Ya'qub al-Saffar (840 – 879) & the Islamic Conquest (870 AD)

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"......870 A.D. marks the first time that the Kingdom of Shambhala actually came under Moslem domination…".....Dharma Fellowship of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa

"Legend reports that Vasubandhu came from the "Kingdom of Shambhala' (approximately, modern Begram, otherwise known as the ancient kingdom of Kapisha, north of Kabul) located in the Afghanistan region, north-west of Peshawar....Bagram (بگرام Bagrám), founded as Alexandria
on the Caucasus and known in medieval times as Kapisa, is a small town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul….in the old tradition of the 84 Mahasiddhas that the Kingdom of Uddiyana was divided between two countries, to the North and South. To the North, it bordered on the land of Shambhala (i.e., the Kingdom of Kapisa)……
Website of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje………..
….http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/pramodavajra.htm"….

"Ya'qub claimed the inheritance of the kings of Persia and sought "to revive their glory," and thus in 867 he sent a poem written by himself to the Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tazz. The poem said: "With me is the Derafsh Kaviani, through which I hope to rule the nations.".....In 870/871, Ya'qub marched against the Kharijites of Herat, and defeated them. He then marched towards Karukh, and defeated another Khariji leader who was named Abd al-Rahman. Ya'qub then pardoned Abd al-Rahman and made him governor of Isfizar.....His army would later march to Ghazna, Kabul, and Bamyan, conquering these territories in the name of Islam by appointing Muslim governors. From there they moved to north of the Hindu Kush and by 870 AD the whole of Khorasan was brought under their control. The Panjshir Valley was now under Ya'qub's control....."....Bosworth, C.E. (1975). "The Ṭāhirids and Ṣaffārids".

"The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan (642–870) began in the middle of the 7th century after the Islamic conquest of Persia was completed, when Arab Muslims defeated the Sassanid Empire at the battles of Walaja, al-Qādisiyyah and Nahavand. The Muslim Arabs then began to move towards the lands east of Persia and in 652 captured the city, Herat. By 667, the Afghan area was under invasion by the Arabs but in 683 Kabul revolted and completely routed the invading army which was led by the Governor of Seistan. It was not until 870 that Kabul and the Afghan area was brought under control by the Saffarids. The near-complete conversion of Afghanistan to Islam was during the period of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century, with Kafiristan holding out until the 1890s."......Ancient Indian History and Civilization, by Sailendra Nath Sen

"... the succession of Islamic dynasties that emerged from the fractured Abbasid empire by their general geographic location......Khorasan (modern Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan):
Samanids (819–999 CE)......The Samanid dynasty (Persian: سامانیان‎, Sāmāniyān), also known as the Samanid Empire, or simply Samanids (819–999),was a SunniPersian Empire in Central Asia, named after its founder Saman Khuda, who converted to Islam despite being from Zoroastrian nobility. It was a native Persian dynasty in Greater Iran and Central Asia after the collapse of the Sassanid Persian empire caused by the Arab conquest.
Ghaznavids (962–1168)
Seljuks (1034–1194)
Ghurids (1011-1215)
Khwarazmians (1077–1231)
Mongol Empire & the Ilkhanate (1231–1335)

"The Samanid dynasty (Persian: سامانیان‎, Sāmāniyān), also known as the Samanid Empire, or simply Samanids (819–999), was a Sunni Persian Empire in Central Asia, named after its founder Saman Khuda, who converted to Islam despite being from Zoroastrian nobility. It was a native Persian dynasty in Greater Iran and Central Asia after the collapse of the Sassanid Persian empire caused by the Arab conquest......they reigned for 180 years, encompassing a territory which included Greater Khorasan (including Kabul)......With their roots stemming from the city of Balkh (then, part of Greater Khorasan) the Samanids promoted the arts, giving rise to the advancement of science and literature, and thus attracted scholars such as Rudaki, Ferdowsi, and Avicenna. While under Samanid control, Bukhara was a rival to Baghdad in its glory. Scholars note that the Samanids revived Persian more than the Buyids and the Saffarids, while continuing to patronize Arabic to a significant degree. Nevertheless, in a famous edict, Samanid authorities declared that "here, in this region, the language is Persian, and the kings of this realm are Persian kings."......"....The History of Iran By Elton L. Daniel,

"Saman Khuda (Saman Khoda, Saman-khudat) was an 8th century Persian noble whose descendants (the House of Saman) later became rulers of Persian (the Samanid Empire). He was a Dehqan from the village of Saman in Balkh province in present-day northern Afghanistan (then part of Persia). In the early 8th century, he came to Merv, seat of the Caliphal governor of Khorasan, Asad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Qasri (ruled 723-727). Saman was originally a Zoroastrian,. But he was so impressed with the piety of Asad ibn 'Abd-Allah al-Qasri, the Caliphal governor of Khorasan, that he converted to Islam....Saman Khuda's grandsons were governors of Samarkand, Ferghana, Shash and Ustrushana, and Herat in recognition of their role in the suppression of a revolt...."....Shamsiddin Kamoliddin, "To the Question of the Origin of the Samanids", Transoxiana 10 (July 2005).

Kabul Shahis......."The area had been under the rule of the Buddhist and then Hindu dynasty called the Kabul Shahis since the 5th century. The Arabs were unable to succeed in converting the population because of constant revolts from the mountain tribes in the Afghan area. The Hindu Shahi were defeated in the early part of the 10th century by Mahmud of Ghazna who ruled between 998 and 1030. He expelled the Hindus from Gandhara.......Earlier in 870, Yaqub bin Laith as-Saffar, a local ruler from the Saffarid dynasty of Zaranj, Afghanistan, conquered most of present-day Afghanistan in the name of Islam. In many cases, the people he conquered had rebelled against their Islamic overlords and reverted to prior forms of worship.....From the 8th century to the 9th century, many inhabitants of what is present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, were converted to Sunni Islam. It is surmised from the writings of Al Biruni that some Pashtuns living in Pakhtunkhwa (present-day western Pakistan) had not been completely converted. Al Biruni, writing in Tarikh al Hind, also alludes to the Pashtun tribes of Pakhtunkhwa as Hindus.".....Afghanistan: a new history By Martin Ewans Edition: 2, illustrated Published by Routledge, 2002

"Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar (يعقوب بن الليث الصفار), or Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari (یعقوب لیث صفاری), born Rādmān pūr-i Māhak (Persian: رادمان پور ماهک‎) (840 – 879), a Persian coppersmith, was the founder of the Saffarid dynasty in Sistan, with its capital at Zaranj (a city now in south-western Afghanistan). He ruled territories that are now in Iran and Afghanistan, as well as portions of western Pakistan.....In Iranian folklore, Ya'qub is sometimes regarded as an Iranian Robin Hood because according to legend he stole from the wealthy and helped the poor."....The provincial Persian Ya'kub, on the other hand, rejoiced in his plebeian origins, denounced the Abbasids as usurpers, and regarded both the caliphs and such governors from aristocratic Arab families as the Tahirids with contempt". -- Ya'kub b. al-Layth al Saffar, C.E. Bosworth, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. XI, p 255

"Caliph al-Mahdi ( 775-785 CE).... had the same name as the last prophet in the Kalachakra list..... invited Buddhist scholars from India and from the huge Nava Vihara monastery in Balkh, Afghanistan to Baghdad to work at the newly constructed House of Knowledge to translate texts into Arabic..... They worked there from the late eighth to the early ninth centuries CE.

"The Panjshir Valley (also spelled Panjsheer or Panjsher; Persian: درهٔ پنجشير‎ - Dare-ye Panjšēr; literally Valley of the Five Lions) is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 km north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range. Located in the Panjshir Province it is divided by the Panjshir River. The valley is home to more than 140,000 people, including Afghanistan's largest concentration of ethnic Tajiks...Panjshir, literally meaning "Five Lions", refers to five Wali (literally, protectors), highly spiritual brothers who were centered in the valley. ."

