CHAPTER 2: MYSTERIES OF KINGDOM SHAMBHALA

Shambhala is a Sanskrit word meaning "place of peace" or "place of silence", is a mythical paradise spoken on ancient texts, including the Kalachakra Tantra and the ancient scriptures of the Zhang Zhung culture which predated Tibetan Buddhism in western Tibet.

According to its legend, it is a land where only the pure of heart can live, a place where love and wisdom reigns and where people are immune to suffering, want or old age.

Shambhala is said to be the land of a thousand names. Also called the Forbidden Land, the Land of White Waters, Land of Radiant Spirits, Land of Living Fire, Land of the Living Gods and Land of Wonders. The Hindus call it Aryavartha ('The Land of the Worthy Ones); the Chinese know it as Hsi Tien, the Western Paradise of Hsi Wang Mu; and to the Russian Old Believers, it is known as Belovoyde. 

But throughout Asia, it is best known by its Sanskrit name, Shambhala, Shamballa, or Shangri-la.

The legend of Shambhala dates back thousands of years to the mythical land founded on various ancient texts.

The Bon scriptures speak of a closely related land called Olmolungring. Hindu texts such as Vishnu Purana mention Shambhala as the birthplace of Kalki, the final incarnation of Vishnu who will usher in a new Golden Age.

The Buddhist myth of Shambhala is an adaptation of the earlier Hindu myth. But the text in which Shambhala is first discussed extensively is the Kalachakra.  

The Kalachakra refers to a complex and advanced esoteric teaching and practice in Tibetan Buddhism.

Shakyamuni Buddha is said to have taught the Kalachakra on request of King Suchandra of Shambhala.

As with many concepts in the Kalachakra, the idea of Shambhala is said to have outer, inner, and alternative meanings.

The outer meaning understands Shambhala to exist as a physical place, although only individuals with the appropriate karma can reach it and experience it as such which may relate to another dimension or parallel universe.

The inner and alternative meanings refer to more subtle understandings of what Shambhala represents in terms of one's own body and mind (inner), and during meditative practise (alternative).

These two types of symbolic explanations are generally passed on orally from teacher to student through their teachings.

As the 14th Dalai Lama noted during the 1985 Kalachakra initiation in Bodhgaya, Shambhala is not an ordinary country:

"Although those with special affiliation may be able to go there through their karmic connection, nevertheless it is not a physical place that we can find.

We can only say that it is a pure land, a pure land in the human realm. And unless one has the merit and the actual karmic association, one cannot arrive there."

The Prophecy of Shambhala

The concept of Shambhala plays an essential role in Tibetan religious teachings and has relevance in Tibetan mythology about the future.

The Kalachakra prophesies the gradual deterioration of mankind as the ideology of materialism spreads over the earth.

When the "barbarians" who follow this ideology are united under an evil king and think there is nothing left to conquer, the mists will lift to reveal the snowy mountains of Shambhala.

The barbarians will attack Shambhala with a huge army equipped with terrible weapons. Then the king of Shambhala will emerge from Shambhala with a huge army to vanquish "dark forces" and usher in a worldwide Golden Age.

Though the Kalachakra prophesies a future war, this appears in conflict with the vows of Buddhist teachings that prohibit violence.

This has led some theologians to interpret the war symbolically indicating that the Kālachakra is not advocating violence against people but rather refers to the inner battle of the religious practitioner against inner demonic tendencies.

The revelation of Shambhala's hidden location

Over many centuries, numerous explorers and seekers of spiritual wisdom have embarked on expeditions and quests in search of the mythical paradise of Shambhala,  while many have claimed to have been there, no one has yet provided any evidence of its existence or been able to pinpoint its physical location on a map, however, most references place Shambhala on the mountainous regions of Eurasia. 

What do you mean by multiverse?

The universe we live in may not be the only one out there. Instead, our universe could be just one of an infinite number of universes making up a "multiverse."

