Monday, April 29, 2013

Shambhala Arts: Sgra (Sound), Bija, & Melody

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"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)...

A kylix depicting the god Apollo pouring a libation and holding an early version of the lyre (chelys) which was made from the shell of a tortoise......Delphi, 480-470 BCE, (Delphi Archaeological Museum).

tibetan terms: sgra (sound)[sgralha]

"In Hinduism and Buddhism, the Sanskrit term बीज bīja (Jp. 種子 shuji), literally seed, is used as a metaphor for the origin or cause of things and cognate with bindu.....In Vajrayana Buddhism and Hinduism, the term bīja is used for mystical "seed syllables" contained within mantras. These seeds do not have precise meanings, but are thought to carry connections to spiritual principles. The best-known bīja syllable is Om, first found in the Hindu scriptures the Upanishads".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bija

"In Tibetan Buddhism the seed syllables corresponding to the Three Vajras are: a white oṃ (enlightened body), a red āḥ (enlightened speech) and a blue hūṃ (enlightened mind)....In the Bön tradition: a white āḥ, a red oṃ and a blue hūṃ.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bija

According to the system of the lho-gter (Southern Treasure) the Nine Ways of Bon:....7. A-kar thegpa (A-dkar theg-pa), the Way of the White Ah.....

"Everything that arises as manifest phenomena, consisting of sounds, lights, and rays (sgra 'od zer gsum), whether as pure vision or as impure karmic vision, is part of one's own potentiality (rang rtsal), the manifesting of the energy of one's intrinsic Awareness (rig-pa'i rtsal) in external space (phyi dbyings). ".....John Myrdhin Reynolds....'The Golden Letters'....Page 157

"The word music comes from the Muses, the daughters of Zeus and patron goddesses of creative and intellectual endeavours....Pythagoras and his school, who laid the foundations of our knowledge of the study of harmonics—how strings and columns of air vibrate, how they produce overtones, how the overtones are related arithmetically to one another.....Plato: a complex system of relating certain emotional and spiritual characteristics to certain modes (scales). The names for the various modes derived from the names of Greek tribes and peoples, the temperament and emotions of which were said to be characterized by the unique sound of each mode. Thus, Dorian modes were "harsh", Phrygian modes "sensual", and so forth.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_ancient_Greece

"Some suggest that the origin of music likely stems from naturally occurring sounds and rhythms. Human music may echo these phenomena using patterns, repetition and tonality. Even today, some cultures have certain instances of their music intending to imitate natural sounds. In some instances, this feature is related to shamanistic beliefs or practice."....Hoppál, Mihály (2006). "Music of Shamanic Healing".

"melody (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. It also is an exponential succession of musical tones perceived as two entities. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term can include successions of other musical elements such as tone color.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody

"The Music of Gurdjieff ......… Georgi Ivanovich put always a great weight on music. He himself played and he also composed. If we compare it with the music of all the religions, we can see that music plays a great role, a great part, in so to say, religious service. But after the work of Georgi Ivanovich, we can understand it more, we can understand it better, that music helps to concentrate oneself, to bring oneself to an inner state when we can assume the greatest possible emanations. That is why music is just the thing which helps you to see higher. In this regard, I will just play."…Thomas de Hartmann....http://www.gurdjieff.org/triangle.htm

TAOS INDIAN DRUM, 1ST HALF 20TH CENTURY

"The drum is a powerful instrument. Indigenous people refer to it as the heartbeat of Mother Earth. It is used in many spiritual and sacred ceremonial practices. Some say the beat of the drum has the power to change natural elements, including the weather. It is believed to have the power to heal sickness, and some believe it has the power to send messages both to the animal world and to the spirit world.....The drum is broadly considered to be the first musical instrument used by humans. Historians and music ethnologists alike point out that the drum has been utilized by virtually every culture known to mankind for a multitude of purposes. In ancient times, the earliest drums were used for religious rituals, social dances, sporting events, feasts, special ceremonies, in preparation for hunting, and as a prelude to war. However, it is virtually a universally held belief that the original purpose of the drum was to communicate.....Drums made with alligator skins have been found in Neolithic cultures located in China, dating to a period of 5500–2350 BC. In literary records, drums manifested shamanistic characteristics and were often used in ritual ceremonies."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum

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

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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Shambhala Arts: Sacred Dance & Magical Movement

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DANCE...."If there is no aggression, that brings joy, openness, dance!"..(Trungpa: 1996..pg 52)...

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....."

DANCE..."These (Shangshung) incantations are thought to develop spiritual power, especially in the form of a dance. There were some visualizations...meant to be combined with the incantation and dance practice." (Trungpa...1978)

"Lasya is the bodhisattva of dance, she is more performer than dancer, the offering goddess who displays the beauty and dignity of the body." (Trungpa: 1975..pg 18)...

"The term Lasya, in the context of Hindu mythology, describes the dance performed by Goddess Parvathi as it expresses happiness and is filled with grace and beauty. She is believed to have danced the Lasya in response to the male energy of the cosmic dance of Tandava performed by Lord Shiva. In a literal sense, Lasya means beauty, happiness and grace....The Indian classical music terminology talam has been etymologically derived from the union of the dances of both Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati (Tandavam and Lasyam). The expression of happiness and joy in dance is also termed as Lasyam......".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasya

"Gurdjieff's work with the music of circles and the state reached in dance was very closely connected with his knowledge of the Wheel of Time. If done correctly, the Wheel of Time will begin to spin, and the dancer's body becomes the instrument leading to the sacred gates of Hurqalya, which is the Sufi name for Shambhala." (Kharatidi: 1996..pg 218)...

'While performing the ecstatic dance, the Pawo rings the bell (dril bu) with the left hand and brandishes the drum (rNga chung) in the right." (Nebesky: 1952..pg 151)...