Website of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje………."Legend reports that Vasubandhu came from the "Kingdom of Shambhala' (approximately, modern Begram, otherwise known as the ancient kingdom of Kapisha, north of Kabul) located in the Afghanistan region, north-west of Peshawar....Bagram (بگرام Bagrám), founded as Alexandria on the Caucasus and known in medieval times as Kapisa, is a small town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul….in the old tradition of the 84 Mahasiddhas that the Kingdom of Uddiyana was divided between two countries, to the North and South. To the North, it bordered on the land of Shambhala (i.e., the Kingdom of Kapisa)"…….….http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/pramodavajra.htm

One of many peaceful villages in the Ghorband valley between Kabul and Bamiyan...... (marionkaplan.com)

"John Wood (1839)…."….Ghorbund/Ghorband Valley & Parwan.....Late in the evening we arrived, very weary and somewhat disheartened, at the bottom of a deep valley, along which was scattered a village named Sambala. "Its male inhabitants, armed to the teeth….kept hovering about the encampment…..we were early astir next morning, and anxious to quit what was rightly considered a dangerous neighborhood…..None of the villagers were stirring….we moved slowly forward, winding along the sides of the mountain…until we reached a shallow ravine….on the opposite bank stood a tower commanding ascent on that side…we were soon surrounded by armed men….an old woman stepped forward to the edge of the ravine and stayed the hand of her highly offended countrymen….the shrill piercing voice of the woman rose high above the rest….Her garments hung in tatters, and her manners and gesticulations were fierce and wild…her eloquence was successful and we were permitted to move on….we emerged a short time after sunset, into the Parwan Valley, at the village of I-angheran."........A Journey to the Source of the River Oxus.....By John Wood, Sir Henry Yule

"The Saffarid empire did not last long after Ya'qub's death. His brother and successor, Amr bin Laith, was defeated at the Battle of Balkh against Ismail Samani in 900. Amr bin Laith was forced to surrender most of his territories to the new rulers. The Saffarids were subsequently confined to their heartland of Sistan, with their role reduced to that of vassals of the Samanids and their successors......Yaghub Leis, the founder of the Saffarian Dynasty liberated Bactria after a battle on Feb, 9, 867. Yaghub was a restless warrior who defeated Arab vassal rulers one by one. In a series of battles, his army liberated Herat, Bamyan, Bactra, Kabul, and Bost......Amir Ismail Samani, the founder of the Samanian Dynasty was a powerful vassal of the Caliph of Baghdad. He defeated Amro Leis in a battle in the spring of 900 AD in Balkh. The Samanian victory reduced the Saffarian Dynasty to a minor tributary in Sistan and Iranian leaders could not unite and regain country's independence until 931.".....http://www.fouman.com/Y/Get_Iranian_History_Today.php?artid=172

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

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

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al-Mahdi, the Samanids & the Conquest of Shambhala (870 AD)

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"Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Mahdi (Arabic: محمد بن منصورالمهدى ) (ruled 775–785), was the third Abbasid Caliph. He succeeded his father, al-Mansur.....Al-Mahdi's caliphate is remembered as a prelude to the Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate. It was a prosperous period marked by internal stability and peace although territorial expansion continued. On the one hand, al-Mahdi dealt severely with what he saw as heresy. On the other hand, he tried to build bridges with Shi'a Muslims and was tolerant and even magnanimous in his dealings with the "people of the book".

"......870 A.D. marks the first time that the Kingdom of Shambhala actually came under Moslem domination…".....Dharma Fellowship of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa

"Caliph al-Mahdi ( 775-785 CE).... had the same name as the last prophet in the Kalachakra list..... invited Buddhist scholars from India and from the huge Nava Vihara monastery in Balkh, Afghanistan to Baghdad to work at the newly constructed House of Knowledge to translate texts into Arabic..... They worked there from the late eighth to the early ninth centuries CE."

".....In 775-778 al-Mahdi had to deal with a revolt in Korasan.....

"...The introduction of paper from China in 751, which had not yet been used in the West – the Arabs and Persians used papyrus, and the Europeans used vellum – had a profound effect. "

"Al Mahdi ascended the throne on the death of his father Al Mansur in 775. The reign of Al Mahdi is marked with general prosperity. Baghdad grew into a big and prosperous city.The city attracted immigrants from all of Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Persia, and lands as far away as India and Spain. Baghdad was home to Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Zoroastrians, in addition to the growing Muslim population. It became the world's largest city outside China. It was also the centre of the Empire's paper-manufacturing industry."

"......al-Mahdi (r. 775 – 785), whose forces destroyed the ancient city of Valabhi in Northwest India.... built a translation bureau...House of Wisdom (Arabic: بيت الحكمة‎; Bayt al-Hikma....Baitu’l Hikmat) with scholars from all regional cultures and religions rendering texts, many of Indian origin....many of the translators were Hindus and Buddhists.....By the middle of the ninth century, the House of Wisdom was the largest repository of books in the world......It was destroyed in the sack of the city following the Barbarian Mongol Siege of Baghdad (1258). ".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Wisdom

"Valabhi, city of ancient India that was the capital of the Maitraka dynasty in the 5th–8th centuries ce. It was situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay), northwest of the port of Bhavnagar, in Saurastra (later Gujarat), western India. The city is thought to have been established about 470 ce by the founder of the dynasty, Senapati Bhatarka, during the period when the Gupta empire was weakened. It continued as capital until about 780, when it suddenly and unaccountably disappeared from history. It apparently survived the Arab invasions of Saurastra about 725–735."....http://www.britannica.com

Valabhi was a celebrated centre of learning, with numerous Buddhist monasteries. It was visited by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang in the middle of the 7th century and by Yijing at the century’s close. The latter described it as equaling the fame of the Buddhist monastic centre Nalanda, in Bihar. According to a Jaina tradition, the second Jaina council was held in Valabhi in the 5th or 6th century ce; at this council the Jaina scriptures assumed their present form. The city has now vanished, but it is identified with a village, Vala, where numerous copperplate inscriptions and seals of the Maitrakas have been found.

"...The powerful Barmakid family, which had advised the Caliphs since the days of al-'Abbas as viziers, gained even greater powers under al-Mahdi's rule,.... The Barmakids, of Persian extraction, had originally been Buddhists, but shortly before the arrival of the Arabs, they had converted to Zoroastrianism. Their short-lived Islamic legacy would count against them during the reign of al-Mahdi's son Haroun al-Rashid, who removed them from office, and had them killed."....Matthew Gordon. 2005. The Rise of Islam.

"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 into the Tibetan national hero Phrom Ge-sar, whose figure still survives today in the folklore of the territory of ancient Gandhara."...... HistoryOfCivilizationsOfCentralAsia

"... the succession of Islamic dynasties that emerged from the fractured Abbasid empire by their general geographic location......Khorasan (modern Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan): Samanids (819–999 CE) => Ghaznavids (962–1168) => Seljuks (1034–1194) => Ghurids (1011-1215) => Khwarazmians (1077–1231) => Mongol Empire & the Ilkhanate (1231–1335)

"The Samanid dynasty (Persian: سامانیان‎, Sāmāniyān), also known as the Samanid Empire, or simply Samanids (819–999), was a Sunni Persian Empire in Central Asia, named after its founder Saman Khuda, who converted to Islam despite being from Zoroastrian nobility. It was a native Persian dynasty in Greater Iran and Central Asia after the collapse of the Sassanid Persian empire caused by the Arab conquest......they reigned for 180 years, encompassing a territory which included Greater Khorasan (including Kabul)......With their roots stemming from the city of Balkh (then, part of Greater Khorasan) the Samanids promoted the arts, giving rise to the advancement of science and literature, and thus attracted scholars such as Rudaki, Ferdowsi, and Avicenna. While under Samanid control, Bukhara was a rival to Baghdad in its glory. Scholars note that the Samanids revived Persian more than the Buyids and the Saffarids, while continuing to patronize Arabic to a significant degree. Nevertheless, in a famous edict, Samanid authorities declared that "here, in this region, the language is Persian, and the kings of this realm are Persian kings."......"....The History of Iran By Elton L. Daniel,

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

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

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Patrul Rinpoche: Oddiyana & the Sita River

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"Whereas many a Tibetan text simply locates Uddiyana by saying that it lies to the West of India, Patrul Rinpoche (b. 1808) provides us with more detail when describing the birth place of Garab Dorje not simply as 'Uddiyana' but as being close to Lake Kutra in the region of Dhanakosha; thus indicating present day North-eastern Kashmir (now Pakistan) - a region right in the middle between Chitral, Gilgit and Swat. [The Words of My Perfect Teacher, pages 338-339]".....http://yoniversum.nl/dakini/uddiyana.html

"Uddiyana (Oddiyana): Land knowns as the Paradise of the Dakinis. Birthplace of Guru Padmasambhava, Garab Dorje, Tilopa, and others. Believed to be located west of India close to Lake Kutra in the region of Dhanakosha in present day North-eastern Kashmir (now Pakistan) - a region right in the middle between Chitral, Gilgit and Swat. Also known as O-rgyan, Urgyen.".....http://buddhism.org/Sutras/DHARMA/GLOSSARY/IndexGlossaryU.htm