Do you wanna explore the secrets of multiverse.......?

Though the concept may stretch credulity, there's good physics and scientific evidences behind it. And there's not just one way to get to a multiverse — numerous physics theories independently point to such a conclusion.

Some experts think the existence of hidden universes is more likely than not.

The five most plausible scientific theories suggesting we live in a multiverse:

1.Daughter Universes

The theory of quantum mechanics, which rules over the tiny world of subatomic particles, suggests another way multiple universes might arise. Quantum mechanics substantiates the world in terms of probabilities, rather than definite outcomes.

And the mathematics of this theory might suggest that all possible outcomes of a situation do occur — in their separate universes.

For instance, if you reach a crossroads where you can go right or left, the present universe gives rise to two daughter universes; one in which you go right, and one in which you go left, the choice is yours.

"And in each universe, there's a copy of you witnessing one or the other outcome, thinking — incorrectly — that your reality is the only reality," Greene wrote in "The Hidden Reality."

2. Infinite Universes

Scientists can't be sure what the shape of space-time is, but predictability, it's flat (as opposed to spherical or even doughnut-shape) and stretches out infinitely.

But if space-time (Kalachakra) goes on forever, then it must start repeating at some point, because there are a finite number of ways particles can be organised in space and time.

So if you look far beyond, you would encounter another version of you — factually the infinite versions of you. Some twins will be doing exactly what you're doing right now, while others would have worn a different sweater this morning, and still others will have made vastly different career and life choices based on their interests.

The observable universe extends only as far as light has had a chance to get in the 13.7 billion years since the Big Bang (that would be 13.7 billion light-years), the space-time beyond that distance can be considered to be its separate universe.

In this very subtle way, a multitude of universes exists next to each other in a giant patchwork quilt of universes.

3.Bubble Universes

On the concept of multiple universes created by infinitely extending space-time, other universes could arise from a theory called "eternal inflation."

Inflation is the notion that the universe expanded rapidly after the Big Bang, inflating like a balloon. Eternal inflation, first proposed by Tufts University cosmologist Alexander Vilenkin, indicated that some pockets of space stop inflating, while other regions continue to inflate, thus giving rise to many isolated "bubble universes."

Thereby, Our universe, where inflation has ended, allowing stars and galaxies to form, is but a small bubble in a vast sea of space, some of which is still inflating, that contains many other bubbles like ours.

While in some of these bubble universes, the laws of physics and fundamental constants might be different than in ours, making some universes strange places indeed.

4.Parallel Universes

Another string theory is the notion of "braneworlds" — parallel universes that hover just out of reach of our own, proposed by Princeton University's Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada.

This conceptual idea comes from the possibility of many more dimensions to our world than the three of space and one of time that we know.

In additionary note to our own three-dimensional "brane" of space, other three-dimensional branes may float in a higher-dimensional space.

Columbia University physicist Brian Greene depicts the idea as the notion that "our universe is one of potentially numerous 'slabs' floating in a higher-dimensional space, much like a slice of bread within a grander cosmic loaf," in his book "The Hidden Reality" (Vintage Books, 2011).

A further wrinkle on this theory enumerates these brane universes aren't always parallel and out of reach. Most often, they might slam into each other, causing repeated Big Bangs that reset the universes over and over again.

5. Mathematical Universes

Scientists have debated over years that whether mathematics is simply a useful tool for describing the universe, or whether math itself is the fundamental reality, and our observations of the universe are just imperfect perceptions of its true mathematical nature.

If the latter is the case, then the particular mathematical structure that makes up our universe isn't the only option, all possible mathematical structures exist as their separate universes.

"A mathematical structure is something that you can describe in a way that's completely independent of human baggage," said Max Tegmark of MIT, who proposed this brain-twisting idea. "I believe that there is this universe out there that can exist independently of me that would continue to exist even if there were no humans."

What is Kalachakra?

