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© Victor & Victoria Trimondi
The Shadow of the Dalai Lama – Part
I – 10. The aggressive myth of Shambhala
10. THE AGGRESSIVE MYTH OF SHAMBHALA
The role of the ADI BUDDHA or rather of the
Chakravartin is not just discussed in general terms in the Kalachakra Tantra, rather, in the “myth of
Shambhala” the Time Tantra presents concrete political objectives. In this
myth statements are made about the authority of the world monarch, the establishment
and administration of his state, the organization of his army, and about a
strategic schedule for the conquest of the planet. But let us first
consider what exactly the Shambhala
myth can be understood to be.
According to legend, the historical Buddha,
Shakyamuni, taught the king of Shambhala,
Suchandra, the Kalachakra
Mulatantra, and initiated him into the secret doctrine. The original
text contained 12,000 verses. It was later lost, but an abridged version
survived. If we use the somewhat arbitrary calendar of the Time Tantra as a
basis, the encounter between Shakyamuni and Suchandra took place in the
year 878 B.C.E. The location of the instruction was Dhanyakataka close to the Mount Vulture Heap near Rajagriha
(Rajgir) in southern India. After Suchandra had asked him for instruction,
the Buddha himself assumed the form of Kalachakra
and preached to him from a Lion Throne surrounded by numerous Bodhisattvas
and gods.
Suchandra reigned as the king of Shambhala, a legendary kingdom
somewhere to the north of India. He did not travel alone to be initiated in
Dhanyakataka, but was accompanied
by a courtly retinue of 96 generals, provincial kings and governors. After
the initiation he took the tantra teaching back with him to his empire
(Shambhala) and made it the state religion there; according to other
reports, however, this only happened after seven generations.
Suchandra recorded the Kalachakra Mulatantra from memory and composed a number of
comprehensive commentaries on it. One of his successors (Manjushrikirti)
wrote an abridged edition, known as the Kalachakra
Laghutantra, a compendium of the original sermon. This 1000-verse text
has survived in toto and still today serves as a central text.
Manjushrikirti’s successor, King Pundarika, composed a detailed commentary
upon the Laghutantra with the
name of Vimalaprabha (‘immaculate
light’). These two texts (the Kalachakra
Laghutantra and the Vimalaprapha)
were brought back to India in the tenth century by the Maha Siddha Tilopa, and from there reached Tibet, the “Land of
Snows” a hundred years later. But only fragments of the original text, the Kalachakra Mulatantra, have
survived. The most significant fragment is called Sekkodesha and has been commented upon the Maha Siddha Naropa.
Geography of the kingdom of Shambhala
The kingdom of Shambhala,
in which the Kalachakra teaching
is practiced as the state religion, is surrounded by great secrecy, just as
is its first ruler, Suchandra.
Then he is also regarded as an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Vajrapani, the “Lord of Occult
Knowledge”. For centuries the Tibetan lamas have deliberately mystified the
wonderland, that is, they have left the question of its existence or
nonexistence so open that one has to paradoxically say that it exists and it does not. Since it is a
spiritual empire, its borders can only be crossed by those who have been
initiated into the secret teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra. Invisible for ordinary mortal eyes, for centuries
the wildest speculation about the geographic location
Shambhala have circulated. In “concrete” terms, all that is known is
that it can be found to the north of India, “beyond the River Sitha”. But
no-one has yet found the name of this river on a map. Thus, over the course
of centuries the numerous Shambhala
seekers have nominated all the even conceivable regions, from Kashmir
to the North Pole and everywhere in between.
A
mandala of Shambhala
The most widespread opinion in the studies tends
toward seeking the original region in what is today the desert of the Tarim
Basin (Tarim Pendi). Many lamas
claim it still exists there, but is screened from curious eyes by a magical
curtain and is well guarded. Indeed, the syncretist elements which are to
be found in the Kalachakra Tantra
speak for the view that the text is a product of the ancient Silk Road
traversed by many cultures, which leads through the Tarim Basin. The huge
chain of mountains which surround the plateau in almost a circle also
concord with the geography of Shambhala.
Typically, the mythical map of Shambhala, of which
there are numerous reproductions, resembles a mandala. It has the form of a
wheel with eight spokes, or rather it corresponds
to a lotus with eight petals. Each of the petals forms an administrative
region. There a governor rules as the highest official. He is the viceroy
of not less than 120 million villages which can be found on each “lotus
petal”. Shambhala thus possesses
a total of 960 million settlements. The whole land is surrounded by a ring
of barely scaleable snowcapped mountains.
In the center of the ring of mountains lies 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, a replica
of the zodiac and the astral orbits. A little to the south of the palace
the visitor finds a wonderful park. In it 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.
The kings and administration of Shambhala
All the kings of Shambhala belong to an inherited dynasty. Since the historical
Buddha initiated the first regent, Suchandra, into the Time Tantra there
have been two royal houses which have determined the fate of the country.