"The tamarisk walls were lined with hundreds of people. With mincing steps, the Tibetan girls would walk to the center of the hall and when the music (wooden drums and fantastic fiddles) started, she would begin to dance, using both skill and charm, and with an exaggerated coyness, sing a love song into the white cuff of her long sleeve....he was able to rise and dance before her in the difficult, stilted and dignified classical Tibetan style." (Clark: 1954...pg 98)....

"a Mongol dancer danced the legendary 'Flying Crane Dance' and another the 'Nomad Dance'" (Clark: 1954..pg 334)...

"they made many offerings of song and dance. They performed the great Kagyu folk dance."..

"Tsa lung Trul khor (lit. "magical movement instrument, channels and inner breath currents") known for brevity as Trul khor (lit. "magical instrument" or "magic circle;" Sanskrit: adhisāra) is a Himalayan tantric discipline which includes breathwork (or pranayama), meditative contemplation (or dhyana) and precise dynamic movements (or Body work) to centre the practitioner and to engender the body-mind precision of a keened instrument. "Lung" or "Tsa lung" is the Tibetan term for Qi and Prana (spiritual energy).".....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trul_khor

"Dances of the Rio Grande Pueblos......The dance is a part of a long ceremony, which may include visits to secret shrines in the mountains, days of secret ritual in the kivas or in the society rooms, and the public finale in the dance. Even the dance may be secret; probably the most important dances always are. In that case they are performed in bidden places or in the plaza, which is then protected from intruders by guards posted along all roads. In a few places, as at Cochiti and at Jemez, white people are permitted to witness certain dances in the kivas. Dancers usually fast for four days before the dance....During this time the society altar is built, costumes for the dance are made or refreshed, prayers are chanted, and prayer-plumes are made ceremonially. Prayer-plumes are small sticks, painted and decorated with feathers, often laid on with a skill which a milliner might envy."...Dancing Gods, by Erna Fergusson, [1931]....http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/sw/dg/dg04.htm

The third warrior, arose wearing a white gown and holding in his right hand a golden mace. He spun, dancing. When he spun to the right it was like a tiger stalking, when he turned to the left it was like a snow lion shaking his turquoise mane. He danced to the pinnacle of the sky and to the depths below the earth. In his dance he created; first the dry land of the world, then water - - the nectar which banishes death, then fire - - the heat of the cosmos, then wind - - the movement of emptiness.

He never walked but he leapt, his running was like a charge. Without a trumpeter, the winding of the trumpet was heard; without a drummer, there was a rolling of drums. On the solid earth he danced whirling. Whirling right he performed the dance of the primordial sage; whirling left he did the dance of the wrathful goddess. Then he danced in the movement of the nine steps of the jackal. He moved across the sea of clouds like fine otter dashing after fish.

In his right hand he held a flame which illuminated the threefold world, in his left a watercrystal mirror, and he danced on a throne of light. He radiated bright white rays, scarlet fire and magnificent flashes of light and flew like a violent eagle chasing its prey into the depths of fathomless space, as though the profound wisdom of inner and outer space were one creation - - thus he flew. He created the sun, a ball of firecrystal shooting out tongues of flame, powerfully dispelling darkness, its heat banishing cold, its creativity bring forth vegetation on the earth. Then he created the moon out of watercrystal as an expression of love. Its cooling rays quiet the mind. Then he created the stars, some blue and beautiful, some white and clear, some red and outstanding, some green and sending out rays. They were like diamonds inlaid on a blue sapphire. Then the other warriors gathered around him and sang a song of praise, showering him with flowers. They circumambulated him right and left.

The warrior danced in the eight directions. He created God's tree, the cedar; then the people's tree, the rhododendron; then the tree of the sea-gods, the tamarisk; then the tree of the fierce gods, the neem; then the demon's tree, the pines. And thus he created all the trees, so that in some places there were beautiful smells of God's trees, in others the beautiful flowers of the peoples tree, in others the beauties of the tree of the sea-gods, and in others the powerful shade of the demon's trees. Some trees expanded their roots; others expressed beauty in their branches, creating shade with their leaves; some trees became tall and impressive to look upon from a distance; some twisted and bent as if dancing.

She looked forward and saw the unceasing play of luminosity. She looked down and saw the spontaneous display of the fascinating world and the mirage of existing non-existence. She saw the nature of this as a magical play of appearances. Her lips were like flower petals, slightly smiling; her eyes shone like pearls, gazing peacefully. She sang a song of the cosmic Ah, high pitched but melodic. She was bedizened with jewels, and over the jewels, silk cloth bearing designs of golden rings. Her hair was wound up with a primordial flower. Without a payer a flute was heard - - the whistling music of the air. She moved gently like a bamboo grove stirred by gentle breezes.

The divine white horse, having long ears, was uplifted. HIs forehead, of great fortune and authentic presence, was broad and expansive like the dancing ground of the warriors.

gar gyi cho ga: dance ritual....
gar gyis rol pa: sensuous dance...
gar ma: goddess of dance...
glu gar: song and dance...
rdo rje"i gar rgya: vajra dance and mudra...
dhyangs 'cham: dance performed to a chanted melody....
shigs se shig: to sway and whirl in dance...
khrab mkhan: one who wears armor, dancer...

