Shambhala Myth and Mystery

Shambhala is a mythical kingdom, city or place said to be located in the Himalayas, hidden from the view of the uninitiated. Shambhala is talked about in ancient Buddhist and Sanskrit texts and even mentioned in the pre-Buddhist Bön Religion where it is called "Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring". It is also the subject of many books and Hollywood movies, most famously the 1937 film "Lost Horizon", which shows the main actors getting lost in the Tibetan mountains and finding the long lost Paradise of "Shangri-La" as it is called there.

The most ancient Bön Religion speaks of the hidden land as existing in a spiritual-realm, beyond duality, and therefore only being visible to some. According to that tradition it is a place of timeless bliss which is located near Mount Kailash. Mount Kailash is revered in Hinduism and Buddhism as a sort of mythical place of origin for those Religions. The Bön say the land is full of wonderful fragrances and colors and flanked by snow-capped mountains.



According to Tibetan Buddhist Teachings, Shambhala is a "Place of Happiness and Tranquility" and also a place where many religious teachings originated. The place is sometimes seen as a physical location but has also been mythologized to be the Buddhist version of Heaven (called "Pure Land"), full of enlightened inhabitants who have accumulated positive karma and are therefore permitted entry. The place is also repeatedly mentioned in Hinduism (called "Sambalah" there). The "Forbidden Land" or "The Land of White Waters" is also known to non-religious ancient Chinese legends.

Similar to Abrahamic Religions, legend has it that one day when the world is taken over by evil and darkness, an army of good will come from Shambhala to rid the planet of evil and begin a new Golden Age. Some say the date for this event is 2424 A.D. According to Tibetan monks, the place is located "somewhere around McLeodGanj" (shown in the next image), which is also the current home of the Dalai Lama.



Shambhala has captured the interest of many researches, spiritual seekers and even military powers. The Soviet secret police went searching for Shambalah in the 1920s, and the Nazis (Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hess) sent expeditions to find Shambhala in the 1930s. It is not known what they found, even though many rumors abound.

Does Shambhala exist physically or spiritually? What have the countless expeditions in search of it brought up? What else is known about it? This thread seeks to be a collaborative effort to find out more.

Nice thread, I have been interested in this subject for some time. This past summer I attended a Shambhala retreat in Halifax, NovaScotia (Canada). Teaching us was the current King of the lineage that apparently leads back to the original Shambhala. From what i understand Nova Scotia is now considered to be the land of Shambhala, where the new enlightened society of Man will sprout up. The experience of meditating under the guidance of the Sakyong, was beyond me, and being with the community of Shambhala members was the warmest experience of human community I have ever had. (there were about 1000 people there meditating at once for hours off and on, it was quite powerful).

I wanted to share that my own understanding is that this is shambhala, life and society is shambhala, one of the main ideals of the Shambhala belief system is that spirituality and society are natural and good, that when one becomes spiritual or takes up meditation it is not to cut himself from social involvement, but to better embrace the basic goodness of man and its natural place in social interaction. I believe we will experience what is described as Shambhala as the highest potential of human social experience. I am going to look for links related to the retreat I attended, I will share if I am successful. The topic of the retreat was "Building an Enlightened Society".

And here is some info on the Sakyong.

Sakyong Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, Jampal Trinley Dradul (born Osel Rangdrol Mukpo in 1962) is the head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and Shambhala International, a worldwide network of urban Buddhist meditation centers, retreat centers, monasteries, a university, and other enterprises, founded by his father, the Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (XI Trungpa Tulku). Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is a high lama in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He is believed to be the second incarnation of Mipham the Great, who is revered in Tibet as an emanation of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Rinpoche is an honorific (meaning "precious one" in Tibetan) commonly afforded to tulkus.

Sakyong Mipham Rimpoche

Wash away my troubles, wash away my pain
With the rain in Shambala
Wash away my sorrow, wash away my shame
With the rain in Shambala [...]
Everyone is lucky, everyone is kind
On the road to Shambala
Everyone is happy, everyone is so kind
On the road to Shambala [...]
How does your light shine, in the halls of Shambala

Daniel Moore, as covered by Three Dog Night in 1973,

thank you for this interesting and enchanting thread

while i lived in Mongolia i picked up this magazine. i can't decipher it's title anymore since i have forgotten all my Cyrillic since i'm back. the magazine has Mongolian and English texts.

it also mentions that Russian scholar N. Rerikh had been looking for a Shambala land for a long time when he was traveling in the different mountains of India, Tibet and Mongolia. Then he had created a huge treatise titled as "Shambala" based on his extensive research. He had mentioned in his treatise as follows: "There is a Shambala land in Mongolian Gobi and there is even a song about this land among the people of that part of the world...."