Kalachakra is a Sanskrit word made up of two terms; Kala meaning "time" and chakra meaning "wheel", literally translated into English as "Wheel of Time".

Kalachakra is a complex meditation practice from the highest class of tantra, anuttarayoga.

The profound method for overcoming the detrimental effects of compulsive karma and attaining enlightenment to benefit all others, includes in its literature an encyclopedia of ancient Indian science helpful to everyone, regardless of their own beliefs.

But what does that mean? To answer this question, we will need to look at Kalachakra from multiple dimensions or levels of understanding.

THE EXTERNAL REALITY

At the most superficial level, the Kalachakra is the nature of everything. Or it depicts, everything which exists is of the nature of cycles of time.

There is nothing that exists outside this constant nexus of changing cycles. If we look outward to the universe with its many galaxies and solar systems, we can see endless cycles of change playing out over the past, present and future.

It is in this way, that everything is contained within the Outer Kalachakra.

THE INTERNAL REALITY

Moving from macro to micro, we consider the nature of the beings that inhabit this universe.

At the level of a person, Kalachakra can be understood to be the very subtle structures of a person's body and mind. This is known as the Inner Kalachakra.

It includes not only the structure but also the dynamic influence that the mind/body complex has on the surrounding universe.

Hence, through understanding this Inner Kalachakra we can break free from the dominance of our external conditions and transform our experience to create a harmonious and peaceful environment.

THE ENLIGHTENED REALITY

If we dive deeper though, we discover what is referred to as the Pure Form Kalachakra (also known as the Alternative or Enlightened Kalachakra).

At this level, we are still talking about cycles of time, but the meaning of these words becomes completely different.

At this ultimate level, we speak of the unchanging or immutable cycles of time, which are the union of immutable bliss and empty form.

This union is depicted by the Kalachakra deity in union with his consort. The masculine aspect of Kalachakra represents the mind of immutable bliss, while the female aspect of Vishvamatha represents the sublime empty form.

These two are in fact of one essence, representing our absolute nature.

Our ego-self is the combination of our external universe and our internal being. Our true self though is this deepest absolute level, our sacred truth.

Through practising with our subtle body and mind, we can purify our coarse perceptions and experiences, thus unveiling the complete mandala of Kalachakra pure forms.

NASA scientists prove evidence of a parallel universe where time runs backwards: In a scenario straight out of "The Twilight Zone," a group of NASA scientists worked on an experiment in Antarctica had detected evidence of a parallel universe, wherein the rules of physics are the exact opposite of our own, based on a report.

The cosmic ray detection experiment has found particles that could be from a parallel realm that also was born in the Big Bang, reported by the Daily Star. The experts used a giant balloon to carry NASA's Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna, or ANITA, high above Antarctica, where the frigid, dry air provided the perfect environment with little to no radio noise to distort its findings.

A constant "wind" of high-energy particles constantly arrives on Earth from outer space. Low-energy, subatomic neutrinos with a mass close to zero can pass completely through Earth, but higher-energy objects are stopped by the solid matter of our planet, on a reported basis.

That substantially means the high-energy particles can only be detected coming "down" from space, but the team's ANITA detected heavier particles, so-called tau neutrinos, which come "up" out of the Earth.

The finding implies that these particles are travelling backwards in time, depicting the evidence of a parallel universe, based on the findings of Daily Star.

Principal ANITA investigator Peter Gorham, an experimental particle physicist at the University of Hawaii, said that the only way the tau neutrino could behave that way is if it changed into a different type of particle before passing through the Earth and then back again.

Gorham, lead author on a Cornell University paper describes the odd phenomenon, stated that he and his fellow researchers had seen several of these "impossible events," which some were sceptical about."Not everyone was comfortable with the hypothesis," he told New Scientist.

The simplest explanation for the phenomenon is that at the moment of the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, two universes were formed, that include ours and one that from our perspective is running in reverse with time going backwards.

