Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho (856 AD)

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"Kingdom of Qocho, created during AD 856–866, is also called the "Idiqut" ("Holy Wealth, Glory") state, and was based on the cities of Qocho (winter capital) near Turpan, Beshbalik (summer capital), Kumul, and Kucha. A Buddhist state, with state-sponsored Buddhism and Manichaeism, it can be considered the center of Uyghur culture. ".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Uyghur_people

Click on the map to enlarge

"Gaochang (Chinese: 高昌; pinyin: Gāochāng), also called Qara-hoja or Kara-Khoja (قاراھوجا in Uyghur), is the site of an ancient oasis city built on the northern rim of the inhospitable Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China. The site is also known in published reports as Chotscho, Khocho, Qocho, or Qočo. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Gaochang was referred to as "Halahezhuo" (哈拉和卓) (Qara-khoja) and Huozhou....It was destroyed in wars during the 14th century, and old palace ruins and inside and outside cities can still be seen today. The ruins are located 30 km southeast of modern Turpan.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaochang

"Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho......After 840 it then became occupied by Uyghurs fleeing Kirghiz invasion of their land. The Uyghurs established the Kingdom of Qocho (Kara-Khoja) in 850. The inhabitants of Qocho practiced Buddhism, Manichaeism and Nestorian Christianity. The Uyghurs converted to Buddhism and sponsored building of temple caves in the nearby Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves where depictions of Uyghur sponsors may be seen. The Buddisht Uyghur kings, who called themselves idiquts, retained their nomadic lifestyle, residing in Qocho during the winter, but moved to the cooler Bishbalik near Urumchi in the summer.".....Svatopluk Soucek (2000). "Chapter 4 - The Uighur Kingdom of Qocho". A history of Inner Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-65704-0.

"...Large numbers of Sogdian refugees came to Ordu Baliq (Karabalghasun) to escape the Islamic conquest of their homeland. They converted the Uyghur nobility from Buddhism to Manichaeism. Thus, the Uyghurs inherited the legacy of Sogdian Culture. Sogdians ran the civil administration of the empire. They were helpful in outflanking the Chinese diplomatic policies which had destabilized the Göktürk Khaganate. In AD 840, following a famine and civil war, the Uyghur Khaganate was overrun by the Kirghiz, another Turkic people. As a result the majority of tribal groups formerly under Uyghur control migrated to what is now northwestern China, especially to the modern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Uyghur_people

"....the Ganzhou Kingdom (AD 870–1036), with its capital near present-day Zhangye in the Gansu province of China. There, the Uyghur converted from Manichaeism to Lamaism, Tibetan and Mongol Buddhism. Unlike Turkic peoples further west, they did not later convert to Islam. Their descendants are now known as Yugurs (or Yogir, Yugor, and Sary Uyghurs, literally meaning "yellow Uyghurs") and are distinct from modern Uyghurs. In AD 1028–1036, the Yugors were defeated in a bloody war and forcibly absorbed into the Tangut kingdom. These Yugor stayed Lamaist and did not convert to Islam. Modern historians refer to them as Uighurs.".......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Uyghur_people

"Some Uyghur scholars claim modern Uyghurs descent from both the Turkic Uyghurs and the pre-Turkic Tocharians (Yuezhi), and relatively fair hair and eyes, as well as other so-called 'Caucasoid' physical traits, are not uncommon among Uyghurs. Genetic analyses suugest West Eurasian ("Caucasoid") maternal contribution to Uyghurs is 42.6%. The estimation of European component in modern Uyghur population ranged from 30 to 60%."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Xinjiang[11]

"Ordu Baliq ("City of Court"), and another city, Bai Baliq ("Rich City"), further up the Selenge River.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_Khaganate

"Khagan Tengri Bögü met with Manichaean priests from Iran while on campaign and was converted to Manicheism, adopting it as the official religion of the Uyghur Empire in 763. One effect of this conversion was the increased influence of the Sogdians in the Uyghur court. About 779 AD ..... Tun Bagha Tarkhan ascended the throne with the title Alp Qutlugh Bilge ("Victorious, glorious, wise")".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_Khaganate

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2012

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Kham & Uyghur Qinghai

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"...Linguists and anthropologists refer to Kham as the 'Ethnic Corridor of Southwest China', as its vast and sparsely populated territories are inhabited by over 14 culturally and linguistically distinct ethnic groups. For reasons of simplicity, the Chinese government combines the various ethnic groups of Kham together with the Tibetans to form one big nationality, called the "Tibetan Nationality". There are, however, significant differences in traditions and beliefs—even physical appearance—between the peoples of Kham and Lhasa. At least one-third of Kham residents are speakers of Qiangic languages, a family of twelve distinct but interrelated languages that are not closely related to the Khams Tibetan language..... The people of Kham are reputed warriors....The peoples of Kham have endured a tumultuous past, their sovereignty often encroached upon and marginalized by both Tibetans to the West and the Han Chinese to the East....Since the collapse of the Tibetan Empire in the mid-9th century, the peoples of Kham had aggressively maintained their independence from invading nations".....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kham

"The Kingdom of Derge was an important kingdom in Eastern Tibet, a center of industry, religion and politics, with the seat of its kingdom in the town of Derge. The kings of Derge followed a 1300-year lineage......The kingdom was an important center in the establishment of the Rime movement.....Rimé is a Tibetan word which means "no sides", "non-partisan" or "non-sectarian". In a religious context, the word ri-mé is usually used to refer to the "Eclectic Movement" between the Buddhist Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu traditions, along with the non-Buddhist Bön religion, wherein practitioners "follow multiple lineages of practice." The movement was founded in Eastern Tibet during the late 19th century largely by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, the latter of whom is often respected as the founder proper. The Rimé movement is responsible for a large number of scriptural compilations, such as the Rinchen Terdzod and the Sheja Dzö."......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Derge

"Kham — East Tibet......Although ancient Tibet is slowly disappearing, one would never know it when visiting Kham — Eastern Tibet. Buddhist monasteries and nunneries flourish with thousands of monks and nuns devoutly studying and practicing Buddhism like they have done for centuries......As you travel throughout Kham you will come to discover the incredible natural beauty of this region of Tibet with its high grasslands, deep gorges, glacier filled lakes and magnificent snow capped peaks."......http://www.wisdom-study-abroad.com/kham/

"For some six hundred years, the lineage of Trungpa Rinpoches has served as the abbots of Surmang Dutsi Til monastery in Kham......Rig'dzin Chenpo Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the 11th Trungpa Tulku, was born in 1939, in Géjé, near Pa-gö Punsum Mountain, in Kham.".....http://www.konchok.org/trungpa-lineage.html