"Gurdjieff movements......Movements, or sacred dances, constitute an integral part of the Gurdjieff Work. Gurdjieff sometimes referred to himself as a "teacher of dancing" and gained initial public notice for his attempts to put on a ballet in Moscow called Struggle of the Magicians......Films of movements demonstrations are occasionally shown for private viewing by the Gurdjieff Foundations and one is shown in a scene in the Peter Brook movie Meetings with Remarkable Men."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gurdjieff

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

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Saturday, April 27, 2013

DNA: Central Asia & Indigenous American Migration (15,000 BC)

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"New Mexico DNA Project......Aguilar - Q: Native-American origin. The Q lineage is the lineage that links Asia and the Americas. This lineage is found in North and Central Asian populations as well as native Americans. This lineage is believed to have originated in Central Asia and migrated through the Altai/Baikal region of northern Eurasia into the Americas."....http://www.familytreedna.com/public/newmexicodna/default.aspx?section=results

Click on the map to enlarge

"Haplogroup Q-M242.....Possible time of origin 17,000 to 22,000 years ago.....Possible place of origin Central Asia......In human population genetics, haplogroups define the major lineages of direct paternal (male) lines back to a shared common ancestor in Africa. Haplogroup Q-M242 is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup......Several branches of haplogroup Q-M242 are part of the pre-Columbian male lineages in the predominant Y-chromosome haplogroup in indigenous peoples of the Americas. They were part of groups who migrated from Asia into the Americas by crossing the Bering Strait......Starting the Paleo-Indians period, a migration to the Americas across the Bering Strait (Beringia), between 45,000 BCE–12,000 BCE (47,000 – 14,000 years ago).....by a small population carrying the Q-M242 mutation took place....."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo-Indians

Click on the map to enlarge

Aragon - Q1a3a: Native-American origin. This lineage is strictly associated with Native-American populations. This haplogroup is defined by the presence of the M3 mutation (also known as SY103). This mutation occurred on the Q lineage 8-12 thousand years ago as the migration into the Americas was underway. There is some debate as to on which side of the Bering Strait this mutation occurred, but it definitely happened in the ancestors of the Native-American peoples....http://www.familytreedna.com/public/newmexicodna/default.aspx?section=results

"Regarding the Asian ancestry of American Indians, the high frequency and haplotype diversity of haplogroup P-M45* in southern/central Siberia has led to the proposal of this region as the region of origin for the initial male migration to the Americas (Karafet et al. 1999; Santos et al. 1999; Lell et al. 2002). Consistent with this scenario, the limited microsatellite data available show that Q-M242 chromosomes related to haplotype 13-12-24-10-14-13 (in which the M3 mutation presumably occurred; are found in central Asia, including Mongolia, and in the Tuvan population (Seielstad et al. 2003)."......http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1180678/

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

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Canyon de Chelly & Kokyangwuti: Spider Woman

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Canyon de Chelly is located in northeastern Arizona within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. Reflecting one of the longest continuously inhabited landscapes of North America, it preserves ruins of the early indigenous tribes that lived in the area, including the Ancient Pueblo Peoples (also called Anasazi) and Navajo.......The name chelly (or Chelley) is a Spanish borrowing of the Navajo word Tséyiʼ, which means "canyon" (literally "inside the rock").

Navajo Serape with Spider Woman Hole......Woven by Lucie Marianito... "Many a Navajo grandmother will tell you that crosses represent Spider Woman. The symbol of Spider Woman was given to the earliest weavers to remember her teachings and wisdom. For some weavers, placing the symbol of Spider Woman (crosses) within a graphic form of a diamond, triangle or square was risky business. Spider Woman was not of this world and her spirit should not be entrapped within the form. Therefore in some Navajo weavings, the cross will have an actual hole or sometimes a graphic hole in the cross.".....http://www.canyonroadarts.com

Canyon de Chelly is entirely owned by the Navajo Tribal Trust of the Navajo Nation. It is the only National Park Service unit that is owned and cooperatively managed in this manner. Approximately 40 Navajo families live in the park in a traditional manner. Access to the canyon is restricted, and visitors are allowed to travel in the canyons only when accompanied by an authorized Navajo guide.

"The earth has a lot of facets, a lot of gods and warrior gods are still present. They can still be invoked. The deities and worship sites of the Native Americans have always been kept secret. Even with the complete desecration of America these Gods have not been destroyed. We can still visit these sacred sites and perform the appropriate ceremonies, just appreciating what is natural...Naturalism."

" Spider Rock can be seen from South Rim Drive. According to traditional beliefs the taller of the two spires is the home of Spider Woman, creator of the world in Southwestern Native American religions and myths such as that of the Hopi, Pueblo and Navajo peoples. According to mythology, she was responsible for the stars in the sky, she took a web she had spun, laced it with dew, threw it into the sky and the dew became the stars....Spider Woman taught ancient people how to weave the fibers of plants so they would not have to depend on animal skins for clothing......

Spider Woman is also known as the Earth Goddess, by the name of Kokyangwuti.....A creator-goddess of the Hopi. Daughter of Sotuknang.....Kokyangwuti, Hahai Wugti, Hahai Wugti, Hahaiwugti, Naste Estsan, Spider-woman, Spider Woman, Kokyangwuti, Kookyangwso'wuuti, Kookyangw Wuuti, Kokyangwuti, Kohkang Wuhti, Kóhk'ang Wuhti, Kohkangwuhti....Spider Grandmother is the special benefactor of the Hopi tribe. In the Hopi creation myths, Spider Grandmother created humans from clay (with the assistance of Sotuknang and/or Tawa), and was also responsible for leading them to the Fourth World (the present Earth.)

"Spider Woman instructed the Navajo women how to weave on a loom which Spider Man told them how to make. The crosspoles were made of sky and earth cords, the warp sticks of sun rays, the healds of rock crystal and sheet lightning. The batten was a sun halo, white shell made the comb. There were four spindles: one a stick of zigzag lightning with a whorl of cannel coal; one a stick of flash lightning with a whorl of turquoise; a third had a stick of sheet lightning with a whorl of abalone; a rain streamer formed the stick of the fourth, and its whorl was white shell....Spider Woman makes human arteries, and is thus considered to be a medicine woman. Her spiritual power, as seen in her silken web, joins the realms of Earth and Sky.".....http://www.twinrocks.com/legends/58-spider-woman.html

"Spider Woman, in some Navajo legends, is a Kisani (Pueblo) woman who was taught the craft by a spider. In acknowledgement of their debt to Spider Woman, one of the Holy People of Navajo mythology, Navajo weavers always left a hole in the center of each blanket, like that of a spider's web, until the traders in the early part of this century refused to buy such blankets. Most Navajo weavers still acknowledge the debt by leaving a "spirit outlet" in the design. The spirit outlet usually takes the form of a thin line made from the center of the blanket to the edge,".....Pg. 34.....The Book of the Navajo; 1976, Raymond Friday Locke.

