WHO WE ARE
Named for the legendary kingdom of Shambhala, Shambhala – A Holistic Store was created to be a place of light, wisdom & sanctuary for all. Its mission is to provide customers with the tools, services & guidance needed to walk the path of enlightenment, so that they can become the best versions of themselves – mind, body & soul. We strive to achieve this goal by offering products that uplift or heal energetically & spiritually and by putting customers in touch with energy workers (in house and external affiliates) who, as experts in their fields, can provide services to people in need of such help.
Our team consists of a handful of individuals – some who practice forms of energy healing such as Crystal Therapy & Reiki, and others who are experts at divination in the form of Tarot & Oracle card reading – all, highly knowledgeable in our main area of focus – the attributes & benefits of the products we have to offer.
Founded on April 12th, 2014, Shambhala – A Holistic Store has been in operation for many years as a physical outlet in Trinidad & Tobago & from February 2023, can now offer its services to the world via our website & online store.
Shambhala Mythology
Shambhala, also spelled Shambala or Shamballa, which is a Sanskrit word that means “place of peace” or “place of silence,” is the name of a spiritual kingdom spoken of in the ancient Buddhist text, the Kalachakra Tantra and the ancient Hindu text, the Vishnu Purana among others. These texts prophesy that Shambhala will be the birthplace of Kalki, the final incarnation of Vishnu, who will usher in a new age, Satya Yuga and will also be the ruling kingdom of Maitreya, the future Buddha.
According to legend, Shambhala is a paradise where only the pure of heart can live, a place where love & wisdom reign and where people are immune to suffering, want & old age. The idea of Shambhala is said to have inner, outer and alternative meanings. The outer meaning understands Shambhala to exist as a physical place, although only individuals with the appropriate karma can reach it & experience it as such. The inner & alternative meanings refer to more subtle understandings of what Shambhala represents in terms of one’s own body & mind (inner), and during meditative practice (alternative). 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 actually be able to go there through their karmic connection, nevertheless it is not a physical place that we can actually 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 actually arrive there.”
Believed to be located in the higher reaches of the Himalayas in what is now called the Dhauladhar Mountains around Mcleodganj, some legends say that the entrance to Shambhala is hidden inside a remote, abandoned monastery in Tibet & guarded by beings known as the Shambhala Guardians. For some, the fact that Shambhala has never been found has a very simple explanation – many believe that Shambhala lies on the very edge of physical reality, as a bridge connecting this world to one beyond it.
The Kalachakra Tantra contains the Prophecy of Shambhala, which tells of the gradual deterioration of mankind into war & greed as the ideology of materialism spreads over the Earth. When the “barbarians” who follow this ideology are united under an evil king & think there is nothing left to conquer, the mists will lift to reveal the snowy mountains of Shambhala. The barbarians will then attack Shambhala with a huge army equipped with terrible weapons, at which point, the 25th Kalki King, Maitreya of Shambhala will emerge from the city with his armies to vanquish these “dark forces” and thereby usher in a new, worldwide, Golden Age. This final battle is prophesied for the year 2424 or 2425 (in the 3,304th year after the death of Buddha), after which Buddhism will survive another 1,800 years.