"...Large numbers of Sogdian refugees came to Ordu-Baliq to escape the Islamic conquest of their homeland. They converted the Uyghur nobility from Buddhism to Manichaeism. Thus, the Uyghurs inherited the legacy of Sogdian Culture. Sogdians ran the civil administration of the empire. They were helpful in outflanking the Chinese diplomatic policies which had destabilized the Göktürk Khaganate. In AD 840, following a famine and civil war, the Uyghur Khaganate was overrun by the Kirghiz, another Turkic people. As a result the majority of tribal groups formerly under Uyghur control migrated to what is now northwestern China, especially to the modern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Uyghur_people

"....the Ganzhou Kingdom (AD 870–1036), with its capital near present-day Zhangye in the Gansu province of China. There, the Uyghur converted from Manichaeism to Lamaism, Tibetan and Mongol Buddhism. Unlike Turkic peoples further west, they did not later convert to Islam. Their descendants are now known as Yugurs (or Yogir, Yugor, and Sary Uyghurs, literally meaning "yellow Uyghurs") and are distinct from modern Uyghurs. In AD 1028–1036, the Yugors were defeated in a bloody war and forcibly absorbed into the Tangut kingdom. These Yugor stayed Lamaist and did not convert to Islam. Modern historians refer to them as Uighurs.".......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Uyghur_people

"Kingdom of Qocho, created during AD 856–866, is also called the "Idiqut" ("Holy Wealth, Glory") state, and was based on the cities of Qocho (winter capital) near Turpan, Beshbalik (summer capital), Kumul, and Kucha. A Buddhist state, with state-sponsored Buddhism and Manichaeism, it can be considered the center of Uyghur culture. ".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Uyghur_people

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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Shambhala & Music

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MOZART...."My most favorite person in music, Mozart...sat in the sense that his mind became blank before he composed. Some kind of mind-less-ness in the Buddhist sense has to take place."..(Trungpa: 1996..pg 20)...

"Poetry, linguistic expression, and music are identical as far as I am concerned."....(Trungpa: 1983..pg xx)

"I once went to hear the St Matthew Passion in Oxford. This was such a great discovery. Experiencing the tremendous heroism and spiritual passion in that atmosphere of sanctity, that I felt as though the occasion was my own private feast. From the beauty of the music I gained further appreciation of the Western legacy. My Tibetan friend panicked and thought I was in danger of being converted to Christianity."..(Trungpa: 1983..pg xx)

Alexander Scriabin was a Theosophist....interested in Nietzsche's Übermensch theory, and he devised a quartal synthetic chord, often called his "mystic" chord.... Scriabin planned a multimedia work to be performed in the Himalayas (Shambhala) that would bring about the armageddon...Scriabin associated musical keys with colors....the key of D major was golden-brown;....E-flat major with red-purple...(synesthesia, a condition wherein one experiences sensation in one sense in response to stimulus in another)........ His ideas on reality seem similar to Platonic and Aristotelian theory though much less coherent. ...Scriabin also used poetry as a means in which to express his philosophical notions, though arguably much of his philosophical thought was translated into music, the most recognizable example being the Ninth Sonata ("the Black Mass")....In 1907 he settled in Paris with his family and was involved with a series of concerts organized by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who was actively promoting Russian music in the West at the time. ...In 1909 he returned to Russia permanently, where he continued to compose, working on increasingly grandiose projects. For some time before his death he had planned a multi-media work to be performed in the Himalayas Mountains (Shambhala), that would cause a so-called "armageddon", "a grandiose religious synthesis of all arts which would herald the birth of a new world". Scriabin left only sketches for this piece, Mysterium, although a preliminary part, named L'acte préalable ("Preparatory Action") was eventually made into a performable version by Alexander Nemtin.

D.H. Lawrence @ Lobo Ranch, near Taos, New Mexico.....July 1924.....""To tell the truth I am sick to death of the monotheistic string......It has become monomaniac. I prefer the pagan many gods, and the animistic version. Here at this ranch in Taos, looking west over the desert, one knows that all of our Pale-Faced and Hebraic monotheistic insistence is a dead letter....the soul won't answer any more. Here we have a camp under the hanging stars, and we sit with the Indians around the fire, and they sing till late into the night, and sometimes we dance the Indian thread dance.....".....Lawrence's primary literary effort was to re-sacralize the world, to awaken in his readers their long lost power to recognize the sacred in themselves and in the living environment....."

MUSIC...dbyangs: song, melody, tune....code songs...brda tshig: coded verses...dbyangs 'cham: dance performed to a chanted melody..."Then there is Gita, the female bodhisattva of song." (Trungpa:1975..pg 20)....."the nine melodies (gcong dgu) used for chants during the rites which enable one to communicate directly with the diverse classes on non-human beings." (Norbu: 1995..pg 46)..."the nine melodies have names of various animals: dragon, garuda, goose, peacock, cuckoo, lark, parrot, raven, and bee." (Kvaerne: 1971..pg 221)...Water Music by Handel..."a beautiful Turkic girl sang 'A Lover in Autumn', swathed in a beautiful green silken veil." (Clark: 1954...pg 334)..."Marpa sang in the melody "Outstretched Wings of a Soaring Garuda"...(Nalanda: 1980..pg 353)......"Her song transformed into a battle cry. She breathed deeply and quickly, her eyes lit with a victorious glow."..(Kharatidi: 1996..pg 63)...

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS...."Shangs: the gshang is a small metal plate with a clapper in the concave side, rung by holding the instrument between the thumb and index finger of the left hand. It corresponds to the tantric Buddhist bell (dril bu)." (Norbu: 1995..pg 240)..."The Shang was also used by the Pawo. It is made of Li metal. It is also used by dancers from Kham." (Nebesky: 1952..pg 151)...drums...the rNga chbung: a small double-faced drum used by the Pawo, similar to the damaru drum of Indian and Tibetan mendicants." (Nebesky: 1952..pg 151)...."Drum divination (Ngamo..rNga mo) uses a huge, flat drum (nga). The rNga chbung is similar to the mChod dam." (Nebesky: 1952..pg 153)...."The Altaic drum was about 3 feet across with 9 metal rings through the fingers of each carved hand." (Kharatidi: 1996: pg 58)

INDO-EUROPEANS...."The ancient Indo-Europeans possessed a poetic tradition and a poetic language of which fixed formulas and metrical patterns survived in Vedic and Iranian literature. The evidence indicates that there were songs of praise with shorter, basically octosyllabic verses, beside recitative gnomic poetry with hendecasyllabic verses already in Proto-Aryan times." (Yarshater: 1987..pg 687)...

