We are almost ready to reject the assumption about the real geographical existence of Shambhala, agreeing that it is, first of all, "the palace of wisdom within us." A certain special type of perception of mystical knowledge, for the sake of simplicity of perception, taken out of the limits of our consciousness and "placed" somewhere in the lost mountains
It is always difficult for a person to believe that the greatest secrets, the most grandiose revelations and amazing esoteric knowledge are within us in some kind of unrealized "rolled up" form.
Therefore, it is much easier and more convenient for our psyche to exteriorize the center of this wisdom, i.e. to take it out of one's own personality, creating somewhere outside the "land of wise men." Such an assumption about the mechanism of origin of the legend of Shambhala seems to be quite possible. But at the very beginning of our story, we warned that the paradoxes of culture can sometimes make us doubt the most brilliant hypotheses.
Therefore, let us make a reservation that there is strong evidence that Shambhala does exist, or at least existed exactly in the form in which the legends say it, in the form of a tantric state or the dwelling houses of some "wise people."
This time the "contender for Shambhala" is the Chinese mountain Kunlun. According to ancient descriptions, Kunlun Mountain reminds us of Shambhala in many ways.
Chinese Shambola as seen by the creators of a computer game
According to the most ancient "Canon of Mountains and Seas" ("Shan-hai jing") - a catalog of mysterious descriptions of certain places - Mount Kunlun is located somewhere in the north-west, where the Kunlun ridge really lies, stretching west of the Central Plain of China, it adjoins to Tibet and is a chain of gentle mountains. Another name for Kunlun, found in ancient texts, is Tiantang ("Heavenly Hall") - we will return to this remarkable name later.
It is also important that in the legends the real Kunlun mountain range is mixed with certain Kunlun palaces - either a country or a mountain. In any case, this is the place of the abode of ancestors and immortal Siens. According to legend, the supreme spirit of Tai-di dwells on the top of Kunlun. The mountain rises by 500 li (approx. 250 km) and, as the Canon of Mountains and Seas emphasizes, it is here that the center of the earth is located.
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Let's pay attention to how one of the most ancient treatises-schemes "Shanhai Jing" ("Canon of Mountains and Seas") describes this area: "Within the seas, in the northeast, there is Mount Kunlun. This is the earthly capital of the ancestors. Mount Kunlun is eight hundred li in circumference, it rises by ten thousand rhen …
Many gods live here. Sheer cliffs rise along the eight edges, surrounded by the Krasnaya River. Those who do not possess such perfection as the Hunter (a skillful hero of Chinese myths, who struck several suns in the sky - AM), cannot climb a sheer cliff."
We have before us an important feature - only a skilled, special person can get to Kunlun. The same as in Shambhala.
Another feature that immediately catches the eye is that both Shambhala and Kunlun are surrounded by mountains on eight sides (according to other versions, eight mountains), which are surrounded by a river. Mount Kunlun Chinese tradition attributes many amazing things. First of all, the founder of the entire Chinese nation, one of the legendary first rulers of Huang Di - the "Yellow Ruler", lives here.
It was from him that the entire Chinese family descended, it was he who taught people many wisdom, and the followers of one of the greatest currents of mystical thought - Taoism - consider him one of the founders of their school.
There is a certain animal Kaiming living on this mountain - "Transmitting light", which guards nine wells, fenced with jade, and nine gates. It looks like a huge tiger with nine heads and human faces. Kaiming stands at the top of Kunlun, facing east. Along the way, we will mention that in the territory of Shambhala, as legends say, there were nine deepest wells leading to the center of the earth, and they were guarded by a formidable Buddhist spirit with a beam of lightning (vajra) in hand.
But for our presentation, the most important thing is something else - Mount Kunlun was famous first of all for the fact that those who attained immortality lived here. Their good energy, it was believed, had a beneficial effect on the whole of the Celestial Empire, and although the people did not know about them, nevertheless, they fulfilled their role for thousands of years, bringing peace and tranquility.
To achieve immortality, first of all, it was necessary to melt the pill of immortality from several hundreds of precisely selected ingredients that were kept secret, for example, silver, amalgams (mercury alloys), copper, mercury, arsenic, heavy metals, crushed minerals! Herbs were used in small quantities, since they were considered a very weak remedy, and one of the magicians who stepped into immortality, Tae Hong (III-IV centuries), somehow pathetically exclaimed: “They are not even able to keep themselves, wither and wither. How can they keep another's longevity!"