"The Navajo weaver’s pathway, or the ch’ihónít’i, a purposeful line woven into many Navajo textiles. Pathways, also called spiritlines, contain layers of significance and meaning in contemporary Navajo life."...https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/mar/article/view/1033/2037

"Tantra (Devanagari: तन्त्र): a weaving, a loom, a wyrd of warp and weft, web, net[work], matrice, matrix, matri*[arch] (continuum, mindstream)..."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverberation_of_Sound

" The world at first was endless space in which existed only the Creator, Taiowa. This world had no time, no shape, and no life, except in the mind of the Creator. Eventually the infinite creator created the finite in Sotuknang, whom he called his nephew and whom he created as his agent to establish nine universes. Sotuknang gathered together matter from the endless space to make the nine solid worlds. Then the Creator instructed him to gather together the waters from the endless space and place them on these worlds to make land and sea. When Sotuknang had done that, the Creator instructed him to gather together air to make winds and breezes on these worlds......The fourth act of creation with which the Creator charged Sotuknang was the creation of life. Sotuknang went to the world that was to first host life and there he created Spider Woman, and he gave her the power to create life. First Spider Woman took some earth and mixed it with saliva to make two beings. Over them she sang the Creation Song, and they came to life. She instructed one of them, Poqanghoya, to go across the earth and solidify it. She instructed the other, Palongawhoya, to send out sound to resonate through the earth, so that the earth vibrated with the energy of the Creator. Poqanghoya and Palongawhoya were despatched to the poles of the earth to keep it rotating.....Then Spider Woman made all the plants, the flowers, the bushes, and the trees. Likewise she made the birds and animals, again using earth and singing the Creation Song. When all this was done, she made human beings, using yellow, red, white, and black earth mixed with her saliva. Singing the Creation Song, she made four men, and then in her own form she made four women. At first they had a soft spot in their foreheads, and although it solidified, it left a space through which they could hear the voice of Sotuknang and their Creator. Because these people could not speak, Spider Woman called on Sotuknang, who gave them four languages. His only instructions were for them to respect their Creator and to live in harmony with him.".....http://www.gly.uga.edu/

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

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Ziggurats & Calahs (kälä) of Central Asia

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"An example of a simple ziggurat is the White Temple of Uruk, in ancient Sumer. The ziggurat itself is the base on which the White Temple is set. Its purpose is to get the temple closer to the heavens.....The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. In fact, the ziggurat at Babylon was known as Etemenankia or "House of the Platform between Heaven and Earth".....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggurat

"Chogha Zanbil (Persian: چغازنبيل‎); Elamite: Dur Untash) is an ancient Elamite complex in the Khuzestan province of Iran. ......Choga Zambil means 'basket mound.' It was built about 1250 BC by the king Untash-Napirisha, mainly to honor the great god Inshushinak. Its original name was Dur Untash, which means 'town of Untash', but it is unlikely that many people, besides priests and servants, ever lived there. The complex is protected by three concentric walls which define the main areas of the 'town'. The inner area is wholly taken up with a great ziggurat dedicated to the main god, which was built over an earlier square temple with storage rooms also built by Untash-Napirisha. The middle area holds eleven temples for lesser gods. It is believed that twenty-two temples were originally planned, but the king died before they could be finished, and his successors discontinued the building work"......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chogha_Zanbil

"Koi Krylgan Kala (Russian: Кой-Крылган-Кала; Uzbek:??) is an archaeological site, located outside the village of Taza-Kel'timinar in the Ellikqal'a District in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. In ancient times it was sited along a canal in the Oxus delta region. There is some relationship between and Koi Krylgan Kala and Toprak Kala, 30 km to the northwest. It is a temple complex of the Chorasmian Dynasty, an Iranian people who ruled the area of Khwarezm. It was built c. 400 BCE. The Apa-Saka tribe destroyed it c. 200 BCE, but later it was rebuilt into a settlement, which lasted until c. 400 CE. It was discovered in 1938 by Sergey Pavlovitch Tolstov, leader of the Chorasmian Archaeological-Ethnological Expedition. It contained a Mazdian fire temple, and was decorated with frescos of wine consumption.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koi_Krylgan_Kala

" In the 5th century BC, Herodotus wrote of Ecbatana:.....The Medes built the city now called Ecbatana, the walls of which are of great size and strength, rising in circles one within the other. The plan of the place is, that each of the walls should out-top the one beyond it by the battlements. The nature of the ground, which is a gentle hill, favors this arrangements in some degree but it is mainly effected by art. The number of the circles is seven, the royal palace and the treasuries standing within the last. The circuit of the outer wall is very nearly the same with that of Athens. On this wall the battlements are white, of the next black, of the third scarlet, of the fourth blue, the fifth orange; all these colors with paint. The last two have their battlements coated respectively with silver and gold. All these fortifications Deioces had caused to be raised for himself and his own palace."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecbatana

"In an earlier study devoted to the development of the stupa in relation to Borobudur (Stutterheim, 1929b:21— 27), he described the prototype Gandhara stupa as a fusion of the Indian stupa and the Babylonian ziggurat." ....http://books.google.com/books?id=7cd2Ha7fT90C&pg=PA8&dq=stupa+ziggurat&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wIZ2Uf75OIa9qQGz2YCoCQ&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=stupa%20ziggurat&f=false

