Monday, September 29, 2014

Niguma, Kashmir & the Sosaling Charnel Ground (1040 AD)

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"Niguma was a formidable mahasiddha, variously described as the sister or consort of Naropa who was once a gatekeeper of the famous Nalanda University. She founded the practice known as The Six Yogas of Niguma. She was born in 1025. She is also known as Vimalashri.....Niguma received the teachings that became known as the Nigu Chos-drug, or the Six Yogas of Niguma.....Once Niguma herself had reached enlightenment, she began to pass her knowledge on to others. Her most famous disciple was the Tibetan yogi and Bonpo Master Khyungpo Naljor, the only one to whom she imparted her most secret teachings. The Shangpa school, although officially founded by Khyungpo Naljor, is in reality based on this transmission from Niguma.....When Khyungpo Naljor arrived at Niguma's dwelling place, the charnel ground of Sosaling, she appeared to him as a dark brown dakini "dancing above him in the sky" and "adorned with ornaments of human bones"......Niguma: Great Yoginis of Tantric Buddhism......www.drukpa-nuns.org

Niguma by Tara Sullivan.....http://www.kcc.org/support-kcc/scol-capital-campaign/member-fundraisers/tara-sullivans-niguma

"The Dakini Niguma’s place of birth was the Kashmiri city called “Incomparable.” Her father was the brahman Santivarman (Tib.: Zhi ba’i go cha). Her mother was Shrımati (dPal gyi blo gros ma). Her real name was Srıjñ›na (dPal gyi ye shes)..... a reportedly historical woman such as Niguma,.... her birthplace is known to be in Kashmir, a hub of Buddhist activity, particularly of the tantric type, and probably in close quarters with the Shaivite tradition and other forms of esoteric Hinduism. The specific town, or perhaps monastery, is called Peme (dpe med) in Tibetan, meaning “without comparison,” translating Anupama.....Niguma’s family relationships are similarly slippery, particularly when it comes to her connection with Naropa (956-1040), her contemporary and a great adept whose teachings on the six dharmas learned from Tilopa spread widely in Tibet. The names of her parents given above by T›ran›tha are indeed the same as those of Naropa in his biography in the Kagyu Golden Rosary by Lhatsun Rinchen Namgyal and are similar in other biographies...... Naropa is sometimes said to be from Bengal in the east, but there is little evidence for this theory and most authors locate his birthplace in Kashmir, along with Niguma.....Naropa’s well-known hermitage of Pushpahari, or Pullahari, commonly identified as being on a hillock west of Bodhgaya, may have been in Kashmir....After attaining his first realization of mahāmudrā under Maitrıpa, Marpa returned to Nāropa. This time, Nāropa sent Marpa to receive teachings from Niguma, Wisdom (Jnāna) Dākinī Adorned with Bone ornaments. She was Nāropa’s wife before he renounced worldly life to enter the dharma, and later she became his student and consort. Finally, she became a great teacher herself and her lineage of teachings was taken to Tibet (though not by Marpa) and continues to this present day. Unfortunately, our story here does not tell us very much about their meeting (xliii).....both Marpa’s dakini and Khyungpo Naljor’s Niguma can sometimes both be found in the same great cemetery of Sosadvıpa (Tib. Sosaling), said to be just to the west of Bodhgaya.....the commonly-held belief that Niguma received the six dharmas from Naropa seems to be unsubstantiated......Tsadra Foundation

Sosaling Charnel Ground...... Sanskrit: Sosavipa....An Indian charnel ground where many great masters and siddhas practiced.....there is an holy ancient charnel ground called "sosaling"..... the Sosaling cremation ground to the west of Bodhgaya .... where Padmasambhava and others did their practice for a while......it`s one of the 8 holy charnel grounds.....The Cool Grove (Skt. Śītavana; Wyl. bsil ba’i tshal) in the east, situated near Bodhgaya, India....

Siddha Kyungpo Naljor (Born 1086 A.D.).....met also Maitrīpa, ....and asked: Is there any one who had met Vajradhāra? ....who replied: There is one named Niguma, the sister of Naropa. She has attained the Holy Stage, and transformed her body into that of rainbow, and made herself invisible by ordinary people. However she used to preside over Tantric feasts held by dakinis at the cemetery ground of the So sa island. Those who possess a pure mind might see her there. .....He went to the island of Sosa, and prayed Namo Buḍhaya. Then he saw in the sky at the height of seven tālas a ḍākinī of a dark brown complexion, adorned with ornaments made of bones, holding a mendicant staff and a kāpala in her hands, manifesting her various aspects and performing a dance. He recognized that she was Niguma, and saluted her requesting her to bestow on him the holy precepts. But she replied: I am a flesh eating dakini! Again he entreated, and she said: If you want to obtain Mantrayana precepts, gold is needed! He then offered her 500 srangs which she accepted and threw them into the forest. He began to doubt that she was a ḍākinī of the flesh eating class, and while he was thinking so, she gazed skywards, and then numerous ḍākinīs gathered, and she created a maṇḍala, and bestowed on him the initiation of the illusory body and the practice of dreams. ".........Blue Annals: Part 9 (Chapter 2, Niguma)

"Manjushrimitra: Jampel Shenyen......received a prophecy from Manjushri that if he sought enlightenment he should go to the Sitavana cremation ground near Bodhgaya. There he met Garab Dorje and during their seventy five years together he received the entire Dzogchen transmission. After Garab Dorje's parinirvana he divided the sixty-four hundred thousand Dzogchen verses into three series - Mind, Space and Secret Precepts - and the latter into oral and explanatory sections. He hid the main text of the oral section in a rock to the east of Bodhgaya and sealed it with the sign of crossed diamond scepters. He then went to the Sosaling cremation ground to the west of Bodhgaya, where he taught his disciple Shri Singha."....http://www.keithdowman.net

"Eight great charnel grounds......On the ordinary level, the eight great charnel grounds (Skt. aṣṭamahāśmāśāna; Wyl. dur khrod chen po brgyad) are the burial sites around a city to accommodate the rituals of the different Indian castes. From the spiritual point of view, they are the places where the dismembered parts of Rudra's body came to rest, after they were scattered from the top of Mount Malaya. The energy centres of his body—the head, heart, naval, and genitals—fell in the four cardinal directions; his four limbs fell in the four intermediate directions. From these parts, eight great trees arose, and around these trees developed the eight great charnel grounds."....http://www.rigpawiki.org

"In the Ngakpa and other Vajrayana lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, and in the Kapalika lineage of Shaivism, the tradition of traveling to India’s Eight Great Charnel Grounds for meditation goes back perhaps thousands of years. The theory is that by going to these Charnel Grounds and meditating on death and impermanence one may overcome the attachments of this life. "....http://blausternschlonge.wordpress.com

"....Niguma bestows on him numerous tantric initiations and teachings {R731}. {Kapstein in his article “Illusion of Spiritual Progress” (1992): 195-96 translates from the biography of Khyungpo Neljor where this event happens on a charnel ground of Sosadvipa. "(EP)......Summary of Blue Annals Chapter 9: The Chapter on Ko-brag-pa and Ni-gu from the Tibetan Renaissance Seminar by Elena Pakhoutova, modified by Dan Haig

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" .....in his translation of the Blue Annals, George Roerich notes that modern Tibetan pilgrims believe the location of Pullahari to be in Kashmir near Srinagar (400). And more interestingly, the colophon to Tilopa’s Esoteric Instructions on the Six Yogas (Chos drug gi man ngag) states that it was translated by Naropa and Marpa in Pulihpahari in the place of the Moslems (kha che’i gnas), again referring to Kashmir (Toh. 2330, f. 271a2-3)."....Tsadra Foundation......Tsadra Foundation envisions a flourishing community of Western scholar-practitioners who are fully trained in the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism ...The Foundation takes its name from Tsa’dra Rinchen Drak, Jamgön Kongtrul’s hermitage and principal seat in Eastern Tibet. ....

