taijasi
Gnōthi seauton
Shamballa and The Father’s House – An Esoteric Perspective
If what I am seeking to do here seems ambitious, then perhaps it is so. I do apologize in advance for the length, so if you want the highlights, just read the summary, then skip down to The Esoteric Focus and Closing. To demonstrate that I did not hatch this out of an egg I found in my back yard, I have included a basis for all that I say – from the exoteric Buddhist, Hindu, and Judeo-Christian Traditions.
Aside from three supporting quotations, the writing, the presentation, the belief and the understanding is my own. I would invite Nick to comment on what he thinks would be useful to highlight, or (for anyone) to correct any errors I have made … as well as to help direct any resultant discussion. I’m posting this, in part, in response to the assertions from Thomas specifically that HPB fabricated the esoteric or Theosophical teachings regarding Shamballa …though in light of the Wesak Festival, I offer this post and thread in the Spirit of Service.
Summary
Theosophy and Esotericism, since the 19th and 20th Centuries, have presented us with the idea of a Divine Being (`God’) Who openly invites our study and investigation. We are requested to introspect, or look into (as Krishnamurti was fond of saying) our own, highest nature – our Spiritual Being, or Essence – and be willing to bravely & enthusiastically explore what we find. And as we aspire to know our own innermost nature, so too does Deity allow for us to "Know Him." This may seem slightly anthropomorphic for Theosophists and Esotericists, yet Theosophy speaks of this in terms of the Plan, as part of God’s very Purpose in being here, which very much so includes our Purpose, in turn, as Children of the Most High God, within the Divine Creation.
In light of the Wesak Festival which has just occurred in both the exoteric Hindu & Buddhist tradtions, as well as the esoteric, I think a look at the Buddhist teaching on Shambhala and Kalachakra might be useful. A connection will then become possible with the Western Judeo-Christian traditions, and it may become apparent why Theosophists and Esotericists regard these different motifs as communicating essentially the same, inner Truth.
The Eastern Traditions
Looking for a moment to the familiar, exoteric Buddhist tradition, I can do no better than to quote from the Wikipedia summary on Kalachakra for a bit of background:
Kālachakra (Tibetan: dus-kyi 'khor-lo) is a term used in Tantric Buddhism that means "time-wheel" or "time-cycles". It refers both to a Tantric deity (Tib. yidam) of Vajrayana Buddhism and to the philosophies and meditation practices contained within the Kalachakra Tantra and its many commentaries. Some Buddhist masters assert that Kalachakra is the most advanced form of Vajrayana practice; it certainly is one of the most complex systems within tantric Buddhism.
The Kalachakra tradition revolves around the concept of time and cycles: from the cycles of the planets, to the cycles of human breathing, it teaches the practice of controlling the most subtle energies within one's body on the path to enlightenment. The Kalachakra deity represents a Buddha and thus omniscience. Since Kalachakra is time and everything is under the influence of time, he knows all. Similarly, the wheel is without beginning or end. [emphases are mine]
Clearly then, although exoteric Buddhism does not usually speak of a Deity, the tantric tradition of Kalachakra does. Without going into greater detail, I will quote only once more from Wikipedia, for a working Tibetan Buddhist understanding of Shambhala:
In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala (also spelled Shambala or Shamballa) is a mystical kingdom hidden somewhere beyond the snowpeaks of the Himalayas. It is mentioned in various ancient texts, including the Kalachakra Tantra and the ancient texts of the Zhang Zhung culture which pre-dated Tibetan Buddhism in western Tibet. The Bön scriptures speak of a closely-related land called Olmolungring.
Now we could discuss the ideas of Shamballa, and of Kalachakra at great length, but I have included this background because it is helpful, even vital, in understanding why Theosophists and Esotericists have the understanding that they do.The only correlation I will make at this time, is that esoterically, the relationship between the `Deity’ Kalachakra and the mystical `Kingdom’ of Shambhala, is that between an entity, and that entity's highest head center, or Crown chakra. For more information on the Seven Energy Centers (chakras) in a human being, google around, consult Wikipedia, or dive into the ancient Brahmanic or Buddhist source materials, if you feel brave.
The Western Traditions
Now for another tradition: the Judeo-Christian. In both the Christian and the Hebraic tradition there is a phrase, an expression or a figure of speech that is often used in describing Humanity’s relationship to the Divine. It is – `the Father’s House.’
I would quote from Philo Judeaus, Migration, 3-4:
Now the Word is our "father's house"; (father), because the mind is our "father," sowing into each of our parts its own powers and distributing their works, while remaining himself in charge and in control of all. And the Word is the "house" in which (the mind) lives, removed from the rest of the household. The Word is the mind's house, just as the hearth is man's...