"The axis mundi (also cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, columna cerului, center of the world), in religion or mythology, is the world center or the connection between Heaven and Earth.....High mountains are typically regarded as sacred by peoples living near them. Shrines are often erected at the summit or base. Japan's highest mountain, Mount Fuji, has long symbolized the world axis in Japanese culture. Mount Kun-Lun fills a similar role in China. For the ancient Hebrews Mount Zion expressed the symbol.Sioux beliefs take the Black Hills as the axis mundi. Mount Kailash is holy to Hinduism and several religions in Tibet. The Pitjantjatjara people in central Australia consider Uluru to be central to both their world and culture. In ancient Mesopotamia the cultures of ancient Sumer and Babylon erected artificial mountains, or ziggurats, on the flat river plain. These supported staircases leading to temples at the top. The Hindu temples in India are often situated on high mountains. E.g. Amarnath, Tirupati, Vaishno Devi etc. The pre-Columbian residents of Teotihuacán in Mexico erected huge pyramids featuring staircases leading to heaven. Jacob's Ladder is an axis mundi image, as is the Temple Mount. For Christians the Cross on Mount Calvary expresses the symbol. The Middle Kingdom, China, had a central mountain, Kun-Lun, known in Taoist literature as "the mountain at the middle of the world." .....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_mundi

"The Ubaid period (ca. 6500 to 3800 BC] is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The tell mound of al-`Ubaid (Arabic: العبيد‎) west of nearby Ur in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate has given its name to the prehistoric Pottery Neolithic to Chalcolithic culture, which represents the earliest settlement on the alluvial plain of southern Mesopotamia."....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubaid_period

Kurgans...."The Scythian-Saka-Sibirian kurgans in the Early Iron Age are notable for their grandiose mounds throughout the Eurasian continent. The base diameters of the kurgans reach 500 m in Siberia (Great Salbyk kurgan of the settled Tagar culture); in neighboring China they reach 5000 m (kurgan of the first emperor of China in the 3rd century BC near Sian) (Mason, 1997: 71). Kurgans could be extremely tall: the Great Salbyk kurgan is 22 – 27 m (the height of a 7-story building); the kurgan of the Chinese emperor is over 100 m. The presence of such structures in Siberia testifies to a high standard of living and a developed construction culture of the nomads."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurgan

"Ca·lah (kl) also Ka·lakh (kälä).....An ancient city of Assyria on the Tigris River south of present-day Mosul, Iraq. It was probably built in the 13th century b.c......Calah, also spelled Kalhu, or Kalakh, modern Nimrūd, ancient Assyrian city situated south of Mosul in northern Iraq. ...In the 7th century bc, Calah declined in importance because the Sargonids tended to use Nineveh as their residence; nonetheless it continued to be extensively occupied until the fall of Nineveh in 612 bc."

"A castle (from Latin: castellum) is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified."

"Berkut-Kala ......ruins of a fortress from the sixth to eighth century on the right bank of the Amu Darya (the territory of the Turtkul’ Raion of the Kara-Kalpak ASSR)......Geocode for Razvaliny Kreposti Berkut-Kala, Uzbekistan: Latitude: 41.783333 / Longitude: 61.083333......

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

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Bhojakas (600 AD) & Śākadvīpīya Acharyas

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"The Bhojakas, who followed centuries later (600–700 C.E.), believed that they emanated from the body of their sun god. They also proclaimed themselves to be the descendants of Zarathustra. In India they created a mixed solar religion from the doctrines of the Avesta (the teachings of Zarathustra) and Mahayana Buddhism. From the Buddhists they adopted fasting and the prohibitions on cultivating fields and trade. In return, they influenced Buddhism primarily with their visions of light. Their “photisms” are said to have especially helped shape the shining figure of the Buddha Amitabha. Since they placed the time god, Zurvan, at the center of their cult, it could also be they who anticipated the essential doctrines of the Kalachakra Tantra.....Like the Kalachakra deity we have described, the Iranian Zurvan carries the entire universe in his mystic body: the sun, moon, and stars. The various divisions of time such as hours, days, and months dwell in him as personified beings. He is the ruler of eternal and of historical time. White light and the colors of the rainbow burst out of him. His worshippers pray to him as “father-mother”. Sometimes he is portrayed as having four heads like the Buddhist time god. He governs as the “father of fire” or as the “victory fire”. Through him, fire and time are equated. He is also cyclical time, in which the world is swallowed by flames so as to arise anew."....http://www.american-buddha.com/aggres.myth.htm

"Maga is the term applied to Zoroastrian/Mazdayasti priests. Balkh in Bactria (Afghanistan) was a major center of Zoroastrianism. Śākadvīp corresponds to regions of Afghanistan beyond the Hindukush mountains......The 8 Mandaga kulas were married to Śaka (Saka, who were eastern Scythians, distinct from African Shaka) and their descendants were not called Mandaga, and were considered to be Śūdras.....served as the priests of the Sun god (Surya, Mitra in Sanskrit, Mithra in Avestan). Sanskrit word mihir is related to Sun and one Śākadvīpī gotra name is mihirāsu, which points to Persian connections (Mihr in Persian). The Iranian Surya (sun god) wearing a long coat with a sacred girdle and knee-high boots was worshipped by Indian kings. He had a special name Mundira svami and the word Mundira is found in ancient Iranian texts from Khotan. The Sun Temple of Modhera in Gujarat and Munirka village in Delhi remind of the name Mundira. The Sun God at Konark Sun Temple, Konark, Orissa is famous in his Iranian drapery and boots. The royal priests of this royal surya were of Iranian descent like Sakadvipiya Brahmanas.....

"Shudra is the fourth varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, one of the sacred texts of Hinduism. This text defines society as comprising four groups, sometimes also called chaturvarna, of which the other three are Brahmins (priests), Kshatriya (those with governing functions) and Vaishya (agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders). According to this ancient text, the Shudra perform functions of serving the other three varna."