"Shri Singha was born into a good family in Sokhyam somewhere in Chinese Central Asia. In his youth he studied with the Acharya Haribhala and after three years he was an accomplished scholar. Then the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara appeared to him, and advised him that if he really wanted to attain Buddhahood he should go to the Sosaling cremation ground in India. ".....http://www.keithdowman.net

"Nyima Özer travelled widely, performing crazy wisdom activities while visiting the eight great charnel grounds....as it is historically recounted, when he left the kingdom of Oddiyana, he went to a famous cemetery known as Chilly Grove and practiced meditation there for five years."...http://tibetanaltar.blogspot.com

The Melody of Wisdom: A Supplication to the Wisdom Dakini Niguma.....by Jamgon Kongtrul
Dark-brown woman wearing bone ornaments who flies through space,
You were born in the wonderful land of Kashmir, In a sublime city Known as Incomparable in the Land of Jambu,
....Complete text @...http://sukhasiddhi.org/about/lineage/niguma-story/

"The earliest biographies of Naropa, such as that of Gampopa (1079-1153) and Lama Zhang (1123-1193), do not name a specific birthplace other than simply “the west.” All accounts of Naropa include the story of a dakinı appearing to him and telling him to “go east” to find his guru Tilopa, which really only makes sense if he is somewhere in the west. In The Life Story of the Supreme Learned N›ro Pa˚chen, which claims to have compared five different biographies, Sangye Bum gives his birthplace as the “land of Moslems” (kha che’i yul), almost universally interpreted to mean Kashmir (88). (Recall that Moslems gained control of Kashmir in the 14th century). In case this is not clear, Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339) specifies “ka smi ra”, transcribing the Indian “Kashmir” as nearly as is possible in Tibetan in his version of the life story (f. 26a2). Kachö Wangpo (1350-1405) is even more specific, saying: “In the east of India, the town of Jammu (‘Dzam bu) in Srinagar (Sri na ga ra), a district of Bha ga la.” Srinagar and Jammu are easily identified in the south-eastern part of the Kashmir valley, but “bhagala” is not so clear. The biography by Lhatsun Rinchen Namgyal (1473-1557), which was translated by Herbert Guenther in The Life and Teaching of Naropa, is a verbatim copy of Kachö Wangpo’s, a very common practice in Tibetan literature where plagiarism is truly the highest form of flattery. Dorje Dze-ö ‘s biography of Naropa, translated by Khenpo Könchog Gyaltsen in The Great Kagyu Masters, has the same information. It seems that it is only in the inexplicable identification of the Tibetan transliteration “Bha-ga-la” as “Bengal” in these two translations (despite the obvious reference to Srinigar and Jammu) that Naropa has been widely viewed in the western world as Bengali. But later Tibetan authors such as Taranatha have upheld Kashmir as his birthplace. One last twist to this research is that Sangye Bum’s description of “the land of Moslems”, identical to the one in Niguma’s life story, adds that it is also called “Kosala”! (89; f. 2a6) This ancient kingdom where the Buddha Shakyamuni spent most of his teaching life is nowhere near Kashmir or Bengal, but somewhere in the middle. This seems to come out of nowhere and I have no explanation for it. On Naropa’s birthplace see also Templeman, The Seven Instruction Lineages, 46 and 115, n.157.".....Tsadra Foundation

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….September 2014

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Saturday, September 27, 2014

King Lalitaditya Muktapida of Kashmir (724 - 760 AD)

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"Lalitaditya-Muktapida of Karakota dynasty who ruled Kashmir from 724 to 760 AD...... Karakota dynasty had come to rule Kashmir after Baladitya, the last King of the Gonanda race passed away. Durlabhavardhana was Baladitya’s son in law and after his death was established on the throne of Kashmir. He was followed by his son Partapaditya-II who had three sons, Candrapida, Tarapida, and Muktapida, also known as Vajraditya, Udayaditya, and Lalitaditya..... Candrapida and Tarapida ruled for 8 years and 4 years respectively. Lalitaditya-Muktapida was the youngest son of Partapaditya-II and followed Tarapida........ His both brothers are supposed to have succumbed to magic and witch craft which they had initiated against each other. The superstitious belief in the efficiency of magic rites forms an ancient feature of Kashmiri character and even at present there are many sorcerers (Jinn Pir) reputed to be engaged in such practices and quite a large number of people visit them.....

Pratapaditya II (5th century AD). Kushan-style king standing left / The goddess Ardoxsho seated facing.....Jammu & Kashmir.....Iranian entities depicted on coinage include: Αρδοχþο (ardoxsho, Ashi Vanghuhi).....Aredvi Sura Anahita and Ashi are divinities of fertility,

Kalhana describes Lalitaditya as a very strong ruler, who asserted his power far beyond Kashmir and the adjacent territories. He is represented as a great conqueror, whose reign was mostly passed in expeditions abroad. The numerous foreign expeditions of Lalitaditya and his ultimate disappearance on one of these forays towards north reminds one of the Greek Conqueror, Alexander the Great who was of a similar disposition and in that respect Lalitaditya may be called Kashmir’s Alexander.".....http://www.kashmirfirst.com/articles/history/070516_lalitaditya_muktapida.htm

"According to Rajatarangini of Kalhana, king Lalitaditya Muktapida of Kashmir leads a war expedition against the tribes of north (i.e. north of Kashmir) and in sequence, encounters the Kambojas, Tusharas, Bhauttas, Daradas, Valukambudhis, Uttarakurus, Strirajya (mythical or otherwise) and Pragjyotisha with whom he fights one after the other......Rajatarangini places Uttarkuru land in the neighborhood of Strirajya. Based on Yuan Chwang's evidence, Strirajya is identified as a country lying north of Kashmir, south of Khotan and west of Tibet....Kalhana (sometimes spelled Kalhan or Kalhan'a) (c. 12th century), a Kashmiri, was the author of Rajatarangini (Chronicle of Kings), an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149 AD "

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"The descriptions of King Lalitaditya's foreign expeditions have a mixture of historical and legendary details. His first enterprise was directed against Yasovarman, the ruler of Kanyakubja or Kanauj. After the defeat of Yasovarman, the King is supposed to have triumphantly marched from Orissa to Kathiawar and Kambojas (Afghanistan) in the west. However, the absence of any historical details and the strict geographical order of countries named suggest that these conquests have been more or less of a legendary nature. There is no doubt that all the neighbouring territories such as Kangra and Punch were his feudatories. After defeating Yasovarman, Lalitaditya is supposed to have invaded and subdued Tukharas, a nation in the northern region. The country of Tukharas is undoubtedly the Tokharistan of the Muslim period comprising Badakhshan and the tracts on the Upper Oxus. It is also stated that there were S’ahi princes in the court of Lalitaditya. These were definitely belonging to a family of Turkish origin ruling Kabul Valley and Gandhara."
"The famous Chinese pilgrim to Kashmir, Ou-k’ong (Sun Wukong, w/ Xuanzang...632 AD) mentions that there were close relations between contemporary Kashmir and Turkish tribes. Turkish prince Cankuna was in the court of Lalitaditya. Alberuni also mentions that Kashmiris of his time used to celebrate annually on a certain day a festival to commemorate the victory which their King Muktapida had won over Turks.

