The
title "Shambhala" is misleading because with this title Nicholas
Roerich lets it be understood that in his book he is sharing the investigations
and discoveries that he made about the headquarters of the Masters, but in
reality Nicholas Roerich speaks little about Shambhala, and his book is a
compilation of various articles that Nicholas Roerich wrote in different parts
of the world on various topics between 1925 and 1929.
I
suspect that Nicholas Roerich cleverly gave his book that title simply to make
it more attractive and to provoke more purchases of his work.
FIRST
EDITION PUBLISHER’S NOTE
The
artist’s eye and philosopher’s spirit which are Roerich’s, are as a magnet.
Drawn by their power, there flows into Roerich’s being a stream of experiences
which he is able to transmute into beauty by that spiritual alchemy which is
possessed by the teachers of men.
In
“Shambhala” Roerich has recorded the way of his journey through Central Asia
and Tibet in the terms of spirit. It is a record of legends, of parables, of
notes—the very substance of which the larger reality is composed, and all
revealing different facets of the theme of Shambhala. In this book—as in his
other books, “Altai-Himalaya” and “Heart of Asia,” one realizes that Roerich’s
vision is manifold. Traveling on his way, he discerns all the beauty of the
natural spectacle through which he passes. And in his works—as in his
paintings— he records this panorama in successive sparks which flow into a
continuous pageantry. But in addition, Roerich perceives also that subtler
manifestation of the countries and peoples through which he journeys. He
discerns their thoughts; he perceives the pulsating, throbbing hopes and
beliefs that sweep like winds across space. And it is this record—so little
visible to the many of us— that becomes the vital force of Roerich’s message.
One
must remark the style of Roerich—it has the unrepeatable quality and synthesis
of life. He transmits to us the essentials and we discern that these fragments
of seeming fantasy are weaving themselves into a pattern of essential truth and
essential beauty.
Roerich
has named this book, “Shambhala” advisedly. Reading it, one realizes that
Roerich has woven a wreath which he has offered in full reverence to the great
Principle which is Shambhala, the New Era; for truly it is the salutary wind of
people’s thought and faith which will aid the fires of Shambhala. And once
again, as in all the deeds of his inexhaustible creative fervor, Roerich’s
“Shambhala” pronounces the evocation of the fires of new human achievement and
a new human destiny.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
MY OPINION
OF THIS BOOK
Some articles are
interesting but not relevant. Other articles it seems that Nicholas Roerich
only put them as filler. This book serves as a curiosity and entertainment, but
it does not contain a teaching worth studying.
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