Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Enlightened Monarchy in Ancient Central Asia

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"Much of the Trungpa Vidyadhara's work, especially in the last ten years of his life, was dedicated to propagating what he called "enlightened society," which would help the world in many ways and, at the same time, provide a home for buddhadharma in the West. As a model, he pointed to the Kingdom of Shambhala, an ancient (some say mythical, some say real) kingdom of Central Asia ruled by a lineage of enlightened monarchs.".....http://chronicleproject.com/biography.html

"........"the Four Sons of Heaven, the rulers of the four great countries of the Asiatic world: China, India, Iran, Throm in the north with King Gesar." (Stein:1972, pg280...Stein Aurel M. 1929. On Alexander's Track to the Indus: Personal Narrative of Explorations on the North - west Frontier of India. London. Reprint: New York, Benjamin Blom, 1972.)...

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Kingdom of Balkh.....Balkh is considered to be the first city to which the Indo-Iranian tribes moved from the North of Amu Darya, between 2000 - 1500 BC. The Arabs called it Umm Al-Belaad or Mother of Cities....."a number of Buddhist religious centers flourish near the town"....Zhang Qian (130 BCE)"....."Outside the city of Balkh, towards the south-west, there is a convent called Navasangharama (Navbahar,Nava Vihara), which was built by a former king of this country. Xuanzang (635 AD)".....Buddhism was introduced in Balkh by Bhallika, the first disciple of Buddha .....

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Kapisa Kingdom....."a Buddhist Kshatriya king holding sway over ten neighboring states including Lampaka, Nagarahara, Gandhara and Banu, according to the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang who visited in 644 AD."......

Kingdom of Gandhara.....early 1st millennium BC to the 11th century AD.....attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Buddhist Kushan Kings.....

The Kushan Empire...."formed in the early 1st century CE under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria around the Oxus River (Amu Darya), Emperor Kanishka (127–151)....

THE UIGHUR KINGDOM...."The Kyrgyz invasion, while putting an end to Uighur power, did not annihilate the people. Fleeing Uighur groups settled on the Chinese border in what is now Gansu province and in East Turkistan in the Turfan (Tulufan) region, which had been an Uighur protectorate since the end of the 8th century. Falling back now on the Turfan oases and setting up their capital city in Kucha (Kuqa), the fugitive Uighurs created a remarkably stable and prosperous kingdom that lasted four centuries (c. 850–1250)."

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Kingdom of Oddiyana.......East/Southeast of Balkh....embracing parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and even Western Tibet (Zhang-zhung)." [John Myrdhin Reynolds1996, The Golden Letters. Snow Lion Publications]......homeland of both the Vajrayana and Dzogchen teachings, and is said to be the land where Garab Dorje, Vairotsana, Padmasambhava and Tilopa, amongst others, received the transmissions of Dzogchen......inhabited by gentle people often clothed in white.....in 720 A.D., the T'ang Annals state that the Emperor sent ambassadors to Uddiyana to confer the investiture on the new king........Uddiyana is not an invisible, celestial buddha field where people cannot go. This is a buddha field where fortunate people can visit. In fact, there are five holy places like this known as “The Five Vajrayana or Tantrayana Sources,” places where Vajrayana teachings are preserved and taught. Uddiyana is one such realm, and it is said that it is located somewhere in what is now known as Pakistan. Many great masters of Tibet, as well as scholars of China and India, have visited Uddiyana, the source of Tantrayana teachings.".........The Life of Tilopa.....HH 17th Gaylwa Karmapa.....Translator: Ringu Tulku Rinpoche.....http://www.kagyu.org/ktd/densal/archives/1801/hhtilopa.php

Kingdom of Zhang Zhung....(Shang Shung, or Tibetan Pinyin Xang Xung), was an ancient culture and kingdom of western and northwestern Tibet, which pre-dates the culture of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet. Zhang Zhung culture is associated with the Bon religion, which in turn, has influenced the philosophies and practices of Tibetan Buddhism. The Zhang Zhung are mentioned frequently in ancient Tibetan texts as the original rulers of central and western Tibet.

Imperial China.......an emperor was considered the Son of Heaven. The scion and representative of heaven on earth, he was the ruler of all under heaven, the bearer of the Mandate of Heaven, his commands considered sacred edicts........."the Four Sons of Heaven, the rulers of the four great countries of the Asiatic world: China, India, Iran, Throm in the north with King Gesar." (Stein:1972, pg280)...

"In 672 an Arab governor of Sistan, Abbad ibn Ziyad, raided the frontier of Al-Hind and crossed the desert to Gandhara, but quickly retreated again. The marauder Obaidallah crossed the Sita River and made a raid on Kabul in 698 only to meet with defeat and humiliation. Vincent Smith, in Early History of India, states that the Turkishahiya dynasty continued to rule over Kabul and Gandhara up until the advent of the Saffarids in the ninth century. Forced by the inevitable advance of Islam on the west, they then moved their capital from Kapisa to Wahund on the Indus, whence they contin­ued as the Hindushahiya dynasty. This was in 870 A.D. and marks the first time that the KINGDOM OF SHAMBHALA actually came under Moslem domination.".....Dharma Fellowship of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje....http://www.dharmafellowship.org

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

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

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