ancient shrine of Anahita was here, a temple so rich it invited plunder....

Shinto: Shin Tao, Way of the Gods, Kami, Drala...Shinto is one of Japan's most prestigious ancient religions, tracing back to around 500 BCE. The word Shinto is derived from the Chinese word "shin tao" meaning "The Way of Gods...

Silver Palace in the Garuda Valley...Kyunglung Ngulkar Karpo...life at the Shang Shung court: Queen Sadmarkar describes the great riches in the palace, which she calls the "Kyunglung Ngulkar Karpo" (Silver Palace in the Garuda Valley). The palace contained hundreds of rooms, and its walls, she writes, were studded with gold and agate....

Magus & Magi of Central Asia (6th C. BC)...Meditation practice brings out the supernatural, if I may use that word. You do not see ghosts or become telepathic, but your perceptions become super-natural, simply super-natural...

Shi Wai Tao Yuan: The Peach Blossom Land..."Shangri-la" means an ideal living place, like the Garden of Eden or heaven in western countries. Shangri-la (Shi Wai Tao Yuan).....the poetic imagery depicted in Tao Hua Yuan Ji by the famous poet Tao Yuanming in the Jin Dynasty....

Bhutan: Bon-Buddhist Synchronism...Buddhist practice in Bhutan has had an overpowering influence from Bon. "In my opinion and from my observations, the influence has been great. Although Buddhism is our faith, I think many of our rituals are not only derived from Bon but are based on Bon beliefs...

Indrabhuti of Oddiyana, King Dza...the Guhyasamāja Tantra was taught for the first time by the Buddha in the form of Vajradhara to Indrabhuti the King of Oddiyana, also called King Dza...

Sangwa Dupa: The Guhyasamaja...The Guhyasamaja (Tib. sangwa-dupa) which focuses on the primordial buddha Akshobya is believed to be one of the first Sanskrit works to be translated into Tibetan....

Kunzang Akor: Shenlha Okar...Kunzang Akor: the All-good 'A' Circle is a meditational form of Shenlha Okar. He is generally recognized by the Tibetan letter 'A' placed on the chest at the level of the heart....

Dorje Lingpa: Gold Needle Terma: Serthur (1346-1405)...one of the principal reasons for visiting Paro was to reveal some hidden manuscripts in one of the caves of Tagtshang. The “Gold Needle” is the main work of the manuscript collection. It contains a remarkably original exposition of the Dzogchen doctrine, which he claims to be in accordance with the Bon tradition....

Sacred Water: Gyatso...The most common type of offering on Tibetan Buddhist shrines are water offerings. It also called yonchap in Tibetan....

Plato: Basic Goodness & The Great Eastern Sun (320 BC)...Plato uses the sun as a metaphor for the source of "illumination", which he held to be The Form of the Good.... The metaphor is about the nature of ultimate reality and how knowledge is acquired concerning it.....Plato says the sun and the Good are both sources of "generation"...

Eflatun Pinar, Sacred Hittite Spring (13th C. BC)...The sun goddess of Arinna is the most important one of three important solar deities of the Hittite pantheon, besides UTU nepisas - "the sun of the sky" and UTU taknas - "the sun of the earth...

Tirthas, Kshetra, Sacred Sites & Power Spots...Power place...(gnas ri) "a venerated mountain power place, a place that has been empowered by the presence and by the activities of famous religious practitioners throughout the centuries....

Hozho: Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom...Tibetans use two words to express the ideal state of being: "tashi," a harmonious relationship with the universe, and "sangye se," Buddha nature or enlightenment. The Navajos, on the other hand, use the word "hozho" or "beauty" to describe an "empowered state of the deities....

Kalachakra Deity & Vishvamata (World Mother)...Kalachakra refers a Tantric deity (Tib. yidam) of Vajrayana Buddhism .... The consort of Kalchakra is called Vishvamata . She is in pratyalidha attitude....

Vishvamata: World Mother of Diversity...In Kalapa, to the south of the palace is a wonderful park. In it Rigden Suchandra ordered the temple of Kalachakra and Vishvamata to be built. It is made from five valuable materials: gold, silver, turquoise, coral, and pearl. Its ground plan corresponds to the Kalachakra sand mandala....

Kalapa: Physical Descriptions of Shambala...The monks wear white, speak Sanskrit, and are all initiated into the mysteries of the Kalachakra Tantra. The majority of them are considered enlightened. Then come the warriors. The king is at the same time the supreme commander...

Āditya Solar Dynasty & the Sakya Clan of the Buddha... Aditya is used in the singular to mean the sun....the Sakya clan of the Buddha, a clan which also claimed to belong to the race of Aditya i.e. solar race....

King Suddhodana : Father of the Buddha (583 BC)...The Shakyas were of the Kshatriya solar race and called themselves rajas....Shakya kshatriyas were considering themselves as the purest breed of kshatriya.

Rishabha: Founder of Jainism (7190 BC)...Chandragupta, who was a Hindu, was influenced to accept Jainism by the sage Bhadrabahu; his grandson, Ashoka, Chandragupta Maurya is one of the most celebrated rulers in the history of India....

Historical Shakyamuni Buddha (c. 560 to 485 BC)...The Kalachakra tantra puts the life of Shakyamuni Buddha in the 9th. Century BCE, instead of the more commonly accepted 6th. Century BC...

Gurdjieff : All Roads Lead To Balkh (1866 – 1949)...Idries Shah me suggéra que Shamballa pouvait être dérivé de Shams-i-Balkh, le temple solaire bactérien dont les ruines existent encore à Balkh près de la frontière nord de l'Afghanistan. Rudolf Steiner associait Balkh à Hraniratta, le centre du culte mithraïque du soleil....

Badakhshan and the Wakhan Corridor...From the land of Bamiyan I travelled northwards 20 days, and I arrived in Tokharistan. The home city of the king is called Balkh. At this time the troops of the Arabs are there and they occupy it. Its king was forced to flee one month's journey to the east and lives in Badakhshan. ...
Khezr, Khidr: Prophet, Guide, Patron-Saint...Some have speculated that not only are these two myths of Khezr and Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) similar, they are in fact, one being...

Khwājagān Sufi Masters (900 AD)....Balkh is the homeland of Baha ad-Din Naqshband, the greatest of the Khwjaghan Masters...

NYIDA: Vegetarian Diet of Shambala...Chogyam Trungpa...."NYIDA: The vegetarian diet of Shambhala. Nyi stands for yellow and green foods, primarily vegetables and fruits, and da for white foods such as milk, yogurt, cheese and tofu......enjoy as your provision only yogurt, milk, white butter, cheese, fresh vegetables, raw fish and white rice. You should refrain from garlic, onions, fat and other meats....

Oddiyana & the Origins of Dzogchen (7th C. AD)...Garab Dorje lived in the 7th Century in Eastern Pakistan/Afghanistan....

Abaris the Skywalker, The Avars (6th C. BC)...Abaris the Hyperborean was a legendary sage, healer, and priest of Apollo known to the Ancient Greeks. He was supposed to have learned his skills in his homeland of Hyperborea, near the Caucasus Indus,...

Rabia Balkhi…Poetess of Balkh (900 AD)...one of the first poets who wrote in modern Persian, and she is, along with Mahsatī Dabīra Ganja'ī, among a very few female writers of medieval Persia to be recorded in history by name...

Kalachakra Prophets: Mehdi, Kalki Avatar and the Messiah...The Kalachakra Tantra appeared in India in the tenth century and was probably written about this time. It predicts the coming of an Islamic Messiah figure named Mahdi...

Arab Conquest of Bactria: Eastward Migrations (725 - 875 AD)...At the time of the Arab Invasion of Bactria in the 800's AD, there was a strong north-eastward migration into Khotan & the Tarim River Basin...

Paropamisadae: Bactrian Caucasus Indicus (6th C. BC)...Paropamisadae......the Greek name for the region south of the Hindu Kush in the southeastern part of present-day Afghanistan. From the sixth to the fourth century B.C., Paropamisadae was part of the Achaemenid empire and the empire of Alexander the Great. It later became part of the Greco-Bactrian and Kushan kingdoms...

Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen: Dzogchen Bon-Buddhist (1859-1934)...an enlightened teacher whose non-sectarian sensibilities were perfectly suited to the times, his critics accused of him of championing an unorthodox movement that transgressed sectarian boundaries and mixed Bön with Buddhism....

Gandharvas, Aspara & Prajnaparamita (1st C. BC)...Prajnaparamita is a goddess of high standing in Mahayana tantric Buddhism; she is considered the sakti, or consort, of the highest Buddha ...

Nuristani People & the Kalash Culture...The Nuristanis are a people whose ancestors practised what was apparently an ancient Indo-Iranian polytheistic Vedic religion until they were conquered and converted to Islam in the late 19th century....

Oracles: Tibet, Greece, Central Asia, Persia...The word "oracle" is used by Tibetans to refer to the spirit, deity, or entity that temporarily possesses enters those men and women who act as media between the phenomenal natural world and the subtle spiritual realms....

Trungpa: Naturalism & Polytheism...Trungpa: Polytheism sounds like group marriage...I prefer the term Naturalism...

Shambhala Vision & Enlightenment...Siddhartha reached out his right hand to touch the earth, and the earth itself roared, "I bear you witness!...

_Sogdiana: Tibet Migration (500 BC)...Bon was introduced to Tibet in the fifth century BC, when there occurred a mass migration of Iranians from Sogdhiana in north-east Iran to the northern parts of Tibet....

May 2013....Random Quotes of Particular Interest...The purpose of the Vajra Caste was not force everyone to convert to Buddhism but for people to re-discover the purity of their own traditions....

Shambhala Arts: Sgra (Sound), Bija, & Melody...My most favorite person in music, Mozart...sat in the sense that his mind became blank before he composed. Some kind of mind-less-ness in the Buddhist sense has to take place...

Shambhala Arts: Sacred Dance & Magical Movement... I am sick to death of the monotheistic string... I prefer the pagan many gods, and the animistic version. Here at this ranch in Taos, looking west over the desert, one knows that all of our Pale-Faced and Hebraic monotheistic insistence is a dead letter....the soul won't answer any more. Here we have a camp under the hanging stars, and we sit with the Indians around the fire, and they sing till late into the night, and sometimes we dance the Indian thread dance.....".....DH Lawrence's primary literary effort was to re-sacralize the world, to awaken in his readers their long lost power to recognize the sacred in themselves and in the living environment....

DNA: Central Asia & The Indigenous American Migrations (15,000 BC)...New Mexico DNA Project.... This DNA lineage is found in North and Central Asian populations as well as native Americans. This lineage is believed to have originated in Central Asia and migrated through the Altai/Baikal region of northern Eurasia into the Americas....

Canyon de Chelly & Kokyangwuti: Spider Woman...The earth has a lot of facets, a lot of gods and warrior gods are still present. They can still be invoked. The deities and worship sites of the Native Americans have always been kept secret. Even with the complete desecration of America these Gods have not been destroyed. We can still visit these sacred sites and perform the appropriate ceremonies, just appreciating what is natural...

Ziggurats & Calahs (kälä) of Central Asia...The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. In fact, the ziggurat at Babylon was known as Etemenankia or "House of the Platform between Heaven and Earth...

Bhojakas (600 AD) & Śākadvīpīya Acharyas...The Bhojakas, (600–700 C.E.), believed that they emanated from the body of their sun god. In India they created a mixed solar religion from the doctrines of the Avesta (the teachings of Zarathustra) and Mahayana Buddhism... they influenced Buddhism primarily with their visions of light. Their “photisms” are said to have especially helped shape the shining figure of the Buddha Amitabha. Since they placed the time god, Zurvan, at the center of their cult, it could also be they who anticipated the essential doctrines of the Kalachakra Tantra...