The first seven kings called themselves Dharmaraja
(kings of law). They were originally descended from the same lineage which
produced Buddha Shakyamuni, the Shakyas. The following 25 kings of the
second dynasty are the “Kulikas” or “Kalkis”. Each of these rulers reigns
for exactly 100 years. The future regents are also already laid down by
name. The texts are not always unanimous about who is presently ruling the
realm. Most frequently, King Aniruddha is named, who is said to have taken
the reins of power in 1927 and shall set them aside again in the year 2027.
A great spectacle awaits the world when the 25th scion of the Kalki dynasty
takes office. This is Rudra Chakrin,
the wrathful wheel turner. In the year 2327 he will ascend the throne. We
shall come to deal with him in detail.
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” (Newman, 1985, p. 57). It thus appears they serve as mudras in the Kalachakra rituals.
The ruler of Shambhala
is a absolute monarch and has at his disposal
the entire worldly and spiritual power of the country. He stands at the
apex of a “hierarchical pyramid” and the foundations of
his Buddhocracy is composed of an army of millions of viceroys,
governors, and officers who carry out the decrees of the regent.
As spiritual ruler, he is the representative of
the ADI BUDDHA, as “worldly” potentate a Chakravartin. He is seated upon a golden throne, supported by
eight sculptured lions. In his hands he holds a jewel which grants him
every wish and a magic mirror, in which he can observe and control
everything in his realm and on earth. Nothing escapes his watchful eye. He
has the ability and the right to look into the deepest recesses of the
souls of his subjects, indeed of anybody.
The roles of the sexes in the realm of Shambhala
are typical. It is exclusively men who exercise political power in the
androcentric state. Of the women we hear only something of their role as
queen mother, the bearer of the heir to the throne, and as “wisdom
consorts”. In the “tantric economy” of the state budget they form a
reservoir of vital resources, since they supply the “gynergy” which is transformed by the official sexual magic
rites into political power. Alone the sovereign has a million (!) girls,
“young as the eight-day moon”, who are available to be his partners.
The highest elite of the country is formed by the
tantric clergy. 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 of a disciplined and extremely potent army with generals
at its head, a powerful officer corps and obedient “lower ranks”. The most
effective and “modern” weapons of destruction are stored in the extensive
arsenals of Shambhala. Yet — as
we shall later see — the army will only mobilize completely in three
hundred years time (2327 C.E.).
The totalitarian power of the Shambhala king
extends over not just the inhabitants of his country, but likewise over all
the people of our planet, “earth”. The French Kalachakra enthusiast, Jean Rivière, describes the
comprehensive competencies of the Buddhist despots as follows: “As master
of the universe, emperor of the world, spiritual regent over the powerful
subtle energy flows which regulate the cosmic order just as [they do] the
lives of the people, the Kulika [king] of Shambhala directs the spiritual development of the human masses
who were born into the heavy and blind material [universe]" (Rivière,
1985, p. 36). [1]
The “sun chariot” of the
Rishis
Although all its rulers are known by name, the Shambhala realm has no history in
the real sense. Hence in the many centuries of its existence hardly
anything worthy of being recorded in a chronicle has happened. Consider in
contrast the history-laden chain of events in the life of Buddha Shakyamuni
and the numerous legends which he left behind him! But there is an event
which shows that this country was not entirely free of historical conflict.
This concerns the protest of a group of no less than 35 million (!) Rishis (seers) led by the sage
Suryaratha ("sun chariot”).
As the first Kulika king, Manjushrikirti,
preached the Kalachakra Tantra to
his subjects, Suryaratha distanced himself from it, and his followers, the
Rishis, joined him. They preferred to choose banishment from Shambhala than
to follow the “diamond path” (Vajrayana).
Nonetheless, after they had set out in the direction of India and had
already crossed the border of the kingdom, Manjushrikirti sank in to a deep
meditation, stunned the emigrants by magic and ordered demon birds to bring
them back.
This event probably concerns a confrontation
between two religious schools. The Rishis worshipped only the sun. For this
reason they also called their guru the “sun chariot” (suryaratha). But the Kulika king had as Kalachakra master and cosmic androgyne united both heavenly
orbs in himself. He was the master of sun and moon. His demand of the Rishis
that they adopt the teachings of the Kalachakra
Tantra was also enacted on a night of the full moon. Manjushrikirti
ended his sermon with the words: “If
you wish to enter that path, stay here, but if you do not, then leave und
go elsewhere; otherwise the doctrines of the barbarians will com to spread
even in Shambhala.” (Bernbaum, 1980, p. 234).
The Rishis decided upon the latter. “Since we all
want to remain true to the sun chariot, we also do not wish to give up our
religion and to join another”, they rejoined (Grünwedel, 1915, p. 77). This
resulted in the exodus already outlined. But in fetching them back
Manjushrikirti had proved his magical superiority and demonstrated that the
“path of the sun and moon” is stronger than the “pure sun way”. The Rishis
thus brought him many gold tributes and submitted to his power and the
primacy of the Kalachakra Tantra.
In the fifteenth night of the moon enlightenment was bestowed upon them.
