What are Theosophists to make of the Kalachakra system and teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, which are said to be closely linked with the mysterious land of Shambhala, and which have become increasingly heard of and referred to nowadays due to the Dalai Lama’s regular holding of mass public Kalachakra initiations, also known as Kalachakra empowerments?

The publicly known Kalachakra Tantra system includes elements very dissimilar to and unconnected with the system of the Theosophical Mahatmas or Masters of Wisdom, such as aspects of sexual tantra.

But the real Kalachakra system and teachings are closely connected with the Masters and Initiates of the Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood and Esoteric School and vice versa. They were also historically considered the speciality of the Panchen Lama of Tashilhumpo Monastery, Shigatse, with which H. P. Blavatsky and her Adept-Teachers were closely connected.

In “The Mystery of Buddha,” which was initially intended to be published as part of “The Secret Doctrine,” HPB specifically states and explains that “What is given here is taken from the secret portions of Dus Kyi Khorlo (Kala Chakra, in Sanskrit, or the “Wheel of Time,” or duration).”

Again, in “A Few More Misconceptions Corrected,” she talks about the Kalachakra, called “Dus Kyi Khorlo” in Tibetan, saying:

“. . . the “Dus-kyi Khorlo,” or Tibetan Mysticism. A system as old as man, known in India and practised before Europe had become a continent, “was first known,” we are told [i.e. by the Orientalists and academics], only nine or ten centuries ago. The text of its books in its present form may have “originated” even later, for there are numerous such texts that have been tampered with by sects to suit the fancies of each [Note: This point is important and should help us avoid the mistake of equating the now publicly known Kalachakra Tantra of Tibetan Buddhism with the real thing]. But who has read the original book on Dus-Kyi Khorlo [i.e. Kalachakra], re-written by Tsong-Kha-pa, with his Commentaries? . . . this grand Reformer burnt every book on Sorcery on which he could lay his hands in 1387 . . . he has left a whole library of his own works – not a tenth part of which has ever been made known.”

Saying that the Kalachakra is “a system as old as man” seems equivalent to saying that the real Gupta Vidya or Secret Doctrine is the real Kalachakra.

And in “The Voice of the Silence,” in the section titled “The Two Paths” (p. 29, original edition), the question is asked: “Wouldst thou become a Yogi of “Time’s Circle?””

“Time’s Circle,” “Circle of Time,” “Wheel of Time,” “The Cycles of Time” – these are merely English translations of the Sanskrit word “Kalachakra.” The spiritual aspirant who follows the Path presented in “The Voice of the Silence” is thus on his or her way to becoming a true Kalachakra Yogi.

Interestingly enough, researchers have found quite conclusive evidence that the Secret Book of Dzyan (whose archaic stanzas on Cosmogenesis and Anthropogenesis form the basis of HPB’s master work “The Secret Doctrine”) is most likely the Mula Kalachakra Tantra, also called the Kalachakra Mulatantra, which is the purely esoteric and now lost (i.e. “lost” to all except the suitably initiated) original basis of the publicly known Kalachakra teachings. This should not come as a surprise, seeing as HPB herself specifically states “What is given here is taken from the secret portions of Dus Kyi Khorlo (Kala Chakra).”

In “The Secret Doctrine,” HPB, referring to the Kalachakra doctrine and system that is publicly known of, describes it as “half esoteric” and as having misled Western scholars of Buddhism. (Vol. 1, p. 52) In ““Reincarnations” of Buddha” she observes that “Exoterically, any amount of fables may be found in Kâla-Chakra.”

But that is in regard to the exoteric or at least semi-exoteric Kalachakra, which is the only Kalachakra one will encounter in any public teaching or published literature of any form of Tibetan Buddhism.

Her other statements, quoted above, clearly show the affinity and connection of she and her Teachers with a far more ancient and far more truly esoteric Kalachakra, one which precedes Buddhism and indeed all existing religions and which is not known of by the world at large, the Buddhist world included.

Yet although publicly known Kalachakra teachings “have been tampered with by sects to suit the fancies of each,” various elements or aspects of great and sacred Truth still constitute some of its key features and characteristics.

The Kalachakra Mandala, pictured at the start of this article and now quite a well known image to Buddhists and other spiritual seekers in the West, attempts to – among many other things – symbolically depict the way to Shambhala or Shamballa, the mysterious sacred land in Central Asia, inaccessible to the uninitiated and undeserving, where the greatest Masters, Saviours, and Guardians of humanity are said to reside.

In the Kalachakra teachings and prophecies, a very large focus is on Shambhala, from which Maitreya – the future Buddha who had been prophesied by Gautama Buddha himself – is prophesied to emerge to bring about, after “defeating the barbarians” in an inevitable great war or conflict – usually referred to as the “War of Shambhala” but also described by Western commentators on the subject as “Armageddon” – a new Golden Age for mankind. This Maitreya is also called the Rigden or the Kalki King and equated with the Kalki Avatar prophesied in Hinduism. It is also said that he will be named Rudra (one of the names of Shiva in Hinduism) and will in some way be an incarnation of the Panchen Lama, who was referred to above.