Heirophants, Gurus, High Priests & Tantric Masters...The title Pontiff comes from the Latin for "bridge builder"...between heaven and earth or between the spiritual world and the temporal one, a possible allusion to a very early role in placating the gods and spirits...

Apsaras, 64 Khandroma' (dakinis) & the Goddesses of Shambala...there are the wild naked girls of Tantric lore, dancing with their ash-smeared bodies and raggedy hair in cremation grounds, drinking blood from human skulls...

Bas-Relief Sculpture & Narrative History (3000 BC)...Bas-relief sculpture was primarily used as a way to tell stories or record major events....

Balkh, Bactria & The Early Development of Mahayana (100 BC)...Navbahar, the main monastery at Balkh became the center of higher Buddhist study for all of Central Asia..... in 630 AD, there were in Balkh about a hundred Buddhist monasteries, with 30,000 monks, and that there was a large number of stupas, and other religious monuments and that Buddhism was flourishing in the Bactrian portion of Western Turk empire...

Bodhidharma the Blue-eyed Persian (5th C. AD)...Bodhidharma is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an (Zen) to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch....... the Japanese tradition regards Bodhidharma to be from Persia...

Cherchen Man (1000 BC) & Uighur Tarim Tocharians...Cherchen Man is described as: a 3,000 year old male, "6-foot-6-inch giant with Caucasian features", looking "like a Bronze Age European", "a Celt"....

Ancient Bactria & Silk Route Adobe Cities (2000 BC)...Balkh was second to none......A large and prosperous city of mud brick some three square miles in area, it held perhaps 200,000 persons. It was surrounded by mud-brick walls pierced by seven gates...

Thracians, Orphism & the Bacchic Gold Tablets (4th C. BC)...The Orphic Gold Tablets are inscribed with texts in ancient Greek that provide instructions and information to guide the soul of the deceased as it makes its way through the underworld, and to ensure that it receives preferential treatment from the rulers there...

Xembhala (1650 AD) and 'Northern Shambhala'...Catholic missionaries Stephen Cacella and John Cabral were the first Europeans in modern history to give an account of Shambhala in 1650 AD...

Kunlun Mountains & 'Queen Mother of the West' (1700 BC)...For Tibetan Buddhists, the Kunlun region is the site of Shambhala...

The Cosmic Mirror & Aina Khana of Sufism...Rumi.....We are the mirror as well as the face in it.....You would rather throw stones at a mirror?......I am your mirror, and here are the stones....

Pandemonium: The Asura/Deva Split (1500 BC)..."Pandemonium" is Jaan Puhvel's word for the mutual demonization that occurred when the Younger-Avesta demonized the daevas, and the post-Rigvedic texts demonized the asuras. ...

Lha, Nyen, and Lu: Asha, Rta & Natural Hierarchy... Shambhala vision ... broke down into the Taoist tradition and Bon tradition of Tibet, the Islamic tradition of the Middle East, and whatever tradition Russia might have. It has broken into various factions....

Five Pure Lights ('od lnga) & The Six Lamps...In the Bonpo Dzochen tradition, the Five Pure Lights are discussed in the Zhang Zhung Nyan Gyud and two texts in particular go into detail on them as The Six Lamps and The Mirror of the Luminous Mind...

Etymology: Esoteric, Exoteric, Secret, Sacred and Profane...The Buddha described four grades of such person depending on their level of purity....Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami and Arahant...

Asaṅga, Vasubandhu (290 AD) & The Kingdom of Shambhala...Legend reports that Vasubandhu came from the "Kingdom of Shambhala' (approximately, modern Begram, otherwise known as the ancient kingdom of Kapisha, north of Kabul) located in the Afghanistan region, north-west of Peshawar....

Ilm-e-Khshnoom & Esoteric Zoroastrianism...the Zoroastrian Ilm-e-Kshnoom sect identify Mount Davamand as the home of the Saheb-e-Dilan ('Masters of the Heart')....as recently as the 19th century, a peak in the northernmost range in the Hindu Kush system, just south of Balkh, was recorded as Mount Elburz in British army maps....

Sherab Chamma ...Satrig Ersang ...Ardvishura Anahita...In the Zhangzhung language, Sherab Chamma is known as Satrig Ersang, sa trig meaning "wisdom." In the Tazig language of ancient Central Asia she is Ardvishura Anahita.

Pamir Mountains....Po-i-mihr, the Feet of Mitra...Greeks and the Pamir Mountains.....Some Greek sources claim that the Greeks (Achaeans) departed from the Pamir Mountains to Greece….

Achaean Greeks & the Pamir Mountains (2000 BC)...Archeological evidence suggests that the Achaeans migrated from "southern Asia Minor to Greece, probably settling first in lower Thessaly" probably prior to 2000 BC….

Tibetan Astrology: Byung rTsis & the Eight Parkha... The Tibetan astrological sciences....astronomy (skar-rtsis), elemental astrology ('byung-rtsis), divination and prediction purpose (gyang char)......are blends of Indian, Persian, Greek, Bon and Buddhist traditions.….

Garuda, Simurgh, Khyung & Shang-shang... KHYUNG: "Similar to the Indian Garuda since both are of a solar nature. .....shared with the Siberian shamaist people...introduced into Tibet from Bonpo Zhang-Zhung and shows Iranian influences.….a tantric tutelary god in both Buddhism and Bon.

Chandragupta Maurya: 340-298 BC & Vahilka...Chandragupta Maurya (340 BC – 298 BC) was the founder of the Mauryan Empire...his reign was a time of great social and religious reform in India and the movements of Buddhism and Jainism became increasingly prominent....his grandson was Ashoka….

Ancient Chinese Accounts of Historical Shambhala... Fa-hein (337 – c. 422 CE) arrived during the reign of Chandragupta II and reported about the absence of capital punishment, the lack of a poll-tax and land tax. Most citizens did not consume onions, garlic, meat, and wine..….

Kushan Emperor Kanishka: Fourth Buddhist Council (c. 78 AD)... Kanishka convened the 4th Buddhist Council in Kashmir. He provided encouragement to both the Gandhara school of Greco-Buddhist Art and the Mathura school of Hindu art (An inescapable religious syncretism pervades Kushana rule). Kanishka personally seems to have embraced both Buddhism and the Persian cult of Mithra.….

Shambhala Vision: Secular, Sectarian & Rime... Shambhala vision applies to people of any faith, not just people who believe in Buddhism... the Shambhala vision does not distinguish a Buddhist from a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, a Moslem, a Hindu. That's why we call it the Shambhala kingdom. A kingdom should have lots of spiritual disciplines in it.….

Etymology: Sham & Bhala (Elevated Sun)... Balkh was known by the ancient Persian term.... 'Sham-i-Bala', loosely translated as "Elevated Candle"....Elevated/raised/divine as 'Bala/bhala' and 'Sham/sam' as candle/light/sun.….

Blue Pancake, Blue Sky Mind & Dzogchen Realization... The more time you spend as Blue Sky, the less you will want to spend time as clouds. To the extent that you spend time in this birthless mind, in the mind that hasn't taken the hard form of opinion, likes, and dislikes, to that extent you can have a flexible, expansive, and open mind….

Shamash, Sams ('Sun"), Shambu & Shamis en Balkh... Modern religions tend to dismiss the ancient 'Sun Gods' as semi-theistic anthropomorphic Nature Spirits which was somewhat true in the Quasi-popular level of worship.....The deeper levels of meaning saw the 'Sun God' as representative of direct or primordial light and the 'Moon God' as representative of reflected light or the mirror….

Sol Invictus, Mithras, The Great Eastern Sun...At the pleasant bank of the Candrabhaga, a city named for Sambha is situated...There lies the abode of the Sun God (Arka) who is standing there in the form of Mitra with the Mitra eye.…The eye of Mithras was the sun itself....When you discover the sun in the sky, you begin to communicate with it. Your eyes begin to relate with the light of the sun.

Divine Triad of Syrian Gods....Palmyra... Malakbêl was a sun deity of the city of Palmyra in pre-Islamic Syria..... The Greek identified Malakbel with Hermes, and the Romans with Sol. He was also similar to the Babylonian Sun God Shamash.….

The Golden Drink, Haoma/Soma Rituals (2500 BC)... The ancient Indo-Iranians act of worship often involved the preparation, purification, and the offering of a sacred plant, Iranian Haoma, Indian Soma. It was mixed with water or milk and other ingredients and offered as a libation to the gods. Therafter it was drunk. It is a color of golden or yellow.….

Royal Tombs of Ur: Lady Pu-abi (Sumeria...2600 BC)... The headdress and jewelry of Queen Pu-abi, made from gold leaf, lapis lazuli from Balkh, Afghanistan, and carnelian from the Indus Valley.…The seal is made from lapis lazuli, which would have come from Afghanistan. This not only shows the extensive trade routes that existed at this time, but also how important Pu-abi was, owning an object made of such an exotic material.

Royal City of Ur & the Great Khorasan Road to Balkh (2500 BC)...The Royal City of Ur was on the trade road that was later called the Great Khorasan Road to Balkh.….Ur was one of the largest cities in the world from c. 2030 to 1980 BC. Its population was approximately 65,000 people..... the area was struck by drought conditions from 2200-2000 BC. The population dropped by 93%.

Ancient Egypt (3150 BC) & the Great Khorasan Road... The Pamir Mountains near Balkh have been known since the earliest times, when first caravans went to ancient Egypt, bringing sky-colored lapis lazuli to the country.….This was the main source of lapis lazuli in the ancient world, with lapis from here occurring in such famous archaeological discoveries as the Royal Treasure of Ur (c 3800 BC) and the Tomb of Tutankhamun (1323 BC)

Cyrus The Great (580-529 BC) ... Khurvas: 'Sun Like'...Siddhartha Gautama, in India, was a contemporary of Cyrus the Great….Traditional maps of Olmo lung ring show resemblance to the Persian empire of Cyrus the Great.

Dorje Lingpa & Okar Rock (1346- 1405 AD)...Dorje Lingpa is considered as one of the five great “treasure revealers” (tertön) among the Nyingmapa and an important Dzogchen master by the Bonpo tradition....an exceptional figure who clearly adopted an impartial approach to both Buddhist practices and the Bon, the non-Buddhist religious tradition in Tibet, in his spiritual quest. His approach therefore made him the precursor of what is later known as the “eclectic” (rime) movement of the nineteenth century…. his greatest revelation, the rDor-sems-ati-'skor at Okar Rock when he was 33 years of age.

The Six Lamps: Lhündrub Tögal & the Vima Nyingtik...Tenzin Rinpoche on the Practice of the Six Lamps:.....'Among the Dzogchen teachings it is considered as one of the most important cycles. It is the ‘crème de la crème’ of Dzogchen.'….

Dzogchen: Fifteen Stages of A-Tri (A-Khrid) Meditation...The A-Khrid teachings regarding the Ultimate Origin-(A) is believed to have a historical source in the great lama rMe'u dGongs-mdzod(1038-1096). ….

Twenty-One Nails: Oral Transmission of Zhang Zhung... In the thirteenth century, the illustrious Bonpo master Druchen Gyalwa Yungdrung composed a practice manual for this tradition. Book One deals with the preliminary practices of this Dzogchen system and the translation of this text was published earlier. Included in the present volume are the translations from Book Two that principally deal with the practices of contemplation and vision, otherwise known as Trekchod and Thodgal, as well as translations from Book Three of the four supplementary texts dealing with the view, meditation, conduct, and fruit of Dzogchen. Also included in this volume is a translation of the instructions for making the 49 day dark retreat according to the Zhang Zhung tradition, the text known as the Sevenfold Cycle of the Clear Light.….