Behind this unique historical Shambhala incident hides a barely noticed power-political
motif. The seers (the Rishis)
were as their name betrays clearly Brahmans; they were members of the elite
priestly caste. In contrast, as priest-king Manjushrikirti integrated in
his office the energies of both the priestly and the military elite. Within
himself he united worldly and spiritual power, which — as we have
already discussed above — are allotted separately to the sun (high priest)
and the moon (warrior king) in the Indian cultural sphere. The union of
both heavenly orbs in his person made him an absolute ruler.
Because of the Shambhala
realm’s military plans for the future, which we will describe a little
later, the king and his successors are extremely interested in
strengthening the standing army. Then Shambhala
will need an army of millions for the battles which are in store for
it, and centuries count for nothing in this mythic realm. It was thus in
Manjushrikirti’s interest to abolish all caste distinctions in an
overarching militarily oriented Buddhocracy. The historical Buddha is
already supposed to have prophesied that the future Shambhala king, “.. possessing
the Vajra family, will become
Kalki by making the four castes into an single clan, within the Vajra family, not making them into a
Brahman family” (Newman, 1985, p. 64). The “Vajra family” mentioned is clearly contrasted to the priestly
caste in this statement by Shakyamuni. Within the various Buddha families
as well it represents the one who is responsible for military matters. Even
today in the West, high-ranking Tibetan lamas boast that they will be
reborn as generals (!) in the Shambhala
army, that is, that they think to transform their spiritual office into
a military one.
The warlike intention behind this ironing out of
caste distinctions becomes more obvious in Manjushrikirti’s justification
that the land, should it not follow Vajrayana
Buddhism, would inevitably fall into the hands of the “barbarians”. These —
as we shall later show — were the followers of Islam, against whom an
enormous Shambhala military was
being armed.
The journey to Shambhala
The travel reports written by Shambhala seekers are mostly kept so that we do not know
whether they concern actual experiences, dreams, imaginings, phantasmagoria
or initiatory progress. There is also no effort to keep these distinctions
clear. A Shambhala journey simply
embodies all of these together. Thus the difficult and hazardous adventures
people have undertaken in search of the legendary country correspond to the
“various mystical practices along the way, that
lead to the realization of tantric meditation in the kingdom itself. ...
The snow mountains surrounding Shambhala
represent worldly virtues, while the King in the center symbolizes the
pure mind at the end of the journey” (Bernbaum, 1980, p. 229).
In such interpretations, then, the journeys take
place in the spirit. Then again, this is not the impression gained by
leafing through the Shambha la’i lam
yig, the famous travel report of the Third Panchen Lama (1738–1780).
This concerns a fantastic collection , which is
obviously convinced of the reality of its factual material, of historical
and geographic particulars from central Asia which describe the way to Shambhala.
The landscapes which, according to this “classic
travel guide”, a visitor must pass through before entering the wonderland,
and the dangerous adventures which must be undergone, make the journey to
Shambhala (whether real or imaginary) a tantric initiatory way. This
becomes particularly clear in the central confrontation with the feminine
which just like the Vajrayana
controls the whole travel route. The quite picturesque book describes over
many pages encounters with all the female figures whom
we already know from the tantric milieu. With literary leisure the author
paints the sweetest and the most terrible scenes: pig-headed goddesses;
witches mounted upon boars; dakinis swinging skull bowls filled with blood,
entrails, eyes and human hearts; girls as beautiful as lotus flowers with
breasts that drip nectar; harpies; five hundred demonesses with copper-red
lips; snake goddesses who like nixes try to pull one into the water; the
one-eyed Ekajati; poison mixers;
sirens; naked virgins with golden bodies; female cannibals; giantesses;
sweet Asura girls with horse’s
heads; the demoness of doubt; the devil of frenzy; healers who give
refreshing herbs — they all await the brave soul who sets out to seek the
wonderland.
Every encounter with these female creatures must
be mastered. For every group the Panchen Lama has a deterrent, appeasing,
or receptive ritual ready. Some of the women must be turned away without
fail by the traveler, others should be honored and acknowledged, with yet others he must unite in tantric love. But woe betide him if he should lose his emotional and
seminal control here! Then he would become the victim of all these “beasts”
regardless of whether they appear beautiful or dreadful. Only a complete
tantra expert can pursue his way through this jungle of feminine bodies.
Thus the spheres alternate between the external
and the internal, reality and imagination, the world king in the hearts of
individual people and the real world ruler in the Gobi Desert, Shambhala as everyday life and Shambhala as a fairytale dream, and
everything becomes possible. When on his travels through Inner Asia the
Russian painter, Nicholas Roerich, showed some nomads photographs of New
York they cried out: “This is the land of Shambhala!” (Roerich, 1988, p.
274).
The “raging wheel turner”: The martial ideology of Shambhala
In the year 2327 (C.E.) — the prophecies of the Kalachakra Tantra tell us — the 25th
Kalki will ascend the throne of Shambhala.
He goes by the name of Rudra Chakrin,
the “wrathful wheel turner” or the “Fury with the wheel”. The mission of
this ruler is to destroy the “enemies of the Buddhist teaching” in a huge
eschatological battle and to found a golden age. This militant hope for the
future still today occupies the minds of many Tibetans and Mongolians and
is beginning to spread across the whole world. We shall consider the
fascination which the archetype of the “Shambhala
warrior” exercises over western Buddhists in more detail later.