Most suitably, if there are any inhabitants of a possible parallel universe, they'd consider us the backward ones." We're left with the most exciting or most boring possibilities," said Ibrahim Safa, who has worked on the experiment.

DO PARALLEL UNIVERSES EXIST OR IS IT'S A DREAM REALM?

In 1954, a young Princeton University doctoral candidate Hugh Everett III came up with a radical idea stating that there exist parallel universes, exactly like our ­universe.

These universes are all related to ours; as they branch off from ours, and our universe is branched off of others. Within these parallel universes, our wars have had different outcomes than the ones we had known.

Species that are extinct in our universe have evolved and adapted to others. In other universes, we humans may have become extinct. Is this a mere reality?...

This thought boggles the mind and remains comprehensible. Notions of parallel universes or dimensions that resemble our own have appeared in works of science fiction and have been used as explanations for metaphysics.

With his Many-Worlds theory, Everett was attempting to answer a question related to quantum physics: Why does quantum matter behave erratically? The quantum level is the smallest one science has detected so far.

The study of quantum physics began in 1900, when the physicist Max Planck first introduced the concept to the scientific world. Planck's study of radiation yielded some unusual findings that contradicted classical physical laws. These findings suggested that there are other laws at work in the universe, operating on a deeper level than the one we know.

Physicists studying the quantum level noticed some peculiar things about this tiny world.

For one, the particles that exist on this level have a way of taking different forms arbitrarily. Scientists have observed photons, that is the tiny packets of light that acts as particles and waves. Even a single photon exhibits this shape-shifting.

Imagine if you looked and acted like a solid human being when a friend glanced at you, but when he looked back again, you'd taken a gaseous form. This serves as the best example of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

The physicist Werner Heisenberg stated that just by observing quantum matter, we affect the behaviour of that matter. Hence, we can never be fully certain of the nature of a quantum object or its attributes, like velocity and location. This idea is supported by the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Posed by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr, all quantum particles don't exist in one state or the other, but in all of its possible states at once.

The total of possible states of a quantum object is called its wave function. The state of an object existing in all of its possible states at once is called its superposition.

According to Bohr, when we observe a quantum object, we affect its behaviour.

Observation breaks an object's superposition and essentially forces the object to choose one state from its wave function.

This theory accounts for why physicists have taken opposite measurements from the same quantum object: The object "chose" different states during different measurements. Bohr's interpretation was widely accepted and still is by much of the quantum community.

But in later stages, Everett's Many-Worlds theory has been getting some serious attention.

Young Hugh Everett agreed with much of what the highly respected physicist Niels Bohr had suggested about the quantum world.

He agreed with the idea of superposition, as well as with the notion of wave functions. But Everett disagreed with Bohr in one vital respect.

To Everett, measuring a quantum object does not force it into one comprehensible state or another. While a measurement taken of a quantum object causes an actual split in the universe.

The universe is duplicated, splitting into one universe for each possible outcome from the measurement.

For example, say an object's wave function is both a particle and a wave. When a physicist measures the particle, there are two possible outcomes: It will either be measured as a particle or a wave. This distinction makes Everett's Many-Worlds theory a competitor of the Copenhagen interpretation as an explanation for quantum mechanics.

When a physicist measures the object, the universe splits into two distinct universes to accommodate each of the possible outcomes.

The scientist in one universe finds that the object has been measured in waveform. The same scientist in the other universe measures the object as a particle. This depicts how one particle can be measured in more than one state.

As unsettling it may sound, Everett's Many-Worlds interpretation has implications beyond the quantum level.

If an action has more than one possible outcome, then Everett's theory is correct when the universe splits when action is taken. This makes true even when a person chooses not to take any action.

If you have ever found yourself in a situation where death was a possible outcome, then in a universe parallel to ours, you are dead. This is just one reason that some find the Many-Worlds interpretation disturbing.

Another aspect of the Many-Worlds interpretation is that it undermines our concept of time as linear. Imagine a timeline showing the history of the Vietnam War.