HOZHO: Navajo Concept of Balance and Beauty...Navajo spiritual practice is about restoring health, balance, and harmony to a person's life. Ceremonies restore Hozhò, or beauty, harmony, balance, and health.....Protection ceremonies are used for Navajos that leave the boundaries of the four sacred mountains.….

Bhumisparsha: Sacred Earth Mudra...Just before the historical Buddha realized enlightenment, Mara attempted to distract him from his seat but he did not move. Then Mara claimed the seat of enlightenment for himself, saying his spiritual accomplishments were greater than Siddhartha's. Mara's soldiers cried out together, "I am his witness!" Mara challenged Siddhartha--who will speak for you?......Then Siddhartha reached out his right hand to touch the earth, and the earth itself roared, "I bear you witness!" Mara disappeared. And as the morning star rose in the sky, Siddhartha Gautama realized enlightenment and became a Buddha."….

gShen & Ye-gshen... Bon, unlike the religious outgrowths of the Aryan culture, especially Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism in their quasi-popular forms, gives little heed to the pursuit of salvation through austerities. Bon philosophy speaks of 'Yeshen' as being reflected in the interplay between heaven and earth."...(Chogyam Trungpa: The Heart of the Buddha"...1991..pg 222)….

Dzogchen: Druchen Gyalwa Yungdrung (1242-1290 AD)...What is most striking about Dru Gyalwa’s practice manual is its directness and clarity. The text is written as a detailed instructor’s guide for teachers in the tradition to teach their students. While the text is filled with beautiful and expansive quotes from the Twenty-one Nails and Six Lamps, the focus of the text is precise instruction on Dzogchen practice expressed in clear and direct language….

Way of Nangshen....Shen of the Visible World...Nangshen, comprises various rituals for purification to summon energy and enhance prosperity, to suppress and liberate negative forces, and to invoke and make offerings to powerful deities….

Nine Successive Stages…The Nine Yanas...The Supreme Way: Attainment of rDzogs-chen, the Great Perfection.....Way of Supreme Doctrine or The Way of Dzogchen (Bla-med theg-pa) enshrines Dzogchen.......Lame thegpa (bLa-med theg-pa), the Unsurpassed Way, is concerned with the highest attainment through the path of Great Perfection (i.e., rDzogs-chen).….

Döné Sangwa: Basic Goodness: The Natural State... Dzogchen (Rdzogs chen or Atiyoga) is the natural, primordial state or natural condition ....enlightenment can actually unfold through continually recognizing the nuances of our already existent "natural state," Dzogchen stands in contrast to the sutras and tantras, which stress applying fervent effort and striving toward actual transformation.....the Bon tradition understands the development of bare awareness as its most significant method, toward which all other practices serve as preparation….

Ölmo Lungring, Tazig & Shambhala...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. ….

Historical Shambhala, Enlightened Society & Ancient Human Effort... These images still convey the inner peace that results from putting the Buddha's doctrine into practice, they also give us an impression of people who walked and talked, etc. and slept much as we do. I feel this is very important. These figures are inspiring because they do not only depict the goal, but also the sense that people like us can achieve it if we try.....The Dalai Lama….


Chöd: Cutting Through Attachments and Aversions...Machig Labdrön was a great Tibetan yogini who originated several Tibetan lineages of the Indian tantric practice of Chöd. Machig may have come from a Bon family and developed Chöd by combining native Tibetan Bönpo shamanism with the Dzogchen teachings….

Skandhas: Five Human Attributes... We create the illusion of security through categorization, analyzing how thoughts fit together, putting them in boxes and trying make decisions, all in an effort to create a sense of security. This effort freezes the energy that our emotions really are and as Trungpa says “the world is seen as being absolutely solid and stiff. Everything is frozen movement, frozen space, solidified. ….

PAWO, Bravery…Spiritual Warrior...Those who have been fearless in their search and fearless in their proclamation belong to the lineage of master warriors, whatever their religion, philosophy, or creed...They are the fathers and mothers of Shambhala.….

Barmakids of Balkh (752 AD)...The Barmakids were an influential family from Balkh in Bactria where they were originally Buddhists, and subsequently came to great political power under the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad...... The Barmakids were remarkable for their majesty, splendor and hospitality. They are mentioned in some stories of the Arabian Nights….

Rigpa: Noetic Mind, Nous & Non Dual Presence...There is another layer of mind that is connected with fundamental intelligence. In Tibetan this is rigpa; in Sanskrit it is vidya. ...Rigpa comprehends the fundamental sense of survival. It sees dualism and the sense of pattern. It comprehends a sense of being. Professor Guenther refers to noetic mind, which is rigpa or vidya.….

Ultimate Reality, Un-fabricated Truth & Genuine Reality...The Enlightened Ones did not view any aspect of either the environment or the inhabitants of our world system as ultimately real.…. completely false truth is fabricated and superimposed onto genuine reality, while actual genuine truth is not fabricated and involves no superimposition

Text Sources (1979-1990's)...These texts were used for Okar Research quotes between 1979 and 1999......

The Great Eastern Sun & Avestan Hvare Khshaeta (Radiant Sun) (559 BC)The Great Eastern Sun is based on seeing that there is a natural source of radiance and brilliance in this world - which is the innate wakefulness of human beings....the sacred world is lighted by the sun, which is the principle of never-ending brilliance and radiance….Shivini: meaning "sun rising" or to "awake", is the third god in a triad cognate with the triad in Hinduism called Shivam.

Kashmir Shaivism & Kāpālika Tantra (8th C. AD)...The practice of Yoga and Tantra was common to the Vajrayana Buddhism and (the Kapalika, Kaula and other) Shaiva cults. Natha cult was the result of the fusion of the two streams of rival cults, based on the common factor of Tantric yoga. Occult sexual practices and experiments were integral part of the Vajrayana and Kapalika Tantra philosophies.….

Strirajya: The Land of Women Warriors (330 BC)...Strirajya.. (Suvarnagotra)(Sauromatae)..The Land of Women...."An area that Alexander the Great was not able to conquer...An interesting Kingdom of women warriors northwest of Zhang Zhung.….

Uttarakuru & the Legendary "Lost City of Gold"...King Lalitaditya Muktapida of Kashmir leads a war expedition against the tribes of north (i.e. north of Kashmir) and in sequence, encounters the Kambojas, Tusharas, Bhauttas, Daradas, Valukambudhis, Uttarakurus, Strirajya (mythical or otherwise) and Pragjyotisha with whom he fights one after the other......Rajatarangini places Uttarkuru land in the neighborhood of Strirajya. Based on Yuan Chwang's evidence, Strirajya is identified as a country lying north of Kashmir, south of Khotan and west of Tibet.….

Khyungpo Naljor (978-1172 AD)...Khyungpo Naljor asked his teachers whether anyone in India had met the Buddha Vajradhara, the source of the Buddhist tantras. They replied that Niguma, reputedly the sister of Naropa, had done so. Khyungpo Naljor sought her out, finding her in the Sosa charnal ground in East India. He requested her transmission, to which she replied "I am a flesh-eating dakini!" ….

DAKINIS: Sky Dancers, Khandroma... Worldly ḍākinīs are closely related to the māras of India, who haunted the Buddha under the tree of awakening. In this role, they took whatever form might correspond to the vulnerabilities of their target, including beguiling and seductive forms of exquisite beauty. When that ruse failed, they again became vicious ghouls and demonesses.….

Milam: Dream Yoga, Perceived Reality, Yoga Nidra...Perceived reality and the phenomenal world are considered to be ultimately "unreal"....the dream of life and regular nightly dreams are not dissimilar, and that the difference between the general dreaming state and the general waking experience is that the latter is generally more concrete and linked with attachments....In Dream Yoga, living may become the dream, and the dream may become the living.….

BEYUL: Sacred Lands, Hidden Valleys & Non-Visible Dimensions...Beyul are sacred environments...‘Beyuls’ or hidden valleys, are discovered when the planet is approaching destruction and the world becomes too corrupt for spiritual practice. Beyuls are inaccessible to all but realized beings or Siddhas. This land is said to be inhabited by Vidyadharas (rig-`dzin) or holders of esoteric knowledge. They exist on earth, but are not an ordinary country or nation which could be observed from an orbiting satellite, for they possess a special reality all their own. They are in this world, but not quite of it.….

Mahasiddha Lakshminkara: The Crazy Princess of Oddiyana...Among the eighty-four mahasiddhas were men and women of all social classes; their model of highly individual realization strongly influenced Tibetan Buddhism. Also of importance were their spiritual songs. The biographies of the eighty-four mahasiddhas, preserved in Tibetan translation, describe personalities like Chatrapa the beggar, Kantali the tailor, and Kumaripa the potter. However, King Indrabhuti and his sister Lakshminkara are also among them….

Crazy Wisdom: Yeshe Chölwa…Craziness Gone Wise...Siddha is a Sanskrit word which refers to those who are able to overpower the phenomenal world in their own enlightened way. A siddha is a crazy wisdom person. Crazy wisdom in Tibetan is yeshe chölwa. Yeshe means "wisdom," and chölwa, literally, is "gone wild." The closest translation for chölwa that we could come up with is "crazy," which creates some further understanding. In this case "crazy" goes along with "wisdom"; the two words work together well. So it is craziness gone wise rather than wisdom gone crazy. So from that point of view, craziness is related with wisdom.….

KERESANI: Haoma & Indo-European Divine Beings...There has been a great deal of speculation among scholars concerning the true identity of the mystery plant in the Rig Veda called Soma, the only plant known to have been deified in the history of human culture,…Keresani are divine beings connected with soma.

Rishis & Rishikas: Divine Human Beings & Kalachakra...Rishis & Rishikas.....inspired poets of Ṛgvedic hymns, who alone or with others invokes the deities with poetry. In particular, Ṛṣi refers to the authors of the hymns of the Rigveda. Post-Vedic tradition regards the Rishis as "sages" or saints, constituting a peculiar class of divine human beings in the early mythical system, as distinct from Asuras, Devas and mortal men.….

Drung, Deu: Ancient Narrations & Symbolic Languages...Drung (ancient narratives), deu (symbolism).....the epic poems and legends of Tibet`s secular culture & the mysteries of the ancient symbolic languages that conveyed wisdom inexpressible in conventional terms….

Lhak-thong: Fourth Moment Total Presence...The fourth moment is not a far-out or extraordinary experience as such. It is a state of experience that doesn’t even belong to now. It doesn’t belong to what might be, either. It belongs to a non-category—which provides another sense of category. Thus it is called the fourth moment.….

Astrolatry: The Night Sky As A Cosmic Mirror... The term astro-theology is used in the context of 18th to 19th century scholarship aiming at the discovery of the original religion, particularly primitive monotheism. Unlike astrolatry, which usually implies polytheism, frowned upon as idolatrous by Christian authors since Eusebius, astrotheology is any "religious system founded upon the observation of the heavens….

Ancient Ceremonies, Practices & Rituals...In the rites of 'propitiation of prosperity' (yang grub), the term 'cha' is used as a synonym of 'yang' (prosperity or fortune). It refers to a principle or force that embraces all the positive aspects such as wangthang (ascendancy-capacity), yang (richness, prosperity), pal (glory), phunsum tsogpa (completeness), trashi (good fortune). ….

Ancient Castles: Kalah, Kalapa, Quala, Cabala, Kabalah, Qabala... Location of a great castle called Kal'ah Taj. The remains of a mighty castle (kal'ah), a 'mother of castles' situated on the great Tarum River that flowed from the mountains of Tarum in northern Persia. Like Samiran, its site remains unidentified. On its walls were lions of gold. The ancient fortress of Kabalah near Darband is more than once mentioned in the campaigns of Timur.….