Rudra Chakrin – the militant messiah of
Shambhala
The Shambhala
state draws a clear and definite distinction between friend and enemy.
The original idea of Buddhist pacifism is completely foreign to it. Hence the
Rudra Chakrin carries a martial
symbolic object as his insignia of dominion, the “wheel of iron” (!).We may
recall that in the Buddhist world view our entire universe (Chakravala) is enclosed within a
ring of iron mountains. We have interpreted this image as a reminder of the
“doomsday iron age” of the prophecies of antiquity.
Mounted upon his white horse, with a spear in his
hand, the Rudra Chakrin shall
lead his powerful army in the 24th century. “The Lord of the Gods”, it is
said of him in the Kalachakra Tantra,
“ joined with the twelve lords shall go to destroy
the barbarians” (Newman, 1987, p. 645). His army shall consist of
“exceptionally wild warriors” equipped with “sharp weapons”. A hundred
thousand war elephants and millions of mountain horses, faster than the
wind, shall serve his soldiers as mounts. Indian gods will then join the
total of twelve divisions of the “wrathful wheel turner” and support their
“friend” from Shambhala. This support for the warlike Shambhala king is probably due to his predecessor,
Manjushrikirti, who succeeded in integrating the 120 million Hindu Rishis
into the tantric religious system (Banerjee, 1985, p. xiii).
If, as legend has it, the author of the Kalachakra Tantra was the historical
Buddha, Shakyamuni, in person, then he must have forgotten his whole vision
and message of peace and had a truly great fascination for the military
hardware. Then weaponry plays a prominent role in the Time Tantra. Here
too, by “weapon” is understood every means of implementing the physical
killing of humans. It is also said of Buddha’s martial successor, the
coming Rudra Chakrin, that, “with
the sella (a deadly weapon) in
the hand ... he shall proclaim the Kalachakra
on earth for the liberation of beings” (Banerjee, 1959, p. 213).
Lethal war machines
The graphic description of the war machines to
which the Kalachakra deity
devotes a number of pages already in the first chapter of the tantra is
downright impressive and astonishing (Newman, 1987, pp. 553-570, verses
135-145; Grönbold, 1996). A total of seven exceptionally destructive arts
of weapon are introduced. All take the form of a wheel. The text refers to
them as yantras. There is a “wind
machine” which is primarily put into action against mountain forts. They
float over the enemy army and let burning oil run out all over them. The
same happens to the houses and palaces of the opponent. The second art of
weapon is described as a “sword in the ground machine”. This acts as a
personal protection for the “wrathful wheel turner”. Anyone who enters his
palace without permission and steps upon the machine hidden beneath the
floor is inevitably cut to pieces. As the third art follows the “harpoon
machine”, a kind of ancient machine gun. At the squeeze of a finger, “many
straight arrows or sharp Harpoons hat pierce and pass through the body of
an armored elephant” (Newman, 1987, p. 506).
We are acquainted with three further extremely
effective “rotating weapons” which shear everything away, above all the
heads of the enemy troops. One of them is compared to the wheels of the sun
chariot. This is probably a variant of the solar discus which the Indian
god Vishnu successfully put to
use against the demon hordes. Such death wheels have played a significant
role in Tibet’s magic military history right up into this century. We shall
return to this topic at a later point. These days, believers in the Shambhala myth see “aircraft” or
“UFOs” in them which are armed with atomic bombs and are guided by the
world king’s extraterrestrial support troops.
In light of the numerous murderous instruments
which are listed in the Kalachakra
Tantra, a moral problem obviously arose for some “orthodox” Buddhists
which led to the wheel weapons being understood purely symbolically. They
concerned radical methods of destroying one’s own human ego. The great
scholar and Kalachakra
commentator, Khas Grub je, expressly opposes this pious attempt. In his
opinion, the machines “are to be taken literally” (Newman, 1987, p. 561).
The “final battle”
Let us return to the Rudra Chakrin, the tantric apocalyptic redeemer. He appears in
a period, in which the Buddhist teaching is largely eradicated. According
to the prophecies, it is the epoch of the “not-Dharmas”, against whom he
makes a stand. Before the final battle against the enemies of Buddhism can
take place the state of the world has worsened dramatically. The planet is
awash with natural disasters, famine, epidemics, and war. People become
ever more materialistic and egoistic. True piety vanishes. Morals become
depraved. Power and wealth are the sole idols. A parallel to the Hindu
doctrine of the Kali yuga is
obvious here.
In these bad times, a
despotic “barbarian king” forces all nations other than Shambhala to follow his rule, so
that at the end only two great forces remain: firstly the depraved “king of
the barbarians” supported by the “lord of all demons “, and secondly Rudra Chakrin, the wrathful Buddhist
messiah. At the outset, the barbarian ruler subjugates the whole world
apart from the mythical kingdom of Shambhala. Its existence is an
incredible goad to him and his subjects: “Their jealousy will surpass all
limits, crashing up like waves of the sea. Incensed that there could be
such a land outside their control, they will gather an army together und
set out to conquer it.” (Bernbaum, 1980, p. 240). It then comes, says the prophecy, to a
brutal confrontation. [2]
Alongside the descriptions from the Kalachakra Tantra there are numerous
other literary depictions of this Buddhist apocalyptic battle to be found.