Footage from the 1937 movie "Lost Horizon"

Originally posted by el1jah
Nice thread, I have been interested in this subject for some time. This past summer I attended a Shambhala retreat in Halifax, NovaScotia (Canada). Teaching us was the current King of the lineage that apparently leads back to the original Shambhala. From what i understand Nova Scotia is now considered to be the land of Shambhala, where the new enlightened society of Man will sprout up. The experience of meditating under the guidance of the Sakyong, was beyond me, and being with the community of Shambhala members was the warmest experience of human community I have ever had. (there were about 1000 people there meditating at once for hours off and on, it was quite powerful).

I wanted to share that my own understanding is that this is shambhala, life and society is shambhala, one of the main ideals of the Shambhala belief system is that spirituality and society are natural and good, that when one becomes spiritual or takes up meditation it is not to cut himself from social involvement, but to better embrace the basic goodness of man and its natural place in social interaction. I believe we will experience what is described as Shambhala as the highest potential of human social experience. I am going to look for links related to the retreat I attended, I will share if I am successful. The topic of the retreat was "Building an Enlightened Society".

And here is some info on the Sakyong.

Sakyong Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, Jampal Trinley Dradul (born Osel Rangdrol Mukpo in 1962) is the head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and Shambhala International, a worldwide network of urban Buddhist meditation centers, retreat centers, monasteries, a university, and other enterprises, founded by his father, the Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (XI Trungpa Tulku). Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is a high lama in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He is believed to be the second incarnation of Mipham the Great, who is revered in Tibet as an emanation of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Rinpoche is an honorific (meaning "precious one" in Tibetan) commonly afforded to tulkus.

Sakyong Mipham Rimpoche

edit on 24-11-2011 by el1jah because: (no reason given)

Ah I miss home sometimes, Shambhala is very close to me also...hence my my nic name...have you ever looked into the brotherhood of the snake? Shambhala is very very ancient indeed. It is true what they say...Nova Scotia is a special place...

haha Did you watch Fullmetal Alchemist Conquerer of Shambala recently

Thats where i heard of it recently.

it is interesting though, the subject of shambala. Happy hunting.


*add* Atlantis was also taken for a long time as myth as well, but they are making more and more discoeries to prove it might have existed

The Nazi Connection with Shambhala and Tibet

reply to post by el1jah


That sounds like a great Meditation retreat you had there. I dont know whether it has anything to do with the actual Shambhala though, apart from being of buddhist origin. Anyone can claim Shambhala lineage, and many do, but you cant really know for certain. Maybe you`d like to share more...

reply to post by Skyfloating


Ya its weird actually the founder moved the international headquarters to Nova Scotia in 1986 and then passed away a year later....hmmmmm....his final gesture of sorts....

These are from the wiki writeup...

Shambhala International

The umbrella organization that encompasses many of the distinct institutions of Shambhala Buddhism is called Shambhala International. Shambhala International, which is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, links a worldwide mandala of urban Buddhist meditation centers, retreat centers, monasteries, a university, and other ventures, founded by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher the Trungpa Rinpoche under the name Vajradhatu. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is the present spiritual and executive head of the organization, which he renamed and reorganized in 1990.

In 1986 Trungpa moved the international headquarters of Vajradhatu to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died the following year. A large number of his disciples emigrated from the United States to Nova Scotia along with him...

reply to post by Drala


It looks like a nice enough group, but there's zero indication it has anything to do with Shambhala. That would be like me creating a Meditation Group called "Atlantis"...which wouldnt mean I have anything to do with Atlantis.

Russian and Japanese Inolvement in Pre-Communist Tibet

A related ATS Thread: Lost Civilization in Tibet.