CALAH: Nimrud, Sham Ash, The Palace Of Juniper…900 BC... The ancient inhabitants of Assyria, Babylon, and Sumer believed that civilization was a "gift from the gods" and it was marked from the time "kingship was lowered from heaven" ......somewhere around around 4750 B.C.......evidently near Calah….

The Satraps & Shambhala in the Kalachakra... Administration of the Sassanid Empire was considerably more centralized than that of the Parthian Empire; the semi-independent kingdoms and self-governing city states of the Parthian Empire was replaced with a system of "royal cities" which served as the seats of centrally appointed governors called shahrabs as well as the location of military garrisons….Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces....The word "satrap" is from an Avestan cognate to Sanskrit kṣatriya क्षत्रिय. The Old Persian xšaθrapāvan ("protector of the province"), from xšaθra ("realm" or "province") and pāvan ("protector")....

Kalachakra: Suryaratha & The Great Eastern Sun... If then we see a Middle Eastern derivation in the name Shambhala, it would mean "light of the sun" or "vision of the sun." Alternatively, if we spell the word Shambala (as it was spelled in most of the early European references to it), this would mean "the sun above" (from the Persian bala "above"; as in Bala Missar, the fort above Kabul, and many other similar names). Shambhala would then mean "the supernal sun", not merely the ordinary visible sun but the principle of light itself, as coming from the transcendent sun, the source of all light.….

First Rigden King of Shambala: Manjushri Yashas (159 BC)... In 624 AD., a non-Indic religion will arise in Mecca. Because of a lack of unity among the people and laxity in following correctly the injunctions of their Vedic scriptures, many will accept this religion when its leaders threaten an invasion. To prevent this danger, Manjushri Yashas united the people of Shambhala into a single "vajra-caste" by conferring upon them the Kalachakra empowerment. By his act, the king became the First Kalki, the First Holder of the Caste….

The Goddess Anahita...Sacred Water & Mithra (436 BC)...The period between 26th and 20th century BC was the most important period in the history of Balkh.... Its foundation is mythically ascribed to Keyumars, the first king of the world in Persian legend ; and it is at least certain that, at a very early date, it was the rival of Ecbatana, Nineveh and Babylon. There is a long-standing tradition that an ancient shrine of Anahita was to be found here, a temple so rich it invited plunder.….

Xiongnu Kingdom (209 BC)...It seems as if the legend of Shambhala was at least partially inspired by the Xiongnu Empire which stretched from Mongolia to Central Asia (indeed north of Tian Shan and the several "White Rivers (Sita)")..... Chandra Bhadra (a.k.a. Suchandra, Skt. "Auspicious Moon") was actually translation of a name or phonetic rendering of the title of the Xiongnu Emperor Shanyu Baghatur (Chanyu Batyr). ….

Ki So Cha'o: Phywa & the Sang Sol Ceremony...Ki Ki So So is an ancient Tibetan prayer shouted as one crosses a mountain pass... Ki is a very high pitched sound similar to the cry of an Eagle, equivalent to a seed syllable for the sky... So is a very deep earthy sound, equivalent to a seed syllable for the earth..….

Amaterasu Omikami: Japanese Sun Goddess (660 BC)... Chogyam Trangpa visited Ise Grand Shrine in Japan, and told his followers about Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan. He said Shinto thought is similar to Shambhala and he decided to incorporate a Shinto shrine into Rocky Mountain Dharma Center.….Tsubaki priests trained some center staff members (four men and one women), to make the daily offerings.

Sham Bala: 'Light of the Sun', "The Sun Above", "The Supernal Sun"... There are known to have been other famous temples dedicated to the sun called shams or shamba in Balkh, the ancient capital of the Bactrian kingdom in northern Afghanistan, and in Multan which according to Alberuni used to be called Shambha-pura (City of the Vision of the Sun) in the pre-Islamic period. ….

"Sun Worship" ... Surya, Shambha & Kalachakra Shambhala...Multan used to be called Shambha-pura (City of the Vision of the Sun) in the pre-Islamic period. In Multan, the great annual festival of the year was celebrated in honor of the sun and there are descriptions of the golden idol representing the sun to support this identification. Though the temple was destroyed after Alberuni saw it, the sun god Surya in Multan (as in many other Indian temples) is described as wearing "northern" (central Asian) nomadic dress, including in this case red leather boots....."….

Balkh & the Sar-i Sang Lapis Lazuli Trade Route...The Pamir Mountains near Balkh have been known since the earliest times, when first caravans went to ancient Egypt, bringing sky-colored lapis lazuli to the country. We are very limited on information about that time. But one thing is clear; the country was on The Great Khorsan Road.....aka: The Silk Route for a long time. ….

Bactriana, Ptolemy, the Sacae & the Chomarians (500 BC)...Ptolemy...those called Chomarians he placed in Bactriana, “pretty near the Oxus.” Some old maps of Bactriana that Pezron looked at confirmed this, for on them he found a city called Chomara, which he took to be “the capital of these people.”….

Calendars, Astrology, Cycles, Time...The astrological system based on the cycle of the twelve years and the 5 elements was known in Shang Shung, Tibet, Oddiyana since ancient times. Hidden points refers to the specific element, 'mewa', or 'parka' of each of the 360 days of the year and to the various classes of beings that control them. Their influence on the la, 'authentic presence', and lungta of a person and the way to enhance the positive aspects (cha) and eliminate the negative.….

Arkaim: Ancient Circular City (1700 BC) ... The settlement of Arkaim was about the same time as the Indo-Aryan migration into South Asia and Mesopotamia (the Gandhara grave culture appearing in the Northern Pakistan from ca. 1600 BC.......early investigators described Arkaim as "Swastika City", "Mandala City", and "the ancient capital of early Aryan civilization, as described in the Avesta and Vedas….

Natural Hierarchy & Sacral Kingship in Ancient Central Asia (1700 BC) ... Plato explained the ideal city as divided into 12 sectors which allowed cosmic laws and proportion to penetrate the city and allow the inhabitants to live under cosmic laws. This cosmic pattern is especially clear in the royal circular cities of the ancient Orient. A number of Parthian, Sassanian, and Abbasid cities are cited. In Persia: Darabjird, Firuzabad, Kalach, Hiraqla, Hamadan (Ecbatana)….

Kālá...Theories of Time: Kala Yugas and Kālavāda...Time goes from present to past. This is not true in our logical mind, but it is in the actual experience of making past-time present. There we have poetry and there we have human life.….

Denkart: Sacred Texts in Zoroastrianism (1600 BC) ...For a long time the texts of the Avesta were orally transmitted, and did not come to be written down before 6th century BC, which is about 1,000 years after they first began to be used. ….

ECBATANA: Ancient Persian Circular City (800 BC) ...A glimpse into ancient Persian cosmology is the royal city of Ekbatana) built in 800 BC by King Deioces .....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….

The Ancient Civilization of Margiana, Margush and Gonur Depe (1600 BC)...The Merv Oasis was an important centre for human settlement long before Achaemenian times. A remarkable Bronze Age civilization existed here, known variously as Margush, or by the Greek name of Margiana....Climatic change and progressive desertification caused the abandonment of the area....the Margiana sites seem to have had close ties with those at Bactria, in present-day northern Afghanistan. Sarianidi argues that the Bactria- Margiana complex was a major centre of ancient civilisation.….

Lokāyata/Cārvāka, Ajita Kesakambali & the Greek Materialists (500 BC)...Living about the time of the founders of Buddhism and Jainism, Ajita Kesakambali was one of the earliest people in recorded history to deny the existence of gods, spirits, souls, a non-material realm, the afterlife, reincarnation, absolute moral values, and karma. He was a major influence on the Indian school of philosophy known as Carvaka.....He was just about the only person on the planet who didn’t buy into superstitious nonsense.….

Akbar the Great (1542 –1605 AD)...The reign of Akbar bears a strange resemblance to that of Asoka...... Being a true humanist, Akbar showed great respect to other religions and he examined the principles of Hinduism and Buddhism based on the law karma and Confucius. He tried to understand the aims of Zoroastrians in Persia, Jains with the belief of causing no harms to living things which consequently supported his vegetarianism. He also admired the idea of Sikhism which identified God beyond religion.......Asoka was an illustrious king of the Maurya dynasty in India, who died about B.C. 225. He did much for the advancement of Buddhism, and has been called the "Buddhist Constantine." ….

Tillya Tepe & The Bactrian Treasure (145 BC) ... 21,000 pieces of gold in six burial chambers within Tillya Tepe. The hoard had belonged to the rich Kushan nomads buried there around the time of Christ. It had lain undisturbed for 2000 years….

The Great Ancient Cities of Central Asia (5000 BC) ...Balkh was referred to as the “Mother of Cities” and the “Elevated Candle” (Shams-i-bala)....The ancient city has an incredibly long and rich history, its name is also from "Bakht" meaning "fortunate" in Persian. ….'Balkh is a large and magnificent city. It was here that Alexander married the daughter of Darius.' (Marco Polo)

The Kalachakra Symbolism & Ancient Central Asian Traditions ... Kalachakra and the VAJRA CASTE....The purpose of the Vajra Caste was not force everyone to convert to Buddhism but for people to re-discover the purity of their own traditions. The Kalachakra empowerment is given to anyone who wishes to participate. No one is asked to give up their own religion. The Kalachakra, open to all who wish to participate, has the power to benefit all beings on this planet.….

'Od zer ...Light Rays, Luminosity…Heart, Eyes, and Space...Everything that arises as manifest phenomenon, consisting of sounds, lights, and rays (sgra 'od zer gsum)...this energy, in the form of light, originates in the heart of the individual.….

Ancient Bactrian Archeological Sites... Having become the first disciples of the Buddha, Trapusa and Bahalika wished his leave to return home, they asked the Buddha for something by which they could remember and honour him in his absence. The Buddha gave them eight of his hairs as relics. They made golden caskets for the relics and took them to their own city (Balkh in Bactria) where they enshrined them in a stupa by the city gate. Huang Tsang recounts that theirs was the first ever Buddhist Stupa to be made….

Silver/Gold Sculpture ...Bactria (c. 2000 BC)...Ancient Bactria and Margiana were areas along the Oxus and Murghab rivers in modern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. While these areas were sparsely inhabited during much of the third millennium B.C., by about 2200 B.C. permanent settlements with distinctive forms of architecture, burial practices, and material culture had been established, supported in part by active trade with parts of Iran, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley...….

Ancient Balkh, Bactra, Shamis en Balkh, Umm Al-Belaad, ... Photographs... The foundation of the city of Paktra, later known as Bactra is ascribed to Kaiomars, and at an early date it was said to have rivaled urban centres such as Babylon.….

Mahasiddha Traditions in Central Asia (750 AD)...Dzogchen did not originate in Tibet itself, but had a Central Asian origin and was subsequently brought to Central Tibet by certain masters known as Mahasiddhas or great adepts. There thus would appear to exist two ancient and authentic lineages for the Dzogchen teachings, the Buddhist and the Bonpo......the Bonpo transmission from a line of Mahasiddhas dwelling around Mount Kailas and the lake country of Zhang-zhung to the west and north of Tibet. ..... the Kalachakra Tantra is said to have been brought from Shambhala in Central Asia in the 10th century AD, by the Mahasiddha Tsilupa ….

FRAVASHIS: The Dralas of Ancient Persia...There are many gods....They are always present everywhere.....the dieties of the indigenous traditions of Western Europe and The Americas especially were dismantled, suppressed, undermined, abused, forgotten...followers were not even allowed to mention them.....but they still have not been able to destroy them, even with the desecration of the entire planet...the drala principle exists everywhere, always.….