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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Venerating & Making Offerings To Deities

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Dzogchen Explorations

Okar Research

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"Venerate Me and Make Offerings"

"Veneration (Latin veneratio, Greek δουλεία, douleia), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring..... Philologically, "to venerate" derives from the Latin verb, venerare, meaning to regard with reverence and respect. Veneration is practiced, formally or informally, by adherents of some branches of all major religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism.......

वन्दते { वन्द् } vandate { vand } venerate
यशस् yazas venerated
वन्द्यते { वन्द् } vandyate { vand } be praised or venerated
समादरणीय samAdaraNIya to be greatly respected or venerated

"Making Offerings......In Buddhism, symbolic offerings are made to the Triple Gem, giving rise to contemplative gratitude and inspiration. Typical material offerings involve simple objects such as a lit candle or oil lamp, burning incense, flowers, food, fruit, water or drinks...In the Pali Canon, the Buddha declared practice offerings as "the best way of honoring the Buddha" and as the "supreme" offering"....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offering_(Buddhism)

"...Offerings are called banten in Balinese. It is possible that the word comes from the Sanskrit word bali, which means tribute, obligation or gift. Or it may be derived from the word enten, which means to wake up or be conscious. It is a consciousness of the gods....Offerings are gifts. They are a means of giving something back. But, of course, gifts obligate the recipient and so the system creates mutual obligations and favours, even between humans and spirits.".....http://www.murnis.com/culture/articlebalineseofferings.htm

बलि bali .....offering in Sanskrit

CANDLE (Pers.-Ar. šamʿ). The Arabic word (Ar. also šamaʿ) ......Candles and in­cense are burnt in many cultures not only for the dead (cf. Dendy, pp. 92-108, especially 102f.) but also for the living (Onians, p. 282, n. 9). The burning of wax and tallow candles may in fact represent an offering of oil, or fat, which in many religions is equated to life substance (Onians, pp. 287, 287 n. 3).....in Khorasan, when a certain food offering called āš-e omāj komāj is prepared, seven candles are lit and placed in a tray at the time the āš is served. .....

ELEVATED CANDLE....."French Buddhist Alexandra David-Néel associated Shambhala with Balkh in present day Afghanistan, also offering the Persian Sham-i-Bala, "elevated candle" as an etymology of its name. In a similar vein, the Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett published speculation that Shambalha was Shams-i-Balkh, a Bactrian sun temple.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambhala

"Hinduism has a long tradition of veneration of saints, expressed toward various gurus and teachers of sanctity, both living and dead. Branches of Buddhism include formal liturgical worship of saints, with Mahayana Buddhism classifying degrees of sainthood."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veneration

"In Islam, veneration of saints is practiced by sects such as the Shi'a and Sufi, and in many parts of Southeast Asia, along with "folk Islam", which often incorporates local beliefs and practices. Other sects, such as Sunnis and Wahhabists, abhor the practice."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veneration

"In Protestant churches, veneration is sometimes considered to amount to the heresy of idolatry, and the related practice of canonization amounts to the heresy of apotheosis. Protestant theology usually denies that any real distinction between veneration and worship can be made, and claims that the practice of veneration distracts the Christian soul from its true object, the worship of God."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veneration

"Shinto Food Offerings .....The most important Shinto ritual for assuring the kami's permanent dwelling in the shrine, is the offering of spiritual flesh. Food offerings are made in different ways at different shrines. The ritual may include placing food on a table, hanging, scattering on the ground, burying it in the earth or releasing it into the water. In case of some active deities, the sanctuary containing the representative object is the focus for this sacred practice and the sanctuary doors may be kept open during the offering. At shrines for the kami of natural phenomenon, the doors of the sanctuary may not be opened. Therefore, special offering halls (heiden) were built for offering food. ".....http://orias.berkeley.edu/visuals/japan_visuals/shintoB.HTM

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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Melong, Mirror Divination, Goddess of the Turquoise Lamp

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"Melong is a Tibetan term that means "mirror", "looking glass"....Mirror (Sanskr. ādarśa, darpaṇa; Tib. me long).......The mirror is an ancient symbol throughout Indian religions. In Indian iconography it may be understood as a symbol for clarity, wholesome or complete perception and 'primordial purity' (Tibetan: ka dag) of the mindstream or consciousness. The mirror is often depicted as an accoutrement of the hagiographical signification of fully realised Mahasiddha, Dzogchenpa and Mahamudra sadhaka. The mirror may be understood as a quality of the mindstream that denotes perceiving experience as it is without obscuration forded by klesha, etc........As the mirror, so the mind. The mirror as the mind, following Yogacara, reflects quality and form, though is not directly altered and is 'beyond all attributes and form'.........The mirror motif is employed pervasively throughout Buddhist literature but it is very important to traditions of Dzoghcen."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melong

"Bronze mirrors were widespread in use before the advent of mirror glass. In Tibet and other countries they are still used for divination, such as ‘ta’. The concave surface is sometimes decorated and the convex outer surface is polished and mostly plain. Melongs were traditionally made with 5 Metals: copper, tin, zinc, iron and a fifth metal which may be gold, silver or ‘meteorite iron’.......The Melong used in Tibet is frequently plain on the concave side and on the convex side has a pattern of dots or circles. There are usually 4 sets of 3 dots at each quarter (top, bottom, left and right) which may represent some of the sets of 3 used in Dzogchen, a practice within both Bon and Buddhism......

....Arrows like this are also used in Soul Retrieval ceremonies by Tibetan shamans.....A small simple brass shaman's mirror (toli) is tied to the arrow, together with several peices of silk and other material. The head of the arrow is hand made of iron. The flight feathers are from a large bird which might be vulture as this is a traditional feather to use."......http://www.3worlds.co.uk/Pages/Gallery-Archive.html

Shamar Rinpoché speaks about Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoché’s divination - 1973.......Trungpa Rinpoché sent me this eight-point prediction letter in 1973. He wrote it in his own hand, as he was young and able at that time. Rinpoché asked his personal deity for a pramana prediction concerning my activity. During the rituals called létsok, or activity practices, a deity is invoked - a yidam or Dharma protector - and highly accomplished practitioners can ask them questions. Their answers appear in a mirror. Trungpa Rinpoché’s deity for this practice was the deity Lhamo Youdrönma, Goddess of the Turquoise Lamp. Rinpoché copied her answers from the mirror and sent them to me via Aché Tséphel, the secretary of the 16th Karmapa. I still have this letter. - Shamar Rinpoché, June 2010"........http://www.shamarpa.org