"Next in the list of conquests come the Bhauttas or the Tibetans. There is lot of historical evidence to support this claim of campaigns against Tibetans. The Annals of Tang dynasty of China know Lalitaditya-Muktapida under the name of Mu-to-pi, as the King of Kashmir who sent an embassy to the Chinese court during the reign of Emperor Hiuen-tsung (AD 713-755). The main purpose of the embassy had been to seek alliance of the Chinese rulers against Tibet. Ambassador U-li-to whom Mu-to-pi had sent to the imperial court distinctly claimed for his master repeated victories over Tibetans. The auxiliary Chinese force of two hundred thousand men which the Kashmir King invited to his country and for which he proposed to establish a camp on the shores of Mahapadma or Volur Lake, was meant for further operations against the common foe. There is evidence that the Tibetans had established a powerful empire at that time and had threatened both Kashmir as well as China. As there is no evidence of any Bhautta invasion of Kashmir, one must assume that Lalitaditya’s expeditions towards north were real and lasting and checked the Tibetan march towards Kashmir. Lalitaditya had also subdued Kashmir’s immediate northern neighbours, the Dards. The Dard tribes have from very early times to the present day inhabited the mountain territories immediately adjoining Kashmir to the north and north-west. The very safety of the valley has many times necessitated expeditions against these areas."....http://www.kashmirfirst.com/articles/history/070516_lalitaditya_muktapida.htm

"Lalitaditya had been a builder of renown. Numerous shrines and sacred images were erected during his time. The ruins of the splendid Sun Temple of Martanda are still the most striking object of ancient architecture in the Valley.....Kalhana mentions about the town of Martanda near the Temple which was swelling with grapes. There is no trace of the town now."

"Lalitaditya & the ruins of Parihaspura which he built as his new capital. The plateau where Lalitaditya built his capital is now known as Parspor Udar. It rises south-east of Shadipur between the marshes of Panznor and Hartrath. Its length is about two miles and width is about a mile. There are ruins of numerous temples, vihara, and other structures here......"

"Lalitaditya had very much patronised Buddhism during his reign. Ou-kong mentions existence of many Stupas and Viharas which he saw during his visit. These were by the side of numerous Visnu shrines erected by him. The greatest Buddhist gift of the King was a great Vihara at Parihaspura with a colossal Buddha image which still existed in Kalhana’s time. There was another Vihara at Huskapura where Ou-kong stayed on his arrival in Kashmir."

"Llitaditya’s end is also surrounded in mystery. There are many theories about his death but all point towards the fact that it occurred during his expedition in the northern region. According to one version he perished “through excessive snow in a country called Aryanka”, which has not been exactly located. Some versions state that he retired along with his army to the world of immortals in the north. However, from all these accounts it may be concluded that Lalitaditya, the Alexander of Kashmir died on one of his conquering expeditions in the northern region. The maxims of policy which the King had set forth influenced Kashmir administration for a long time. Thus this very illustrious King of Kashmir had a tragic end similar to Alexander the great who also died on way back to Greece after his long trail of conquests."

"Aryanka....people supposed to have lived in prehistoric times, in Central Asia, east of the Caspian Sea, and north of the Hindu Kush and Paropamisan Mountains, one of that ethnological division of mankind called Indo-European [1913 Websters Dictionary]

"Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, is a main character in the Chinese classical novel Journey to the West. Sun Wukong is also found in many later stories and adaptations. In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha, he later accompanies the monk Xuanzang on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from India....They left Chang’an by stealth in 629. On his journey he traveled north of the Takla Makan Desert, passing through such oasis centres as Turfan, Karashar, Kucha, Tashkent, and Samarkand, then beyond the Iron Gates into Bactria, across the Hindu Kush (mountains) into Kapisha, Gandhara, and Kashmir. From there he sailed down the Ganges River to Mathura, then on to the the eastern reaches of the Ganges, where he arrived in 633."

"Within Islam, the term Jinns, are used to describe what are commonly known as evil spirits. There are some that can be good as well, but most often are referred to as evil when discussing them....The term encompasses a wide variety of possible forms jinns can take on, including human, animal, trees, anything they like. It is understood that they have free will, like that of humans, and therefore will also be held accountable for their actions. They can choose to obey or disobey God, like humans can..... these evil demons are typically invisible and are said to be of lesser status than angels. They are also said to be either Muslim or non-Musilm. Islamic text identifies their place of origin from the smokeless fire. "Indeed We created man from dried clay of black smooth mud. And We created the Jinn before that from the smokeless flame of fire" [Surah Al-Hijr 15:26-27]......Going to a Pir/Baba or to a mulla/fakir/sufi/scholar etc.....Pir or Peer is a title for a Sufi master."

"Kalhana’s ‘Rajtarangini’ written in the 11th century is the earliest record available in the history of Kashmir. According to Kalhana, Gonanda I came to the throne of Kashmir about 2448 BC. His descendants ruled for many centuries. King Ashoka conquered Kashmir in 250 BC and made Srinagar the capital if his empire......1st century AD saw the arrival of Kushan dynasty. Emperor Kanishka organized the 3rd great council of Buddhist at Harwan. From the Karakota dynasty, the great ruler Lalitaditya Muktapida is mentioned as ruler in 8th century. The 9th century witnessed the rule of Utpal dynasty that produced the great ruler Avanti Verman during whose reign Avantipur was the capital. In the 10th century, the Lohara dynasty ruled in Kashmir. 11th century saw the rule of King Harsha, a poet and lover of art & music. 12th century witnessed the rule of King Jaisimha. In the 13th century, Kashmir witnessed upheavals, mutual quarrels and civil wars that weakened the Hindu rule.".....

The Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Ancient Kashmir and its Influences By John Siudmak

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subhrashis adhikari has left a new comment on your post "King Lalitaditya Muktapida of Kashmir....
Hi,....The google map of Lalitaditya was created by me. Please provide proper reference. Thank You. The same has been published in my book 'The Journey of Survivors'. Regards, Subhrashis.
Posted by subhrashis adhikari to Shams-i-bala and The Historical Shambhala Kingdom at October 18, 2016

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Northern New Mexico….September 2014

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Friday, September 26, 2014

Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra: Om Manipadme Hum...Kashmir (4th c. AD)

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"The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra is a Mahayana sūtra which extols the virtues and powers of the great Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and which is particularly notable for introducing the mantra Om mani padme hum into the sūtra tradition.....The Karandavyuha Sutra was compiled at the end of the 4th century or beginning of the 5th c. AD.....According to a Tibetan legendary tradition, the text of Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra arrived in a casket from the sky unto the roof of the palace of the 28th king of Tibet, Lha Thothori Nyantsen who died in 650 C.E., in southern Tibet. This coincides with one version of dating of the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra, somewhere in the 4th or perhaps early 5th century, however it seems more likely that the sutra has originated in Kashmir, due to closeness to characteristics to Kasmiri tantric traditions of the time and to Avataṁsakasūtra earlier associated with the Central Asian regions..".....Alexander Studholme, The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum: A Study of the Karandavyuha Sutra, State University of New York Press, Albany, 2002

"Who Created the Hindu Gods?......This might seem like a strange question when looking at Buddhist art but it has its place. According to one Mahayana Buddhist text, the Karandavyuha Sutra, at least nine of the well-known Hindu gods are created from the compassionate activity of Avalokiteshvara. The sutra, dating from the 4th or 5th century, was translated from Sanskrit into both Tibetan and Chinese......The Karandavyuha Sutra (Tibetan translation) reads: 'From the eyes are the sun [Surya] and moon [Chandra], from the forehead Maheshvara [Shiva], from the shoulder Brahma, from the heart the Great Powerful One [Vishnu], from the teeth the Goddess Sarasvati, from the mouth all of the wind is born [Vayu], from the feet earth [Bhudevi], and from the belly arises the Water God [Varuna].".....http://www.tricycle.com....Himalayan Buddhist Art 101: Who Created the Hindu Gods? Jeff Watt

"The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra was first translated into Tibetan as the Za ma tog bkod bkod pa in the 8th c. AD by Jinamitra, Ye shes sdes and others.Later, the text was translated by T'ien-hsi-tsai into Chinese from a Tibetan version around 1000 AD......

"Saptakoṭibuddhamātṛ Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra........Translated by Trepiṭaka Divākara in 685 CE, as Fo Shuo Qijuzhi Fomuxin Da Zhunti Tuoluoni Jing (佛說七俱胝佛母心大准提陀羅尼經). In this sūtra, the Buddha teaches the Cundī Dhāraṇī to help people in later times. The dhāraṇī is introduced for the first time in the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra, in which a bodhisattva endeavors in attaining samādhi using the mantra “oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ.” At the end of the sūtra, the bodhisattva finally succeeds in using the mantra to attain this samādhi, and then innumerable perfectly enlightened buddhas reply in one voice with the Great Cundī Dhāraṇī.".....Lapis Lazuli Texts....Translations from the Taishō Tripiṭaka

"There are two separate and quite distinct versions of the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra....The earliest existent copies of the prose Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra belong to the collection of Buddhist texts unearthed, during the 1940s, in a stūpa, situated three miles outside the town of Gilgit in northern Kashmir.... the text was written in a type of script which became obsolete in 630 C.E.; he and others place the likely date of composition for the prose version somewhere between the 4th and 5th centuries....No critical edition has been made of either the prose or of the verse version of the Sanskrit text...there exists no published translation of the sūtra in any modern European language." (Studholme, 2002) " ......The Origins of Oṃ Maṇipadme Hūṃ: A Study of the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra...... by Alexander Studholme!

The Kargah Buddha Near Kargah Nallah (ravine) and 10 km from Gilgit Town

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"There are several tourist attractions relatively close to Gilgit: the Kargah Valley is only at 10 km distance from Gilgit with Kargah Buddha, a rock wall carved Buddha dating back to 8th century AD and ruins of a Buddhist monastery and Stupa....Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra belong to the collection of Buddhist texts unearthed, during the 1940s, in a stūpa, situated three miles outside the town of Gilgit in northern Kashmir.

"Karandavyuha Sutra......The first known description of the mantra appears in the Karandavyuha Sutra (Chinese: 佛說大乘莊嚴寶王經 (Taisho Tripitaka 1050);English: Buddha speaks Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra), which is part of certain Mahayana canons such as the Tibetan. In this sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha states, "This is the most beneficial mantra. Even I made this aspiration to all the million Buddhas and subsequently received this teaching from Buddha Amitabha."......Studholme, Alexander (2002). The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum: A Study of the Karandavyuha Sutra. State University of New York Press

OM MANI PADME HUM in Sanskrit

"There were also hundreds of thousands of Gandharva & Kinnara Kings....Kinnara Kingdom....In the Mahabharata, Kinnara Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Kinnaras, who were one among the exotic tribes. They along with others, were inhabitants of the Himalaya mountains. The people of the Gangetic Plain looked upon them with wonder and considered them as super-human. The Kinnara tribe is identified to have lived in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh state in India. A group of people living in this district still call themselves Kinnaurs. They could be the descendants of the ancient Kinnaras.....Kinnaras were mysteriously linked with horses. The Puranas mention them as being horse-necked beings......The epic Mahabharata, mentions Kinnaras, not as horse-headed beings but as beings who were half-man and half-horse (similar to the Centaur from Greek Mythology). The epic Mahabharata and the Puranas describe, regions north of the Himalayas as the abode of Kinnaras. This region was also the abode of a tribe of people called Kambojas. They were fierce warriors skilled in horse riding and horse warfare. Some of them were robber-tribes who invaded village-settlements, by raiding them using their skilled cavalry-forces. The myth of Kinnaras probably came from these horsemen. Another reference in the epic consider them as a sub-group of the Gandharvas.".....Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated to English by Kisari Mohan Ganguli

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….September 2014

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Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The 'Lost' Mūla-Tantra...Sha'kya & Padmapani Lokeshvara (876 BC)

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"King Suchandra came from Shambhala (some say north of Kashmir) to request and receive the Kalachakra teachings from Shakyamuni Buddha. After the teachings, he wrote them down and composed the 'Mula' or 'Root Text' of the Kalachakra tantra, comprising 12,000 verses. However, this text has never reached us.".....http://kalachakranet.org

"In the Mula Tantra, (the Root Tantra of the Kalachakra)....Shakya explicitly declares ...... 600 years from that date Rigden Kulika Kirti will succeed to the throne of Shambhala, his son or the young prince will be an incarnation of Padmapani Lokeshvara..... 'the lord of the world, holding a lotus in his hand; "they will be born in my own Shakya race, and in your own nation, Dazang!......and that 800 years after that , the Mleccha or Muhamadan religion will rise at Makha (Mecca).".....Page 191......'A Grammar of the Tibetan Language in English'.

