Shambhala is a mythical kingdom, city or place said to be located in the Himalayas, hidden from the view of the uninitiated. Shambhala is talked about in ancient Buddhist and Sanskrit texts and even mentioned in the pre-Buddhist Bön Religion where it is called "Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring". It is also the subject of many books and Hollywood movies, most famously the 1937 film "Lost Horizon", which shows the main actors getting lost in the Tibetan mountains and finding the long lost Paradise of "Shangri-La" as it is called there.

The most ancient Bön Religion speaks of the hidden land as existing in a spiritual-realm, beyond duality, and therefore only being visible to some. According to that tradition it is a place of timeless bliss which is located near Mount Kailash. Mount Kailash is revered in Hinduism and Buddhism as a sort of mythical place of origin for those Religions. The Bön say the land is full of wonderful fragrances and colors and flanked by snow-capped mountains.



According to Tibetan Buddhist Teachings, Shambhala is a "Place of Happiness and Tranquility" and also a place where many religious teachings originated. The place is sometimes seen as a physical location but has also been mythologized to be the Buddhist version of Heaven (called "Pure Land"), full of enlightened inhabitants who have accumulated positive karma and are therefore permitted entry. The place is also repeatedly mentioned in Hinduism (called "Sambalah" there). The "Forbidden Land" or "The Land of White Waters" is also known to non-religious ancient Chinese legends.

Similar to Abrahamic Religions, legend has it that one day when the world is taken over by evil and darkness, an army of good will come from Shambhala to rid the planet of evil and begin a new Golden Age. Some say the date for this event is 2424 A.D. According to Tibetan monks, the place is located "somewhere around McLeodGanj" (shown in the next image), which is also the current home of the Dalai Lama.



Shambhala has captured the interest of many researches, spiritual seekers and even military powers. The Soviet secret police went searching for Shambalah in the 1920s, and the Nazis (Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hess) sent expeditions to find Shambhala in the 1930s. It is not known what they found, even though many rumors abound.

Does Shambhala exist physically or spiritually? What have the countless expeditions in search of it brought up? What else is known about it? This thread seeks to be a collaborative effort to find out more.