They all fail to keep secret their pleasure at war and the triumph over the
corpses of the enemy. Here is a passage from the Russian painter and Shambhala believer, Nicholas
Roerich, who became well known in the thirties as the founder of a
worldwide peace organization ("Banner of Peace”). “Hard is the
fate of the enemies of Shambhala. A just wrath colors the purple blue
clouds. The warriors of the Rigden-jyepo
[the Tibetan name for the Rudra
Chakrin], in splendid armor with swords and spears are pursuing their
terrified enemies. Many of them are already prostrated and their firearms,
big hats and all their possessions are scattered over the battlefield. Some
of them are dying, destroyed by the just hand. Their leader is already
smitten and lies spread under the steed of the
great warrior, the blessed Rigden.
Behind the Ruler, on chariots, follow fearful cannons, which no walls can
withstand. Some of the enemy, kneeling, beg for mercy, or attempt to escape
their fate on the backs of elephants. But the sword of justice
overtake defamers. The Dark must be annihilated.” (Roerich, 1985, p.
232) The “Dark”, that is
those of different faiths, the opponents of Buddhism and hence of
Shambhala. They are all cut down without mercy during the “final battle”.
In this enthused sweep of destruction the Buddhist warriors completely
forget the Bodhisattva vow which preaches compassion with all beings.
The skirmishes of the battle of the last days (in
the year 2327) are, according to commentaries upon the Kalachakra Tantra, supposed to reach through Iran into eastern
Turkey (Bernbaum, 1982, p. 251). The regions of the Kalachakra Tantra’s origin are also often referred to as the
site of the coming eschatological battlefield (the countries of Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan). This has
a certain historical justification, since the southern “Islamic” flank of
the former Soviet Union counts as one of the most explosive crisis regions
of the present day (see in this regard the Spiegel, 20/1998, pp. 160-161).
The conquest of Kailash, the holy mountain, is
nominated as a further strategic goal in the Shambhala battle. After the Rudra Chakrin has “killed [his
enemies] in battle waged across the whole world, at the end of the age the
world ruler will with his own fourfold army come into the city which was
built by the gods on the mountain of Kailash” (Banerjee, 1959, p. 215). In
general, “wherever the [Buddhist] religion has been destroyed and the Kali age is on the rise, there he
will go” (Banerjee, 1959, p. 52). [3]
Buddha versus Allah
The armies of Rudra
Chakrin will destroy the “not-Dharma” and the doctrines of the
“unreligious barbarian hordes”. Hereby, according to the original text of
the Kalachakra Tantra, it is
above all the Koran which is
intended. Mohammed himself is referred to by name several times in the Time
Tantra, as is his one god, Allah.
We learn of the barbarians that they are called Mleccha, which means the “inhabitants of Mecca” (Petri, 1966,
p. 107). These days Rudra Chakrin
is already celebrated as the “killer of the Mlecchas” (Banerjee, 1959, p. 52). This fixation of the highest
tantra on Islam is only all too readily understandable, then the followers
of Mohammed had in the course of history not just wrought terrible havoc among
the Buddhist monasteries and communities of India — the Islamic doctrine
must also have appeared more attractive and feeling to many of the ordinary
populace than the complexities of a Buddhism represented by an elitist
community of monks. There were many “traitors” in central Asia who gladly
and readily reached for the Koran.
Such conversions among the populace must have eaten more deeply into the
hearts of the Buddhist monks than the direct consequences of war. Then the Kalachakra Tantra, composed in the
time where the hordes of Muslims raged in the Punjab and along the Silk
Road, is marked by an irreconcilable hate for the “subhumans” from Mecca.
This dualist division of the world between
Buddhism on the one side and Islam on the other is a dogma which the
Tibetan lamas seek to transfer to the future of the whole of human history.
“According to certain conjectures”, writes a western commentator upon the Shambhala myth, “two superpowers
will then have control over the world and take to the field against one
another. The Tibetans foresee a Third World War here” (Henss, 1985, p. 19).
In the historical part of our analysis we shall
come to speak of this dangerous antinomy once more. In contrast to
Mohammed, the other “false doctrines” likewise mentioned in the first
chapter of the Kalachakra Tantra
as needing to be combated by the Shambhala
king appear pale and insignificant. It nevertheless makes sense to
introduce them, so as to demonstrate which founders of religions the
tantric blanket conception of enemy stretched to encompass. The Kalachakra nominates Enoch, Abraham
and Moses among the Jews, then Jesus for the Christians, and a “white
clothed one”, who is generally accepted to be Mani, the founder the
Manichaeism. It is most surprising that in a further passage the “ false
doctrines “ of these religious founders are played down and even integrated
into the tantra’s own system. After they have had to let a strong attack
descend upon them as “heresies” in the first chapter, in the second they
form the various facets of a crystal, and the yogi is instructed not to
disparage them (Grönbold, 1992a, p. 295).