"In 624 AD, a Moslem invasion weakened the Kingdom of Śambhala"……..(The Blue Annals: Part 10 (Kalachakra)…Tibetan Historical Text completed in 1476 AD, written by Gö Lotsāwa Zhönnu Pel

"...an incarnation of Padmapani Lokeshvara will be born (c. 300 BC)".....Padmasambhava (lit. "Lotus-Born"), also known as Guru Rinpoche, is a literary character of terma, an emanation of Amitabha that is said to appear to tertons in visionary encounters and a focus of Tibetan Buddhist practice.....In the eleventh and twelfth centuries there were several competing terma traditions surrounding, for example, Vimalamitra, Songtsen Gampo, Vairotsana and Padmasambhava. At the end of the 12th century, there was the "victory of the Padmasambhava cult."....Although there was also a historical Padmasambhava, nothing is known of the "obscure Indian sorcerer"..... (Swat Valley of Pakistan)....apart from him helping the construction of a temple at Samye at the behest of Tibetan king, Trisong Detsen (c. 742 AD) and shortly being chased out of Tibet.".... Schaik, Sam van. Tibet: A History. Yale University Press 2011.....Davidson, Ronald M. Tibetan Renaissance. pg 231. Columbia University Press, 2005.

The Wheel of Time: The Kalachakra in Context.....By Geshe Lhundub Sopa

The Lost Kalacakra Mula Tantra on the Kings of Sambhala by David Reigle (1986)..... http://www.academia.edu/6423778 The_Lost_Kalacakra_Mula_Tantra_on_the_Kings_of_Sambhala

In Sanskrit, "mula" means root.

Bu-ston's History of Buddhism and the Mañjuśrī-mūla-tantra...."Two years ago my translation of the second part of The History of Buddhism (Chos-ḥbyuṅ), the work of the celebrated Tibetan scholar Bu-ston Rin-chen-ḍub (grub), i.e. of the historical part proper, appeared in the press, published by the Heidelberg Society for the Investigation of Buddhist Lore. In the introduction to this translation I have indicated all the principal works of Buddhist scripture and exegesis (sūtra and śāstra) which have been referred to by Bu-ston and which represent the main sources from which he has compiled his work. I have, furthermore, drawn the attention of the reader to the fact that among the said sources an exclusive importance is given to the Mañjuśrī-mūla-tantra (or Kalpa; Tib. Ḥjam-dpal-rtsa-rgyud, Kangyur, RGYUD. xi, Narthaṅ edition, or xii, Derge edition). A great part of chapter 51 of this work, the “Prophecy concerning the Kings” (Rāja-vyākarana-parivarta), has been incorporated by Bu-ston in his work, mostly in the form of direct quotations, and partly condensed in prose. It is to be noted here that Bu-ston is not the only Tibetan author who has made copious references to the Mañjuśrī-mūla-tantra. The latter appears likewise as one of the principal sources in the well-known historical work of Tārānātha. The prophecies as such are not to be found here, but it is easy to trace considerable parts of Taranatha's text to the Mañjuśrī-mūla-tantra, the passages of which are stripped of their prophetical garb and appear in the form of ordinary historical data.".....(E. Obermiller).....Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland.....Volume 67 / Issue 02 / April 1935, pp 299-306.

"HISTORY AS DESCRIBED IN THE KALACHAKRA TRADITION......Several of the prophecies in the Kalachakra tradition are already in the past, for example, king Manjushrikirti (living in the second century BC) predicted the coming of the "barbarian Dharma" after 800 years (about 600 AD). The prophecy further says that during the reign of the 21st. king, Aniruddha (1927-2027), Buddhism and the Kalachakra will have nearly come to an end in Tibet, Mongolia, China and much of Asia. This could certainly be said to be accurate! For example, after the Chinese invasion in Tibet in 1959 and the destruction of nearly all monasteries afterwards, the master Ven. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche was the only remaining Tibetan master holding a specific lineage of the Vimalaprabha (the 'Stainless Light' commentary); which is one of the only two main Kalachakra texts.....This trend of degeneration is said to continue until the incarnation of Manjushri (and of the Panchen Lama), Raudra Chakrin, comes to the throne in 2327 (or 2424)."......http://kalachakranet.org

"From this year, after 600 years, for the maturation of the hermits, (Sanskrit: Ris'his, or of religious persons) will be born, at Shambhala, hJam dvyangs mi brags mi brag Gugs-pa, (a king, or lord of men) called the celebrated on (an incarnation of) Manyju Ghos'ha, (he with a sweet voice). The lady (Tibetan: sgrol-ma; Sanskrit: Tara) of this (king) is (or will be called) the great goddess (Uma, i.e. an incarnation of that goddess) his son or the young prince is (or will) (be an incarnation of) Pad-hdsin hjig-rten dvang, (Sanskrit: Padmapani Lokeshvara) 'the lord of the world, holding a lotus in his hand; "they will be born in my own Shakya race, and in your own nation, Dazang!'......'A Grammar of the Tibetan Language in English'...... Page 193....Calcutta, 1834

"..in the Mula Tantra, Shakya explicitly declares ...that the Rigsden Gragspa will be of his own Shakya race, and of the nation of Dazang, the natural interpretation is that they were both of the Scythian nation, or of the Sacae of the ancients...." .........'A Grammar of the Tibetan Language in English'...... Page 193....Calcutta, 1834

Page 191......'A Grammar of the Tibetan Language in English'...... Prepared under the patronage of the Government and the auspices of the Asiatic Society of Bengal., Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, 1834.....Sándor Csoma de Kőrös....(1784 - 1842)......

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".....In the Mula Tantra, Sha'kya foretells to Dazang 25 kings, who will successively reign at S'ambhala, each for 100 years. The six first of them are called Dharma Rajas (Religious King) and the others are styled Rigs-iden, Kulika, 'the Noble of Illustrious' ....He foretells also that after 600 years from that date Rigs-Idan Grags-pa, Kulika Kirti ('the celebrated noble one' (the Epiphanes of the Greeks ?) will succeed to the throne of Shambhala, and that 800 years afterwards, the kla klo, Lalo Sanskrit: Mleccha) or Muhamadan religion will rise at Makha (Mecca)...."

".....The third work is called Paramadibuddha uddhrita Sri Kala Chakra, a Tantra delivered by Sakya, at the request of Da-Zang, a king of Shambhala, a fabulous city in the north; but the original is said to have proceeded from the first Supreme Buddha. It was introduced from the north, it is said, into India in the 10th Century.....Page 386....Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 1.....By Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India)

"....explained by Sha'kya at the request of Dava Zang-po, a King of Shambhala."....page 488...Asiatic Researches Or Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal for Inquiring Into the History and Antiquities, ... of Asia. - Calcutta, Cantopher 1788-1836 (Google eBook)

"....Bhadra (Tib. Zangpo) (76 BC -227 CE) One who Rules by the Thousand-spoked Wheel..."......The Twenty-Five Kalki (Tib. Rigden)....Kings of Shambhala.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Shambhala

"The Seven Dharmarajas (Tib. Chogyal).......Suchandra (Tib. Dawa Sangpo) c. 900 to 876 BC. Note: the Kalachakra calculations put the life of Shakyamuni Buddha quite a bit earlier than is generally accepted, and the Tibetans produced a number of divergent calculations of the dates given here. Also, many of the names of the kings are often wrongly Sanskritized (back-translated from the Tibetan) in Western publications.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Shambhala

Shambhala King: Chokyi Gyalpo Rigden Dawa Zangpo.... is peaceful in appearance, blue in colour, holding the stems of two lotus blossoms supporting a gold vajra and bell. To the right side of the king sits a consort, blue in colour, holding a stringed instrument. This image iconographically identical to HAR #51821. They are both seated atop an ornate throne supported by the four prominant Hindu Gods Brahma, Indra, Vishnu and Shiva, in front of a large temple and stupa complex. ....http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/77259.html

Dawa Zangpo was the first of the seven "Shakya" kings of Shambhala.......Bryant: Wheel of Time Sand Mandala...