"In 1959, I left my monastery with my family and a group of monastics. It was a difficult journey, because we could not travel on the established routes, which were being watched closely by the Chinese. I devised our escape route through gorges and mountains, based mostly on Gesar prophecy and arrow divinations. During our escape, Trungpa Rinpoche and I met at Nyewo and conferred to confirm the safety of our route. Trungpa Rinpoche used mirror divination, and I used arrow divination, but the results were nearly the same. We decided to follow the route through Trakke, which has very harsh terrain and difficult gorges to pass through.......Trungpa Rinpoche and I met again on the plateau of Rigong-kha and consulted with one another. We thought about joining our two groups, but decided against it. Since I was leading a group of about a hundred people and Trungpa Rinpoche had an equal number or more, traveling together would have been very difficult and dangerous. However, Rinpoche’s mirror divination indicated that we would arrive safely in India, no matter which route we took."......Namkha Drimed Rinpoche......http://nalandatranslation.org/projects/articles/gesar-supplication/

"According to legend, Amaterasu bequeathed to her descendant Ninigi the mirror, Yata no Kagami; the jewel, Yasakani no Magatama, and the sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. This sacred mirror, jewel, and sword collectively became the three Imperial Regalia of Japan.....Worshipping the Sun Goddess......The Ise Shrine located in Honshū, Japan houses the inner shrine, Naiku dedicated to Amaterasu. Her sacred mirror, Yata no Kagami is said to be kept at this shrine as one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. At this shrine, a ceremony known as Shikinen Sengu is held every 20 years to honor Amaterasu. The main shrine buildings are destroyed and rebuilt at a location adjacent to the site. New clothing and food is then offered to the goddess. This practice is a part of the Shinto faith and has been practiced since the 690s.".......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaterasu

BAGUA MIRRORS...... Mirrors alter space by eliminating the dimension of distance. Mirrors are associated with water and the moon. Mirrors are visual echoes, connecting past to present and the conscious to the unconscious. MIrrors are believed to transform negative chi into positive chi, hence promoting harmony (negative chi is called sha). Mirrors are believed to expel negative energy, evil, bad spirits, since negative energy would be reflected backwards, evil spirit would be frightened by their own appearance when looking into the mirror and hence would disappear. Concave mirrors are supposed to absorb negative energy, while convex mirrors are supposed to reflect negative energy. The ba gua functions as a force field around the flow of chi to and from the mirror.
Around 500 BC, mirrors were attached on people’s clothing for above mentioned reason.
Generally, there are three types of ba gua mirrors:
1) Octagon shaped wood/ material with a small round mirror in the middle; bright colours of green (symbolising spring, vigour, creativity), red (symbolising summer, illumination, growth) and goldish yellow (symbolising productiveness, success, late summer, autumn) stretch from the outer end of the mirror to the outer end of the octagon wood/ material.
2) Octagon shaped mirror framed by wood, glass will most likely cover the mirror. A Yin-Yang sign is painted in the middle, the ba gua are painted around the Yin- Yang sign in four colours: blue, green, red, and yellow.
3) A combination of a bagua mirror and door gods. Usually these are made of wood containing a mask like portrait of a protector or god, at times with an symbolistic animal. The protector or god holds a staff to ward off evil and at times a plaque declaring good fortune to those residing there. Above the scene is a regular ba gua mirror.

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Chinese_Customs/bagua.htm

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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Dadar, mDa' dar, Dadhar, Arrow Divination

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"The Dadar (Tibetan; Wylie: mda' dar), or arrow often though not always dressed with rainbow ribbon is a teaching tool, ritual instrument symbol for Nyingmapa and Bonpo Dzogchenpa."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dadar_(ritual_tool)

http://darbyartisan.blogspot.com.... maple arrow stand....hand made wood sculptures.....darbyartisan@gmail.com .... website http://www.darbyartisan.com/

The wealth hailing banner or Dadhar is used for blessings, good luck and wealth. The decoration of the arrow with cloths of five different colors symbolises five Zambalas or 5 wealth gods. The "mirror" that is attached to the arrow symbolises the various impediments of life and the dzi beads symbolise a successful and meaningful life.

Above is Mandarava, holding an arrow, called a dadar, topped with a melong (just below the feather) and streaming yellow, blue, red and white ribbons. She is associated with a long life practice......http://tibetanmaterialhistory.wikischolars.columbia.edu/Mirror

The 'wealth-attracting silk arrow' (Tib. nor sgrub mda' dar), is an Auspicious arrow with its shaft interwoven with five-color silk ribbons, and its five- pronged copper ... also used in a form of 'psychic surgery' by Tibetan shamans

.....the g.yang mda’, or good luck arrow, is adorned with five different-colored silk ribbons.....

In his 1998 study The Arrow and the Spindle, Karmay traces several antecedents for the windhorse tradition in Tibet. First, he notes that there has long been confusion over the spelling because the sound produced by the word can be spelt either klung rta (river horse) or rlung rta (wind horse).....Karmay, Samten G. The Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet. Mandala Publishing

"......shaman's or lama's 'magical' arrow, complete with small shaman's mirror (toli), and pieces of silk, complete with it's case, which is made from wood, covered in cloth......Magical arrows are used in many shamanic cultures around the world, and this is very much the case in both Mongolia and Tibet. In Tibetan Buddhism Silk Arrows (Tib: Mda-dar) are arrows with either one or several silk scarfs tied to them which are used for divination, attracting wealth and many other types of both white and black magic.......Wealth attracting arrows (Tib: Nor sGrub Mda-dar) are used to 'hunt' wealth (or other things one wishes to gain) with focused intent, and are normally painted red. This arrow is painted red above the feathers so it is almost certainly a wealth arrow......Arrows like this are also used in Soul Retrieval ceremonies by Tibetan shamans.....A small simple brass shaman's mirror (toli) is tied to the arrow, together with several peices of silk and other material. The head of the arrow is hand made of iron. The flight feathers are from a large bird which might be vulture as this is a traditional feather to use."......http://www.3worlds.co.uk/Pages/Gallery-Archive.html

"BOW AND ARROW: "Bow...[represents Action]...skillful means to propel; "Arrow....(represents Intelligence)..."intelligence sharp and penetrating. Together they represent skillful intelligence. When the arrow of intellect is joined by with the bow of skillful means, then the warrior is never tempted by the seductions of the setting-sun world." "This principle of the bow and arrow is learning to say 'no' to ungenuineness, to say 'no' to carelessness and crudeness, to say no to lack of wakefulness. In order to say 'no' properly you need both bow and arrow...gentleness, which is the bow...sharpness, which is the arrow. Joining the two together, you realize that you can make a distinction: you can discriminate between indulging and appreciating. You can look at the world and see the way things actually work. Then you can overcome myth - which is your own myth." (pg 72)."......http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/#BOWANDARROW

...the old Persian word for 'arrow'?.....arrow is "Kaman".....What is the Sanskrit word for arrow? .....arrow: शरव्या sharavyaa; बाण baaNa; शर shara; इषु iShu; शल्य shalya; अस्त्र astra.......every Sanskrit word indicating an "arrow" has been used to denote "five" as Kamadeva, the Hindu deity of love, is traditionally depicted as a warrior carrying five arrows of flowers......