Such inconsistencies are — as we have already
often experienced — added to tantric philosophy by itself. The second
chapter of the Kalachakra Tantra
thus does not switch over to a western seeming demand for freedom of
religion and opinion, on the contrary apparent tolerance and thinking in
terms of “the enemy” are both retained alongside one another and are,
depending on the situation, rolled out to serve its own power interest. The
Fourteenth Dalai Lama is — as we shall show in detail — an ingenious
interpreter of this double play. Outwardly he espouses religious freedom
and ecumenical peace. But in contrast, in the ritual system he concentrates
upon the aggressive Time Tantra, in which the scenario is dominated by
destructive fantasies, dreams of omnipotence, wishes for conquest,
outbreaks of wrath, pyromaniacal obsessions, mercilessness, hate, killing
frenzies, and apocalypses. That such despotic images also determine the
“internal affairs” of the exiled Tibetans for the Tibetan “god-king”, is
something upon which we shall report in the second part of our study.
After winning the final battle, the Kalachakra Tantra prophecies, the Rudra Chakrin founds the “golden
age”. A purely Buddhist paradise is established on earth. Joy and wealth
will abound. There is no more war. Everybody possesses great magical
powers, Science and technology flourish. People
live to be 1800 years old and have no need to fear death, since they will
be reborn into an even more beautiful Eden. This blissful state prevails
for around 20,000 years. The Kalachakra
Tantra has by then spread to every corner of the globe and become the
one “true” world religion. (But afterwards, the old cycle with its wars of
destruction, defeats and victories begins anew.)
The non-Buddhist origins of the Shambhala myth
Apocalyptic visions, final battles between Good
and Evil, saviors with lethal weapons in their hands are absolutely no
topic for Hinayana Buddhism. They first emerge in the Mahayana period (200 B.C.E.), are
then incorporated by Vajrayana
(400 C.E.) and gain their final and central form in the Kalachakra Tantra (tenth century
C.E.). Hence, as in the case of the ADI BUDDHA, the question arises as to
where the non-Buddhist influences upon the Shambhala myth are to be sought.
Yet before we come to that, we ought to consider
the widespread Maitreya prophecy,
which collides with the Shambhala vision
and the Kalachakra Tantra.
Already in the Gandhara era (200 B.C.E.), Maitreya is known as the future Buddha who shall be incarnated
on earth. He is still dwelling in the so-called Tushita heaven and awaits his mission. Images of him strike the
observer at once because unlike other depictions of Buddha he is not
resting in the lotus posture, but rather sits in a “European” style, as if
on a chair. In his case too, the world first goes into decline before he
appears to come to the aid of the suffering humanity. His epiphany is,
however, according to most reports much more healing and peaceable than
those of the “wrathful wheel turner”. But there are also other more
aggressive prophecies from the seventh century where he first comes to earth
as a messiah following an apocalyptic final battle (Sponberg, 1988, p. 31).
For the Russian painter and Shambhala
seeker, Nicholas Roerich, there is in the end no difference between Maitreya and Rudra Chakrin any more, they are simply two names for the same
redeemer.
Without doubt the Kalachakra Tantra is
primarily dominated by conceptions which can also be found in Hinduism.
This is especially true of the yoga techniques, but likewise applies to the
cosmology and the cyclical destruction and renewal of the universe. In
Hindu prophecies too, the god Vishnu
appears as savior at the end of the Kali
yuga, also, incidentally, upon a white horse like the Buddhist Rudra Chakrin, in order to
exterminate the enemies of the religion. He even bears the dynastic name of
the Shambhala kings and is known
as Kalki.
Among the academic researchers there is
nonetheless the widespread opinion that the savior motif, be it Vishnu or Buddha Maitreya or even the Rudra
Chakrin, is of Iranian origin. The stark distinction between the forces
of the light and the dark, the apocalyptic scenario, the battle images, the
idea of a militant world ruler, even the mandala model of the five
meditation Buddhas were unknown among the original Buddhist communities.
Buddhism, alone among all the salvational religions, saw no savior behind
Gautama’s experience of enlightenment. But for Iran these motifs of
salvation were (and still are today) central.
In a convincing study, the orientalist, Heinrich
von Stietencron, has shown how — since the first century C.E. at the latest
— Iranian sun priests infiltrated into India and merged their concepts with
the local religions, especially Buddhism. (Stietencron, 1965. p. 170). They
were known as Maga and Bhojaka. The Magas, from whom our word “magician” is derived, brought with
them among other things the cult of Mithras and combined it with elements
of Hindu sun worship. Waestern researchers presume that the name of Maitreya, the future Buddha, derives
from Mithras.
The Bhojakas,
who followed centuries later (600–700 C.E.), believed that they emanated
from the body of their sun god. They also proclaimed themselves to be the
descendants of Zarathustra. In India they created a mixed solar religion
from the doctrines of the Avesta
(the teachings of Zarathustra) and Mahayana
Buddhism. From the Buddhists they adopted fasting and the prohibitions on
cultivating fields and trade. In return, 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.