"The Śākadvīpīya Brahman community of India identify themselves as having Iranian roots......Śākadvīpīya Brahmans or Bhojaka Brahmans, is a class of Hindu priests and Ayurveda teachers (acharyas) and practitioners,with significant concentrations of their populations occurring in Western and Northern India. Spelling variants of "Śākadvīpīya" include Shakdvipi, Shakdwipi, Shakdweepi, Shakdvipiya, Shakdwipiya, Shakdweepiya, Shakadwipi, Śākadvīpīya, and Sakadwipi. The Śākadvīpīyas are also known as Maga Brahmans (or sometimes Mragha) . Historically, Maga Brahmans are Sūryadhvaja ("white flag") Brahmans, who nevertheless today consider themselves to be distinct from the Śākadvīpīya or Bhojaka Brahmans.....the Śākadvīpīya are one of only two Brahman groups who are said to have originated outside India.... the Shakdwipi Brahamins do in fact appear to have been instrumental in the construction of Sun temples in different part of the country".....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Śākadvīpīya

"The reference to the inhabitants of Śakadvīpa is, however, older than the Purāṇas, appearing first in Rigveda and subsequently in almost all veda & Mahabharata 6:11, where Sakadwipa is said to lie to the north-west (of ancient India). The region is mentioned again in 12:14 as a region to the east of the great Mount Meru. Consequently, the word 'Śākadvīpīya' (and variations) is presumed to reflect Śaka-, the people of a region beyond the Hindukush mountains.".....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Śākadvīpīya#cite_note-5

"Bhojakas are mentioned in the inscriptions of Maurya Ashoka and Kharavela. Kadamba Dynasty copperplates found in Karnataka mention Bhojakas as manages of Jain institutions."

Shakadwipi......"Their entrance into India goes back to the time of Mahabharata. A section of Iranian priestly class, called Magi who entered into India, as Magi- Dias or Magi Brahmanas. Magus is the singular for magi..... Herodotus (Greek historian, 485-425 BC). He cites them as one of the five social classes of the Medes. Probably they were similar to medicine men or shamans who were among the earliest of peoples, and somewhat paralleled to the India Brahmins in their early period.In his times, Herodotus notes, the magi had become Zoroastrian priests. He mentioned a band of aboriginal shamans who were captured by Aryans. The shamans not only learned their captors' religion but also became priests in it.....Their domination or authority seemed to have extended beyond Persia throughout the entire Mediterranean area......evidences suggest that Sakaldwipi or shakadwipi Brahmins were originally from shakadweep which was in central Asia. They were also known as Maga Brahmins. The Magas are members of the Aryan race; they were Aryan Sun-worshippers of Surya, representative of the forces of Light and Day. The Maga Brahmins produced much of the later Brahmanic civilization.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakaldwipiya_history

"The origin of the worship of the Sun in India is several centuries old. Sakaldwipi (Shakdwipi) or Maga Brahmins are pioneers in Sun worship and Ayurvedic medical system. Varahmihir the famous ancient astrologist was a Sakaldwipi Brahmin. Chanakya brain behind the Mauryan empire was Sun Priest or Maga Brahmin. The vedic scriptures of the Hindu religion refer to the Sun as the store house of inexhaustible power and radiance. The sun god is referred to as Surya or Aditya. The Vedas are full Of hymns describing the celestial body as the source and sustainer of all life on Earth."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakaldwipiya_history

" the jain temple priests are often bhojakas, a special kind of Brahmins, who have been worshipping in jain temples for many centuries. the history of bhojakas there is closely connected with that of the shravakas.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakaldwipiya_history

"... they are descendants of the maga priests who came to the Indian plains from shakadwipa. Several of the Brahmin communities in India are maga/bhojaka origin. one of their specializations was the worship of sun ("mihira"). some Brahmins in gaya region in bihar still call themselves shakadwipi. The Sanskrit poet magh and the mathematician varahamihira were shakdwipi or bhojak.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakaldwipiya_history

Acta Iranica......edited by Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin

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

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Saturday, April 20, 2013

Heirophants, Gurus, High Priests & Tantric Masters

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Hierophant: combination of ta hiera, "the holy," and phainein, "to show."

"A hierophant is an interpreter of sacred mysteries and arcane principles.....A hierophant is a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy. The word comes from Ancient Greece.... In Attica it was the title of the chief priest at the Eleusinian Mysteries....Attica is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierophant

Patriarch (Gr. patriarches; Latin patriarcha) means the father or chief of a race (patria, a clan or family). The word occurs in the Septuagint (The first translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, made into popular Greek before the Christian era.) for the chiefs of the tribes

"PATRIARCHS OF THE NORTHERN BUDDHISTS......After the death of Shakyamuni, a series of thirty-three patriarchs, superintended in succession the affairs of the religious community he had founded....... A patriarch is represented as one who does not look at evil and dislike it; nor does he, when he sees that which is good, make a strong effort to attain it. He does not put wisdom aside and approach folly; nor does he fling away delusion and aim at comprehending truth. Yet he has an acquaintance with great truths which is beyond being measured, and he penetrates into Buddha's mind to a depth that cannot be fathomed. His lodging is not with the sage, nor with the common class. Because he is above every one else in his attainments, he is called a patriarch......A patriarch has magical powers. He can fly through the air, cross rivers on a boat of leaves, rain milk at will from the air, and enter into a very great variety of trances or samadhi......http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/cbu/cbu10.htm

"Buddha, before his death, committed the secret of his mysteries to his disciple, Maha Kashiapa. To him was intrusted the deposit of esoteric doctrine, called Cheng fa-yen-tsang, "the pure secret of the eye of right doctrine." The symbol of this esoteric principle, communicated orally without books, is man or wan.... In Sanscrit it is called svastika. It was the monogram of Vishnu and Shiva, the battle-axe of Thor in Scandinavian inscriptions, an ornament on the crowns of the Bonpa deities in Thibet"......http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/cbu/cbu10.htm

".. the development of Tantra in later Buddhism laid great importance on the guru or tantric hierophant (vajrdedrya)...... or patriarch (roshi). "......Historia Religionum: Religions of the Present, Volume 2....By Geo Widengren

"Proto-Indo-European society... The Proto-Indo-Europeans likely lived during the late Neolithic, or roughly the 4th millennium BCE...... sacral kingship, suggesting the tribal chief at the same time assumed the role of high priest. Georges Dumézil suggested for Proto-Indo-European society a threefold division of a clerical class, a warrior class and a class of farmers or husbandmen......."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_society