"Tirich Mir (aka: Terich Mir, Terichmir, Tirich Mer and Turch Mir) is the highest mountain of the Hindu Kush range, and the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas-Karakoram range, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and close to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

"Chitral is landlocked and remains completely cut off from the rest of the country for four to five months during winters. The only connection between Chitral and the rest of the country during this period are the 'subject to weather' PIA flights. The Lowari Pass (10500 ft.) separates it from the rest of Pakistan and the Shandur Pass (12305 ft.) separates it from Northern Areas. Both these passes remain inaccessible for five to six months due to snow. Chitral is an extremely rugged and mountainous area, with deep narrow valleys, through which run rapid and turbulent rivers and rivulets. Geographically it may be defined as the drainage basin of the Chitral River and its numerous tributaries. It is permeated by the mighty range of the Hindu Kush and its many offshoots. This "sea of mountains" which rise ridge behind ridge, finally toss themselves up into one towering mass forming the majestic Tirich Mer, (25263 ft.) The lowest elevation within the district is at Arandu (3577 ft.) where the Chitral River leaves the territory and enters Afghanistan."......http://www.shakeebcl.itgo.com/start.htm

"The Kunar River is about 480 km long, located in northern Pakistan. The Kunar river system is fed from melting glaciers and snow of the Hindu Kush mountains. It is part of the Indus / Sindh watershed. It was once called the Kama river....The river rises in the far north of Chitral District in Pakistan. Downstream as far as Mastuj it is known as the Yarkhun River from there to its confluence with the Lutkho River just north of the important regional centre of Chitral it is called the Mastuj River. It is then called the Chitral River, before flowing south into the upper Kunar Valley At the confluence of the Pech it meets Asadabad, historically Chaga Sarai, The Kunar River empties into the Kabul (Sita) River just to the east of the city of Jalalabad in Afghanistan. The combined rivers then flow eastwards into Pakistan, roughly following the Grand Trunk Road through the Khyber Pass, and joining the Indus River at the city of Attock."

Kabul River...Sita River....."Obaidallah crossed the Sita River (aka: Kabul River) and made a raid on Kabul in 698 AD"....The Dharma Fellowship of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa.....http://www.dharmafellowship.org

"Abl Bakra, Ubayadullah.....'he gave the government of Khorasan to Mohallab, Hajjaj had committed that of Sijistan to 'Obaid Allah b. Abl Bakra.....'Obaid Allah's troops were beaten by the king of Kabul......" ...The Encyclopaedia Britannica

"The Turkish Shahi kingdom of Kapisa-(with Kabul on the south as its capital) and the central Afghan massif of Ghor (now the Hazarajat), held against the invader, and for many centuries remained unconquered and primarily Buddhist. In 663 A.D. Ibn Samurah fought his way into Kabul, but his success was only temporary. Nevertheless, reading the T'ang Annals, we note that a party of Uddiyanean ambassadors presented themselves at the Chinese Court in 665 A.D., and granting the length and hardships of the journey, it is practical to assume that the embassy's presence was a direct response to Ibn Samurah's raid. Kapisa's strength, backed by the armies of Imperial China, acted as a major bulwark against Islam penetrating the Pamir, and significantly protected Uddiyana......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. The Hindushahis recaptured Kabul and the rest of their Kingdom after the death of the conqueror Yaqub but never again maintained Kapisa as their capital."......The Dharma Fellowship of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa.....http://www.dharmafellowship.org

".......Prof. Tucci, Preliminary Report on an Archaeological Survey of Swat, states that " Lankapuri is, as known, Laghman." Laghman, an independent nation prior to Hiuen Tsiang's time, had certainly become a tributary province of Kapisa by 629 A.D. Since Kabul was not overrun - and then only temporarily - by the Moslem invasion until as late as 870 A.D., Laghman's status would still have been that of a Buddhist province of Kapisa (Shambhala) in 804 A.D. The Sanskrit name of the country was Lampaka and Hiuen Tsiang lists it as Lan-po. The sacred mountain in question would be that of Sri Aruna Parvata, Aruna " the Red" , now thought by some to be the Chehel Dukhtaran peak..... "....http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/lord-padmasambhava.htm

"Chihil Dukhtarān is located near Ghaznī, Afghanistan. The estimate terrain elevation above seal level is 3163 metres. Variant forms of spelling for Chihil Dukhtarān or in other languages: Čehel Dukhtarān, Chehel Dukhtaran, Chehel Dokhtarān, Chihil Dukhtarān, چهل دختران, Cehel Dukhtaran, Chehel Dokhtaran, Chehel Dokhtarān, Chehel Dukhtaran, Chihil Dukhtaran, Chihil Dukhtarān, chhl dkhtran, Čehel Dukhtarān, چهل دختران.......Latitude: 33°12'15.3"......Longitude: 67°13'53.62"....".....http://af.geoview.info/chihil_dukhtaran,1145193

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

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

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King Takna Ziji & the fortresses of Tiger Leopard King of Wealth

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"Zhang Zhung King Takna Ziji .....The narrow gorge and hot springs of Takrong is still considered by local Buddhist drokpa to be a sacred site of the Bönpo...... According to the Bön Tisé Karchak, Takna Rong/Takna Ling, was where the Zhang Zhung king Takna Ziji had his castle Takna Weldzong...... It would appear by the description given in this account of Takna Rong that, by being situated at the foot of Poor Ngeden (Pori Ngeden.....some 180 km to the west), an area larger than the single Takrong valley is described in this text. In the local sacred geographic tradition of Takrong, the site is said to have been a stronghold of King Takzig Norgi Gyelpo. He is said to have had two priests: Awong, the tiger lama, and Miwong, the lama with the magic lasso. The river of Takrong passes under an area of geothermal activity. This geographic oddity is referred to as the self-formed bridge of King Gesar. The geomantic heart of the site is a high volume hot spring called Sinpo Nyingchu. Pinnacles of mineral precipitates thrown up by the hot springs represent the Bön deity Takla Membar and his circle of 18 Drekpa spirits. Other light and dark pinnacles called Lékarnak (White and Black Destiny) represent heaven and hell. There are also “palaces” of the lha, nyen and lu, vertically arrayed to reflect the characteristic placement of these deities in the sky, earth and underworld realms of the tripartite universe (sisum/sipa sum).".........http://www.thlib.org/bellezza/#!book=/bellezza/wb/b1-2-6/

The lower dokhang (rdo khang). (Takrong Tsamkhang)

Takrong Tsamkhang.......Site name: Takrong Tsams KhangStag rong mtshams khang......English equivalent: Tiger Gorge Meditation House.................Asia > Greater Himalayas & Tibetan Plateau > China > Tibet Autonomous Region > Zhikatsé > Drongpa > Kela > Takrong Tsamkhang......(N. lat.): 30º 25.9΄.....(E. long.): 83º 33.7΄......Elevation: 4960 m to 4990 m......Administrative location: KyelakSkyed lag.....Drongpa.".......Antiquities of Zhang Zhungby John Vincent Bellezza

"Takzik Nordzong.....aka: Tiger Leopard Fortress......Elevation: 4870 meters.....Township: Khyelak....County: Drongpa (the region around the source of the Yarlung)....Yarlung Tsangpo or Yarlung River is a river that originates at Tamlung Tso lake in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar."......Tiger Leopard Jewel Fortress is located at the confluence of the Ronggyü and smaller Fortress Valley (Dzonglung) valleys, neither of which has any contemporary permanent settlement.".....Antiquities of Zhang Zhungby John Vincent Bellezza

Takzik Nordzong.....A rampart segment and the superior level area of the west formation.......2001 Upper Tibet Antiquities Expedition (UTAE)

"Local drokpa believe that Takzik Nordzong is one of the fortresses of Tiger Leopard King of Wealth (Takzig Norgi Gyelpo), an invader who is supposed to have come from the northwest (Indo-Iranic borderlands or Central Asia). He is thought to have conquered major portions of western Tibet in early times. According to the Gesar epic, Takzig Norgi Gyelpo was one of the main adversaries of King Ling Gesar."....Antiquities of Zhang Zhungby John Vincent Bellezza

"Yarlung Tsangpo or Yarlung River is a river that originates at Tamlung Tso lake in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. It later forms the South Tibet Valley and Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, before passing through the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India, where it is known as the Siang."

http://okarresearchindex.blogspot.com/2013/11/okar-research-index.html

"Tremo Khar is located in the Zhungsa region on an eponymous hilltop. This hilltop rises 300 m above the Barga plain and has unobstructed 360° views. The Tremo Khar hilltop is the only place in the middle of the celebrated pilgrimage place known to the Bönpo as Gangritso Sum where its three main sacred geographic features, Gangkar Tisé, Tso Mapang and Pori Ngeden, can be seen simultaneously. All four structures of Tremo Khar are built of uncut variable-length tan blocks laid in random-rubble courses. The identification of these structures is hampered by the very poor state of the extant remains. They appear to be either representatives of the cubic tomb typology or closely related monuments. There is an old mani wall on the summit of Tremo Khar, which may have been constructed to symbolically and ritually bring Tremo Khar under the auspices of Buddhism."...... John Vincent Bellezza......Antiquities of Zhang Zhung

Pori Ngeden...Fragrant Incense Mountain...in Khyungpo Shangshung.

