Written by Laurence Brahm - Published by Hongkong Culture on 09/10/2006

“Many of my Tibetan friends say this place is Shambhala,” explained Han with a puff from his cigarette. “Others visiting from elsewhere say it must be in Yunnan. This kind of debate is irrelevant. It is hard to say where Shambhala really was. But the Kingdom of Guge was locked in a canyon, like a separate realm. And this river follows from mountain snows. So one can say, it is quite similar to the place described in Shambhala Sutra.”

Although Han Xinggang had lived in Ngari for twenty years he had not read the Shambhala Sutra. Therefore he never thought about Guge in this context. “So what does the sutra say?” he asked curiously.

“Shambhala Sutra describes the king of Shambhala residing in a palace on top of a mountain which overlooks the kingdom. From the palace he can see all the outer rings of our world, mountains, water and fire which protect the kingdom.” I showed him this passage in the sutra text.

Han walked with me to the ruined palace on top of the conical mountain forming what was once Guge’s religious and court centre. “Here at the top, are the ruins of what we now call the White or Summer Palace. That was where the king and his queen reside. It fits the kind of description of Shambhala Palace you mentioned reading in the sutra. The palace sits upon a mountain. Actually Guge’s main ruins, palaces and temples were built into the sides and on top of these sharp mountains. From here you can see in all directions, as far as this kingdom stretches. There is a tunnel under the Summer Palace. It was used during war to hide, escape, and store munitions. But now all of those things are gone.”

We looked out across the desert below. Lines of what were once riverbeds could clearly be seen. The kingdom was once entangled within rings of winding rivers stretching through miles of canyon. But now with global warming, water levels here have dropped and riverbeds are all dry. Beyond the canyon Han pointed to rings of snow-capped mountains. Beyond the mountains, glaring rings of flaming deserts.

“Look at the description of how to reach Shambhala,” I pointed out in the sutra. “It says you have to cross rings of deserts and snow capped mountains, and more deserts. Isn’t that like travelling to here? I’ve been eating dust on the road for weeks Guge’s lost kingdom locked in this canyon was an isolated Shangri-la, inaccessible to the outside.”

“That might be why Guge lasted and nobody dared to invade for so long,” Han added stepping on his burned out cigarette. “At least not until power within the court had already begun to wane. Actually, critical to Guge’s to Guge’s survival and prosperity, was the kingdom’s inaccessibility.” He reached for another cigarette form the pocket of his blue shirt.

I went on looking for passages of Shambhala Sutra. Geming had translated for my entire passages throughout the trip, making notes. “The sutra says on the journey to Shambhala you must pass a mountain called Gedaigar described as a black mountain and very frightening.” The sutra claims “one of the four Kings of Heaven lives there” and “it is a place where one can obtain psychic powers.” Have you ever heard of such a mountain near Guge?”

“Actually, there is a black mountain over there.” Han pointed at a rounded black shadow protruding form the snow-capped mountains on a distant horizon. “You actually passed it driving here, but probably did not notice. That mountain is shaped like a goose head. So if you translated Tibetan in the sutra to Chinese, then you get as its Chinese name Gedaigar or literally “goose head topped” mountain.” Han pulled a lighter from the other pocket and lit his cigarette.

Pensively thinking about everything he added an afterthought. “As for one of the four Kings of Heaven described, that could refer specially to the protector spirit associated with that mountain. Just as the sutra describes, that place is quite frightening if you travel to it, I don’t know why. It’s just the feeling you get. And there are many caves at the base of this mountain. Monks used to meditate within to become enlightened or receive certain psychic power. So in many ways, the description in the sutra can be said to match the place.”

I looked through my hand-written notations of translated sutra sections. “The Shambhala Sutra describes, many places where people live…it takes months to cross this place of gold, silver, copper, and iron water.”

Han Xingang’s eyes lit. “This is really interesting. Actually these rivers around Guge once supported huge populations, you can tell by the ruins around here. Moreover, these riverbeds were full of gold. In fact, the main industry of Guge was supplying gold to Kashmir and India. Silver and copper were panned from other rivers of Ngari Prefecture, for instance near Zhada and Pulan. What else does the Shambhala Sutra say?”

“The sutra describes the Buddha of Infinite light in the palace of Shambhala.”

Han’s eyes widened further. “Certainly by all evidence the Buddha of Infinite Light was central to religious practice in the court of Guge.” He pointed to a mural on the palace wall, fine details almost like an Indian Mogual painting. The king, queens, princes and even Kashmiri merchants in turbans and curved pointed shoes were paying homage to Buddha of Infinite Light in the mural. “Actually, nobody has done any research to try and really link all this up to what you have found in the Shambhala Sutra. But just from a glance at the text, too many parallels can be made which are obvious.”

I flipped through more hand-written notes. “It describes, “Cities with many doors and windows in high building,” something like modern apartment buildings. The sutra goes on to explain how “each city has populations of over twenty million.” Does that match Guge?”