Ancient Kingdom of Kapisa (500 BC)... By 669 AD, the neighboring Turkish Shahi kingdoms of Kapisa (Shambhala) and Uddiyana were also both being hard pressed on their southwesterly flank by the inexorable expansion of the southern Arab Moslems.….

The Arab Moslem Conquest of Shambhala (642-870 AD)...Obaidallah crossed the Sita River and made a raid on Kabul in 698 only to meet with defeat and humiliation. Vincent Smith, in Early History of India, states that the Turkishahiya dynasty continued to rule over Kabul and Gandhara up until the advent of the Saffarids in the ninth century. Forced by the inevitable advance of Islam on the west, they then moved their capital from Kapisa to Wahund on the Indus, whence they contin­ued as the Hindushahiya dynasty. This was in 870 A.D. and marks the first time that the Kingdom of Shambhala actually came under Moslem domination. ….

Garab Dorje, Prahevajra & Uddiyana (7- 8th Century AD)...According to the Nyingma tradition, the teachings of Dzogchen were first taught by a master named Garab Dorje, who was from the land of Oddiyana, Uddiyana (Eastern Afghanistan)....Buddhist texts speak of Oddiyana as a beautifully green and fertile kingdom, inhabited by gentle people often clothed in white, who had great respect for wisdom and learning. It was surrounded by high, rugged mountains, and in the broad valleys were towering white stupas and golden temple roofs. It seemed a paradise on earth and so was called “the royal garden” from the Sanskrit udyana

Yeshe Tsogyal & Oddiyana (757–817 AD)....Yeshe Tsogyal (757–817 AD), was the consort of the great Oddiyana tantric teacher Padmasambhava....."Primordial (ye) Wisdom (shes) Queen (rgyal mo) of the Lake (tso)"...Tsogyel, relationship of an older Bön figure, Swastika Bon yogini, Bonmo Tso of the Chokro Clan (female Bön practitioner of the lake)….Yeshe Tsogyel is introduced as an incarnation of Saraswati, (the goddess, of Hindu origins

Nestorian Christians in Central Asia (7th c. AD)...Timothy I’s appointment of a bishop for Tibet during the reign of Trisong Detsen,......The best evidence of the involvement of Christian missionaries in early Tibet comes in the letters of Timothy I, who was Patriarch of the Nestorian Church between 780 and 823, overlapping with the reigns of three of Tibet’s great Buddhist emperors, Trisong Detsen, Senaleg and Ralpachen. Timothy I’s letters contain a couple of references to Tibet. In one letter, he lists the lands in which the Trisagion, one of the oldest Christian prayers, is recited. This list includes Tibet. In another letter, Timothy relates that he has recently appointed a metropolitan bishop for the Turks, and is about to do the same for the Tibetans. These references both date to the early 790s, during Trisong Detsen’s reign.….

Ancient Sexual Rituals from Greece to India... In the Tantric Buddhism of India, Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet, yab-yum is a ritual of the male deity in union with his female consort. The symbolism is associated with Anuttarayoga tantra where the male figure is usually linked to compassion (karuṇā) and skillful means (upāya-kauśalya), and the female partner to 'insight' (prajñā). Yab-yum is generally understood to represent the primordial (or mystical) union of wisdom and compassion.….

Early Russian Shambhala Research...Nikolay Gumilev, Anna Akhmatova and their son Lev Gumilev, 1913...Lev Gumilev belonged to the old Russian intelligentsia. His father, Nikolai Gumilev, was a prominent poet of the Silver Age and a victim of Bolshevik terror. His mother, Anna Akhmatova, was one of the greatest Russian women poets.….

Gurdjieff & the Khwajagan Sufi Masters of Central Asia... Authors such as Idries Shah and John Godolphin Bennett maintain that George Ivanovich Gurdjieff's 'Fourth Way' originated with the Khwajagan.….

Mleccha, Barbarians, Lalo & the Setting Sun World...'Setting Sun' people have no understanding of, interest in, or appreciation of the rich diversity and colorful displays of cultures, religions, languages, arts, poetry or magic of the phenomenal world. They are more interesting in conquering the earth than in touching the earth.….

The Great Kashmiri Poet Kshemendra (990 – 1070 AD )... Kshemendra (Ksomendra)(c. 990 – c. 1070 AD) was a Kashmirian poet of the 11th century, writing in Sanskrit.…."Tibetan histories and works on Kala Chakrait may be conjectured that this S'ambhala, very probably, was the capital of the Bactrian Empire of the Eastern Greeks who had embraced Buddhism. It is also conjectured that the modern city of Balkh must have been the site of their latest capital. The name of King Menander {Minendra) who erected a very lofty chaitia has been mentioned by the Kashmirian poet Ksomendra, in Avadānakalpalatā, a work that was finished in about 1035 AD.

Natural Perfection: Longchenpa's Radical Dzogchen (1350 AD)... the brilliance of Longchenpa within the wider discourse of the Dzogchen tradition (found in the Bonpo Zhangzhung and Indo-Tibetan traditions of Buddhism):......."Although at least five hundred years (800 CE - 1300 CE) of thought, contemplation and composition in this tradition... preceded him such that all the major themes, structures, and terminology were in place prior to his birth (above all in the canonical Seventeen Tantras of the Great Perfection (rgyud bcu bdun), it was Longchenpa (1308-1363) who systematically refined the terminology….

Alexandra David-Neel & Historical Shambala (1924-1946)...The famous Buddhistic traveller Alexandra David-Neel writes in 'Les Nouvelles Littéraires', 1954, p.1 that Shambhala - is to be found at Afghanistan - near or at the city of Balkh.….

Csoma de Körös (1784-1842)...Early Shambhala Research... His role as a seminal Shambhalist was in bringing to the attention of the scholarly world a basic outline of the Buddhist concept of Shambhala and inspiring further investigations by future generations of Shambhalists......The tragedy of Csoma's quest is he was wrong in his life-long belief that the Uighurs were somehow connected with the origins of the Hungarian people. The irony is that later Shambhalists would identify the ancient Uighur kingdom of Khocho, centered around the Turfan Depression, as one of the prime candidates for the physical location of Shambhala, which Csoma believed to be somewhere to the west. ….
The 25 Kalki: Rigden Kings of Shambala.."Like the Indian Maha Siddhas, the Kalkis have long hair which they tie up in a knot. Likewise, they also adorn themselves with earrings and armbands. “The Kalki has excellent ministers, generals, and a great many queens. He has a bodyguard, elephants and elephant trainers, horses, chariots, and palanquins. His own wealth and the wealth of his subjects, the power of his magic spells, the nagas, demons, and goblins that serve him, the wealth offered to him by the centaurs and the quality of his food are all such that even the lord of the gods cannot compete with him. ... 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 Caitra each year”….

The Naiman Warriors (1177 AD)...Naiman means "Eight" - the Naiman people were called like this because they were made up of eight tribes. They also had a Turkic names, "Säkizlär", which also meant "Eight (Tribes)". There is a theory that they were the descendents the Säkiz Oġuz (Sekiz Oguz, Eight Tribes) mentioned in the early Uyghur inscription of Shine Usu written for Bayan Čor Qaġan (Bayan Chor Qaghan) in the mid-8th century,….

The Nine Warrior Gods & Goddesses of Shambala...In 1959, Chogyam Trungpa left Tibet, fleeing the invasion of the Chinese.... It took him several months to cross the Himalayas. On the way, he wrote a synthesis of the spiritual history of Shambala that was, unfortunately, lost during that eventful journey..... It was partially re-written in England and first translated in 1971 in Vermont ...The Golden Dot Text describes Shiwa Okar and the Nine Lha who created existence out of non-existence....In the Bon tradition the legend is known as Shen Lha Okar and the Nine Brothers who created this world..

Sadanga Yoga, Dark Retreat, Ratriyoga & Seven Cycles of Clear Light...In the Kalachakra tradition, the apparition of ten signs are likened to an image reflected in the mirror of one's mind, comparable to the visions that appear in a magic mirror during a pratisena divination rite. In order to let the first signs appear, the yogin has to meditate in a closed place, where no light can filter in. This is called night yoga. ….

The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi & the the Arab Conquest of Khorasan (649 AD)...The Shahnameh is an epic composed by the Iranian poet Ferdowsi and completed around 1010 CE....The epic chronicles the legends and histories of Iranian (Aryan) kings from primordial times to the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century CE, in three successive stages: the mythical, the heroic or legendary, and the historic.….

Ziji: dZi, Zi, Ji...Brilliance & Splendor... Dzi stones made their first appearance between 2000 and 1000 BC, a few hundred thousand were supposedly brought back by Tibetan soldiers from Persia or ancient Tajikistan….

The Musk Trade Routes Between Islamic, Bactrian and Tibetan Cultures (8th C. AD)...The musk routes: In Arabic literature from the 9th century onwards Tibet is frequently described as the land of musk. A variety of sources attest to the importance of the musk trading routes for the contacts between Islamic and Tibetan cultures. A comparison of the uses of musk in Islamic and Tibetan medicines revealed, for example, that alongside musk as a trading good, ideas of its use travelled as well.….

Jambhala & Kubera: Gods of Wealth in Central Asia...Jambhala........A god of riches. He is sometimes depicted holding a bag of gold, a mongoose or a lemon. In some accounts, identified as Jambhala, Dsam-bha-la, Dsam-bha-la, Jambala, Jambala, Ratnasambhava, Ratnasambhava, Aparajita, Prasannatara, Ratnaheruka, Ratnapani, Hindu Yama, Japanese Hosho, Hindu Kubera, Bishamon, Kompira, Tibetan Dsam-bha-la or Tibetan Dsam-bha-la. ….

Central Asia: Historical Timetable Notes….40,000 BC - 800 BC ...Balkh/Bactra was at it height from 2700- 2000 BC ….

Yungdrung Bon, Bar-po so-brgyad & Sam bha la (sTag gzigs) ...We see “the eternal dharma” (g.yung drung chos) in many Dunhuang manuscripts. Translators of Chinese Buddhist scriptures into Tibetan used it to translate nirvana. Translators of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures used it to translate the Sanskrit samyak, meaning “correct” or “perfect”, as well as various Sanskrit terms meaning “eternal”. This messy scene begins to look more like the chaos that bedevils contemporary translation efforts. … .

The Kalachakra Tantra: Rigden Djapo & The Military Verses 127- 148...The 1047 verses of the Kalachakra Tantra used today (the original is 12,000 verses) was composed by the eighth King of Shambhala, the first Kulika (Kalki), Jampal Trakpa. The original 12,000 verses have never been translated into Tibetan….weaponry plays a prominent role in the Time Tantra....

Bactria in the Bronze Age (2500-1500 BC) ...Known as Bactra to the ancient Greeks, Balkh is found in northern Afghanistan and is descibed as the 'Mother of Cities' by Arabs. It reached its peak between 2,500 BC and 1,900 BC prior to the rise of the Persian and Median empires..

Sotung Nangu, Crystal Iconography, Hopi Sky Gods & Shiwa Okar...Sotuknang, the Hopi sky god: a fantastic being descended from the heavens, his face glittering like ice.....another set of Tibetan deities are the White Old Man, a sky god, and his consort. They are known by a few different names, such as the Gyalpo Pehar, "King Pehar" Pehar is featured as a protecting deity of Zhangzhung,….

Rigden King Suchandra of Shambala (878 BC)... The Dharmaraja....First Notable King of Shambhala.....King Suchandra/Chandrabhadra (Tib. - chos rgyal zla ba bzang po) (Chogyal Dawa Sangpo) - (c. 900 to 876 BC)…. the Kalachakra calculations put the life of Shakyamuni Buddha quite a bit earlier than is generally accepted, and the Tibetans produced a number of divergent calculations of the dates given here. Also, many of the names of the kings are often wrongly Sanskritized (back-translated from the Tibetan) in Western publications.