Legend says that the king of Shambhala sits on a throne adorned with Lions. Lion-mythology, like Serpent-Mythology plays prominently in ancient myths all over the world.

reply to post by Skyfloating


hang in there sky

it is a huge subject and very obscured. i'm dedicated to it at the moment, am researching and getting facts together, but i have limited time only.

my thoughts still wander around the spiritual aspect of shambala. it is said that only the most pure at heart and most enlightened have access to it. and to that shambala land in mongolia is the closest thing that it can get to.

shambala land is a holy place in the gobi. for a long time there was a monastery called Khamar of the red hat system. i think. but maybe it was founded by this man:

in the first part of 1800 that monastery had a incarnate Lama and Tulku. his name was Dulduityn Danzanravjaa (1803-1856), the Fifth Noyon Khutagt. he was famous for being a writer and poet, a prophet, a philosopher, a near miraculous healer, and he run his monastery according to such noble visions that it is said the world has never seen anything like it. he was called the 'Terrible Noble Saint of the Gobi' and was extremely advanced in practicing human rights. he was an outspoken critic of the society under the manchurian dynasty of the time and died under suspicious circumstances. his work of course started with education. and woman had equal rights. if you know mongolia, this thought alone takes your breath away !

the russian communists destroyed nearly every monastery in mongolia during their stay. of course khamar was amongst them. today khamar is getting rebuilt by devotees to the newly emerging buddhist movement. mongolians still think of him as their saint and call that part of the gobi 'sambala'.

danzanravjaa.org...

and a great site how this beautiful place in the middle of the gobi looks like today
www.360cities.net...,19.20,70.0

reply to post by Skyfloating


then there is he story of the 'Hunza Valley'. a valley in tibet that is like paradise and plants, animals and people live in harmony and wonderous bliss. it also is speculated whether this place could have been shambala.

i have a book on it, but can't locate it at the moment.

reply to post by Skyfloating


then we come to the biggest question on which i'm trying to get my thoughts together.

if mt kailas is also refered to as shambala as you state in your thread (i had never heard of this before) then to me this opens a total new perspective.

because physical mt kailas is also spiritual mt meru. the seat of the gods. specially siva is king of mt kailas, it is his abode. now, if siva is the king of shambala, and siva being a moon god - this would bring me right to the garden of eden. to paradise.

shambala would then be taken back via hindu beliefs right to vedic traditions, which of course is the influencing point on tibet even before bön.

that would make shambala equivalent to paradise.

reply to post by Skyfloating


and last but not least we also have to look into Shangri La

If i were to guess, i would say Shambhala is as mythical as Plato's Atlantis, the Garden of Eden, City of gold etc.....

In my opinion, it would refer to a spiritual state outside of time and space, which exists eternally, a potential waiting to be incarnated into human society.

But as a rule i don't subscribe to the notion of a physical reality to Atlantis, Shambhala, Garden of Eden, etc. These are ALLEGORICAL devices referring to a potential state of being. The ideal of this state of being has social applications, and so, it often implies a 'society' which reflects the spiritual ideals of the particular tradition which posits its existence.

Most wonderful and interesting thread sky-floating, mythical cities that exist in a another spectrum of time, perhaps it is heaven upon Earth, a place for the immortal, and to this I see the doorway, to and from this mystical city on clear display in the second picture,I am sure I would not be the only one to have seen them

And the buildings precise, positioning for the critical factor to access to the Solar King at the prescribed timing, along with the other ingredient being Hydro H2o Water giving the Luna Queen

I am sure that you see the similarity to these buildings and the Mayan step pyramids with the water and mist shoots to there precisely aligned front being to the East

I see the closest building to be the oldest, being perhaps 25or6 thousand years old and then as time progressed so did the aperture of the opening for the solar king or the steaming of the sun alter, there by sending it into inoperable lensing requiring the second building back, to be constructed or center building, and the third is yet to come into its full lensing or perhaps for the future or the next 26,000years

Or perhaps to describe it more accurately, The Land of the Red and WHITE Rainbows (Mayan)

But as Horus would see it, according to the Rosetta stone, RED and WHITE (Crowns )

Being the, flower of Life or as Nostradamus puts it, The Rose or the Rose garden

Havent been on ats in a while, Ill be brief. In my opinion Shambhala is not a physical place.... but it is..... I dont mean that in a hokey pokey unified field infinite potentiality way.... but that if we as humans attempt to become fully aware, through specific, scientifically applied practices with the body and psyche, from meditation to yoga. Then we will have shambhala. Finding that it may have been a real specific place, that I think is true as well, I believe we move through cycles of high and low awareness. At some point there were high societies of paradise, those legends we read today, but finding some rubble is not the point, it would be dry for me to find the remnants of a high time. What would be great is an experience of enlightened relationships/society, paradise on earth. It is here now if I do (or undo) enough to see it.

I guess I am not adding very much to the anthropological perspective on this... but its what I feel is spoken in all of todays various religions, legends and myths. There is no yesterday or today, its all right now, sort of a frustrating perspective in contrast to how we re tought to think these days, but there are methods to prove this is not so farfetched an idea(l).