Popularized by the book Lost Horizon, the myth of the city Shangri-La conjures images of a sort of earthly paradise, with no wars, sickness or disease. But there is far more to the story than meets the eye.
The question of what exactly Shangri-La is becomes the key to the mystery. For most, the image has been synonymous with the idea of the Holy Grail – an ideal that one searches for all their life and never obtains unless one is proven worthy.
But for others it presents a tantalizing possibility of a truly hidden land that may be accessible if one can only find the way in. And many believe that way can be found in Tibet.
Tibet
In the mountain kingdom of Tibet, a sect of Buddhist monks has, for centuries, lived and worked in peace, led by the Dalai Lama.
Until the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959 the mostly Buddhist residents of the country were self-governing and free to celebrate their rituals. After the take-over, however, the Chinese government cracked down on the Tibetan Buddhists and the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was forced into exile in Dharmasala inorthern India, from where he continues to spiritually lead his people.
Shangri-la and the Discovery of Tibet
In the 16th century, the Moghul emperor Akbar gathered representatives of all the world’s religions, determined to find the true basis for all religions and end religious wars forever. Akbar stated that he hoped “we may perhaps open again the door whose key had been lost.”
Because of Akbar’s efforts, West and East began to learn from one another.
According to Michael Wood, writing for the BBC’s website, one elderly Jesuit priest wrote down all the tales he heard during this meeting. One was the story of a land in the Himalaya mountains. He drew a map, with Tibet completely blank but for one place, which he called Lake Manasarovar. A note next to it read, “Here it is said Christians live.”
Another Jesuit priest from Portugal, Antonio Andrade, took the old priest’s sketch and left Akbar’s court, determined to find these Christians. After an arduous journey, Andrade found a wealthy, beautiful kingdom. He wrote about it, and his account, complete with the mysterious map, was found in Calcutta in the 1800’s and republished in 1926 as Discovery of Tibet.
Shambala
Today, the Tibetan Kalachakra doctrine also speaks of a city in the Himalayas, although it is a spiritual one.
The legend of Shambala tells of a lush kingdom in a valley surrounded by mountain peaks where the people live in peace with one another. The sum total of humanity’s wisdom is kept and protected here where the world cannot corrupt it.
Shambala is led by a series of 32 kings. These kings will each reign for 100 years as the state of the outside world continues to deteriorate. When the world is on the brink of ruin, Shambala will be revealed in all its glory and the final king, Rudra Cakrin, will lead an army which will overthrow evil and restore peace to the world.
No one really knows whether Shambala is a real historic place whose origins are lost to us, or whether it has always belonged to the realm of myth and legend. According to Woods, although the tale is now considered a Tibetan myth, it was first recorded in India in AD 966.
The Kalachakra Mandala
Today Shambala is honored during one of the most sacred ceremonies in Tibetan Buddhism. Conducted by the Dalai Lama himself, it is an initiation into the mysteries of Shambala.
As a part of the ceremony, Tibetan priests create an elaborate mandala made of colored sand called the Kalachakra mandala. The concept of Kalachakra is based on the Tibetan Buddhist concept of the wheel of time. The Kalachakra mandala is sacred and is believed to be a map of the legendary palace of Shambala.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the mandala is destroyed by sweeping the grains of sand into the center of the mandala. This symbolizes the journey to the very center of one’s being and honors the impermanence of all things.
Is the Kalachakra mandala a map to a real place, accessible only to those initiated into its secrets? Because of the Tibetan Buddhist belief that one should not speak of the secrets of enlightenment to the uninitiated, those in the outside world may never truly know.
SOURCES:
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Official Website. "Kalachakra Initiations by His Holiness the Dalai Lama." http://www.dalailama.com/page.22.htm. Accessed October 20, 2009.
Shambhala - Vision, Lineage, Meditation, Community. http://www.shambhala.org/buddhism.php/shambahla.html. Accessed October 26, 2009.
Sutherland, Mary. "The Legend of Shambhala." Living in the Light. http://www.livinginthelightms.com. Accessed October 26, 2009.
Wood, Michael. “Shangri-La.” BBC Ancient History – Other Cultures. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/shangri_la_03.shtml. Accessed October 12, 2009.
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