Bactrian Kshatriya Kings & Kapisa (644 AD)... Based on the account of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang, who visited in AD 644, it seems that in later times Kapisa was part of a kingdom ruled by a Buddhist kshatriya king holding sway over ten neighboring states, including Lampaka, Nagarahara, Gandhara, and Banu...."Legend reports that Vasubandhu came from the "Kingdom of Shambhala' ....otherwise known as the ancient kingdom of Kapisha, north of Kabul) located in the Afghanistan region.….

Alexandria in the Caucasus Indicus : Kapisa (323 BC)...Alexandria on the Caucasus (medieval Kapisa, modern Bagram) was a colony of Alexander the Great in the foothills of the Hindu Kush (Caucasus Indicus) mountains, in the country of the Paropamisade.....During the reign of Menander I the city was recorded as having a thriving Buddhist community, headed by Greek Buddhist monks….This was a multi-ethnic state, in which Greeks, Bactrians, western Iranians and Indians lived together. Greek religious practices, Iranian cults, Hinduism and Buddhism are all known from second-century Gandara. Coins were modeled on the drachmas of Athens, although they often had Indian legends....In 698 AD the marauder Obaidallah crossed the Sita River and made a raid on Kabul....870 A.D. and marks the first time that the Kingdom of Shambhala actually came under Moslem domination.

King Menander (Greek/Bactria: 165- 130 BC)...Tibetan histories and works on Kdla Chakrait may be conjectured that this S'ambhala, very probably, was the capital of the Bactrian Empire of the Eastern Greeks who had embraced Buddhism. It is also conjectured that the modern city of Balkh must have been the site of their latest capital. The name of King Menander {Minendra) who erected a very lofty chaiti/a has been mentioned by the Kashmirian poet Ksomendra, in Avaddna Kalpalatd, a work that was finished in about 1035 A.D….

King Kanishka (Kushan Dynasty 127-151 AD)...King Kanishka of the Kushan Empire (its capital, Bagram, is situated slightly east of Bamian) ruled over Central Asia from 78-144 A.D. and is revered as a patron of Buddhism...Kanishka personally seems to have embraced both Buddhism and the Persian cult of Mithra... The coins of the Kushan dynasty show that open society honoured Brahman, Manichean, Greek, and Christian deities too.….

Khyunglung Ngülkhar: The Silver Palace & The Garuda Valley... Zhang Zhung consisted "of three different regions: sGob-ba, the outer; Phug-pa, the inner; and Bar-ba, the middle. The inner region is said to be sTag-gzig (Tazig) [often identified with Bactria]...some of the ancient texts describing the Zhang Zhung kingdom also claimed the Sutlej valley was Shambhala….

The Scorpion Seal & Ancient Shambhala... In 1980 and 1981, the Druk Sakyong, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, received the terma text The Scorpion Seal of the Golden Sun. As Acharya John Rockwell describes, “It was rather secret, a bit ahead of our times.” Many people were given the Werma sadhana at Kalapa Assemblies, but few realized that this practice was based on a terma. While the Druk Sakyong spoke about the Scorpion Seal to his students, and clearly stated that he wanted the community to aspire to practice it, this never happened in his lifetime.….

The Earth Witness Mudra & Sacred Earth Element...The enlightenment of the Buddha, realized through his own effort, was confirmed by the earth….Most of the numerous invaders of Shambhala were more interested in conquering the Earth than touching the earth.

Ancient Shambhala: The Oxus, Kabul & Sita Rivers...Tibetan texts mention that the Kingdom of Shambhala is located north of the river Sita….Obaidallah crossed the Sita River (aka Kabul River) and made a raid on Kabul in 698 ...

Navbahar in Balkh: Ancient Solar/Fire/Zoroastian/Buddhist Temple...Navbahar (also known as Nava Vihara) was a Buddhist stupa or monastery near the ancient city of Balkh in northern Afghanistan. The temple may have been an old Zoroastrian fire-temple…. strikingly similar to the Kaaba in Mecca, the holiest site of Islam. He described that the main temple had a stone cube in the center, draped with cloth, and that devotees circumambulated it and made prostration, as is the case with the Kaaba..... In 715 Ibn Qutaybah inflicted heavy damage on Navbahar resulting in many monks fleeing to Khotan and Kashmir.

The Great Walled City Shamis en Balkh...The Ancient Kal'ah...It did not take a long time by the Iranian Buddhist converts to build a magnificent temple in Balkh....In a book written by Alexander Polyhistor 80 or 60 years before the birth of Christ he speaks about Buddhism, its relation with Iran and specially Balkh and gives detailed account about Shamans in Balkh...during the first century A.D. Balkh was famous with Buddhism temples and a large number of Iranian citizens in Balkh were followers of that faith and preached and propagated Buddhism.….

Central Asia: Cave Art & Petroglyphs (5000 BC)... The sun and moon figure prominently in the symbolic rock art of Upper Tibet. In Buddhist and Bon art the sun often cradles a crescent moon, signifying the union of the methods and wisdom that lead to enlightenment. In more ancient rock art the sun and moon usually appear separately on stone surfaces. In this composition the two of them were carved in conjunction with a swastika. The sun with its spokes and hub resembles a chariot wheel.….

TIGER : Ancient Central Asian Divine Power...There is much fascination with tigers in Tibet, a symbol of divine power, martial prowess and magical ability. ….In ancient times, honored heroes wore tiger skins.

Translation Agreement: Hermeneutics & Text Interpretation... In contrast to the chaotic scene today, where nobody can agree on a standard English word to translate any given Tibetan term, Tibetan translators worked under a top-down system in which royal edicts decreed the correct Tibetan word to be used for every Buddhist Sanskrit term. ….

Natural Perfection ... Pristine Rigpa….Shenlha Okar...Purity of karma, putative rebirth, degree of meditation-concentration, facility in visualization, levels of attainment, and so on, are all issues pertinent to acceptance and success within a hierarchical cult....but to the formless experience of Dzogchen, such considerations have no relevance...any kind of preparation or fore-practice muddies the waters….

Syncretism in Silk Route Spiritual Traditions...Syncretism – the bringing together of different strands of belief and custom...The Rimé movement is often mistaken as trying to unite the various sects through their similarities, which is not the case. Rather, Rimé recognizes the differences between traditions and appreciates them, while also establishing a dialogue to create common ground.….After the year 2000, with the merging of the secular teachings of Shambhala and the Buddhist teachings of Vajradhatu into Shambhala Buddhism, completion of Shambhala Vajrayana Seminary (which requires taking Buddhist refuge and bodhisattva vows, as well as Buddhist vajrayana samaya vows) became a condition for receiving the highest Shambhala teachings.

Alchemy & Transformative Tantra in Central Asia...The form of ascesis expounded in the Tantras, unlike the Sutras and the Vinaya which taught the methods of the path of renunciation, taught the methods of transformation, where the poisons of the passions, far from being renounced were actually cultivated to their extreme, in order that their energy might be transmuted within the alchemical vessel of the physical human body into the luminous nectar of enlightened awareness. There was a deliberate and clear parallel here with alchemy-- the kleshas or passions through the alchemical process of sadhana were transmuted into Jnana (gnosis) or knowledge. Thus the things of the world that are usually renounced by the ascetic-- wine, meat, and sex-- which are seen as the fetters binding the spirit to matter and nature, especially the latter (women and sex) are not renounced in the higher Tantras but actually employed as the very means to enlightenment. ….

Sacred Mountains of Central Asia...Mt Hara, Indo-Iranian sacred mountain (Sanskrit: Mt Meru).... The opening verses urge the worship of the great mountains of the earth, the first being Hara Bareza (Hara in Mazanderan, the Alborz) and is said to surround the whole earth. The hollow cave. The world mountain, sometimes identified with the Hindu Kus. The mythical Lake Kasava.....Koh e Alburz.....(Romanized as Kuh i Elburz, Gory Koh-i-Elburz, Kohe Alborz, Kuh i Alborz (Persian: کوه البرز‎ high mountain) is a mountain a ridge of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, Balkh Province

Great Walls of China (200 BC)...The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or 'barbarians'. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC….

Circumambulation: Clockwise & Counter Clockwise...Then the other eight great warriors gathered around him and sang a song of praise, showering him with flowers. They circumambulated him right and left.….

The Secular Shambala Vision of Chogyam Trungpa...Shambhala vision applies to people of any faith, not just people who believe in Buddhism… the Shambhala vision does not distinguish a Buddhist from a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, a Moslem, a Hindu. That’s why we call it the Shambhala kingdom. A kingdom should have lots of spiritual disciplines in it. That’s why we are here….

Poetry, Ancient Central Asia & Shambhala Culture...Poetics is based on the idea that first we see our universe very clearly, very precisely, and very thoroughly.….The Indo-Europeans, speakers of the prehistoric parent language from which most European and some Asiatic languages are descended, most probably lived on the Eurasian steppes some five or six thousand years ago.....their traditional mythologies, religions, and poetries, point to elements of common heritage.

Lamed Thegpa, bLa-med theg-pa ...The Ninth Stage of Dzogchen...the word La,bLa..... is similar in meaning to the word 'soul'. All human beings possess a la, consciousness (sem) and life (sok). The la is an entity which is part of one's being but is unintelligent. Therefore it can be stolen, confiscated, regained, as well as reinforced by spiritual power." (Trungpa: 1978..pg 227)….

Ohrmazd : Ahura Mazda & Ancient Persian Asura Worship...The Rigden Kings of Shambhala other than Rigden Raudrachakrin are of the Asura family…. the Younger-Avesta demonized the daevas, and the post-Rigvedic texts demonized the asuras. ... The cosmic wars between the deities were symbolic of the earthly wars between the two groups.....three primary pre-Zoroastrian Aryan religionss: Mazda worship, Deva worship and Asura worship.

Ancient Bactria: Fondukistan, Bamiyan, Surkh Kotal & Ghazni ... Surkh Kotal), a 1st century AD fire temple believed to have been built by the Kushan emperor Kaniska I (c. 50 - 120 CE) whose statue was found within the temple. ……Built on the top and side of a large hill, the temple complex would have been a imposing site, before its destruction, towering over the vast valley plains below. It was accessed by a long flight of steps leading to a stairwell, above which was a monumental stairway some fifty five metres high, rising in four flights, flanked by four terraces, to a great Fire Temple on top of the hill.….(elevated candle?).

Werma & Drala Deities & Shambala Terma Texts...WERMA is a Tibetan term for a kind of spirit and spirit principle. A werma is an enlightened form of drala. This term is used mostly in the context of the Shambhala terma teachings and practices that relate to those such as the Werma Sadhana....The Werma Sadhana is a sadhana meditation practice unique to the Shambhala lineage. It is based upon a Shambhala terma received by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche at Casa Werma in Mexico in 1980….

Tiger,Lion,Garuda,Dragon & Ancient Shambhala...Traditionally, prayer flags would always be recognizable by the drawings of a horse at the center of the composition surrounded by four other animals—a lion, tiger, bird, and dragon....On early Bon prayer flags, a white yak was counted as one of the four. In addition, the bird depicted on Buddhist flags is believed to be a garuda, which has its origins in Indian culture and literature, while the bird image on Bon flags has a different meaning and history.....Buddhist prayer flags are generally amalgams of Indian Buddhist banners and Tibetan lungta.….