Like the Kalachakra
deity we have described, the Iranian Zurvan
carries the entire universe in his mystic body: the sun, moon, and stars.
The various divisions of time such as hours, days, and months dwell in him
as personified beings. He is the ruler of eternal and of historical time.
White light and the colors of the rainbow burst out of him. His worshippers
pray to him as “father-mother”. Sometimes he is portrayed as having four
heads like the Buddhist time god. He governs as the “father of fire” or as
the “victory fire”. Through him, fire and time are equated. He is also
cyclical time, in which the world is swallowed by flames so as to arise
anew.
Manichaeism (from the third century on) also took
on numerous elements from the Zurvan
religion and mixed them with Christian/Gnostic ideas and added Buddhist
concepts. The founder of the religion, Mani, undertook a successful
missionary journey to India. Key orientalists assume that his teachings
also had a reverse influence upon Buddhism. Among other aspects, they
mention the fivefold group of meditation Buddhas, the dualisms of good and
evil, light and darkness, the holy man’s body as the world in microcosm,
and the concept of salvation. More specific are the white robes which the
monks in the kingdom of Shambhala wear.
White was the cult color of the Manichaean priestly caste and is not a
normal color for clothing in Buddhism. But the blatant eroticism which the Kalachakra translator and researcher
in Asia, Albert Grünwedel, saw in Manichaeism was not there. In contrast;
Mani’s religion exhibits extremely “puritanical” traits and rejects
everything sexual: “The sin of sex”, he is reported to have said, “is
animal, an imitation of the devil mating. Above all it produces every
propagation and continuation of the original evil” (quoted by Hermanns,
1965, p. 105).
While the famous Italian Tibetologist, Guiseppe
Tucci, believes Iranian influences can be detected in the doctrine of ADI
BUDDHA, he sees the Lamaist-Tibetan way in total rather as gnostic, since
it attempts to overcome the dualism of good and evil and does not peddle
the out and out moralizing of the Avesta
or the Manichaeans. This is certainly true for the yoga way in the Kalachakra Tantra, yet it is not so
for the eschatology of the Shambhala
myth. There, the “prince of light” (Rudra
Chakrin) and the depraved “prince of darkness” take to the field
against one another.
There was a direct Iranian influence upon the Bon
cult, the state religion which preceded Buddhism in Tibet. Bon, often
erroneously confused with the old shamanist cultures of the highlands, is a explicit religion of light with an organized
priesthood, a savior (Shen rab)
and a realm of paradise (Olmolungring)
which resembles the kingdom of Shambhala
in an astonishing manner.
It is a Tradition in Europe to hypothesize ancient
Egyptian influences upon the tantric culture of Tibet. This can probably be
traced to the occult writings of the Jesuit, Athanasius Kirchner
(1602-1680), who believed he had discovered the cradle of all advanced
civilizations including that of the Tibetans in the Land of the Nile. The
Briton, Captain S. Turner, who visited the highlands in the year 1783, was
likewise convinced of a continuity between ancient
Egypt and Tibet. Even this century, Siegbert Hummel saw the “Land of Snows”
as almost a “reserve for Mediterranean traditions” and likewise nominated
Egypt as the origin of the tradition of the Tibetan mysteries (Hummel,
1954, p. 129; 1962, p. 31). But it was especially the occultist Helena
Blavatsky who saw the origins of both cultures as flowing from the same
source. The two “supernatural secret societies”, who whispered the ideas to
her were the “Brotherhood of Luxor” and the
“Tibetan Brotherhood”.
The determining Greek influence upon the sacred
art of Buddhism (Gandhara style) became a global event which left its
traces as far afield as Japan. Likewise, the effect of Hellenistic ideas
upon the development of Buddhist doctrines is well vouched for. There is
widespread unanimity that without this encounter Mahayana would have never even been possible. According to the
studies of the ethnologist Mario Bussagli, hermetic and alchemic teachings
are also supposed to have come into contact with the world view of Buddha
via Hellenistic Baktria (modern Afghanistan) and the Kusha empire which
followed it, the rulers of which were of Scythian origin but had adopted
Greek language and culture (Bussagli, 1985).
Evaluation of the Shambhala myth
The ancient origins and contents of the Shambhala state make it, when seen
from the point of view of a western political scientist, an antidemocratic,
totalitarian, doctrinaire and patriarchal model. It concerns a repressive
ideal construction which is to be imposed upon all of humanity in the wake
of an “ultimate war”. Here the sovereign (the Shambhala king) and in no sense the people decide the legal
norms. He governs as the absolute monarch of a planetary Buddhocracy. King
and state even form a mystic unity, in a literal, not a figurative sense, then the inner bodily energy processes of the ruler are
identical with external state happenings. The various administrative levels
of Shambhala (viceroys, governors, and officials) are thus considered to be
the extended limbs of the sovereign.
Further to this, the Shambhala state (in contrast to the original teachings of the
Buddha) is based upon the clear differentiation of friend and enemy. Its
political thought is profoundly dualist, up to and including the moral
sphere. Islam is regarded as the arch-enemy of the country. In resolving
aggravated conflicts, Shambhala society
has recourse to a “high-tech” and extremely violent military machinery and
employs the sociopolitical utopia of “paradise on earth” as its central
item of propaganda.