Avestan uses the words ar$ zaži-, išu-, and ašti- to denote an arrow. One of the expressions in Yt. 10.39 suggests that arrows might have been fletched with eagle feathers (Malandra, pp. 269, 271). In Middle Persian, the word tigr/tīr stood for “arrow” (Tafazzoli, p. 193). Sogdian and other east-Iranian languages used a specialized terminology to describe arrows.....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arrows-eastern-iran

".......at the Sibudu Cave in South Africa, led by Professor Lyn Wadley from the University of the Witwatersrand, researchers discovered the earliest direct evidence of human-made arrowheads: 64,000-year-old stone points which may have been shot from a bow. These had remnants of blood and bone, confirming their use in hunting.....".......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow

"....Neanderthals were constructing stone spear heads from as early as 300,000 BP and by 250,000 years ago, wooden spears were made with fire-hardened points.".........http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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Mu Cord (dmu thag) & Rainbow Body (Jalü)

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"The Rainbow Body, Tibetan Kings, dmu-thag, Agganna Sutta by AilurusFulgens......It is said that the first Tibetan kings descended from heaven through rope-like structures called dmu-thag and after their time on Earth was up they returned back to heaven in a similar fashion."......http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=5270#p55919

The dates attributed to the first Tibetan king, Nyatri Tsenpo (Wylie: Gnya'-khri-btsan-po), vary. Some Tibetan texts give 126 BC, others 414 BC.[Norbu, Namkhai. The necklace of gZi: A Cultural History of Tibet (1989) Narthang.]

"Nyatri Tsenpo is said to have descended from a one-footed creature called the Theurang, having webbed fingers and a tongue so large it could cover his face. Due to his terrifying appearance he was feared in his native Puwo and exiled by the Bön to Tibet. There he was greeted as a fearsome being, and he became king."....Norbu 1989

"The Tibetan kings were said to remain connected to the heavens via a dmu cord (dmu thag) so that rather than dying, they ascended directly to heaven, when their sons achieved their majority.[Geoffrey Samuel, Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington 1993 p.441]

According to various accounts, king Drigum Tsenpo (Dri-gum-brtsan-po) either challenged his clan heads to a fight,[Rolf A.Stein, Tibetan Civilization, Faber, London 1972 pp.48f.Samuel, ibid p.441] or provoked his groom Longam (Lo-ngam) into a duel. During the fight the king's dmu cord was cut, and he was killed. Thereafter Drigum Tsenpo and subsequent kings left corpses and the Bön conducted funerary rites.[Haarh, The Yarluṅ Dynasty. Copenhagen: 1969.]

Yumbulakhang castle gracefully guarding over the Yarlung valley. With over 2000 years history, it would have been the oldest building in Tibet if it had not been destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. It was rebuilt in 1982. The initial building it is believed to have been build by Nyatri Tsenpo, first tibetan king......http://www.studio25.ro/albums/road-to-tibet

"Nyatri Tsenpo (Wylie: gNya'-khri bTsan-po; Tibetan Pinyin: Nyachi Zanbo) was a king of Tibet suggested to have descended from an Indian dynasty.[1] He was a legendary progenitor of the so-called "Yarlung dynasty". His reign is said to have begun in 127 BC. According to traditional Tibetan history, he was the first ruler of the kingdom. He is said to have descended from heaven on Yalashangbo, the sacred mountain. Due to certain physical peculiarities – his hands were webbed, and his eyelids closed from the bottom and not the top – he was hailed as a god by locals, and they took him as their king. This is reflected in his name; Tsenpo means "sovereign", while nyatri means "enthroned by the neck". According to Bön legend, the first Tibetan building, Yumbulagang, was erected for the king. The year of his enthronement marks the first year of the Tibetan calendar; the Tibetan New Year, the Losar, is celebrated in his honor......Tibetan mythology holds that the first kings were immortal, and would be pulled up to heaven by a cord which had first deposited them on earth. This is what is said to have happened to Nyatri Tsenpo as well."......Bsod-nams-rgyal-mtshan (Sa-skya-pa Bla-ma Dam-pa) (1994). The Mirror Illuminating the Royal Genealogies: Tibetan Buddhist Historiography : an Annotated Translation of the XIVth Century Tibetan Chronicle : RGyal-rabs Gsal- Baʼi Me-long. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 138–. ISBN 978-3-447-03510-1.

The Mythology of Tibetan Mountain Gods: An Overview.....by Xie Jisheng....."The phrase for “heavenly rope” in Tibetan is dmu-thag-smu-thag. The word dmu appears relatively late in Tibetan literature. Dmu is written as mu in Dunhuang literature, and etymological comparisons between various Tibeto-Burmese languages strongly suggests that mu- in Tibetan refers to “the heavenly god.” As for the word dmu-thag, I believe it to be closely connected to the Tibetan word for “rainbow” (vjav). A rainbow could well be understood by early societies as a rope connecting heaven to earth, a rope sent down by the heavenly gods. Literally, dmu-thag means “the heavenly gods’ rope.” According to Tibetan literature, when the Tibetan king btsanpo died he looked like a rope under the “rainbow,” and he went up to the heavens along the dmu-thag. It seems, then, that there is an intimate relationship between dmu-thag and vjav. In Pelliot’s Tibetan text no. 126.2 (“The Formation of Dmu-thag”), we read that “from the lights in the sky and fog over the sea came the white curdle of the Bon religion. It is stretched by the wind, woven into threads, and wound round a tree. It is known as Dmuthag or g.yang thag (“fortune rope”).” This text clearly identifies dmuthag with the rainbow."....http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/16ii/Xie_Jisheng.pdf

sMu-thag ("Bridge of IHa") or sMu-skas ("Rope of ... of " priests" entered the religious arena: the Dur-, sKu- ,gNam- and dMu gShen.....Female Stereotypes in Religious Traditions edited by Ria Kloppenborg

Tucci. We may add here that the compound rmu-thag is also well known in the alternative spelling dmu—thag and that smu-thag too is attested in the texts.......http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/coblin1987note.pdf

"....known in different spiritual traditions; "the most sacred body" (wujud al-aqdas) and "supracelestial body" (jism asli haqiqi) in Sufism, "the diamond body" in Taoism and Vajrayana, "the light body" or "rainbow body" in Tibetan Buddhism, "the body of bliss" in Kriya Yoga, and "the immortal body" (soma athanaton) in Hermeticism."......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtle_body

"In Dzogchen, rainbow body (Tibetan: Jalü or Jalus (Wylie transliteration: 'ja' lus) is a level of realization....The ultimate fruition of the thodgal practices is a body of pure light, called a rainbow body (Wylie 'ja' lus, pronounced Jalü.)."....Reginald Ray, Secret of the Vajra World. Shambhala 2001, page 323.