Ancient Central Asian Kingdoms & Shambala... The Four Sons of Heaven, the rulers of the four great countries of the Asiatic world: China, India, Iran, Throm in the north with King Gesar......Gesar's traditional four enemies were China to the East, India to the South, Tag zig (Persia) to the west, and Hor to the North." ......"In Jambudvipa there were six great countries where the true doctrine was propagated: India, Tibet, China, Khotan, Shambhala, and Kailash."….

ASHE: The Powerful Existence Arising Out of Basic Goodness... The stroke of ashé was first produced on the night of October 25, 1976, while Trungpa was leading a three-month seminary in Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin. ….

Ancient Scripts & Shambhala Texts...In the Nyingma tradition, the oldest Buddhist school, exist some other scripts named "terma scripts" or "dakini scripts"….

Proto-Indo-European Religions (4000 BC)... The Proto-Indo-Iranian Religions are most likely the source of all predominantly monotheistic religions today. ….The Vedic religions influenced, shaped and evolved more into Hinduism, eventually leading to Buddhism.

The Great Eastern Sun: Sharchen Nyima...We have messed everything up. That’s our problem. We have to go back to the sun and the moon, to dragons, tigers, lions, garudas (mythical birds). We can be like the blue sky, sweethearts, and the clouds so clean, so beautiful. We don’t have to try too hard to find ourselves. We haven’t really lost anything; we just have to tune in. ….

Ancient Seals, Symbols & Coinage of Bactria...Kanishka's coins portray images of Indo-Aryan, Greek, Iranian and even Sumero-Elamite divinities, demonstrating the religious syncretism in his beliefs. ...

The Divine Horses of Ancient Bactria...Since ancient times the"heavenly horses" were a political issue. The Persian emperor Cyrus married a daughter of King of Medes Astyages to gain access to the Bactrian horses, which he was unable to secure by force. Alexander the Great, through his marriage to Roxane, the daughter of a Bactrian king, acquired the fastest and most gallant horses of his time. It is to them he owed much of his successes on the battlefield. The Chinese, under Emperor Wu, in 103 B.C., even started a war to acquire those horses......

The Rigveda & Bactria (1700 BC)...Philological and linguistic evidence indicate that the Rigveda was composed in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, roughly between 1700–1100 BC….In the years after Rig Veda the proto Avestan peoples gradually separated from the Vedic Aryans due to intellectual conflict between the two groups of the Aryans


Buddhism Before Shakyamuni (9th c. BC)...Maitreya is sometimes represented seated on a throne Western-style, and venerated both in Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna Buddhism. Some have speculated that inspiration for Maitreya may have come from the ancient Indo-Iranian deity Mithra. ….


Magi (Magoi) of Ancient Central Asia (6th c. BC)...For Buddhists....Padmasambhava represents a second Buddha. For the Hindus he is the deathless Mahavatar .....For the Christian he is the Christ-consciousness. The Himalayan yogis know him as the Mahasiddha..... while amongst the sages he is known as the supreme Magi......For some initiates he is known as Arunagiri babaji, the holy master of the Sacred Red Mountain..... In our tradition he is the Paramguru, the supreme Guru of those who follow the way of Tantra.….dharmafellowship.org

Archaeology of the Balkh Region... The looting of the Archaeological Heritage of Afghanistan does not limit itself to a few sites ....One should also mention the sites of the regions of Herat, Maymana, Balkh, Samangan, Qunduz, Bakhshan, Takhar; the mountainous regions of the center of Afghanistan such as Bamiyan,Yakaoling, further south, Panjshir, Kohestan (especially Khom e- Zargar), Kapissa, Begram, Kabul, Jalriz, Maydan Shahr, Kandahar, Helmand, Seistan….

Kingdom of Shambhala: Architecture, Clothing, Diet, Medicine...The highest elite of the country of Shambhala is formed by the priests. The monks wear white, speak Sanskrit, and are all initiated into the mysteries of the Kalachakra Tantra. The majority of them are considered enlightened….

Central Asian Historical Timetable...45,000 BC - 100 AD...After 2400 BC, throughout Central Asia the growth of urban societies was severely challenged. Within a span of some three hundred years, none of the major centers that developed during the first half of the 3rd millennium were still occupied. The precise reasons for this "urban collapse" remain a mystery.….

Anau Seal in Bactria (2300 BC)... 5,000 years ago an ancient Sumerian would have some understanding of what a central Asian was, or what central Asian artifacts were and vice versa.….

BMAC Culture of Bactria (2300 BC)... The reasons that the cities of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex were suddenly abandoned are not known. Possibly the widespread calamity known as the Bronze Age Collapse impacted trade with settlements in Central Asia. Or possibly a severe drought or other environmental catastrophe forced the BMAC settlers in Central Asia to flee.….

Akar Werma, Akar Thegpa, Kunzang Akor & Shenlha Okar...Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Namkha Drimed Rinpoche.......shared visions of Akar Werma, the deity whom the Vidyadhara called Shiwa Ökar.….The deity Kunzang Akor is the meditational form of Shenlha Okar.

Terma Traditions & Shambala Texts...Certain Shambhala practices derive from specific terma texts of Trungpa Rinpoche's such as Letter of the Black Ashe, Letter of the Golden Key that Fulfills Desire, Golden Sun of the Great East, and the Scorpion Seal of the Golden Sun, in long and short versions….

Airyana Vaeja, Arya Varta & Shambhala... The concept, description and qualities of Shambala coincide with those for Arya Varta / Airyana Vaeja, the Aryan homeland, and help provide us with added information on its possible location.….

The Five Elements in Shamanism, Tantra & Dzogchen...Indigenous healing and spiritual traditions around the world are based on an understanding of the five elements. In the Tibetan tradition, these are known as space, air, fire, water and earth, and are understood as the underlying energies from which the physical world, our bodies, our emotions, and our minds arise. The elements are addressed in all nine levels of teachings of Bön, including shamanism, tantra and Dzogchen.….

The Avestan Texts (600 BC)... The Persian archives were held at Persepolis yet Alexander the Great uncharacteristically burnt the city and murdered many of Persia’s leading scholars, though they had willingly surrendered expecting mercy. The Dinkard, a ninth century Persian work says there were only ever two copies of Zoroaster’s monumental work, one of which was burned and the other was confiscated by the Greeks….

The Five Elements: Atar: Sacred Fire...the Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett published speculation that Shambalha was Shams-e Bhala ... a pre-historic Bactrian sun/fire temple...
Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring & The Kingdom of Shambhala...According to the "gZi-brjid", Olmo Lung-ring was also known as Shambhala in Sanskrit ...
The Hephthalites & Bactria (500 AD)... Balkh came under the Hepthalites (Huns) by the of 4th Century A.D...... Kanishka had been the first Buddhist to rule Balkh. The early Huns worshipped fire and Sun. Subsequently, Hun Kings became followers of Buddhism..
Chan Buddhism, Zen & Shambhala... .Bodhidharma was clearly a Persian Zoroastrian trader, possibly a Mithraist of sorts ...
Cintamani: The Wish Fulfilling Gem...The word "mani" here means "pearl" while "cinta" is "desire, love....
Shambala in the Mahabharata (500 BC)...The Buddhist myth of Shambhala is an adaptation of the earlier Hindu myth of Kalki of Sambhala found in the Mahabharata and the Puranas...
Early Shambhala Researchers (987 AD -1820 AD...etc)... As for 'sham', it could either be connected (for reasons given below) with the Indian God Shiva, if the term is ascribed an Indian origin, or with the word 'Shamash' of Sumerian origin meaning "sun", which comes into modern Arabic as 'shams'....
Greek Buddhism in Bactria (180 BC)....the Mahavamsa, Greek monks seem to have been active proselytizers of Buddhism during the time of Menander ...
Shamis-en-Balkh, Sam-bala & Historical Shambhala... Texts from the Tun huang site identify Oddiyana as "Shamis en Balkh" in modern day Balkh, Afghanistan where many ruins, Buddhist stupas and monasteries existed. Oddiyana was conquered in about 176 B.C......
Okar Research Maps... Ancient Central Asia...Click on the maps to enlarge.....
Ancient Khorasan: Land Where The Sun Rises (2000 BC)... Khorasan was originally inhabited by the ancient Indo-Iranians in the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex in around 2000 BC....
Ancient Tibet (1196 BC - 950 AD)... as early as the sixth and seventh centuries, a period when the Hephthalites had extensive links with the Tibetans...In 801, Tibetans were active as far west as Balkh, Samarkand and Kabul. Caliphate forces began to gain the upper hand, and the Tibetan governor of Kabul submitted to the Caliphate and became a Muslim about 812 or 815 AD.
Ancient Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan (600 AD)... The ancient Kingdom of Khotan was one of the earliest Buddhist states in the world and a cultural bridge across which Buddhist culture and learning were transmitted from India to China ...
The Tibetan Muslims of Skardu Baltistan...The Gesar epic even seems to have played a small role in the struggle of a Tibetan speaking Muslim people in Pakistan. The Baltistan region, centered around Skardu, is home to some 300,000 people whose mother tongue is Balti, a language of the Tibetan-Ladakhi family. ”We are the only people in this region to have had our own script since the 6th century AD" ...
King Ashoka (Maurya: 324-187 BC)... Ashoka explains he sent emissaries to the Hellenistic kings as far as the Mediterranean, and to people throughout India, claiming they were all converted to the Dharma as a result. He names the Greek rulers of the time, inheritors of the conquest of Alexander the Great, from Bactria to as far as Greece and North Africa, ...
Masculine Deities in Ancient Central Asia (600 BC)...the whole of the macrocosm is kept in being by the Fravashis (Dralas ?), the spiritual powers that are indissolubly linked with each human being and with humanity as a whole....
Zurvanism: Zurwan-Mithra, Sun God and the God of Time (400 BC)...Zurvan... represents White Compassion-Essence. In many Manichaean texts this Father of Light is called Zurvan, the Father of Time. ...
Pamir Mountains and Uighur Khocho (800 AD)... the actual physical location of Shambhala. According to the Dro Tradition a young man, the son of two yoga practioners, heard that boddhisattvas themselves were teaching the Dharma somewhere to the north of India in the country of Shambhala. Eager to learn the Dharma he set out on a journey to find these teachers. Beyond India but before reaching Shambhala, we are told, he encountered a vast desert which would have taken four months to cross.....
The Europoid Yuezhi in Bactria (200 BC)... The Yuezhi may have been a Europoid people, as indicated by the portraits of their kings on the coins they struck following their exodus to Transoxiana (2nd–1st century BCE)...
Shamanism in Ancient Central Asia (500 BC)... one of the ways the Buddhist schools of Tibet (and the Christian missionaries of North America) attempted to suppress Indigenous Tibetan Religion, was by accusing Bon practitioners of being ‘intellectually uncivilized’ – of being mere primitive shamans. ...
Taoism & Ancient Shambhala (600 BC - 600 AD)...Shambhala is the Central Asian kingdom.......a sane society developed out of that culture, and we are trying to emulate that vision. That particular system broke down into the Taoist tradition ...
Japanese Shinto & Ancient Shambala (6th C. BC)... After the Meiji Imperial Restoration of 1868, the new government purged Shinto of Buddhist elements, or ordered to clearly segregate Buddhism from Shinto.....Buddhist effigies were ordered to be removed from Shinto shrines and all traces of Buddhism were purged from the imperial household.....
Gandharan Style Greek - Buddhist Art (5th C. BC - 5th C. AD)...Trungpa Rinpoche said that the thangkas in Tibet had really lost it..... But he really totally admired Gandharan style ...
Confucius & the Shambhala Tradition (551–479 BCE)...Chögyam Trungpa incorporated elements from numerous traditions into the Shambhala Path that he thought would be beneficial to practitioners: From Confucianism comes a framework of Heaven, Earth, and Man, and the Court Principle for understanding the proper relationship between different elements of society ...
Kingdom of Gandhāra (1st-5th C. AD)...Gandhāra is noted for the distinctive Gandhāra style of Buddhist art, which developed out of a merger of Greek, Syrian, Persian, and Indian artistic influence. ...
Fravashis, Zhidag, Gandharvas, Dralas...Tibetan Buddhists believe that there are countless types of beings other than humans and animals. Some are more powerful, happier, and more intelligent than humans, and others less so. Usually if there is no common karma or karmic connection, beings of different types will not encounter each other....
Shiwa Okar, Shenlha Okar and Akar Werma...In the Bon tradition, King Gesar of Ling is sent to Tibet by Shenlha Okar, and Trungpa Rinpoche's blending of native traditions and Indian Buddhism appears to echo Mipham's....
'Od gSal Lha & The Shambhala Deities... Ölmo Lungring or Shambhala, this imperishable sacred land, which is the spiritual center of the world, existed on earth from the very beginning of the human race. It was the place where the celestial gods of the Clear Light (`od gsal lha) descended from heaven to earth in order to take up incarnation as human beings and ensoul the physical bodies which had been prepared for them....
Vajra Caste, Secular Shambhala & The Kalachakra...The purpose of the Vajra Caste was not force everyone to convert to Buddhism but for people to re-discover the purity of their own traditions. ...
Rimé Movement & Non-Sectarianism (19th C. AD)... In the 19th century, a movement funded by the secular authorities in Derge, Kham began to establish centers of learning encouraging the study of traditions different from the dominant Gelug tradition in central Tibet....
Feminine Deities in Ancient Central Asia...Unlike Buddhism, whose deities are generally genderless or male, the Shintō tradition has long revered the female element. The emperor of Japan, even today, claims direct decent from the Shintō Sun Goddess Amaterasu. ...
Ancient Historians in Bactria (400 BC).."Khorasan" is derived from Middle Persian khor (meaning "sun") and asan (or ayan literally meaning "to come" or "coming" or "about to come"), hence meaning "land where the sun rises"..
Ancient Historians in Bactria (400 BC).."Khorasan" is derived from Middle Persian khor (meaning "sun") and asan (or ayan literally meaning "to come" or "coming" or "about to come"), hence meaning "land where the sun rises"..