"............ emanations of Tsewang Rigdzin depicting his traveling to six holy mountains to benefit beings and overcome obstacles and malicious spirits. The six mountains are [1] Tise (Kailash), [2] Langchen Gyingri, [3] Pori Ngeden, [4] Yungdrung Sabten, [5] Shenri Deden, and [6] Chugmo Pari.".....http://www.himalayanart.org

"The Epic of King Gesar (/ˈɡɛzər/ or /ˈɡɛsər/; Standard Tibetan: གེ་སར་རྒྱལ་པོ, Ge-sar rGyal-po, "King Gesar"; Mongolian: Гэсэр Хаан, Geser Khan, "King Geser", Russian: Гесар-хан or Кесар), also spelled Geser (especially in Mongolian contexts) or Kesar (/ˈkɛzər/ or /ˈkɛsər/), the fearless lord of the legendary kingdom of Ling (Standard Tibetan: gLing)."

John Vincent Bellezza......Antiquities of Zhang Zhung......Edited by Geoffrey Barstow, Mickey Stockwell and Michael White......Tibetan & Himalayan Library...( 2010)

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

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

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Ngari, Ü-Tsang and the Guge Kingdom (947 AD)

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"....traditional Tibetan divisions of the Plateau: U-Tsang, Kham, and Amdo. U-Tsang is then divided into U, Tsang, Ngari, Lhokha, and Nakchuka / Changtang, with smaller regions within each. The divisions of Kham and Amdo are by historic kingdoms and monastic estates."

"Ngari Prefecture (also: Ali Prefecture) (Tibetan: མངའ་རིས་ས་ཁུལ་, Wylie: mnga' ris sa khul; simplified Chinese: 阿里地区; traditional Chinese: 阿里地區; pinyin: Ālǐ Dìqū) ......Ngari sits 4,500 meters above sea level in the northwest of Tibet, 1,600 kilometers from the capital Lhasa. The heart of the ancient Tibetan Guge kingdom was once here. Later Ngari, along with Ü and Tsang composed Ü-Tsang, one of the traditional provinces of Tibet, the others being Amdo and Kham.....Ngari is emblazoned with its holy Kangrinboqe (also named as Sumeru and Kailash ) Mountain and Mapam Yumco Lake. Kangrinboqe is 6,714 m (22,028 ft) above see level, it's the main peak of the Kangdese Mountains (also called the Kailas Range or the Gangdisê Mountains). The holy mountain and lake are connected to different religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, & Bon."

"Ngari prefecture (also known as Ali prefecture 阿里地区 Ālǐ Dìqū) is in the far west of Tibet, it's an extremely remote area with nearly no infrastructure of any type. Nicknamed the "Top of the Roof of the World"........Ali - AKA Sengge Khambab, The prefecture capital, a small town of no interest for the tourist, other than to stock up on supplies and have a hot shower.......Mount Kailash - The reason most people make the long journey out to this part of Tibet, the most holy mountain for the Tibetans.......Lake Manasarovar - is famous as one of the three most sacred lakes in Tibet (the other two are Namtso and Yamdrok lakes)......The Ruins of Guge Kingdom, 20 km west to the town of Zanda."......Wikitravel

"Atisha Dīpaṃkara b.982? - d.1054......Atisha Dīpaṃkara was of pivotal importance in the second transmission of Buddhism in Tibet. Invited from the Indian monastery-university of Vikramaśila to Tibet by the Purang kings, Atisha spent thirteen years in Ngari and U-Tsang. He is credited with the propagation of the Lamrim and Lojong teachings that later became the core of the Geluk tradition; his composition, the Bodhipathapradīpa is a central text for the Lamrim, or Stages of the Path. He was also instrumental in the spread of the cult of Tārā in Tibet.".....Treasury of Lives

"Mount Kailash (also Mount Kailas); (Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ Kangrinboqê,Sanskrit: कैलास Kailash or Gang Rinpoche; simplified Chinese: 冈仁波齐峰, Gāngrénbōqí fēng) is a peak in the Kailas Range (Gangdisê Mountains), which are part of the Transhimalaya in Tibet. It lies near the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia: the Indus River, the Sutlej River (a major tributary of the Indus River), the Brahmaputra River, and the Karnali River (a tributary of the River Ganga). It is considered a sacred place in four religions: Bön, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. The mountain lies near Lake Manasarovar and Lake Rakshastal in Tibet."

"Khyungsprul Rinpoche (Khyung sprul rin po che) (1897-1955), was the instigator of the return of Bon po traditions to the ancient land of Zhang zhung in mNga' ris. Very significantly, he showed a particular interest for the remote Kinnaur valley." ....Josep Lluís Alay .......University of Barcelona

"In the heart of the Lippa (Kinnaur village) woods, his exceptional knowledge attracted a large group of Buddhist Kinnauri followers and eventually, after returning to mNga' ris, he founded a permanent Bon po monastery on the barren plain of Gur gyam. After establishing his permanent seat there, he and his followers continued to cross the Western Himalayan borders through Kinnaur and Garhwal — in present-day Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, respectively — until the end of his life....Most of his religious and medical activities were concentrated around the banks of the Upper Sutlej river, where he had earlier founded Gur gyam mDo sngags grags rgyas gling Monastery next to g.Yung drung rin chen 'bar ba'i brag phug, the eighth century meditation cave of Dran pa nam mkha’ according to the Bon po tradition. Khyung sprul rin po che identified the area surrounding Gur gyam as Khyung lung dngul mkhar, the capital city of the ancient Zhang zhung kingdom. ".......Josep Lluís Alay .......University of Barcelona

"Khyungsprul Rinpoche.... his biography also provides a unique, and therefore highly valuable, source of information regarding the traditional toponymy and onomastics of remote and isolated regions including Hor, Kinnaur and mNga’ ris (Ngari Prefecture)....."

"Most of his religious and medical activities were concentrated around the banks of the Upper Sutlej river, where he had earlier founded Gurugem (Gur gyam mDo sngags grags rgyas gling) Monastery next to g.Yung drung rin chen 'bar ba'i brag phug, the eighth century meditation cave of Dran pa nam mkha’ according to the Bon po tradition. Khyung sprul rin po che identified the area surrounding Gur gyam as Khyung lung dngul mkhar, the capital city of the ancient Zhang zhung kingdom......

Gurugem cave monastery.....Gurugem monastery is a site of worship for both Bon believers and Buddhists......The eighth century meditation cave of Drenpa Namkha .... Garuda Valley, Tsaparang, Ngari province, Western Tibet......Nearby cities: Thal, DEWALTHAL देवलथल, Karnaprayag .....Coordinates: 31°7'47"N 80°38'24"E

"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..... Srong nge or Ye shes 'Od (947–1024 or (959–1036), who was a renowned Buddhist figure. In his time a Tibetan from Guge called Rin chen Bzang po (958–1055), after having studied in India, returned to his homeland as a monk to promote Buddhism. Together with the zeal of Ye shes 'Od, this marked the beginning of a new diffusion of Buddhist teachings in western Tibet. In 988 Ye shes 'Od took religious vows and left kingship to his younger brother Khor re.......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 and thus ushering in the so-called Phyi-dar phase of Buddhism in Tibet."...... Hoffman, Helmut, "Early and Medieval Tibet", Cambridge University Press, 1990

"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....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 in modern Tibet.....Guge controlled an ancient trading route between India and Tibet. It emerged in the region previously known as Zhangzhung and became an important regional power by the 10th century CE......."....

Vohra 1996, p. 217 writes that these coins with the title Fromo Kesaro appear to refer to the successor of Sahi Tegin (700-738 CE:Chinese:烏散特勤灑:MC:uo-sân d'ɘk-g'iɘn ṣai=*Horsān tegin šāhi 'Tegin, king of Khurasan'), ruler of the Second Turki Śāhi dynasty at Kapisa-Udyana, whose reign was between 738 and 745 C.E., and who is identified with the 'Frōm Kēsar' (拂菻罽婆: Fúlǐn jìpó:North Western Tang pfvyr-lḭum-kḭe-sâ) of the Tang shu. SeeHarmatta & Litvinsky 1999, pp. 376,380).