"Alexander Csoma has the following passage:....XVI ......He conjectured that S'ambhala must have been the capital of a kingdom that flourished in the early centuries of Christ and that S'ridhdnya Kataica was the Cuttak of modern Orissa. ....The last of the kings of Shambhala is, however, not mentioned in the 3Ju!a Tantra. It is stated that a king named Samudra Vijaya arrived at Shambhala in 618 A.D., and shortly after that the period called, in the Tibetan chronology, (Me-kha-rgya-Mtsho*), commenced. It is also stated that in 622 A.D., at Makha (Mecca) the Muhamadan religion was established. From what can be gathered from Tibetan histories and works on Kala Chakra may be conjectured that this Shambhala, very probably, was the capital of the Bactrian Empiire of the Eastern Greeks who had embraced Buddhism. It is also conjectured that the modern city of Balkh must have been the site of their latest capital. The name of King Menander {in Sanskrit: Minendra) who erected a very lofty Kala (Castle) has been mentioned by the Kashmirian poet Ksomendra, in the Avaddna Kalpalatd, a work that was finished in about 1035 A.D.".... .....http://archive.org/stream/grammaroftibetan00dass/grammaroftibetan00dass_djvu.txt

"In 642 A.D., a " King Ta-mo-yin-t'o-ho-szu" of Uddiyana is said to have sent a gift of camphor and an embassy to the Emperor of China. This is the year that the Arabs succeeded in defeating the King of Kings, Yazdagird 111, of Persia. The latter, fleeing eastward, met his death near Merv in 651. With the death of Yazdagird, last of the Sassanid dynasty, the southern bedouin hordes of Islam for the first time marched onto the soil of Iran and began their great, rapacious advance eastward. The kings of the Orient had cause to fear the coming of the Arabs. These southerners were savagely barbarian; a patchwork of desert tribes woven together by the threads of a fanatical monotheism and a religion which encouraged them to slay with the sword those whom they could not convert to their personal dominion. " Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day," says the Koran (Sura 9:29), " ...until they pay you tribute out of hand, having brought them low.".....http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/lord-padmasambhava.htm#eightcentury

International Kalachakra Network...."The Kalachakra system is clearly related to the ancient Vedic tradition in India which existed long before Buddhism appeared.......The Kalachakra refers to many different traditions, for example the Hindu; Saivite, Samkya, Vaishnava, the Vedas, Upanisads and Puranas traditions, but also Jainism. For example, the Kalachakra mandala includes deities which are equally accepted by Hindus, Jainas and Buddhists.....David Reigle suggests, "Among the many traditional ideas which must be mastered to understand Kalachakra are several which are not found within Buddhism.... These include .... the Sankya system .... the Mandukya Upanisad .... and even the Jaina tradition.".....

"The Kalachakra tantra puts the life of Shakyamuni Buddha in the 9th. Century BC, instead of the more commonly accepted 6th. Century BC. There is also some discussion on when Shakyamuni Buddha taught the Kalachakra during his life time......

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….September 2014

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Saturday, September 20, 2014

Demetrius of Bactria: Greek Buddhist King (222 BC)

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Demetrius I of Bactria....Demetrius I, Demetrios I (Greek: Δημήτριος Α΄; Persian: ‎/Pashto: دیمتریوس بلخی‎) was a Greek King (reigned c. 200–180 BC) of Gandhara. He was the son of Euthydemus and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what now is eastern Iran thus creating an Indo-Greek Kingdom far from Hellenistic Greece. He was never defeated in battle and was posthumously qualified as the Invincible (Aniketos) on the pedigree coins of his successor Agathocles....The term used for "young prince" is neaniskos (νεανίσκος), suggesting an age around 16, which in turn gives a birth date for Demetrius around 222 BC."

"Demetrios I was the son of Euthydemos I and ruled (c. 200-185 BCE) after his father. He must have been a very capable man. Apparently he negotiated the peace between Euthydemos and the Seleucid king Antiochos III, and there is also evidence that he made inroads into conquering parts of India south of the Hindu Kush. His basic coin type, wearing an elephant scalp, symbolizes this as the elephant represented India to the Greeks. ....Bactria: Demetrios I, Silver tetradrachm, c. 200-185 BC....Diademed head of king facing right, wearing elephant scalp head-dress /.....Nude Herakles standing facing, holding club and lion skin in left hand, and crowning himself with his right hand,......Greek legend: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY."......http://coinindia.com/galleries-demetrios1.html

"Demetrius and Buddhism....Buddhism flourished under the Indo-Greek kings...Demetrius I, who was born in the milieu of Bactria and struck coins with Buddhist gods, personally was a Buddhist. His conquests did however influence the Buddhist religion in India.....Greco-Buddhist art....There are several parallels between Demetrius and the first representations of the Greek Buddha in human form......Also in another parallel, the characteristic protector deity of Demetrius (Herakles standing with his club over his arm, as seen on the reverse of his coins), was represented in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara as the protector deity of the Buddha....Greco-Buddhism influenced the artistic, and perhaps the spiritual development of Buddhism, particularly Mahayana Buddhism"

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"Demetrius" was the name of at least two, probably three Greek kings of Bactria (known as "ولایت بلخی" or Balkh Province in Afghanistan) and India. The much debated Demetrius II was a possible relative, whereas Demetrios III (c. 100 BC), is known only from numismatic evidence. Demetrius I was also known as the second Alexander."

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"Demetrius started the invasion of northwestern India from 180 BC, following the destruction of the Mauryan dynasty by the general Pusyamitra Sunga, who then founded the new Indian Sunga dynasty (185–78 BC). The Mauryans had had diplomatic alliances with the Greeks, and they may have been considered as allies by the Greco-Bactrians. The Greco-Bactrians may also have invaded India in order to protect Greek populations in the subcontinent.....Demetrius may have first started to recover the province of Arachosia, an area south of the Hindu Kush already inhabited by many Greeks but ruled by the Mauryas since the liberation of the territory by Chandragupta from Seleucus. In his "Parthian stations", Isidorus of Charax mentions a colony named Demetrias, supposedly founded by Demetrius himself:....Beyond is Arachosia. And the Parthians call this White India; there are the city of Biyt and the city of Pharsana and the city of Chorochoad and the city of Demetrias; then Alexandropolis, the metropolis of Arachosia; it is Greek, and by it flows the river Arachotus. As far as this place the land is under the rule of the Parthians." "Parthians stations", 1st century BC....A Greek dedication inscribed on stone and discovered in Kuliab, a hundred kilometers northeast of Ai-Khanoum, also mentioned the victories of the prince Demetrius during the reign of his father."