"Shijie (屍解) was a practice whereby Daoists transcended death through means of a simulated corpse. This enabled them to live for long periods of time. Other forms of transcendence which did *not* use the simulated corpse method resulted in flying into the heavens, sometimes in broad daylight, and sometimes on celestial chariots."......Campany, Robert Ford. 2002, To live as long as heaven and earth: a translation and study of Ge Hong's traditions of divine transcendents, Berkeley: University of California Press.

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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Kingdom of Guge & The Garuda Valley of Zhang Zhung

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Click on the map to enlarge

"Guge was an ancient kingdom in Western Tibet. The kingdom was centered in present-day Zanda County, within Ngari Prefecture of Tibet. At various points in history after 10th century AD, the kingdom held sway over a vast area including south-eastern Zanskar, Upper Kinnaur, and Spiti valley either by conquest or as tributaries. The ruins of the former capital of Guge kingdom are located at Tsaparang in the Sutlej valley, not far from Mount Kailash and 1,200 miles (1,900 km) westwards from Lhasa.....".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guge

"Tsaparang was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Guge in the Garuda Valley, through which the upper Sutlej River flows, in Ngari Prefecture (Western Tibet) near the border of Ladakh. It is 278 km south-southwest of Senggezangbo Town and 26 km west of the 11th century monastery at Thöling, and not far west of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. The Tsaparang Dzong was located here. Nearby is the Bon monastery of Gurugem.....Tsaparang is a huge fortress perched on a pyramid-shaped rock rising about 500 to 600 feet (152 to 183 m) at the end of a long narrow spur. It contains numerous tunnels and caves that have been carved out of the rock. At its base was a village where the common people lived. Above them were two public temples - the Lhakhang Marpo (Red Chapel) and the Lhakhang Karpo (White Chapel), and quarters for the monks. Further up, ascending a twisting stone staircase in a tunnel, were the royal quarters, and at the very top, the summer palace.:.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsaparang

"In 1037, Khor re's eldest grandson 'Od lde was killed in a conflict with the Muslim Qarakhanids from Central Asia, who subsequently ravaged Ngari. His brother Byang chub 'Od (984-1078), a Buddhist monk, took power as secular ruler. He was responsible for inviting Atisha to Tibet in 1040."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guge

TV Presenter and historian Michael Wood, in the "Shangri-La" episode of the BBC TV/PBS documentary series In Search of Myths and Heroes, suggested that Tsaparang was the historical origin of the legend of Shangri-La, and that its two great temples were once home to the kings of Guge.......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsaparang

L. Petech (1980), 'Ya-ts'e, Gu-ge, Pu-rang: A new study', The Central Asiatic Journal 24, pp. 85-111; R. Vitali (1996), The kingdoms of Gu.ge Pu.hrang. Dharamsala: Tho.ling gtsug.lag.khang.

Stein, Rolf A. “The indigenous religion and the bon-po in the Dunhuang manuscripts.” In The History of Tibet, Volume I, Alex Mckay (ed.). Translated into English from French by Peter Richardus. London & New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2003.

"t was in the far-western regions that Tibetans first established permanently inhabited cities. From 2,800BC this was known as ‘heartland’ in contrast to Central Tibet which was known as the ‘outlying‘ area. A succession independent semi-feudal states developed, the most notable being the Kingdom of Gu-ge on the banks of the Sutlej river immediately north of the main Himalaya."......http://www.greenkiwi.co.nz/footprints/frames/gu.htm

Guge Kingdom......For centuries Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and the followers of Bon have revered Mount Kailash as the most sacred pilgrimage destination in Asia. It is common for pilgrims to do circumambulation of the sacred mountain, commonly called kora or parikrama. Here four of Asia's greatest rivers - the Indus, the Brahmaputra, the Karnali and the Sutlej find their source. But it is the lone conical summit of Kailash with its swastika-resembling scar that is most magnificent. At the base of this great mountain are two vast lakes, the holy Manasarovar and Raksas, divided by a narrow isthmus......http://www.dharmaadventures.com/tibet/itinerary.php?t_id=76

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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Dunhuang Caves & The Silk Road (1000 AD)

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DUNHUANG......an oasis town situated in the northwest of the Chinese province of Gansu, is famous for its Mogao Caves (Mogaoku) or Caves of One Thousand Buddhas (Qianfodong).....The first cave was hewn in the 4th century C.E. and the last in the 14th, a period in which Dunhuang was under the control of, not only the Chinese, but also, among others, Tibetans, Uighurs, Tanguts, and Mongols.The discovery, in the late 1890s, of a sealed-up cave crammed with manuscripts, printed documents, and paintings on silk and paper attracted archeologists to Mogao. Thousands of the manuscripts stored in this cave, Cave 17 (the “library cave”) were obtained and carted away by the British-Hungarian explorer Marc Aurel Stein......the largest collections of Dunhuang manuscripts and printed documents, well over 40,000 in total, belong to the National Library of China and Beijing University Library, the British Library in London, Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, the Institute for Oriental Studies in St. Petersburg, and Ryūkoku University Library in Kyoto. ".....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dunhuang-1

Chinese Manichean text fragment: “Compendium of the teachings of Mani, the Buddha of Light” (Stein manuscript S 3969 in the British Library)....G. Haloun and W. B. Henning, “The Compendium of the Doctrines and Styles of the Teachings of Mani, the Buddha of Light,” Asia Major 3, 1952, pp. 184-212.