"Amdo & Hor.....In historical times, the people of the region were typically non-Tibetan, such as Mongol or Tibetan of foreign origin such as the Hor people......The Tibetan inhabitants of Amdo are referred to as Amdowa (Tibetan: ཨ་མདོ་པ།; amdo pa) as a regional distinction from the Tibetans of Kham (Khampa) and U-Tsang (Central Tibet), however, they are all considered ethnically Tibetan.....The language Hor, or Western Khams, is spoken in the Nagqu area.......,"King Ligmikya of Zhangzhung, while on his way to Sum-ba (Amdo province) was ambushed and killed by King Srongtsen Gampo's soldiers. As a consequence, the Zhangzhung kingdom was annexed to Bod [Central Tibet]. Thereafter the new kingdom born of the unification of Zhangzhung and Bod was known as Bod rGyal-khab." R. A. Stein places the conquest of Zhangzhung in 645."...... Norbu, Namkhai. (1981). The Necklace of Gzi, A Cultural History of Tibet,

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Bellezza, John Vincent: Zhang Zhung. Foundations of Civilization in Tibet. Wien 2008.

Zeisler, Bettina. (2010). "East of the Moon and West of the Sun? ....Tibet Journal, 2009

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

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

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Werma Deity Texts & Tertons Ponse Khyung Gotsal (1175) & Rigzin Gödem (1337)

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"Soul of Enemy" and Warrior Deities (dgra bla): Two Tibetan myths on Primordial Battle......by Daniel Berounsky......Prague 2009

Translations of two mythical narrations on warrior deities (dgralha/ sgra bla/ dgra bla).... one from the Bonpo text and the second from the “Old” (Rnying ma) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

"Bon Terma Text......he first of the texts bears the title “Readying the yak horn against the en‑emies: Small [ritual of] imprisoning enemies by Shugon (shug mgon) and turning yak horn into a weapon of sudden death” (further mentioned as “Yak horn text”, Dpon gsas khyung rgod rtsal /a/). It was rediscovered by Ponse Khyung Gotsal in the early 13th century.........Berounsky...Page 20

"Ponse Khyung Gotsal ....(Dpon gsas khyung rgod rtsal gyi rnam thar).......Ponse Khyunggo Tsel (dpon gas khyung rgod rtsal......born . 1175) in Zangzang Ri (Zang zang ri) located in Lato (La stod) ......Terton Ponse Khyung Gotsal (12th century)..... Ponse Kyung Gö Tsel....Werma Nyinya (war ma nyi nya): a worldly deity arising from the Bon 'Treasure Tradition' and specifically the Chang Sen Tagdu text unearthed by Terton Ponse Khyung Gotsal (12th century)....two of the most important Bon treasure discoverers (gter ston) of the time : Ponse Khyunggo Tsel (dpon gsas khyung rgod rtsal, b. 1175) and Maton Sherab Sengge (rma ston shes rab seng ge, 12th-13th c.).".......http://www.treasuryoflives.org

"Werma Nyinya: a worldly deity arising from the Bon 'Treasure Tradition' and specifically the Chang Sen Tagdu text unearthed by the Bonpo Terton Ponse Khyung Gotsal (12th c)"......http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/200001.html

"At the top center is a garuda bird along with the four animals of the directions at the four corners; snow lion, dragon, tiger and white yak. At the top right and left are two seated figures, peaceful in appearance, each with one face and two hands, white in colour. At the lower left a standing man holds an arrow and on the right a blacksmith hammers over an anvil. A solitary bird clutches a bat with the beak and a monkey wields an axe......In the Bon tradition there are four classes of worldly deities, all with a warrior-like appearance: (1) Dab La, (2) Chang Sen, (3) Welma (Werma) and (4) Chug Gon. The central deity of this painting belongs to the Chang Sen classification..".....Werma Deity Texts & Tertons Ponse Khyung Gotsal (1175) & Rigzin Gödem (1337).....http://okarresearchindex.blogspot.com/2013/11/okar-research-index.html

"Nyingma Terma Text......the second text is entitled “Lofty Praise of Warrior deities who were granted by Vajrapāṇi” (further “Lofty Praise”, Rig ’dzin rgod ldem can /a/). Al‑though the text lacks colophon, there is indeed a high probability that its revealer was Rigdzin Godemcan...Rigzin Gödem (1337-1408),....... Curiously enough, most of his revelations come from the locality identical with the preceding master Ponse Khyung Gotsal, and thus the idea of similar roots for both of them cannot be excluded.........Berounsky...Page 21

"The First Dorje Drak Rigdzin, Rigdzin Godemchen Ngodrub Gyeltsen...... (rig 'dzin rgod ldem chen dngos grub rgyal mtshan) ...Rigzin Gödem (1337-1408),...was born in Nyenyul (gnyan yul), also known as Toyor Nakpo (tho yor nag po), to the east of Mount Trazang (bkra bzang) in Lato Jang (la stod byang)......According to legend, when he was eleven years old three feathery growths appeared on the top of his head; by the time he was twenty-three there were five. Because these growths looked like the feathers of a vulture, he became famous as Godkyi Demtruchen (rgod kyi ldem 'phru can), ‘the one with vulture’s feathers’, which is generally shortened to Godemchen...Rigdzin Godemchen passed away in Zilnon (zil gnon), Sikkim, at the age of seventy-one in 1408,."......http://www.treasuryoflives.org

"Both are partly in contrast and reveal something of the ways of incorporation of the older religious ideas into the frame of Buddhism. Some general background of the warrior deities is discussed in the introductory parts of the paper. It is pointed out that the ritual of “imprisoning the soul of enemies” ... dgra bla brub.....described also in the translated Bonpo text, might be related to the probably oldest written form ...dgra bla......“enemy‑soul”....used for the warrior deities in Dunhuang texts.....Berounsky...Page 19

"There is a long tradition connected with the warrior deities (dgra lha/ sgrabla/ dgra bla) in Tibet, but the evolution of the ideas associated with them remains obscure.....there could be a relationship between the ritual of “imprisoning the soul of enemies” (dgra bla brub) and the name for the warrior deities (dgra bla)......Berounsky...Page 19

"The second text is entitled “Lofy Praise of Warrior deities who were granted by Vajrapāṇi” is a beautiful piece of literature and has formed an authoritative narration on warrior deities for the Buddhist traditions to this day.....It also evidently inspired the Fifth Dalai Lama when he was composing his own ritual texts dealing with warrior deities. The text is enveloped in the context inspired by India. But most of the ideas associated with the warrior deities and their weapons as described in the scripture are evidently different in their aesthetic appeal and are based on indigenous Tibetan imagination."....Berounsky...Page 21

"Warrior deities are listed in the rather wide group of deities associated with the individual person and his immediate surrounding. Beside the warrior deities, this concerns “male deities” (pho lha), “mother deity” (ma lha) or “female deity” (mo lha), “deity of hearth” (thab lha), “deity of household” (khyim lha), and a number of others. Te relationship with these other deities seems to be a part of an older understanding. We have only later texts listing them in various ways, but still some evolution towards a very clear‑cut grouping can be observed. Some of the mentioned deities can be found in texts from Dunhuang but here they do not constitute a group. there is a text of the Bon tradition, which calls them“protecting deities” .....other texts of the Bon tradition frequently call them “deities of head” .....Berounsky...Page 22

"1. In Buddhist sources the name of deities is written as..... dgra lha (“enemy‑god”), 2. Bonpo sources mention names of deities surprisingly ofen as......sgra bla (“sound‑soul”)......Berounsky...Page 23

"...accounts of the origin of warrior deities deal with the Bonpo text Gzi brjid...revealed in the 14th century....... (Mdo dri med gzi brjid)......this particular tradition mentioning warrior deities as....sgra bla....and placing them besides other fierce deities called Cangseng, Werma and Shugon.....the distinction between warrior deities, Werma, Shugon and Cangseng is mostly blurred."......Berounsky...Page 25

"Changseng 'Brothers and Sisters' (cang seng lcam dral) named after four types of protective deities.....