"By c. 175 BC, the Indo-Greeks ruled parts of northwestern India, while the Sungas remained in the Gangetic, Central, and Eastern India. The Indo Greek presence in the Northwest continued until the last petty principality was absorbed by the Sakas around 20 BC."

"Demetrius I, son of Euthydemus I. While still crown prince of Bactria Demetrius conducted, on behalf of his father, negotiations with the Seleucid Antiochus III in 206-05 B.C.E.; Antiochus considered Demetrius “worthy of kingship because of his distinction, conversational rapport, and capacity for leadership” and promised him one of his own daughters in marriage. Having succeeded to the throne of Bactria, Demetrius campaigned in India, making apparently extensive conquests (Polybius, 11.39). On the obverse of his silver coins he is portrayed wearing the elephant-scalp headdress of Alexander the Great (q.v.), with the reverse type of a youthful Hercules crowning himself with a garland. On a commemorative “pedigree coin” of the later Euthydemid king Agathocles, presumably a son of Demetrius (Allan), Demetrius is portrayed with the title Aníkētos (invincible), which had been borne by Alexander himself. Subsequently, after the appearance in Bactria of the rival prince Eucratides around 175 B.C., he returned from India (Justin, 41.6, where he is described as king of India) and besieged Eucratides’ small escort with an army said to have numbered 60,000; he was nevertheless outmaneuvered, defeated, and apparently slain. The curious allusion to “the grete Emetrius, the King of Ynde” in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale (ll. 2155-57) is thought by some to echo Demetrius’ story, as found in medieval sources was derived from the lost histories of Trogus (Bivar).".....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/demetrius

"Demetrius II was presumably another son of Demetrius I; he is known only from Greco-Bactrian coins with the reverse type of a standing Athena.......Bilingual Indo-Bactrian coins in the name of Demetrius Aníkētos, in particular a remarkable tetradrachm with the royal portrait wearing the kausía (sun hat), though usually attributed to Demetrius II, or III, are similar in monogram and arrangement of the legend to late issues of Menander (ca. 155-46 B.C.E.) and were probably commemorative issues of an unnamed ruler.".....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/demetrius

A. K. Narain, The Indo-Greeks, Oxford, 1957

W. W. Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India, Cambridge, 1951

R. B. Whitehead, “Notes on Indo-Greek Numismatics,” NC, 1923

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….September 2014

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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Orissa, Od' i-ana & The Kabul/Swat Rivers

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"Ukkala (or Okkala) is the ancient name of Orissa. The Mahabharata mentions the Ukkalas several times in the lists of ancient tribes. But Ukkala of the Buddhist texts which is co-related with names like Asitanjana, Adhisthana, Pokkharavati and Kamsabhoga (said to be native country of caravan leaders Tapassu and Bhalluka, specifically placed in Uttarapatha), therefore, must be located not to the east but to the west of Prithudaka (or Pehova). The territory therefore, inevitably tends to get connected to Pali Pokkharavati (Sanskrit Pushkalavati), which is now known as Charasaddha and is located in north-west frontier province of Pakistan above the confluence of Swat and Kabul rivers."......The Iranian Words in Buddhist Traditions, Indian Archaeology: New Perspectives: Proceedings of the XI Annual Congress of the Indian Archaeological Society, VI Annual Congress of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies, India, 1982, p 282-83

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"Some writers locate Kamsabhoga in Bahlika (Bactria), while others identify Asitanjana with Pokkharavati (Sanskrit Pushkalavat) and locate it to the north of river Kabul and to the south of Hindukush mountain range in the Gandhara-Kamboja area."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamsabhoga#cite_ref-21

"Theragatha Commentary (Vol i.48) informs that the birthplace or residence of Tapassu and Bhalluka (or Bhaliya) was Pokkharavati in Ukkala. The sons of the caravan leader (Satthavaha) started journey from Pokkharavati and their destination was Rajagaha (Rajagriha), and according to the Jataka, they on their way to Majjhimadesa (middle India), where they had met and offered food to the Buddha and become his first lay devotees"......Bhalluka, Bhaliya in: Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, 2003, pp 330, 991, G. P. Malalasekera.

"Alexander Csoma has the following passage:....XVI ......He conjectured that S'ambhala must have been the capital of a kingdom that flourished in the early centuries of Christ and that S'ridhdnya Kataica was the Cuttak of modern Orissa. ....The last of the kings of Shambhala is, however, not mentioned in the 3Ju!a Tantra. It is stated that a king named Samudra Vijaya arrived at Shambhala in 618 A.D., and shortly after that the period called, in the Tibetan chronology, (Me-kha-rgya-Mtsho*), commenced. It is also stated that in 622 A.D., at Makha (Mecca) the Muhamadan religion was established. From what can be gathered from Tibetan histories and works on Kala Chakra may be conjectured that this Shambhala, very probably, was the capital of the Bactrian Empiire of the Eastern Greeks who had embraced Buddhism. It is also conjectured that the modern city of Balkh must have been the site of their latest capital. The name of King Menander {in Sanskrit: Minendra) who erected a very lofty Kala (Castle) has been mentioned by the Kashmirian poet Ksomendra, in the Avaddna Kalpalatd, a work that was finished in about 1035 A.D.".... .....http://archive.org/stream/grammaroftibetan00dass/grammaroftibetan00dass_djvu.txt

"From the seventh century A.D. onwards many popular religious elements of heterogeneous nature were incorporated into Mahayana Buddhism which finally resulted in the origin of Vajrayana, Kalachakrayana and Sahajayana Tantric Buddhism. Tantric Buddhism first developed in Uddiyana, a country which was divided into two kingdoms Sambhala and Lankapuri. Sambhala has been identified with Sambalpur and Lankapuri with Subarnapura (Sonepur).....Sambalpur District is a district in the western part of state of Odisha, India.."..... Buddhist Remains in Western Odisha by Dr. Byomakesh Tripathy

"The historicity of Tapassu and Bhallika of Orissa/Utkala who became the first disciples of Lord Buddha, are shrouded in mystery. Utkal was a very ancient country. In Buddhist literature it is described as 'Ukkala' or 'Okkala'. In the Brahminical literature we find copious depiction of Utkala, said to have been located in the southern region of extended Vindyan range along with Mekalas, Kalingas, Andhras and others. Most scholars are of the opinion that Utkala of the epics and Puranas is the same as 'Ukkala' or 'Okkala' of the Pali literature.".....The First Disciples of Lord Buddha.....BY: G.N. MOHANTY, etc

"Buddhism has played very important role in shaping the history and culture of Afghanistan. It continued to be a Buddhist country for more than nineteen centuries and thereafter for many reasons the pristine culture and original religion of Afghanistan were completely wiped out from there.....We know the story of Tapassu and Bhalluka. They are said to have been touring merchants and met the Buddha under the Rajayatana tree at Bodha-Gaya while coming from Ukkala (Orissa) in the eighth week after his Enlightenment. They took refuge in the Buddha and the Dhamma and thus became the first lay-devotees or Upasakas of the Buddha......It is now proven that their homeland was located somewhere near Balkh, the ancient Bahlika at the far end of the north-western Afghanistan. It has also been suggested that the name Bhalluka is a derivative from the town Bahalika......In all probability it appears that Tapassu and Bhalluka were the merchants from Balkh area and they were the first persons who took the message of the Buddha to Afghanistan. Bhalluka later became a monk and built a monastery near his home city. He brought with him eight hairs of the Buddha as relics, for which he built a stupa monument......The area across the Khyber Pass, which was called Udyana in ancient days is a part of Afghanistan in the Province of Ningarahar with its capital Jelalabad. It was a part of Gandhara in ancient times."....Ven. Ajahn Brahmavamso (Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastry in Western Australia) at Maharagama Vajiraghnana Dharmayathanaya on Sunday 13th February 2005.