Apart from a straight line showing noteworthy events progressing onward, a timeline based on the Many-Worlds interpretation would show each possible outcome of each action taken.

From there, each possible outcome of the actions taken (as a result of the original outcome) would be further chronicled.

The Many-Worlds theory and the Copenhagen interpretation weren't the only competitors ­trying to explain the basic level of the universe.

Quantum mechanics isn't even the only field within physics searching for such an explanation.

The theories that have emerged from the study of subatomic physics remain theories. This has caused the field of study to be divided in much the same way as the world of psychology. Theories have adherents and critics, as do the psychological frameworks proposed by Carl Jung, Albert Ellis and Sigmund Freud.

Since their science was developed, physicists have been engaged in reverse-engineering the universe, while they have studied what they could observe and worked backwards toward smaller and smaller levels of the physical world.

By doing this, physicists are attempting to reach the final and most basic level. It is this level, they hope, that will serve as the foundation for understanding everything else.

Parallel universes in science fiction

Here are some of the more prominent uses of parallel universes in science fiction.

Marvel Comics and DC Comics feature stories set in parallel universes that are part of the multiverse.

Many anime series, such as "Digimon," "Dragon Ball" and "Sonic the Hedgehog" feature alternate versions of their characters from other universes.

Parallel universes appear in games such as "Dungeons & Dragons," "BioShock Infinite," the "Final Fantasy" franchise, "Half-Life," "League of Legends," "Mortal Kombat" and "The Legend of Zelda.""Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions" (1884), by Edwin A. Abbott, is a story about a two-dimensional world that includes living geometric figures such as circles, triangles and squares.

The novel also includes other universes such as Lineland, Spaceland and Pointland. This book was adapted into a feature film in 2007." Men Like Gods" (1923), and H.G. Wells novel, included a "paratime" machine and explored the multiverse." The Chronicles of Narnia" (1950-56), a C.S. Lewis book series, features several children who move between our world and the world of Narnia, where there are talking animals.

Some of these books were released as feature films earlier in the 2000s. An episode of "Star Trek" featured a "mirror universe" in which the characters were more ruthless and warlike. The concept was repeated in nearly every subsequent "Star Trek" series.

In 2009, the "Star Trek" universe got a reboot in a movie that put the characters from the 1960s original series in an alternate universe. The movie starred Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto and set off a series of other "Star Trek" films.

In "The Dark Tower," a Stephen King series that began in 1982, travellers go through portals to different levels of the titular tower (in other words, parallel Earths). Part of the series was adapted into a feature film in 2017. The "Back to the Future" movie series (which began in 1985) follows the adventures of the McFly family, including visits to 1885, 1955 and 2015.

The second film in particular shows the drawbacks of an alternate reality when one character uses it to get rich by nefarious means. The series starred Michael J. Fox. In the "His Dark Materials" series by Philip Pullman, children move between multiple worlds. The first book, "The Golden Compass," was adapted into a film in 2007." Sliding Doors" (1998) is a film that showed two parallel universes depending on whether the main character caught a train or not.

It starred Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah." Run Lola Run" (1998) is a film starring Franka Potente. The film shows multiple alternatives as a woman tries to get 100,000 Deutsche marks in only 20 minutes to save her boyfriend's life." Timeline" (1999) by Michael Crichton follows historians who go back in time to the Middle Ages. (While the book is mostly a time travel book, the multiverse is used in it as well.)

A film based on the book was released in 2003." Donnie Darko" (2001) is a film in which a high school student finds himself confronted with visions and tries to figure out their meaning.

It starred Jake Gyllenhaal." The Long Earth" book series, by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, discusses parallel universes that may be nearly the same as Earth."Stranger Things" (2016 to present) is a science fiction-horror television series that begins with the investigation of a young boy's disappearance in a small town.

The series includes a discussion of an alternate dimension called the Upside Down.