And do not marvel if (Moses) has called the Word the mind's house in man. For he even says that God, the Mind of the whole (world), has the Word as his own "house"... (Gen 28:17). [again, emphases mine]
When the Christian speaks of the Father’s House in common parlance, we envision a location (as perhaps a Mighty Palace) which has "room" within it, metaphorically or symbolically speaking, for many inhabitants. And if we think in terms of relationship, then we might also say that for God – to Whom all things are possible – the whole of Humanity, in its entirety, would easily find room within the Father’s House, with plenty left over for say … the Angels, our animals friends, and in fact, the Spirit of all of Creation.Again, consider the earliest commentary of Philo along these lines, for clarity.
Esotericism, Bridging East and West
The presentation that we find in the teachings of Theosophy and Esotericism since the 19th Century, is of a Shamballa which effectively unites, or bridges these several understandings, or approaches to, Humanity’s relationship with the greatest and deepest of spiritual verities.
Drawing also from some of the most ancient religious teachings that exist, the Vedic, it is shown that our relationship can be impersonally considered … as the entire Human Kingdom, relating to a much more advanced Progression on the evolutionary spiral. [Elsewhere, these (Beings) have been spoken of as the Kumaras, even representing Elohim.]
Currently, we can speak of these (Kingdoms), in terms of the Seven Chakras, as the throat (or creative) center …and the Head (or inwardly directing, controlling) Center – for always Creation proceeds according to `the Divine Will.’
Yet the key factor in this picture, or equation, is the Free Will which Christianity has come to emphasize. Humanity does indeed have choice in how it will respond to the potent, purely-powerful `Shambhala-Force’ emanating from the Father’s House.
The Esoteric Focus
The form that this choice takes, in terms of how we use our Free Will, can be summed up in one word by Theosophists and Christians alike – even by Buddhists, Hindus and all people of Goodwill. The choice, the crux of the matter, is Love. And, defined in terms of Humanity’s relationships, person to person and group to group, we can also use the term Brotherhood.
Here, the Head Center, Shamballa, is related to (or brought into relationship with) the Creative Throat Center of the planet, Humanity … only by virtue of the activity of a third center, the Heart.
Theosophists and Esotericists call this the Spiritual Hierarchy of the Planet, the Lodge of Masters, or `Inner Government.’ Christ, the Buddha, Sri Krishna, and even earlier world saviors are all understood to emanate – according to Divine Will (God’s Instruction) – from this, the Heart Chakra of our planet. [At the same time, it can be noted that They also express this Divine, Loving Energy in its purest, pristine form on the planet ...]
From Humanity’s perspective, we speak of Deity as sending forth the Divine Saviors, yet another important aspect of our relationship to God is the process of Invocation, or literally calling forth, and thus evoking, a response from `the Father’s House.’ This, the spiritual aspirants of all traditions have done throughout the ages, and always there has been a response … as it is Humanity’s need to receive this kind of Divine Guidance during this stage of our evolution.
It is within the Heart, Hierarchy, or the 2nd Divine Center of the planet, where the Father’s Will, in Shamballa, can safely meet with ours – the 3rd and Creative Center (chakra) in the being of our Planetary Logos (`God,’ in Whom we live, and move, and have our being – as it is put Biblically).
Some Theosophists speak in terms of the Christ-Nature, or the Buddha-Nature, these terms being used interchangeably in reference to the Bodhichitta which is spoken of in exoteric Buddhist teachings, plain and simple. Technically, we call this the Buddhic Principle, which joins highest Spirit (Atma) with the Principle of Consciousness that makes us decidedly human (Manas, or mind, creative intelligence). But Christ-Nature has a simpler ring to it, and it conveys the essential idea in terms that relate better to Christian theology.
Closing
The religious traditions of East and West, from Buddhism & Hinduism to Christianity, Judaism and Islam, seem in some ways widely divergent, and even unresolvable in terms of their varying theologies or ideologies. And yet, present within each of these traditions is the notion that Humanity has a long history of Divine Invocation – and evocation … or relationship, with spiritual powers and presences greater than ourselves.
The Theosophical and Esoteric traditions of the past one and a quarter centuries have sought to show, not that exoteric religions are artificially, or superficially distinct, but that distinctions have arisen, over time, in accordance with Divine Intention, because there is a Divine Plan underlying ALL spiritual, material, and psychic (or psychological) evolution on Planet Earth.
Further, the esoteric tradition maintains that all of Cosmos manifests this Divine Order, such that our tiny Solar System, and thus our rather ordinary Planetary System, nonetheless mirror the Greater, Macrocosmic Majesty … even into the life of every human being, and into the Heart of the tiniest Atom.
Teachings regarding the `mythical Kingdom of Shambhala,’ just as the Christian metaphor of `the Father’s House,’ can both be understood in terms of Humanity’s efforts – our greatest spiritual Aspirations – to know ourselves, and to know the Divine, and through the conscious, intentional, intelligent and above-all Loving choice … to see to it that the will of the Greater, is worked out via the actions of the lesser – even the least.
NAMASKAR … Peace