".....eight hundred years after Kulika Pundarika, a Moslem invasion weakened the Kingdom (of Shambhala), this being in 624 A.D. Nevertheless, the lineage of Kulika Kings continued such that the Indian master Chilupa from Orissa travelled to Shambhala and become an expert in the tantra and in Kulika Pundarika’s Great Commentary. He returned to India in 966 A.D., and disseminated the teaching, bringing it to prominence there."..... History of the Kalachakra Tantra.....http://www.namgyalmonastery.org

"Ancient Dhanyakataka Stupa at Amaravati, Guntur district, India....This is the oldest of all Kalachakra Stupas and the place where according to Vajrayana oral transmission the Kalachakra tantra was first revealed by the historical Buddha."

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"Odisha (formerly known as Orissa.....is an Indian state on the subcontinent's east coast, by the Bay of Bengal.....Dalai Lama would visit the Tibetan settlement at Chandragiri in Gajapati district of south Orissa in January.....Orissa is slowly emerging as a destination of the Buddhist tourists. He also agreed that the Buddhist tourism sector in Orissa needed more publicity. He requested the Lama to help in finding a process to publicise this tourism....."

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….September 2014

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Monday, September 15, 2014

Dazang, Da wa Zang po, Dava Zang-po, King Da of Zang (c. 900 to 876 BC)

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"From this year, after 600 years, for the maturation of the hermits, (Sanskrit: Ris'his, or of religious persons) will be born, at Shambhala, hJam dvyangs mi brags mi brag Gugs-pa, (a king, or lord of men) called the celebrated on (an incarnation of) Manyju Ghos'ha, (he with a sweet voice). The lady (Tibetan: sgrol-ma; Sanskrit: Tara) of this (king) is (or will be called) the great goddess (Uma, i.e. an incarnation of that goddess) his son or the young prince is (or will) (be an incarnation of) Pad-hdsin hjig-rten dvang, (Sanskrit: Padmapani Lokeshvara) 'the lord of the world, holding a lotus in his hand; "they will be born in my own Shakya race, and in your own nation, Dazang!'......'A Grammar of the Tibetan Language in English'...... Page 193....Calcutta, 1834

"..in the Mula Tantra, Shakya explicitly declares ...that the Rigsden Gragspa will be of his own Shakya race, and of the nation of Dazang, the natural interpretation is that they were both of the Scythian nation, or of the Sacae of the ancients...." .........'A Grammar of the Tibetan Language in English'...... Page 193....Calcutta, 1834

Page 191......'A Grammar of the Tibetan Language in English'...... Prepared under the patronage of the Government and the auspices of the Asiatic Society of Bengal., Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, 1834.....Sándor Csoma de Kőrös....(1784 - 1842)......

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".....In the Mula Tantra, Sha'kya foretells to Dazang 25 kings, who will successively reign at S'ambhala, each for 100 years. The six first of them are called Dharma Rajas (Religious King) and the others are styled Rigs-iden, Kulika, 'the Noble of Illustrious' ....He foretells also that after 600 years from that date Rigs-Idan Grags-pa, Kulika Kirti ('the celebrated noble one' (the Epiphanes of the Greeks ?) will succeed to the throne of Shambhala, and that 800 years afterwards, the kla klo, Lalo Sanskrit: Mleccha) or Muhamadan religion will rise at Makha (Mecca)...."

".....The third work is called Paramadibuddha uddhrita Sri Kala Chakra, a Tantra delivered by Sakya, at the request of Da-Zang, a king of Shambhala, a fabulous city in the north; but the original is said to have proceeded from the first Supreme Buddha. It was introduced from the north, it is said, into India in the 10th Century.....Page 386....Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 1.....By Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India)

"....explained by Sha'kya at the request of Dava Zang-po, a King of Shambhala."....page 488...Asiatic Researches Or Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal for Inquiring Into the History and Antiquities, ... of Asia. - Calcutta, Cantopher 1788-1836 (Google eBook)

"....Bhadra (Tib. Zangpo) (76 BC -227 CE) One who Rules by the Thousand-spoked Wheel..."......The Twenty-Five Kalki (Tib. Rigden)....Kings of Shambhala.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Shambhala

"The Seven Dharmarajas (Tib. Chogyal).......Suchandra (Tib. Dawa Sangpo) c. 900 to 876 BC. Note: the Kalachakra calculations put the life of Shakyamuni Buddha quite a bit earlier than is generally accepted, and the Tibetans produced a number of divergent calculations of the dates given here. Also, many of the names of the kings are often wrongly Sanskritized (back-translated from the Tibetan) in Western publications.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Shambhala

Shambhala King: Chokyi Gyalpo Rigden Dawa Zangpo.... is peaceful in appearance, blue in colour, holding the stems of two lotus blossoms supporting a gold vajra and bell. To the right side of the king sits a consort, blue in colour, holding a stringed instrument. This image iconographically identical to HAR #51821. They are both seated atop an ornate throne supported by the four prominant Hindu Gods Brahma, Indra, Vishnu and Shiva, in front of a large temple and stupa complex. ....http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/77259.html

Dawa Zangpo was the first of the seven "Shakya" kings of Shambhala.......Bryant: Wheel of Time Sand Mandala...

"Alexander Csoma has the following passage:....XVI ......He conjectured that S'ambhala must have been the capital of a kingdom that flourished in the early centuries of Christ and that S'ridhdnya Kataica was the Cuttak of modern Orissa. ....The last of the kings of Shambhala is, however, not mentioned in the 3Ju!a Tantra. It is stated that a king named Samudra Vijaya arrived at Shambhala in 618 A.D., and shortly after that the period called, in the Tibetan chronology, (Me-kha-rgya-Mtsho*), commenced. It is also stated that in 622 A.D., at Makha (Mecca) the Muhamadan religion was established. From what can be gathered from Tibetan histories and works on Kala Chakra may be conjectured that this Shambhala, very probably, was the capital of the Bactrian Empiire of the Eastern Greeks who had embraced Buddhism. It is also conjectured that the modern city of Balkh must have been the site of their latest capital. The name of King Menander {in Sanskrit: Minendra) who erected a very lofty Kala (Castle) has been mentioned by the Kashmirian poet Ksomendra, in the Avaddna Kalpalatd, a work that was finished in about 1035 A.D.".... .....http://archive.org/stream/grammaroftibetan00dass/grammaroftibetan00dass_djvu.txt

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….September 2014

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