"The title pontifex comes from the Latin for "bridge builder"...between heaven and earth or between the spiritual world and the temporal one, a possible allusion to a very early role in placating the gods and spirits associated with the Tiber River....The College of Pontiffs was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion......The flamens were priests in charge of fifteen official cults of Roman religion, each assigned to a particular god. The three major flamens (flamines maiores) were the Flamen Dialis, the high priest of Jupiter; the Flamen Martialis, who cultivated Mars; and the Flamen Quirinalis, devoted to Quirinus. The deities cultivated by the twelve flamines minores were Carmenta, Ceres, Falacer, Flora, Furrina, Palatua, Pomona, Portunes, Volcanus (Vulcan), Volturnus, and two whose names are lost. The Vestal Virgins were the only female members of the college. They were in charge of guarding Rome's sacred hearth, keeping the flame burning inside the Temple of Vesta. Around age 6 to 10, girls were chosen for this position and were obligated to perform the rites and obligations, including remaining chaste, for 30 years... the college of pontiffs’ duties involved advising the senate on issues pertaining to the gods, the supervision of the calendar and thus the supervision of ceremonies with their specific rituals.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontifex

"A mystagogue (from Greek: μυσταγωγός "person who initiates into mysteries") is a person who initiates others into mystic beliefs, an educator or person who has knowledge of the Sacred Mysteries. Another word is Hierophant. In ancient mystery religions, a mystagogue would be responsible for leading an initiate into the secret teachings and rituals of the cultus. The initiate would often be blindfolded, and the mystagogue would literally "guide" him into the sacred space.... the mystagogue as part magician, part prophet"......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystagogue

"The Hierophant, in some decks named The Pope, is the fifth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination...... the origins of the Tarot? Decks have been created by a wide variety of people for a wide variety of reasons, but based on the archaeological record it appears that the custom of playing and gambling with cards arrived from the east but was modified to suit Western sensibilities after its arrival. The creator of the Tarot, who almost certainly lived in Italy in the 14th century, saw these modified cards and combined them with a group of trump cards, which together represented his or her cosmology."......http://queenoftarot.com/history/

"THE LAST HIEROPHANT AT ELEUSIS.....the citizen of Thespiae made hierophant, he who was a pater in the ritual of Mithras....It was the time when Alaric with his barbarians invaded Greece by the Pass of Thermopylae [A. D. 395]....Eunapius Lives of the Philosophers 475-476:.....http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/hierophant.html

"The term "high priest" (or, less frequently, high priestess) usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste...... it is traditional to refer only to Jesus as the one high priest of Christianity......In Shinto, a high priest, called a Guji, is usually the highest ranking priest (Kannushi) in a shrine.......In Santería, a high priest is called a Babalao. The term comes from the supreme priest of Santería, a protégé of Orula. The term means wise man......Hierophant, the chief priest of the Eleusinian Mysteries.......Dastur is a Zoroastrian high priest.....In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods revered by the Egyptians.".....

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

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Friday, April 19, 2013

Apsaras, 64 Khandroma' (dakinis) & Shambala Goddesses

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"Apsaras are celestial dancing girls, born of clouds and water. Perhaps from the Churning of the Sea of Milk, or perhaps created in various other magical ways, such as from the thigh of a sage. They are handmaidens in Indra’s court (Hindu tradition), and the consorts of heavenly musicians. First mentioned in Iron Age Hindu poems (Rig-Veda 1700 BC), they appear in many stories, slipping into Buddhist tales too, turning up all over Asia, from Indonesia to Japan. Apsaras dance and play music, they fly and float on clouds. Sometimes they act as muses, or valkyries, or are sent to test the resolve of holy men. Or to teach and protect. We might call them angels, nymphs, or houris.....some of their sisters, such as the ethereal Tang and Song creations of Dunhuang, who flutter around the ceilings and in the high corners of the Buddhist caves, like moths trying to find a way out to freedom but endlessly drawn back to the bright lights within. Then there are the wild naked girls of Tantric lore, dancing with their ash-smeared bodies and raggedy hair in cremation grounds, drinking blood from human skulls. "......http://traceyrohrsheim.wordpress.com/tag/apsara/

"Apsaras fly together through the sky like a little cloud of miniature birds (so they are sometimes known as sky dancers), and appear to humans in their clouds at special points in their lives,.....stories say that apsaras can distract and drain the energy and memory of any intruding human who tries to venture into their protected areas.".....http://everything2.com/title/Apsara

"Apsaras are beautiful, supernatural female beings. They are youthful and elegant, and superb in the art of dancing. They are often the wives of the Gandharvas, the court musicians of Indra. They dance to the music made by the Gandharvas, usually in the palaces of the gods, entertain and sometimes seduce gods and men......There are two types of Apsaras; Laukika (worldly), of whom thirty-four are specified, and Daivika (divine), of which there are ten....."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsara

"An Apsara (also spelled as Apsarasa) is a female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.....An Apsara (Sanskrit: अप्सराः apsarāḥ, plural अप्सरसः apsarasaḥ, stem apsaras-, a feminine consonant stem), is also known as Vidhya Dhari or Tep Apsar, Accharā (Pāli)......English translations of the word "Apsara" include "nymph," "celestial nymph," and "celestial maiden.....Apsaras are sometimes compared to the muses of ancient Greece, with each of the 26 Apsaras at Indra's court representing a distinct aspect of the performing arts. Apsaras are associated with water; thus, they may be compared to the nymphs, dryads and naiads of ancient Greece. They are associated with fertility rites."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsara

Natya Shastra, the principle work of dramatic theory for Sanskrit drama, lists the following apsaras: Manjukesi, Sukesi, Misrakesi, Sulochana, Saudamini, Devadatta, Devasena, Manorama, Sudati, Sundari, Vigagdha, Vividha, Budha, Sumala, Santati, Sunanda, Sumukhi, Magadhi, Arjuni, Sarala, Kerala, Dhrti, Nanda, Supuskala, Supuspamala and Kalabha....The Natya Shastra (Sanskrit: Nāṭyaśāstra नाट्य शास्त्र) is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written during the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE......The Natya Shastra is based upon the much older Gandharva Veda (appendix to Sama Veda) .....Written in Sanskrit, the text consists of 6,000 sutras, or verse stanzas, incorporated in 36 chapters.....The Nātyashāstra delineates a detailed theory of drama comparable to the Poetics of Aristotle. ...."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natya_Shastra

"'Skydancer' is a translation of the Tibetan word 'Khandroma' (dakini), 'female buddha'. Many of the songs provide secret precepts given to her by her teachers and by her to her disciples. These oral instructions belonging to the supreme path of tantra (anuttara-yoga-tantra) and Dzokchen provide the core of the biography.......Dowman, Keith (1996) Sky Dancer: The Secret Life and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel. Ithaca NY: Snow Lion"

"Mahadeva (Tib. Lha Chenpo or Shiva -- the Auspicious,) as Buddhist deity with consort, Uma (Durga is her warrior nature.).....http://www.khandro.net/dakini_the64.htm

"In Minoan times (pre-1500 BCE) Hera was depicted bearing a staff and bowl similar to the attributes of Vajrayogini. ".....http://www.khandro.net/dakini_the64.htm

"There is a distinction among the terms goddess, shakti, yogini and dakini (also, shakini) though in general conversation it is blurred and the terms are used interchangeably. ...Dakini retains the connotation, though somewhat less in the Buddhist context, of a frightening being. In some Indian texts the word is used as a synonym for sorceress, witch or even ghoul. One of her essential qualities is the ability to fly; perhaps that is one of the reasons why temples dedicated to dakinis are open to the sky.".....http://www.khandro.net/dakini_the64.htm

"The worship of 64 Yoginis is seen commonly between 800 and 1300 AD ....most of the temples dedicated to Yoginis are built in this era. The cult is influenced by Tantrik rituals and a great deal of the worship was conducted to achieve powers of black magic. Devotees who performed this worship were known to conduct the Shava Chhedan ceremony — meaning the beheading of a dead body as the ultimate symbol of detachment from earthly desires. The members of this cult never harmed living beings and never conducted animal or human sacrifices. Until 1500 AD, there are references in history to the widespread following of this cult."......Vidya Dehejia, associate director of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington and chief curator of both the Freer and the Arthur M. Sackler Galleries, in a book on the subject of Yogini Temples.

"Numerous rock cairns left by pilgrim who had crossed on the Khandro Sanglam La trail of the Mt Kailash inner parikrama.....Khandro Sanglam La the Secret Path of the Dakini Khandroma Is An Alternative Route Around Mount Kailash. Passing through the pass one will come to the Kuber valley and the view of Kuber Kund become visible......Across the valley from Shiva Tsal, a trail branches off to the southeast over the snow-covered Khandro Sanglam La, the Secret Path of the Dakini Khandroma. This alternative route around Kailash bypasses the Dölma La, which tradition says can only be crossed if you have completed 12 previous okras."....http://kailaibala.blogspot.com

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

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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Bas-Relief Sculpture & Narrative History (3000 BC)

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"Bas-relief sculpture is an art form that was started in Ancient Mesopotamia, but more commonly known from Classical Greece. Bas-relief is a French term that means, “low raised.” There are three main types of sculpture: bas-relief, high relief, and in the round. Bas-relief sculpture is very articulate work that is meant to be seen from one direction, unlike in the round sculpture that is meant to be seen from all angles. Bas-relief sculpture was primarily used as a way to tell stories or record major events.

"The Warka Vase is a carved alabaster stone vessel found in the temple complex of the Sumerian goddess Inanna in the ruins of the ancient city of Uruk, located in the modern Al Muthanna Governorate, in southern Iraq. Like the Narmer Palette from Egypt, it is one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture, dated to c. 3200–3000 BC.".....Kleiner, Fred S.; Mamiya, Christin J. (2006). Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective

...."the people of Sumer in an Inanna poem. An interesting bas-relief work is the Warka Vase. The Warka Vase is an ancient urn carved of stone that features bas-relief. The urn depicts various levels of the Sumerian world, in other words, the Sumerian hierarchy. Toward the bottom of the vase, are grains. Above that sheep, and then humans working in a field. At the very top of the vase is the goddess we all know as Inanna. Inanna is the largest figure on the vase. On the bottom register we see the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This image probably symbolizes the honor the people gave to the rivers for providing water and fertile soil to grow plants. The middle register shows a group of males carrying what looks to be fruit and grains. On the top register, Inanna is shown being offered a bowl of fruit by a male figure. The vase shows the sacrifice the people are willing to bestow upon their goddess. The offerings being depicted on the Warka Vase are most likely linked to the Sacred Marriage.... The constant reference to Inanna displays the importance of her presence during this time. I think it is important to mention that the figures on the vase, not including Inanna were nude. Nudity, in Mesopotamian and other ancient art works is an interpretation of destitution or fragileness, however in the Warka Vase, the nude figures are displayed differently. The nudity depicted on the Warka Vase leans more toward the idea of beauty of the human body, which leads us to the Greek depictions of the nude figure. The Warka Vase was discovered in Inanna’s temple located in Southern Iraq. It is what we would consider a narrative relief sculpture. The vase shows the sacrifice and assurance of fertility and abundance. The importance of the rituals presented on this vase, are verified by it’s narrative."....http://honr201spring2013.blogspot.com/2013/01/bas-relief-sculpture.html

Square Bas Relief, Greco-Bactrian Image, late 2nd-3rd century. Slate, 12 3/8 x 12 5/8 in. (31.5 x 32 cm). Brooklyn Museum

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

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