"... the older form of these deities was probably zoomorphic, rather than the idea of soldiers riding horses as is the case now. Tracesof their zoomorphic features can be found elsewhere. In the rather later Bontext on the pilgrimage place of Mt. Kailas the myth of the arrival of warrior deity (sgra bla) of Bon appears. This warrior deity is a wild yak who descends from the sky, tears the mountains with his horns, melts into the beams of light and is eventually absorbed into Mt. Kailas."....Berounsky...Page 26

Gyalpo Pehar (Tibetan: རྒྱལ་པོ་དཔེ་ཧར, Wylie: rgyal po dpe har [also spelt: pe kar & dpe dkar]) is a spirit belonging to the gyalpo class....."...... the story on the origin of Pe‑har deity ...says that a Tibetan army was led to the “meditation hermitage”....Bhata Hor during the 8th century. This place was destroyed and the “things”, including the leather mask of the deity Pehar, were stolen. Pehar followed his “things” to the Samye monastery and became protector of one of its temples. It is indeed not excluded that in this case we are dealing not only with ritual but with real stealing of the “soul of enemies” and this might explain the Pehar’s role as Buddhist warrior deity par excellence. In the military past in the time of the Royal period, one can imagine many deities of the conquered people during the time of unification of Tibetan Empire with a similar fate..."...Berounsky...Page 32

"Ponse Khyung Gotsal (Dpon gsas khyung rgod rtsal ) was born in 1175 AD in Lato (La stod ) and given the name Dorje Pel (Rdo rje dpal )...... In his 23rd year he lost consciousness for seven days ..... and during these days travelled through the spheres of existence starting with hells. He also visited places in India during his mystical travel and eventually came to Mt. Kailas. He met the sage Drenpa Nam‑kha there who gave him his new name Ponse Khyung Gotsal. This visionary experience endowed him with extraordinary powers of remembering past lives. He is also considered to be an “emanation” of Drenpa Namkha. He discovered an enormous amount of texts, mostly in the mountain of Northern Lato (Byang la stod ) called Zangzang (Zang zang ri / Zang zang lha brag )...... He is believed to have rediscovered also some Buddhist texts (chos) and one of the chronicles says that these he passed to Guru Chowang (Gu ru chos dbang) 1212-1270 AD.......Zang zang ri appears frequently as one of the seven ancient “gathering places”of Bon of G.yas ru in the lists left in the chronicles of Bon."..........Berounsky...Page 33

"Zangzang Lhadrak Cave in Ngamring County was where Padmasambhava hid the "Northern Treasures," which consisted of "a number of texts and various sacred objects in a maroon leather casket." These texts and objects were removed in 1366 by Vidyadhara Gödem, and became known as the Dzö Nag (mdzod lnga) or Five Treasuries. The "Northern Treasures" were taught at the Dorje Drak Monastery, and include the Künzang Gongpa Zangtha teachings, a collection of Dzogchen instructions...... Rigzin Gödem (1337-1408),."............http://okarresearchindex.blogspot.com/2013/11/okar-research-index.html

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

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

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Khyungsprul Rinpoche (1897-1919) & the Rimé Movement in Ngari

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"Khyungsprul Rinpoche (Khyung sprul rin po che) (1897-1955), who spent more than fifty years of his life traveling in Tibet, India, Bhutan and Nepal, was one of the most renowned Bon po pilgrims of his time. Born into a family of A mdo Ga rgya aristocratic lineage, in the nomadic Bon po kingdom of Hor, he showed a great will to devote his entire life to religious activities from a very early age.......The whole of his spiritual life was inspired by the ris med movement, making no distinction between Bon and Buddhism, as he constantly asserted in his poems.1 Thus, he received his full drang srong vows in the Bon po scholastic tradition of sMan ri monastery (gTsang), but later he had no objections in joining the Buddhist community of rdzogs chen practitioners established in Nam mkha’ khyung rdzong (mNga' ris) under the guidance of bDe chen rgyal po. He spent a large part of his time in India as a Buddhist pilgrim visiting most of the sacred sites of northern India,- but at the same time he was the instigator of the return of Bon po traditions to the ancient land of Zhang zhung in mNga' ris. Very significantly, he showed a particular interest for the remote Kinnaur valley." ....Josep Lluís Alay .......University of Barcelona

"In the heart of the Lippa (Kinnaur village) woods, his exceptional knowledge attracted a large group of Buddhist Kinnauri followers and eventually, after returning to mNga' ris, he founded a permanent Bon po monastery on the barren plain of Gur gyam. After establishing his permanent seat there, he and his followers continued to cross the Western Himalayan borders through Kinnaur and Garhwal — in present-day Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, respectively — until the end of his life....Most of his religious and medical activities were concentrated around the banks of the Upper Sutlej river, where he had earlier founded Gur gyam mDo sngags grags rgyas gling Monastery next to g.Yung drung rin chen 'bar ba'i brag phug, the eighth century meditation cave of Dran pa nam mkha’ according to the Bon po tradition. Khyung sprul rin po che identified the area surrounding Gur gyam as Khyung lung dngul mkhar, the capital city of the ancient Zhang zhung kingdom. ".......Josep Lluís Alay .......University of Barcelona

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Josep Lluís Alay, “The Early Years of Khyung sprul rin po che: Hor (1897-1919)”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 20, Avril 2011....The Early Years of Khyung sprul rin po che: Hor (1897-1919)* by Josep Lluís Alay University of Barcelona

"Ninth Chapter.......On his pilgrimage to Gangs ri mtsho gsum and how he received the deep teachings of rdzogs chen from his lama in Nam mkha' khyung rdzong after visiting Za hor, Kinnaur and Zhang zhung in mNga' ris......Western Tibet (1924-1925)

Tenth chapter.....The Early Years of Khyung sprul......On his retreat in Khyung lung dngul mkhar rgyal ba mnyes pa.......Western Tibet (1925-1929)

Eleventh chapter.... On how he wandered around Zhang zhung, India, O rgyan, Za hor and Kinnaur.....Western Tibet (1930-1934)

Twelfth Chapter.....On how he founded a new monastery in Khyung lung dngul mkhar of Inner Zhang- zhung.....Western Tibet (1935-1947)

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"In 1996 the abbot of Gur gyam Monastery, dGe slong bsTan 'dzin dbang grags, wrote a book on the History of mNga' ris in which he highlighted the relevance of Khyung sprul rin po che in the reintroduction of Bon in mNga' ris."

"Per Kvaerne published Khyung-sprul 'Jigs-med nam- mkha'i rdo-rje (1897-1995): An Early Twentieth-century Tibetan Pilgrim in India in English as a chapter in Pilgrimage in Tibet. This was considered the starting point for Khyung sprul rin po che's biographical studies and gave rise later in 2001 to an unpublished master’s dissertation by Sonam Chogyal about the Bon po lama's foundation of his own monastery in mNga' ris. More recently, a few studies have been published examining a number of more specific aspects of Khyung sprul rin po che's life and works."...

".... his biography also provides a unique, and therefore highly valuable, source of information regarding the traditional toponymy and onomastics of remote and isolated regions including Hor, Kinnaur and mNga’ ris (Ngari Prefecture)....."

"Most of his religious and medical activities were concentrated around the banks of the Upper Sutlej river, where he had earlier founded Gurugem (Gur gyam mDo sngags grags rgyas gling) Monastery next to g.Yung drung rin chen 'bar ba'i brag phug, the eighth century meditation cave of Dran pa nam mkha’ according to the Bon po tradition. Khyung sprul rin po che identified the area surrounding Gur gyam as Khyung lung dngul mkhar, the capital city of the ancient Zhang zhung kingdom......