“Really, Guge fits the sutra’s description. The central kingdom was built into the sides of a high, steep mountain. So by appearance it has many windows and doors at different levels, almost like modern apartment building.”

“The sutra even explain economic conditions were good” in these cities. So this must have once been a rich kingdom right?”

“All along the Sanquen River to here, there was one vast kingdom locked in this enormous canyon. Aside from the Guge ruins we are in now, there were many satellite cities of almost the same scale. In fact people lived in each corner of this vast canyon, which supported a vast population by standards of that time. Each valley flowed rich with civilization. But most of these potential archaeological sites are today inaccessible because there are no roads, or even footpaths. One must travel by horse, then foot through brush uncut, unmarked. So actually, most of what then constituted the Guge kingdom, today remains unexplored and undiscovered.”

“The Shambhala Sutra poetically describes this layout, a kingdom stretching like an “unfolding lotus” form the central palace a stop a mountain, from which many sub-kingdom emanate like petals.”

“So far, we have identified at least fourteen major satellite cities around the central one we are sitting in now. But we cannot even begin archeological excavation on most of these sites because of their isolation. So what we really examine is only here in the central palace and temple complexes.” Han turned more pages of the sutra thinking while smoking. “What we find described in the sutra fits very closely with what we can piece together and imagine once existed here in Guge.”

I pointed to another section. “The sutra says that in Shambhala, “if one family is rich they give to the poor, so all are equal. There is no fighting, no stealing, no hunger, all are equal but benefiting and rich in the equality.” It describes an almost pure socialist realm. Was Guge such an egalitarian Buddhist kingdom?”:

“Of course everything here in the ruins of Guge is related to Buddhist ideals,” Han pointed to walls. “From the murals to carving and architecture it stems from a set of beliefs, which were the central connecting elements of people who once lived here. These ideals ensured their livelihood and the prosperity they shared.”

“So everything here creating this civilization once functioned in the context of a kind of Buddhist egalitarianism? Is that what you are saying, these ideals underlay the kingdom’s prosperity?”

“Just think about it,” Han said, “let me phrase it this way. Nature by virtue of its basic intrinsic self is change. We have spring, summer, fall and winter. River water freezes in winter and melts in spring. Grass sprouts in spring and dries in winter. So as people we must comprehend everything we live with, and everything we are about is subject to constant change. So how should we then understand and interpret humanity’s relationship to our natural environment? Respect it? Pray to it? In the past it was feared.”

“But today it is being descrated.”

“This is a big mistake,” Han emphasized, “We are ignoring the order of natural cycles, flawing what sometimes need to be feared if it cannot be understood. Our faith in the rewards of capitalist materialism has led to no fear or even belief in the immaterialist powers of nature.”

“Then you are saying the spiritual will ultimately overtake the material,” I asked, “because it is in itself the core element of our natural world?”

“If there is no belief then one question remains which we cannot answer—where did we come from and where are we going? For all of our empirical science and research, this fundamental question cannot be answered. So it ultimately remains humanity’s biggest issue. People seek belief. This cannot change. Only the form of religion or expression of belief can change. But the basic premise of what we are asking does not change.”

“So then what are we really asking?”

“What principle do we pursue in our life, blind materialism? Does science have all the explanations? Or ultimately is it something else we seek to find, maybe within our own selves?”

“Within our own selves?”

“Our bodies have limitation. The mind requires the body to exist. But is body and mind inseparatable? From primitive society to present, this fundamental question has not yet been answered and the search for an answer has not changed. Only the method or expression of this search has changed.”

“So when does this break occur, that is between body and mind?”

“When we have reached limitations over control of our physical needs,” Han exhaled rings of smoke. “That is when we begin to seek the spiritual.”

“Physical limitations? What do you mean?”

“Buddhism has three poisons, greed ignorance and anger. These are results of the limitations of our bodily desires or physical needs. When we pursue only physical gratification, in the end we will regret it.”

“So in a way Guge’s thousand years of prosperity challenges the very premise of our capitalist ethos that materialism gratifies everything and is the ultimate end onto itself of all things.” I stared at murals of Bodhisattvas around staring down at me. “That what you are trying to get at, right?”

“Think about what ultimately drives humanity,” Han asked. “Is it materialism, spirituality or fear? Who are we really? If we do not have at least a little fear of nature’s mystery, if we think we are so great that we are the masters of the world, then we will certainly destroy ourselves, for instance through war or self-created disease. If one day as human being we actually allow ourselves to think we are really masters of this world, then this will become our biggest problem. I have spent 20 years in Ngari Prefecture. It is difficult for me to express this clearly, but I feel on thing is certain. The longer I live here, the more I realize as human beings we do nor have that power.”

Laurence Brahm is a global activist, international mediator, political columnist and author. He is the leading advocate of a fresh development paradigm - The Himalayan Consensus - an innovative approach to development.

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