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LIVING TRADITIONS MAGAZINEPO Box 492

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Red ShambhalaMagic, Prophecy andGeopolitics in the Heart of AsiaAndrei ZnamenskiQuest Books (2011)

Red Shambhala is truly riveting

study of the underbelly of occult-ism and politics with a focus onBolshevik interest in esotericismand especially Tibet. The legendof Shambhala went through manystages from a Buddhist crusadermyth about a coming leader whowould crush the unenlightened tothe Great White Brotherhood ofTheosophy. Znamenski discusseshow the myth of Shambhala isclosely linked to the Mongol sha-

manic traditions and developed asan idealization of the Tibetan Mon-gol culture. He also considers the-se myths in terms of how theywere used within varying spiritualsystems and manipulated by politi-cal regimes from the left to theright. His research is highly origi-nal and I have seen little consider-ing such a subject in English.While there are many volumes onthe right wing use of occultism, it is

not often discussed how the leftdistorted with Tibetan Buddhism toachieve its goals.

The book opens with a biography

of the major characters which are-some of the most eccentric vision-

aries you will ever read of ! This isfollowed by a history of the mythof Shambhala from a utopianworld approached through simplefaith to the legend of Rudra Cha-krin who will appear at the end ofthe age to vanquish the unfaithfuland bring about a global age ofBuddhism ! The vision of a darkage or Kali Yuga with corruptionspreading from the West hasmuch in common with Hindu,

Manichean and Islamic traditions.While modern Tibetan Buddhistsspiritualize the Shambhala proph-ecies in its original form it clearlyhad a strong militaristic focus and

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LIVING TRADITIONS MAGAZINEPO Box 492

Armidale NSW 2350 Australia

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was just as much influenced by the Bud-dhist clashes with Islam of the period asany future prophecy.

Intricately connected to the Shambhalatradition is the Kalachakra, a series of tan-tric methods which includes various levelsof teachings. The outer is a military waragainst outsiders while the inner com-petes with Hindu Tantra using sex mysti-cism and advanced esoteric techniques.Many of the techniques resonate with LeftHand Path Hinduism and the teachings ofthe Aghori and include all manner of for-bidden practices, these practises have

been totally rewritten and watered downby modern Buddhism. Of course thewrathful deities connected to such practic-es are not the new age repackaged formsof modern Tibetan Buddhism but trulyfierce and terrifying deities.

The Shambhala prophecies were remark-ably flexible and as circumstanceschanged the focus could move from Mos-lems to unbelievers and the Chinese. Lat-er they would rationalized as symbolic

psychospiritual processes. In the 1900sas Chinese attacked the intensity of theprophecy increased. This also resonatedwith the Oirot prophecies which wereused to stir resistance in western Mongo-lia as a form of revolution against theRussians and Chinese. A unique form ofBuddhism developed among the Oirotpeople called Ak-Jang or pure Buddhismbased on similiar prophecies. As radicalchange hit china and Russia a wild groupof visionaries, nationalists and dreamers

used the prophecies to further their ownidealistic ends, most with truly disastrousresults.

This is only the beginning of the tale; one

of the strangest alliances is betweenaspects of communism and TibetanBuddhism. Gleb Bokii of the soviet se-cret police was horrified by the constant

flow of bloodshed the revolution wascausing and contemplated how bothscientific materialism and the Buddhistvision of Shambhala could be used tocreate a new form of Marxism. Occult-ism was popular in Russia especiallyduring the silver age of the 1880s-1918when positivist occultism, a vision ofoccultism and spirituality which was giv-en a scientific explanation, came intovogue. A strange amalgam of ideas be-

gan to develop uniting traditionalism,occultism and the communist utopianvision. One of the major areas for thiswas in the field of parapsychology coor-dinated by the Institute for the Brain andPsychic activities. There were alsocommunist esoteric communes whichcombined spirituality with the new Marx-ist worldview, one being the United La-bor brotherhood. These organizationsas well as individuals offering a com-munist Buddhist wisdom proved a

heady mix for the new state.

Gleb Bokii was a strange mixture ofagent of Red Terror, occultist and utopi-an visionary Znamenski explores his lifein detail as it mirrors the unique condi-tions of the time. His unit explored eve-rything from breaking codes to telepathyand the Kalachakra all from the per-spective of an expanded view of scien-tific materialism. The religious and uto-pian vision of Marxism was well suited

to the process of adapting theShambhala prophecy to Bolshevik politi-cal ends including the red conversion ofMongolia, creating a sort of communistBuddhist liberation theology.

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It was, however not all to the left, BaronVon Ungern-Sternberg was a right ringleader in Mongolia during 1920-21 withan occult vision and a reactionary zeal,he was a thorn in the side of the com-munists and only his excessive violencebrought his reign to an end.

Znameski explores the life of Nicholasand Helena Roerich who were not onlyinvolved in all manner of political intriguebut developed their own spiritual systemknown as Agni yoga. Adapting theoso-phy, Tibetan Buddhism and a politicalvision focused on Shambhala they hoped

to create a new Tibetan empire under theexiled Panchen Lama and themselves.The masters of the Great White Brother-hood seemed to change their minds reg-ularly in tune with the Roerichs untram-melled political ambitions and in the endthey aligned themselves with the new

Bolshevik regime and attempted, unsuc-cessfully, to bring Tibet into their vision.

This is a fascinating volume document-ing unknown byways through which oc-cultism, esotericism and Marxism some-how ended up combined in a utopianbelief system which was certainly notBuddhist but hardly Marxist either ! Mostof the players within the Soviet systemended up losing their lives while all seemto have lost their integrity as egos ranriot. Znameski provides lots of details butwrites in an engaging manner and RedShambhala at times reads like an adven-

ture or spy novel even though it is alltrue. Znameski details a period of eso-teric history which has been little studiedand this is an exceptionally interestingread.