Gurugem cave monastery.....Gurugem monastery is a site of worship for both Bon believers and Buddhists......The eighth century meditation cave of Drenpa Namkha .... Garuda Valley, Tsaparang, Ngari province, Western Tibet......Nearby cities: Thal, DEWALTHAL देवलथल, Karnaprayag .....Coordinates: 31°7'47"N 80°38'24"E

"Drenpa Namkha (Tibetan: dran pa nam mkha' ) was born in the 8th century near Mount Kailash in Chunlung Ngul Kha in south-western Tibet. As a young student he was a blessed with eight principal Bon teachers. Drenpa Namkha became a self-realized supreme master of the three Bon practices, known as Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. Drenpa Namkha is the primary long-life deity according to Bon.....One of the foremost Bonpos of the time, Drenpa Namkha (Dran-pa Nam-mkha'), played an important role during the second persecution of Bon. He headed the Bonpo side in a contest against the Buddhists organized by the king to discover which side had the greatest miraculous power....Drenpa Namkha is a popular personage in the Bon tradition. Drenpa Namkha's biography in eight volumes was published by sPa-tshang Sonam Gyantsan, Delhi in 1983. Drenpa Namkha is said to have had twin sons: Tshe-dbang Rig-'dzin, a Bon teacher, and Pad-ma 'Byung-gnas, the famous Buddhist teacher Padmsambhava.....Later masters said to be reincarnations of Drenpa Namkha include Bonpo Traksel (bon po brag tshal, d.u.), Rigdzin Trinle Lhundrub (rig 'dzin phrin las lhun grub, d.u.), and Drenpa Zungi Namtrul (dren pa zung gi rnam 'phrul, d.u.).".....Karmay, The Treasury of Good Sayings, Oxford University Press, London 1972

"Ngari Prefecture (also: Ali Prefecture) (Tibetan: མངའ་རིས་ས་ཁུལ་, Wylie: mnga' ris sa khul; simplified Chinese: 阿里地区; traditional Chinese: 阿里地區; pinyin: Ālǐ Dìqū) ......Ngari sits 4,500 meters above sea level in the northwest of Tibet, 1,600 kilometers from the capital Lhasa. The heart of the ancient Tibetan Guge kingdom was once here. Later Ngari, along with Ü and Tsang composed Ü-Tsang, one of the traditional provinces of Tibet, the others being Amdo and Kham.....Ngari is emblazoned with its holy Kangrinboqe (also named as Sumeru and Kailash ) Mountain and Mapam Yumco Lake. Kangrinboqe is 6,714 m (22,028 ft) above see level, it's the main peak of the Kangdese Mountains (also called the Kailas Range or the Gangdisê Mountains). The holy mountain and lake are connected to different religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, & Bon."

"The Rimé movement was a movement involving the Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma & Bon Schools of Tibetan Buddhism..... Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892)....and Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (1813-1899) .....compiled together the teachings of the Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma, including many near-extinct teachings.......Rimé movement was not exactly eclectic but universalistic (and encyclopaedic), rimed (pa) (the antonym of risu ch'edpa) meaning unbounded, all-embracing, unlimited, and also impartial.".....The movement's name is derived from two Tibetan words: Ris (bias, side) and Med (lack), which combined expresses the idea of openness to other Tibetan Buddhist traditions, as opposed to sectarianism. The Rimé movement therefore is often misunderstood as trying to unite the various sects through their similarities. Rather Rimé was intended to recognize the differences between traditions and appreciate them, while also establishing a dialogue which would create common ground. It is considered important that variety be preserved, and therefore Rimé teachers are generally careful to emphasize differences in thought, giving students many options as to how to proceed in their spiritual training."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rimé_movement

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The Early Years of Khyung sprul rin po che: Hor (1897-1919)......by Josep Lluís Alay University of Barcelona..... The Early Years of Khyung sprul rin po che: Hor (1897-1919). Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 20 (April 2011), pp. 205-230. Khyung-sprul Rin-po-che’s (1897-1955) biography. This is evidently meant to be part of a continuing series of articles about him, since it is limited to his early years.

Moulin, Christophe .... History of Bön - second part: The Propagation of Bön in Zhang-zhung and Tibet

Karmay (1972). The Treasury of Good Sayings, Oxford University Press, London.

Kvæne, Per (1995). The Bon Religion Of Tibet: The Iconography Of A Living Tradition.

Mandelbaum, Arthur; John Bellezza (August 2007). "Drenpa Namkha". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

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

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Seventeen Dzogchen Tantras & The Cina Valley (8th C.)

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Dzogchen Explorations

Okar Research

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Sri Simha deposited copies of the first three Dzogchen cycles in a rock cut crypt beneath the Bodhivriksha Temple of Sugnam in the land of Cina, near Mt Kailasa, south of Western Tibet (below Suvarnadwipa), comprising modern Kinnaur, which was known in ancient times as the valley of Cina.....

"In the literature and practice of Dzogchen, the Seventeen Tantras of the esoteric instruction cycle are a suite of tantras belonging to the textual division known as the "esoteric instruction cycle" ....also known variously as: Nyingtik, Upadesha or Menngagde)... They are associated with sacred literature first transmitted in the human realm by the quasi-historical Garab Dorje and passed according to tradition along with other tantras through various lineages of transmission by way of important Dzogchen figures such as Mañjuśrīmitra, Shri Singha, Padmasambhava, Jnanasutra, and Vimalamitra.......Sri Simha, or Simhaprabha as he may have been known, was born in a noble family in the Cina Valley... the territory of the Indian Kailasa, south of Western Tibet (below Suvarnadwipa), comprising modern Kinnaur, was known in ancient times as the valley of Cina..".....The Dharma Fellowship of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa

"In Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Menngagde (man ngag sde), is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen teachings......Menngagde focuses on the knowledge of trekchö and the basis (gzhi). ..... Menngagde may also be known as Nyingthik. ......Germano & Gyatso note a similarity of practice between Chan-like formless meditations and Nyingthik/Menngagde:...."...the Seminal Heart or Nyingthik (snying thig) form of the Great Perfection (rdzogs-chen) movement, ...a syncretic Tantric tradition consisting of Chan-like practices of formless meditation combined with exercises that cultivated spontaneous visions of buddhas.".......Germano, David & Gyatso, Janet (2000). "Longchenpa and the Possession of the Dakinis."

"The Dharma Fellowship (2009) drawing on the work of Marcelle Lalou (1890–1967) holds the 'Five Peaked Mountain' of "the Land of Cina"...... a mountain near the Kinnaur Valley associated with the historical Suvarnadwipa (Sanskrit) nation also known as 'Zhang-zhung' in the Zhang-zhung language and the Tibetan language.....Apart from gold and matriarchy, the Golden Land of Suvarnadwipa (or Zangzung) was famous for manufacturing and exporting to India a peculiarly fine wool cloth known as cina-patti, or in other words, "fabric (patti) from Cina." Thus we find in Kautilya, for example, the mention of Cina as a valley within the territory of Suvarnadwipa, from whence cina-patti was brought to India. At present this same extra-fine cloth, no longer manufactured in Suvarnadwipa, but instead in Kashmir, is known as cashmere.".....The Dharma Fellowship of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa

"Sri Simha divided the Pith Instruction into four sub-sections, and these are known as the Exoteric Cycle, the Esoteric Cycle, the Secret Cycle, and the Supreme Secret Cycle. Before his own death he deposited copies of the first three cycles in a rock cut crypt beneath the Bodhivriksha Temple of Sugnam (Sokyam) in the land of Cina. The texts of the Supreme Secret Cycle, however, he hid separately within the pillar of the "Gate of a Myriad Blessings"...... It is difficult, however, to clarify as to where these places in the Kinnaur Valley may have actually been. Perhaps future archeological work in the region will help one day to give us a better insight into the facts underlying the half-legendary and half-historical records of early Dzogchen?"...........Dharma Fellowship (2009). Biographies: Sri Simha, the Lion of Dzogchen.

"This series of teachings consist mainly of terma texts among which the Vima Nyingthig and seventeen Tantras hidden by Vimalamitra's student Tingzin Zangpo (Tib., ting 'dzin bzang po) and later revealed by the terton Donma Lungyal (Tib., dong ma lhung rGyal).".....

Seventeen Tantras of the Great Perfection (Tib. dzogchen gyü chu dün, རྫོགས་ཆེན་རྒྱུད་བཅུ་བདུན་, Wyl. rdzogs chen rgyud bcu bdun) of the Category of Pith Instructions, which were brought to Tibet by Vimalamitra and Guru Padmasambhava. Each tantra is not dependent upon the others but complete in itself......Rangjung Yeshe

'Self-existing Perfection'..... the Naturally Born Perfection.....rdzogs pa rang byung...how to prepare to be a suitable recipient of the teachings by means of the four empowerments.... Self-existing Perfection (Tib. dzogpa rangjung, རྫོགས་པ་རང་བྱུང་ , rdzogs pa rang byung).....Rangjung Yeshe....Naturally Born Perfection

'Reverberation of Sound' .....sgra thal 'gyur...the title of this tantra denotes the immutable, unconditioned, uncreated, 'primordial sound' (nada).....explains how to reveal the level of nirmanakaya and how to accomplish the welfare of others through practices related to sound..... (Tib. dra talgyur, སྒྲ་ཐལ་འགྱུར་ , sgra thal 'gyur), the root tantra (Tib. tsawé gyü, རྩ་བའི་རྒྱུད་ , rtsa ba’i rgyud) of these seventeen tantras......Rangjung Yeshe...Penetration of Sound