Balkh and the Genghis Khan Destruction (1220 AD)..Kublai Khan told Marco Polo: 'The Christians worship Jesus, the Saracens worship Mohammed, the Jews worship Moses and the idolaters worship Sakyamuni Burkhan..

Ancient China & the Four Sons of Heaven... Gesar's traditional four enemies were China to the East, India to the South, Tag zig (Persia) to the west, and Hor to the North...

Greek/Bactrian Buddhism (200 BC)... the Gandharan school of art that emerged in north-west India is that it has been clearly influenced by the naturalism of the Classical Greek style. Thus, while these images still convey the inner peace that results from putting the Buddha's doctrine into practice, they also give us an impression of people who walked and talked, etc. and slept much as we do...

King Gesar...Phrom and Tazig (743 AD)...the Four Sons of Heaven, the rulers of the four great countries of the Asiatic world: China, India, Iran, Throm (Phrom) in the north with King Gesar...

Shambhala: Tribes, Clans and Castes...Tonpa Shenrab was born at the palace Barpo Sogye of Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring. His father was Gyalbon Thodkar of the Mu clan ...

gZi-brjid: The Ziji & Shenrab Miwo (1847 BC?)...The work of Shenrap still exists in Tibet in the form of 400 volumes, but it has undergone heavy Buddhist editing.

Nava Vihara in Balkh: Sun Temple/Fire Temple/Monastery/Mosque..Navbahar (also known as Nava Vihara) was a Buddhist stupa or monastery near the ancient city of Balkh in northern Afghanistan. The temple may have been an old Zoroastrian fire-temple...

Etymology: Sakya, Shaka, Shakya, Saka, Sacae...Dawa Zangpo was the first of the seven "SHAKYA" kings of Shambhala....

Shambhala Research....Partial References ...November 2012

Pliny the Elder (23 AD) & Bactrian Geography...Balkh, is the name given to Zariasta....town is Zariasta, which was afterwards called Bactra, from the river.......

Chitral & Oddiyana Kashmir... the birth place of Garab Dorje not simply as 'Uddiyana' but as being close to Lake Kutra in the region of Dhanakosha; thus indicating present day North-eastern Kashmir (now Pakistan) - a region right in the middle between Chitral, Gilgit and Swat. ..

The Kalash People & Ancient Shambhala...Kalash has ancient Bactrian Roots, it resisted the Muslim takeover for 800 years..

Tantra in Central Asia (400 AD) ....Tantric movements led to the formation of many esoteric schools of Hinduism and Buddhism. It has influenced the Hindu, Sikh, Bön, Buddhist, and Jain religious traditions

Kalkin Kings of Sambhala (277 BC)..... the Vidyadhara indicated that the Shambhala terma had originated with the Rigden Kings, Shiwa Ökar, or Gesar of Ling....

Rigden Kings of Shambhala (881 BC)..... KALACHAKRA...(dus kyi khor lo)...Taught by the Buddha to Dawa Sangpo in 881 BC...

Ancient Languages & Linguistics of Bactria..... Bactrian could legitimately have been ranked amongst the world's most important languages. As the language of the Kushan kings, Bactrian must have been widely known throughout a great empire....

The Parsee of India & Shambhala ....Followers of Ilm-e-Kshnoom in India believe in reincarnation and practice vegetarianism, two principles unknown to Orthodox Zoroastrianism.

Shambhala and the Kingdom of Oddiyana ....places where Vajrayana teachings are preserved and taught. Uddiyana is one such realm, and it is said that it is located somewhere in what is now known as Pakistan.

Sacred Feminine & Ancient Shambhala ....the female protectress of Balkh, Anahita goddess of the Oxus

Human Feminine & Ancient Shambhala "..hair like the petals of the Utpala flower, eyes like the fruit of the indigo, brow is of the greatest serenity and full like the moon, eyebrows of wide arch and like the letter o, cheeks are of clear color and like blood-red rubies in a cup of ivory,..."
Kingdom of Zhang-zhung & Shambhala ..Olmolungring (Shambhala?) was northwest of Mt Kailas, twice as far from it as the peak is from Shigatse, a major town in central Tibet. (Newman, 1985).....(i.e.. 1200 Miles?)....

Indo-Europeans & Indo-Aryans in Bactria (2500 - 1500 BC) ..Bactria was a homeland of Indo-European tribes who moved south-west into Iran and into North-Western India around 2500–2000 BCE.....

Alexander The Great in Bactria ( 334 BC) ..Alexander was more concerned with conquering the Earth than touching the earth...

Mithraism & The Eye of Mithra (1400 BC) ..Mithra is young. His eye is the sun. The rays of the sun are his arms. He wears glistening garments. His abode is golden. He is a king and a universal monarch. Mithra is ever waking and watches in darkness....

Early Buddhism in Balkh (563 BC) ..Trapusa and Bahalika from Balkh in Afghanistan, are attributed to be the first two lay disciples of the Buddha....

Padmasambhava (732 AD) & Chakdara, Pakistan .. Padmasambhava from Uddiyana (Bactria)....nothing is really reported concerning Padmasambhava’s life in Kashmir..... In Kashmir he earned the name Sthiramati, ‘the Youthful Genius.’....

Mani & the Manichaeans (216-274 AD) ..One of the main principles of the Manichaeans was a vegetarian diet of mainly green and yellow foods.......

The Shambhala Path and The Kalachakra .."Do Shambhala Training students have to become Buddhists at some point to continue?” He said, “No, Shambhala Training is a complete path to enlightenment–it has view, meditation, action."......


The Shambhala Path & The Bon Tradition ..Chögyam Trungpa incorporated elements from numerous traditions into the secular Shambhala path... elements in the Bön tradition worth exploring: Shenlha Okar practices and abishekas, the Nine Lha who created existence out of non-existence, the Werma & Dralha deities of Mt Kailas, the Zhangzhung Kingdom, Shenrab Miwo's Iranian origins, and the numerous Bonpo Sang & Enrichment Rituals......

Zarathustra, Zoroastrianism & Balkh (6th C. BC) ..Ancient Bactrians....prior to Islam would pray five times per day ....but, contrary to the Muslims, they would pray in the direction of the Sun and/or to the Fire Temple........

Origins of Sufism & Ancient Bactria ...The Sufis will often say that Sufism came before Islam and there will be Sufism after Islam too. This is the spirit of Balkh, an enduring ancient legacy fed by diverse streams of influence over the last 2500+ years......
Shambhala Vision & Dzogchen ..Dzogchen did not originate in Tibet itself, but had a Central Asian origin and was subsequently brought to Central Tibet by certain masters known as Mahasiddhas or great adepts..

Kingdom of Shambala & the Moslem Conquest (670-870 AD) ..Bactria was especially important between 600 BC and 600 AD, serving as a meeting place not only for overland trade between East and West but also for the crosscurrents of religious and artistic ideas..

BACTRIA, Tagzig, Khorasan, Paktra, Zariaspa, Vahilka & Shambhala ..Walled palace cities existed in 900 BC near the present sites of Termez, Merv (Gyaur-Kala), Samarkand, Afrasiab and Bactra (Balk) in southern Bactria.

Bactria: Land of a Thousand Cities ..The Aryans first settled on the Oxus (AMU DARYA in BACTRIA) around 4000 B.C. They called this river the Sarasvati and here Vedic culture developed. ..Beginning of the famed Bactrian Empire of a thousand cities, wallowing in wealth....

Historical Timetable of Bactria Region (100 AD - Present) ..Alexandra David-Neel, in her script "Les Nouvelles Littéraires", says that Shamballa is geographically placed near the ancient city of Balkh.

Swat Valley, Dankanoshka Lake and Padmasambhava ...Padmasambhava is said to have been born in a village near the present day town of Chakdara in Lower Dir District, Pakistan, which was then a part of Oddiyana..

Ancient Balkh ....Bahlika, Daxia, Altyn-Depe, Paktra ...The Oxus civilization was a Bronze Age Central Asian culture dated to ca. 2300–1700 BC and centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus River)..

Ancient Bactria Region ...Bactria, by some writers, is called "the pride of Ariana". The ancient local citizen called it "Bactria the beautiful". Bactria was popular for its fertility.

Great Khorasan Road & The Silk Route ... "Khorasan" is derived from Middle Persian khwar (meaning "sun") and āsān (or ayan literally meaning "to come" or "coming" or "about to come"), hence meaning "land where the sun rises"

Bactra (Balkh) in Bactria Map ...Bactria was the homeland of Indo-European tribes who moved south-west into Iran and into North-Western India around 2500–2000 BC.

Ancient Balkh from Google Earth ...The palace of Balkh was once decorated with silk, gold, and gemstones. Bactria was known as the Land of a Thousand Cities....each with a Calah (Castle, Kala) and a King.

Carte du Coeur Humain

Shamis en Balkh ... Bactra, The Mother of All Cities ... in 630 AD, there were in Balkh about a hundred Buddhist monasteries, with 30,000 monks, and a large number of stupas....The Nava Vihara Monastery was it is said build on an old fire-temple called Sam-i-bhala (Elevated Candle).


Ai Khanum...Alexandria on Oxus (4th c. BC) ..Perhaps the greatest of the "thousand cities of Bactria", known to us today as Ai Khanoum was built where the Oxus (Amu Darya) and Kokcha Rivers meet in northern Afghanistan..

First Google Blogger Post......October 31, 2012....Previously on Angelfire and Geocities Free Blog Sites beginning in 1992 in Vermont

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com
John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico
February 2021