"The Mogao Caves or Mogao Grottoes (Chinese: 莫高窟; pinyin: Mògāo kū), also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas (Chinese: 千佛洞; pinyin: qiān fó dòng), form a system of 492 temples 25 km (16 mi) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China. The caves may also be known as the Dunhuang Caves.....During the Tang Dynasty, Dunhuang had became the main hub of commerce of the Silk Road and a major religious centre. A large number of the caves were constructed at Mogao during this era, including the two large statues of Buddha at the site......Large number of documents dating from 406 to 1002 CE were found in the cave, heaped up in closely packed layers of bundles of scrolls"....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogao_Caves

"Another theory posits that the items were from a monastic library and hidden due to threats from Muslims who were moving eastward. This theory proposes that that the monks of a nearby monastery heard about the fall of the Buddhist kingdom of Khotan to Karakhanids invaders from Kashgar in 1006 and the destruction it caused, so they sealed their library to avoid them being destroyed. The latest date recorded in the documents found in the cave is generally accepted to be 1002, and although other dates have been suggested, the cave was likely to have been sealed not long after that date."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogao_Caves

"Dating from the 4th to the early years of the 11th century, when the cave was sealed (cf. Rong, 1999-2000. pp. 272 ff.), the manuscripts found in the library cave preserve a great variety of religious, philosophical, and literary texts and economic, legal, and official documents as well as biographies, calendars, vocabularies, and documents on history, topography, medicine, mathematics, customs, and art. The majority of the texts are in Chinese and Tibetan, but a large number of texts are in other languages, such as Sanskrit, Khotanese, Sogdian, Tangut, and Old Turkish. The contents of the cave confirm the historical preponderance of Buddhism in the region but also reveal the presence here of other religions, in particular, Daoism, Nestorian Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Manicheism."......http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dunhuang-1

"In his famous letter to Émile Senart in Paris, dated 26 March 1908 and written at the site, Paul Pelliot reported on his most important finds in the library cave. Among these were two Chinese manuscripts of great importance to the study of Manicheism: a fragment (29 cols.) of a synopsis of the principles of Manicheism and the organization of the Manichean church and a section (chapter one) of the Daoist polemic Laozi huahu jing “Scripture on Laozi’s Transformation of the Barbarians,” in which Mani is depicted as an incarnation of Laozi (Pelliot, 1908, pp. 515-18). "......http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dunhuang-1

"At Dandan-Uiliq and Endere, Stein uncovered a number of paintings depicting both Buddhist and Hindu deities, including Ganesha, the popular elephant-headed Hindu god of wisdom. At the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, Stein documented an ancient silk painting depicting King Vaisravana, Buddhist god of Wealth and patron god of Khotan, moving on a cloud across the ocean with his divine hosts. At left, a demon attempts to shoot an arrow at Garuda, half-man half-bird, who flies to the safety of heaven. In Buddhist Khotan temples, depictions of a local rat-headed divinity were discovered that, as initially described by Hsüan-tsang, represented the story of how rats helped Khotan’s king repel a Hun invasion by destroying their horse harnesses.".....http://www.athenapub.com/9khotan1.htm

"Earliest references on "gShen rab mi bo" have appeared in Dunhuang documents. ...Among the old Tibetan sources, I will first look at some Tibetan documents preserved in Dunhuang caves. Those documents were only accessible until the early 11th century due to the closure of the caves either in 1002 AD15 or in 1035 AD.16 The documents became available again after their discovery in the beginning of the twentieth century. I assume that some fragments of these texts, or oral traditions that correspond to the documents preserved in Dunhuang, were probably available elsewhere and Bonpos may have had access to them. To the best of my knowledge, such hypothetical fragments and traditions are no longer in circulation today, apart from what has been preserved in Dunhuang sources and what may be reflected in some of our Shenrab narratives. Based on this assumption, I shall try to determine how the name of Shenrab’s father relates to the names found in the Dunhuang documents....for the name of Shenrab’s father, we find two separate names in the Dunhuang documents: Mi bon/ lha’i bon/ rgya bon brim tang and Thod dkar.".........SHENRAB’S ANCESTORS AND FAMILY MEMBERS: WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?......Kalsang Norbu Gurung.......http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ret/pdf/ret_22_01.pdf

Imaeda, Yoshiro [et al.]. Tibetan Documents From Dunhuang. Old Tibetan Documents Online Monograph Series Vol. I. Tokyo: Research Institute for Language and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 2007.

Rong Xinjiang. “The Nature of the Dunhuang Library Cave and the Reasons for its Sealing.” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 11, 2000.

Stein, Rolf A. “The indigenous religion and the bon-po in the Dunhuang manuscripts.” In The History of Tibet, Volume I, Alex Mckay (ed.). Translated into English from French by Peter Richardus. London & New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2003.

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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Rawak Stupa & Ancient Khotan (8th C. AD)

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Rawak Stupa is a Buddhist stupa located on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert in China, along the famous trade route known as the Silk Road in the first millennium Kingdom of Khotan.

Aurel Stein first visited Rawak during his First Central Asian expedition in April 1901. At the site he found the large stupa which he described as 'by far the most imposing structure I had seen among the extant ruins of the Khotan region.' Part of the stupa, and almost all of the rest of the site, was covered by sand dunes, in places rising to about 25 ft. In places where the sand left the walls and structures uncovered, he found fragments of coloured stucco from the statues lying in the sand. His excavations over the following eight days uncovered 91 large stucco statues of buddhas and bodhisattvas, with smaller ones in between of attendant gods

"In his book Heart of Asia Roerich adds.....Not far from Khotan are many ruins of old Buddhist temples and stupas. One of these stupas is identified with the legend: That in the time of Shambhala, a mysterious light wll shine from it. It is said this light has already been seen."

"Khotan’s success, which was interdependent upon the strength of the Chinese Empire, the success of the Silk Road, and the proliferation of Buddhism, suffered great losses when all three began to decline. In the 10th century AD, the region witnessed the weakening of the T’ang dynasty in the East and invasions by Arabs in the West, who brought Islam to the area at the expense of Buddhist practices and art. Henceforth, while east-west trade continued, the once-flourishing Buddhist shrines were destroyed or replaced by those of Islamic culture. The ensuing instability as well as the rise of the Silk Sea Route caused traffic on the Silk Road to decline."......http://www.athenapub.com/9khotan1.htm

"The Dunhuang Caves......the monks of a nearby monastery heard about the fall of the Buddhist kingdom of Khotan to Karakhanids invaders from Kashgar in 1006 and the destruction it caused, so they sealed their library to avoid them being destroyed. The latest date recorded in the documents found in the cave is generally accepted to be 1002, and although other dates have been suggested, the cave was likely to have been sealed not long after that date."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogao_Caves

Portrait of a king of Khotan, Dunhuang Mogao Caves, 10th century

"During the reign of Ahmad b. Ali, the Karakhanids engaged in wars against the non-Muslims to the east and northeast. In 1006, Yusuf Kadr Khan of Kashgar conquered the Kingdom of Khotan.".......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara-Khanid_Khanate

"According to legend, the foundation of Khotan occurred when Kushtana, said to be a son of Asoka, the Mauryan emperor, settled in Khotan about 224 BCE....Ashoka Maurya (304–232 BC) commonly known as Ashoka and also as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BCE to 232 BCE.....Ashoka is referred to as Samraat Chakravartin Ashoka – the "Emperor of Emperors Ashoka." ....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka

"The Shambhala teachings are transmitted through a lineage of seven great religious kings, and twenty-five kulika kings, or enlightened monarchs ( chakravartin)"......The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols

"When Marco Polo passed through Turkestan in 1271 (fig.3) on his way to the court of Kublai Khan at Khanbalik (Beijing), he reported that Khotan - by then, long converted to Islam - still remained prosperous:.....Khotan is a province 8 days journey in width, subject to the Great Khan. The inhabitants all worship Mahomet. It has cities and towns in plenty, of which the most splendid, and the capital of the kingdom, bears the same name as the province, Khotan. It is amply stocked with the means of life. Cotton grows there in plenty. It has vineyards, estates, and orchards in plenty. The people live by trade and industry; they are not at all warlike.” [Marco Polo, Travels, chap. 33].