'Self-arising Knowledge'.....rig pa rang shar....Tantra of Self-arising Awareness / Tantra of Self-manifest Awareness. This scripture teaches how to resolve the view, meditation, and action..... Self-liberated Primordial Awareness (Tib. rigpa rangdrol, རིག་པ་རང་གྲོལ་ , rig pa rang grol).....Rangjung Yeshe....Natural Arising of Awareness (rig pa rang shar) or Great Tantra of Self-Arising Awareness (rig pa rang shar chen po'i rgyud)

'Self-liberated Knowledge'.....rig pa rang grol...The Tantra of Self-Liberated Awareness. This scripture teaches how awareness is uncreated but is liberated by itself, how to control appearances, to grow familiar with the vajra chain, and to naturally free all of samsara and nirvana...... Rangjung Yeshe....Natural Liberation of Awareness

'The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva' ..... rdo rje sems dpa' snying gi me long...The Continuum of Vajrasattva's Heart-Mirror conveys how the 'lamps' (sgron ma) are the self-display of awareness.....The Tantra of the Mind Mirror of Vajrasattva...... This tantra teaches how the lamps are the self-display of awareness. By means of 21 pointing-out instructions, the different types of people recognize wisdom. It further teaches the four key points and how to practice...... (Tib. dorje sempa nying gi melong, རྡོ་རྗེ་སེམས་དཔའ་སྙིང་གི་མེ་ལོང་ , rdo rje sems dpa' snying gi me long)...... Rangjung Yeshe

'The Mirror of the Mind of Kun tu bzang po'.....kun tu bzang po thugs kyi me long....Though Buddhism is for the most part non-theistic, Dzogchen and other Buddhadharma traditions often personify attributes or qualities with a deity in textual discourse...Tantra of the Heart Mirror of Samantabhadra. This tantra shows how to identify and cut through pitfalls and errors and how to establish what is innate..... The Mirror of the Heart of Samantabhadra. ...... The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra (Tib. kuntuzangpo tuk kyi melong, ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་ཐུགས་ཀྱི་མེ་ལོང་ , kun tu bzang po thugs kyi me long).....Rangjung Yeshe

'Necklace of Precious Pearls' .....mu tig rin po che'i phreng ba.....The Garland of Pearls, Mu tig ’phreng ba........Mu tig rin po che phreng ba’i rgyud: "The Tantra of the Precious Garland of Pearls"......(Tib. mutik rinpochei trengwa, མུ་ཏིག་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་ཕྲེང་བའི་རྒྱུད་ , mu tig rin po che'i phreng ba).... Pearl Necklace, Pearl Garland Tantra..... Rangjung Yeshe

'Lion's Perfect Expressive Power' .....seng ge rtsal rdzogs...Tantra of the Perfected Lion. The scripture explains the degrees of progress and the signs that occur, how to stabilize awareness and increase the level of experience.... Lion's Perfect Expressive Power (Tib. sengé tsaldzog, སེང་གེ་རྩལ་རྫོགས་ , seng ge rtsal rdzogs)..........Rangjung Yeshe

'Shining Relics of Enlightened Body' .....sku gdung 'bar ba...Tantra of Shining Relics. This tantra describes the outer and inner signs of awareness reaching maturity which are manifest before and after the time of death in order to inspire and instill confidence in other persons..... (Tib. kudung barwa, སྐུ་གདུང་འབར་བ་ , sku gdung 'bar ba)....Rangjung Yeshe....Blazing Relics of the Buddha-Body

'Kiss of the Sun and Moon' .....nyi zla kha sbyor.... Union of Sun and Moon. This tantra shows which experience a person undergoes in the intermediate state, the bardo, after passing away. It teaches how to resolve one's master's oral instructions during the bardo of this life, how to stabilize awareness during the bardo of dying, how to attain enlightenment through recognizing awareness during the bardo of dharmata, and, if necessary, how to be assured a rebirth in a natural nirmanakaya realm during the bardo of becoming and there reveal buddhahood without further rebirths......Union of the Sun and Moon (Tib. nyi da khajor, ཉི་ཟླ་ཁ་སྦྱོར་ , nyi zla kha sbyor).....Rangjung Yeshe...Coalescence of Sun and Moon

'Blazing Lamp' .....sgron ma 'bar ba.....Tantra of the Radiant Lamp. This tantra teaches how to identify the "lamps" related to awareness, their terminology, analogies for how wisdom arises, the unity of awareness, how to clear misconceptions about self-cognizance, and how to practice.... (Tib. drönma barwa, སྒྲོན་མ་འབར་བ་ , sgron ma 'bar ba)....Rangjung Yeshe.

'Direct Introduction' ......ngo sprod spras pa.....This tantra is similar to showing a mirror to a maiden, for it describes (through various indications), how to apply essence of awareness in one's practice.....(Tib. ngotrö trepa, ངོ་སྤྲོད་སྤྲས་པ་ , ngo sprod spras pa)....Rangjung Yeshe.

'Great Auspicious Beauty' .....bkra shis mdzes ldan....teaches how to establish the nature of awareness and how to identify the basis of confusion and the unmistaken wisdom.....Tantra of the Great Graceful Auspiciousness.....(Tib. tashi dzeden, བཀྲ་ཤིས་མཛེས་ལྡན་ , bkra shis mdzes ldan).....Rangjung Yeshe.....Beauteous Good Auspices, Tantra of Graceful Auspiciousness

'Sixfold Expanse of Kun tu bzang po' .....kun tu bzang po klong drug......Tantra of the Six Spheres of Samantabhadra. This tantra teaches how to prevent rebirth in and purify the six realms, and manifest the pure realms of self-display.....Sixfold Expanse of Samantabhadra (Tib. kuntuzangpo long druk, ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་ཀློང་དྲུག་ , kun tu bzang po klong drug).....Rangjung Yeshe.....The Six Spheres , or Sixfold Expanse, or Six Spheres of Samantabhadra

'Without Letters' ..... yi ge med pa......Letterless Tantra......The Tantra of No Letters. This tantra describes the actual means of practice, how to abandon activities and live in places free from defects, the four ways of 'freely resting,' sustaining naturalness as well as the undefiled method of the main part of practice......(Tib. yigé mépa, ཡི་གེ་མེད་པ་ , yi ge med pa).....Rangjung Yeshe....Absence of Letters, Letterless Tantra and/or Tantra of No Letters

'Inlaid with Jewels' .....nor bu phra bkod.......Norbu Trako......Jewel Studded....Tantra of studded jewels.......Array of Jewels (Tib. norbu trakö, ནོར་བུ་ཕྲ་བཀོད་ , nor bu phra bkod)....Rangjung Yeshe.......Studded Jewels, Array of Fine Gemstones

'Piled Gems'.....rin po che spung ba....(Tib. rinpoche pungwa, རིན་པོ་ཆེ་སྤུང་བ་ , rin po che spung ba)....Rangjung Yeshe.......Mound of Gemstones, Tantra of the Jewel Mound

The Practice of Dzogchen....by Longchen Rabjam

"The Mannagde level knows two types of training, the 'Two Paths of the Great Perfection' (rdzogs chen gi lam gnyis), and each of these can be practiced as a path in itself.......
1. Trekchod "Cutting Through Resistance" (khregs chod); also Trekchö, Trekchöd, Thregchod, Trek-chod The method of "cutting through to the essence", the "destruction of solidity". It involves the actualization of one's innermost awareness, one's primordial wisdom nature, one's primordial purity (ka dag); realizing the heart of enlightenment in the present moment. 2. Thogal (Tib., Thod-rGal) "direct approach", "All-Surpassing Realisation"; also Thodgal, Togal, Tögal The method of "direct crossing", with an emphasis on pure spontaneity or spontaneous presence (Tib., lhun-grub), and with practices that exhaust all defilements and fixations, so that the rainbow body can be realized within one lifetime."....http://yoniversum.nl/dakini/tantib93.html

"The Seventeen Tantras are amongst the texts known as the 'Supreme Secret Cycle' the Fourth Cycle and the most sacred tantras in the Nyingma Dzogchen tradition and the Dharma Fellowship (2009) provide a different historical location than Mount Wutai China for the location of concealment which is identified as near the Kinnaur Valley within the Kinnaur District: It is explained that Sri Simha divided the Pith Instruction into four sub-sections, and these are known as the Exoteric Cycle, the Esoteric Cycle, the Secret Cycle, and the Supreme Secret Cycle. Before his own death he deposited copies of the first three cycles in a rock cut crypt beneath the Bodhivriksha Temple of Sugnam (Sokyam) in the land of Cina. The texts of the Supreme Secret Cycle, however, he hid separately within the pillar of the "Gate of a Myriad Blessings".

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

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

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