It follows from all these features that the
current, Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s constant professions of faith in the
fundamentals of western democracy remain empty phrases for as long as he
continues to place the Kalachakra
Tantra and the Shambhala myth
at the center of his ritual existence. The objection commonly produced by
lamas and western Buddhists, that Shambhala concerns a metaphysical
and not a worldly institution, does not hold water. We know, namely, from
history that both traditional Tibetan and Mongolian society cultivated the Shambhala myth without at any stage
drawing a distinction between a worldly and a metaphysical aspect in this
matter. In both countries, everything which the Buddhocratic head of state
decided was holy per se.
The argument that the Shambhala vision was distant “pie in the sky” is also not
convincing. The aggressive warrior myth and the idea of a world controlling
ADI BUDDHA has influenced the history of Tibet and Mongolia for centuries
as a rigid political program which is oriented to the decisions of the
clerical power elite. In the second part of our study we present this
program and its historical execution to the reader. We shall return to the
topic that in the view of some lamas the Tibetan state represents an
earthly copy of the Shambhala realm
and the Dalai Lama an emanation of the Shambhala
king.
“Inner” and “outer” Shambhala
In answer to the question as to why the “world
ruler on the Lion Throne” (the Shambhala
king) does not peacefully and positively intervene in the fate of
humanity, the French Kalachakra
believer, Jean Rivière, replied: “He does not inspire world politics and
does not intervene directly or humanly in the conflicts of the reborn
beings. His role is spiritual, completely inner, individual one could say”
(Rivière, 1985, p. 36).
Such an “internalization” or “psychologization” of
the myth is applied by some authors to the entire Buddhocratic realm,
including the history of Shambhala and the final battle prophesied there.
The country, with all its viceroys, ministers, generals, officials,
warriors, ladies of the court, vajra
girls, palace grounds, administrative bodies and dogmata, now appears as a
structural model which describes the mystic body of a yogi: “If you can use
your body properly, than the body becomes Shambhala, the ninety-six
principalities concur in all their actions, and you conquer the kingdom
itself.” (Bernbaum, 1980, p. 155)
The arduous “journey to Shambhala” and the “final
battle” are also subjectified and identified as, respectively, an
“initiatory path” or an “inner battle of the soul” along the way to
enlightenment. In this psycho-mystic drama, the ruler of the last days, Rudra Chakrin, plays the “higher
self” or the “divine consciousness” of the yogi, which declares war on the
human ego in the figure of the “barbarian king” and exterminates it. The
prophesied paradise refers to the enlightenment of the initiand.
We have already a number of times gone into the
above all among western Buddhists widespread habit of exclusively
internalizing or “psychologizing” tantric images and myths. From an
“occidental” way of looking at things, an internalization
implies that an external image (a war for example) is to be understood as a
symbol for an inner psychic/spiritual process (for example, a
“psychological” war). However, according to Eastern, magic-oriented
thinking, the “identity” of interior and exterior means something
different, namely that the inner processes in the yogi’s mystic body
correspond to external events, or to tone this down a little , that inside and outside consist of the same
substance (of “pure spirit” for example). The external is thus not a
metaphor for the internal as in the western symbolic conception, but rather
both, inner and exterior, correspond to one another. Admittedly this
implies that the external can be influenced by inner manipulations, but not
that it thereby disappears. Applying this concept to the example mentioned
above results in the following simple statement: the Shambhala war takes place internally and externally. Just as the mystic body (interior) of the ADI
BUDDHA is identical with the whole cosmos (exterior), so the mystic body
(interior) of the Shambhala king
is identical to his state (exterior).
The Shambhala
myth and the ideologies derived from it stand in stark opposition to
Gautama Buddha’s original vision of peace and to the Ahimsa politics (politics of nonviolence) of Mahatma Ghandi, to
whom the current Dalai Lama so often refers. For Westerners sensitized by
the pacifist message of Buddhism, the “internalization” of the myth may
thus offer an way around the militant ambient of
the Kalachakra Tantra. But in
Tibetan/Mongolian history the
prophecy of Shambhala has been
taken literally for centuries, and — as we still have to demonstrate — has
led to extremely aggressive political undertakings. It carries within it —
and this is something to we shall return to discuss in detail — the seeds
of a worldwide fundamentalist ideology of war.
Footnotes:
[3] The scenario
of the Shambhala wars cannot be
easily brought into accord with the total downfall of the world instigated
by the tantra master which we have described
above. Rudra Chakrin is a commander who conducts his battles here on
earth and extends these to at best the other 11 continents of the Buddhist
model of the world. His opponents are above all the followers of
Allah. As global as his mission may
be, it is still realized within the framework of the existing cosmos. In other textual passages the coming Shambhala king is also compared with
the ADI BUDDHA, who at the close of the Kali
yuga lays waste to the entire universe and lets
loose a war of the stars. It is,
however, not the aim of this study to explicate such contradictions.
Next
Chapter:
11. THE MANIPULATOR OF
EROTIC LOVE
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