Shambhala

The Kingdom of Shambhala is a peripheral subject within the Kalacakratantra, a Highest Yoga Tantra of Tibetan Buddhism. The Kingdom is described as a quasi-mythical (some say real) region on Earth not far from Tibet. Shambhala is ruled by a succession of kings, kings who rule a populace all dedicated to the practice of the Kalacakratantra: the quick Path to Enlightenment.

 

Like in the popular classic movie, Shangri-La, Shambhala is not easy to find. The journey to this mythical Kingdom is said to be either by means of long, difficult, and dangerous travel; or alternatively through a rigorous process of inner, spiritual development.

 

FINDING THE INNER SHAMBHALA

 

“Now He (Jesus) was questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, and He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

 

— Luke 17:20

 

In reality , like the “Kingdom of God”, the Kingdom of Shambhala, is somewhere nearby, close, yet in another dimension; accessible only via a particular inner spiritual development. Popular religious thought might consider one’s entry into paradise to be dependent upon obtaining a metaphorical golden ticket, a ticket maybe consisting of possessing the “correct belief”. However, there’s no shortcut for anyone getting past the essential hard work of mental/emotional introspection. There is no easy way around the journey’s first spiritual task: that of facing oneself and reflecting upon one’s own downfalls and shortcomings.

 

THE OUTER REFLECTS THE INNER

 

One thing that is essential to consider, when looking to find any spiritual location or higher-dimensional location, is that a place of refined spirituality is invariably also highly organized and structured in some way. The residents of any spiritual location would also have to invariably possess, in their inner make up, a reflection of the spiritual structure and organization of their outer paradise. There are no outlaws in paradise.

 

One could alternatively say, that when the internal spiritual structure of a person starts to gel or crystallize into an organized pattern, the outer environment of that same person — in a correspondence — begins to gel and crystallize spiritually, as well. In other words, The outer world starts to reflect that person’s improved inner reality.

 

THE WAY

 

This inner evolution resulting into entry into a new spiritual dimension can not be accomplished through any of our usual discursive thinking, or through our lower desires relating to the outer physical body.

 

The entry to a higher dimensional life begins first of all, with resisting against inner mechanicalness. It starts with work creating an inner friction, a struggle between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ within the framework of daily life. The journey starts with the effort to make good inner choices. This is the so-called “Spiritual Jihad”, or personal struggle with oneself.

 

Then next, the second leg of progression higher involves the creation of actual metaphysical “organs” or centers within the body. These are “centers of gravity” made from the raw  substances of emotion and thought. These are inner structures of feeling and thinking which amass — through hard spiritual work — more and more “Being and Knowledge”. The more Being and Knowledge one accumulates, the more spiritual and refined becomes one’s feeling and thinking. (“Being”, here, represents the evolution of the emotions; and “Knowledge” represents evolution of the intellect and consciousness.)

 

THE STRUCTURE OF OUR INNER & OUTER REALITY 

 

The Buddhists postulate a tripartite structure of Reality. That is, they say our world has three qualities, all bound together inseparably, but on three successively higher levels. The three qualities or levels are 1. Materiality or Desire 2. Function or Meaning, and 3. Spirit or Holiness.

 

The first aspect or quality of reality is what the Buddhists call the desire realm, which is the world where we live our everyday lives. Its disorganization reflects our inner confusion. It is a place of flux and impermanence, of inner and outer “no-self”.

 

The second dimensional aspect, that of function and meaning, correlates to what the Buddhists call the form realm. Form realm elements would include those same elements which the Mahayana Buddhists practice and struggle to accumulate: the six perfections (generosity, morality, patience, joyful effort, concentration, & wisdom).

 

When a human being has, through sustained effort, developed some inner structure, or rather, to put it another way, developed a maturity that incorporates the foregoing six qualities, then a corresponding higher, outer environment emerges in relation to that inner structure. The elements of the desire realm are then purified for that human being, and he/she at that time exists in the form realm.

 

The effort of creating an inner structure, in alignment with one’s higher aims, is known as the art of making a soul. And the first step in this process of construction is recognizing one’s own mental impermanence, the flux of one’s own thoughts and desires — all arising, abiding, and ceasing in reaction to the outer world. Once this realization dawns, then it becomes possible to create stable centers of feeling and thinking out of these fluid elements.

 

When the soul is built or created out of the spiritual elements of the form realm, and when it has finally been completed, then the form realm itself magically appears in the outer surrounding environment.

 

The third aforesaid dimension of Reality — that of Spirit or Holiness — is essentially what the Buddhists call the formless realm. It is called formless because within it there is no duality, no separation between subject and object, between the observer and the observed. And further, at this level man himself is divine.

 

HIGHER BODIES; HIGHER WORLDS

 

The Greek-Armenian teacher G. I. Gurdjieff spoke of the possibility of developing higher bodies; bodies evolved out of our inner mental/emotional potential. Each higher body is somehow connected to its corresponding higher world, each body effectively residing in each of these higher realms. Gurdjieff’s 4th and highest body, the “Divine Body”, when developed, exists in a divine segment of Reality: what the Buddhists denote as a pure realm or Buddha realm.

 

INCLUSIVE OF ALL

 

The Buddhist Tantrics do strive to achieve Buddhahood in one lifetime. But they strive not just for themselves. They create a virtual universe, or mandala, around themselves, encompassing all reality and all living beings. All sentient beings are then included in their infinitely radiating bliss and omniscience.

 

We all potentially live in our own slice of the Kingdom of Shambhala. Through inner struggle and a focused effort, our world can gradually shift into a more spiritual realm, into that ultimately pure dimension, just a hair’s breadth away from us. We can live in a universe of a different quality, only a single dimension distant from us.