".....by the time of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1386-1644), the rivers that fed the basin had shifted or dried up. Concurrently, the Ming Emperors’ policy of isolationism drastically reduced the importance of the Silk Road. As a result, these ancient cities were abandoned to the desert elements, and buried by sand.".....http://www.athenapub.com/9khotan1.htm

"....While recovering at the nearby bazaar town of Khotan, Hedin learned of lost cities along abandoned riverbeds whose wooden house beams stuck out through desert sands, and of artifacts collected by local people. Within a few months he had visited several sites at Khotan and Niya, making limited excavations at houses and temples. Recognizing the significance of the finds which included Buddhist- and Gandharan-influenced carvings, paintings, and texts, well-preserved in the dry climate, Hedin reported them in both scientific and general publications..... Ruins of Niya house XXVI excavated by Stein. Fantastic animal effigies including winged beasts with crocodile heads are carved on wood panels (Stein 1912).".....http://www.athenapub.com/9khotan1.htm

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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King Gheysar: Keyumars, Gayomart, Gar-shāh

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"Firdausī's great epic poem, the Shāhnāma, begins with the story of Keyumars. He was the first king to arise among humans, who at that time lived in mountain caves and wore the skins of leopards. God (Ahura Mazda) granted him the supernatural radiance called farr (Avestan xvarənah), reserved to kings......

"The word Shah..... derives from the Old Iranian, Avestan xšaΘra, "power" and "command", corresponding to Sanskrit (Ancient Indian) kshatriya, "warrior". The full, Old Persian title of the Achaemenid rulers of the First Persian Empire was XšāyaΘiya XšāyaΘiyānām, "King of Kings"."......Satrap, the term in Western languages for a governor of a Persian province, is a distortion of xšaθrapāvan, literally "guardian of the realm", which derives from the word xšaθra, an Old Persian word meaning "realm, province" and related etymologically to shah."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah

Keyumars......Kiumars, Gayō Marətan, (Gayōmard or Gayōmart in later Zoroastrian texts) is the Avestan name of the mythological first Man in Old Iranian culture. The corresponding name in Middle Persian is Kayōmart....Modern Persian Keyumars....In Ferdowsi's Shahnameh he appears as the first shāh of the world. He is also called the pishdād (پيشداد) thus the first man who practiced justice, the lawgiver.....The original Avestan name translates to "mortal life", from gaya "life" and marətan "mortal" (or "human"; cf. Persian mard مَرد "man"). The name literally means "The mortal alive being".

"In the eighth book of Denkard, a reference is made to the Chethrdāt-nask which was one of the 21 Nasks of the Avesta. Apparently this part of Avesta dealt with how the world and mankind were created, including the creation of Gayōmart. .....Gayōmart Gar-shāh (King of the Mountains) was the first human Uhrmazd created. Before Gayōmart came, in the fifth 'Gāh' (Ahura Mazda created the world in six Gāhs) Gavevagdāt was created from mud in Erān-vēdj(which was the middle of the earth) on the right side of the river 'Veh-Dāit' ... In the sixth 'Gāh' Gayōmart was created from mud ... on the left side of 'Veh-Dāit', to help Uhrmazd and he was created as a 15 year old boy. ".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyumars

GAYŌMART (Gayūmarṯ, Kayūmarṯ; Mid. Pers. Gayōmart/d, Av. gaya marətan “mortal life,” Man. Gehmurd; Ar. Jayūmart), the sixth of the heptad in Mazdean myth of creation, the protoplast of man, and the first king in Iranian mythical history. The particulars of Gayōmart’s life and death are given somehow differently in Middle Persian books.....In the Bundahišn..... he was created in Ērān-wēz (q.v.), in the middle of the world, on the left bank of the river Good Dāitī (see DAĪTYĀ)."....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gayomart-

DĀITYĀ, (VAŊHVĪ) (lit., “the (good) Dāityā”; Mid. Pers. Weh Dāitī),.....river connected with the religious law, frequently identified in scholarly literature with the Oxus.....According to the Avesta, the Dāityā river was to be venerated (Yt. 1.21). On its banks Zairi.vari offered a sacrifice to Anāhitā (Yt. 5.112; see anāhīd) and Vīštāspa to both Anāhitā (Yt. 9.29) and Aši (q.v.; Yt. 17.61). Zoroaster himself honored “the good waters of the good Dāityā” (Vd. 19.2). ....http://www.iranicaonline.org

"Gayō Marətan (or Gayōmard or Gayōmart in later Zoroastrian texts) is the Avestan name of the mythological first Man in Old Iranian culture. The corresponding name in Middle Persian is Kayōmart > Modern Persian Keyumars ."......http://en.inforapid.org/index.php?search=Keyumars

Gar-shāh: Avesta: King of the Mountains
Qeysar (Persian: قیصر‎, "Caesar"), also written as Gheisar, Kaiser and Gheysar, Ghaysar,
Old English: cāsere
Czech: Císař
Russian: Czar
Arabic: Qaysar
Hebrew: Keisár
Persian: Ghaysar قيصر
German: Kaiser

743 AD...."....the supremacy of the Umayyad caliph al-Mahdi and the true conquest of Kabul did not take place until the end of the ninth century. ......An important recent discovery has provided a surprising insight into the events of this epoch. On the coins of some Arab governors, a Bactrian text overstruck on the rim has been discovered...... The reading of the text is as follows: (ppofio Kijaapo fiayo xoaSr/o klSo /So xaz iicavo /opyo o<5o crao /3o oa/3ayo aro i /xo /Jo yaivSo ( Fromo Kesaro, the Majestic Sovereign [is] who defeated the Arabs and laid a tax [on them]. Thus they sent it.)...... These coins formed part of the tax paid by the Arabs to Fromo Kesaro and were over- struck with a legend telling of his victory over them. Obviously, this event occurred during the reign of Fromo Kesaro (739-746) and may have contributed to his transformation in later historical tradition 44 into the Tibetan national hero Phrom Ge-sar, whose figure still survives today in the folklore of the territory of ancient Gandhara."...... HistoryOfCivilizationsOfCentralAsia

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….June 2013

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