All these constituent parts have been melted for years in a special crucible in a secluded place, usually in the mountains. At the same time, one had to practice long sessions of meditation, engage in special gymnastic and breathing exercises in order to completely purify and pacify one's consciousness, to come to a state of complete "self-forgetfulness", joyful detachment and "non-action", when a person becomes able to follow the absolute law and path of all things " path-Tao ".
The main habitat of the immortal sages and the greatest magicians was considered the same Kunlun Mountain, and these amazing people were settled on its slopes according to their status, which was determined by their magical abilities and wisdom. Those who have comprehended the secret wisdom of life, joined the cosmic life of the Tao, flocked here, and so gradually on the slopes of Kunlun a country of wise men and immortal celestials was allegedly formed. From here they could freely go to Heaven, and along the mountain, like a ladder, go down into the world of people. Kunlun, just like Shambhala, was considered the center of the earth, it is no coincidence that it was called the "earthly capital of the heavenly ancestor."
All those whom the Chinese tradition considers to be great sages and ancestors of people live here.
Moreover, it is here that the most ancient ancestral home of all Chinese is located! So, according to one of the legends, the ancestors of all people Nuiwa and Fuxi, brother and sister, lived on the Kunlun mountain peak, while there were no other people in the world at that time.
Here, on the Kunlun Mountain, live those whom the Chinese tradition calls xian. Usually in modern literature the word xian is translated as "immortal" or "immortal celestials. Indeed, it is precisely this meaning that the concept of xian acquired in folklore. But initially the syani were by no means some transcendental beings, but quite specific shamans, magicians and mediums. And they really had a wonderful gift to enter into communion with the souls of departed ancestors.
Having entered a trance under the influence of psychotropic drugs, various decoctions, magical dances and rhythmic beats with gongs, they seemed to make a journey into the other world - the world of the dead, the world of ancestral souls. These souls lived somewhere high on the mountain, where the syan went, it is no coincidence that even the hieroglyph for xian was depicted from two elements - "man" and "mountain".
As a shaman, Xian was able to open with his consciousness to higher forces, and sometimes, as a medium, even "let" them in. It was he who embodied the personal connection between the world of people and the world of spirits, the world of the living and the kingdom of the dead. Over many eras, the name of this character, his social role and functions have changed, but the sacred meaning remained the same.
The way of life and behavior of the xiani can be correlated with the early dances of shamans. According to some versions, the idea of the xian came with immigrants from the West, from some sacred "western lands", and at that time it meant smoke from the body, which soared to the sacred Kunlun mountains during the ritual burning of the deceased. Thus, xian was literally a "spirit", an incorporeal representative of man.
The acquisition of the xian state, usually understood as "immortal", was most often associated in early legends with a journey to Mount Kunlun, on the spurs of which all the famous heroes of Chinese history who gained immortality lived, including Fuxi, Huang-di, Lao-tzu and many others. The palaces of Kunlun became an ideal point of aspiration for aesthetes and intellectuals of the Tang Song period (V-XIII centuries). Medieval poets dreamed of "having fun in the peach bushes on the slopes of Kunlun", "breathing in the fragrant aromas of the gardens and admiring the flowering of plums on the spurs of Kunlun."
Many wonderful properties were attributed to the Xians, including teaching people secret knowledge, passing on a certain tradition that is capable of bringing harmony to the world. It is possible that the concept of xian was introduced to China from somewhere from the West and originally meant the spirit of a person, which continues to reside in a deceased body and soars upward during cremation, reaching the Kunlun summits. Gradually, in the folk tradition, the syan turned into some kind of heavenly beings.
It is interesting that in order to climb Mount Kunlun and become a xian, you need to fulfill almost the same conditions as for entering Shambhala - to undergo complete physical and spiritual purification, free your mind from all thoughts about yourself and only wish through your own perfection to bring good to people …
Moreover, with each stage of the ascent to Kunlun, a person acquires more and more wonderful properties and ultimately turns into an immortal deity. There is no return from here - a person either becomes a celestial or perishes.
In the same way, there was no return to those who set out in search of Shambhala.