What does Theosophy say about this?

“Many are the names of that School and land, the name of the latter being now regarded by the Orientalists as the mythic name of a fabulous country. It is from this mysterious land, nevertheless, that the Hindu expects his Kalki Avatara, the Buddhist his Maitreya, the Parsi his Sosiosh, and the Jew his Messiah, and so would the Christian expect thence his Christ – if he only knew of it.” (HPB, “A Few More Misconceptions Corrected”)

“S’ambhala (Sk.). A very mysterious locality on account of its future associations. A town or village mentioned in the Puranas, whence, it is prophesied, the Kalki Avatar will appear. The “Kalki” is Vishnu, the Messiah on the White Horse of the Brahmins; Maitreya Buddha of the Buddhists, Sosiosh of the Parsis, and Jesus of the Christians (See Revelations). All these “messengers” are to appear “before the destruction of the world”, says the one; before the end of Kali Yuga say the others. . . . Occultism places it in the Himalayas. It is pronounced Shambhala.” (HPB, “The Theosophical Glossary” p. 287)

But there is a prophecy asserted by H. P. Blavatsky in her articles “Tibetan Teachings” and “Tsong-Kha-Pa – Lohans in China” which echoes extremely closely that fundamental Kalachakra prophecy which we just referred to, while adding a particular detail about the West or Europe which is not found in the publicly known Kalachakra teachings:

“It is said that up to the time when Pan-chhen-rin-po-chhe [i.e. Panchen Rimpoche] (the Great Jewel of Wisdom) condescends to be reborn in the land of the P’helings (Westerners), and appearing as the Spiritual Conqueror (Chom-den-da), destroys the errors and ignorance of the age, it will be of little use to try to uproot the misconceptions of P’heling-pa (Europe): her sons will listen to no one.”

When might this be? The only very slight clue or rather condition is provided by HPB in her “Tibetan Teachings” article: “When the western world is more ripe in the direction of philosophy, the incarnation of Pan-chhen-rin-po-chhe – the Great Jewel of Wisdom – one of the Teshu [i.e. Tashi] Lamas, will take place, and the splendour of truth will then illuminate the whole world.”

Students of the original Theosophical teachings may recall HPB’s mentions of the Brotherhood of Khelang, also written Khe-lang and Khelan. It was first mentioned by her in “Isis Unveiled” Vol. 2, p. 618, where she speaks of this Brotherhood’s leader as being the Panchen Rimpoche or Panchen Lama of Tashilhumpo (there written in an almost impenetrable quasi-phonetic spelling) and then in her article “Lamas and Druses” she refers to “that . . . mysterious Community of religionists, of which nothing, or next to nothing, is known by outsiders: we mean that fraternity of Tibetan Lamaists, known as the Brotherhood of Khelang, who mix but little with the rest.” Whatever that Brotherhood actually was or is, it is clearly implied to be something very esoteric and as having very little connection even with the rest of Tibetan Buddhists. In that article she speaks of it as having a close connection of an esoteric sort with the Druzes of Lebanon and Syria and with the Sikhs of India . . . and probably more besides.

We mention this here because it was the French Catholic priest Abbé Huc (sometimes referred to by HPB) who first wrote of the Brotherhood of Khelang or Kelan in the 1850s, in his memoirs of his travels through Central Asia that took place in 1845-1846, 30 years before the Theosophical Society was founded.

Huc described encountering members of an esoteric brotherhood of that name in Tibet, who spoke of the Panchen Lama as their leader. They shared with him their belief that in the future, China would invade and conquer Tibet (which did happen, beginning in 1950, but before this there was a Chinese invasion and short-lived attempted takeover in 1910) and that the Panchen Lama would be reborn in a “New Country in the North,” somewhere in the region of the Altai and Tien Shan mountain ranges, after which that New Country would be the centre of the revival of Buddhism, and the Panchen Lama as Ruler of the World would crush the forces of evil and spread Buddhism over the entire Earth. They spoke of Shambhala in connection with this. They therefore equated the Panchen Lama (or rather one of his future incarnations) with Maitreya Buddha, who, as we explained, is in the Kalachakra teachings also the Kalki King or Lord of Shambhala, who then literally becomes Lord of the World.

The Altai Mountains, including their highest and most sacred mountain – Belukha, literally the White Mountain – are mostly located in Russia, specifically in Siberia, but also spread into Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and China, whilst the Tien Shan or Tian Shan is spread over the borderland between Kyrgyzstan, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. This does not seem like the Panchen Lama “condescending to be reborn in the land of the Westerners” but we have to allow for the very real possibility of (a) Huc remembering or recording some details incorrectly and (b) it being unlikely that an esoteric Brotherhood would readily disclose its most sacred teachings and prophecies in an entirely accurate and reliable form to someone not initiated into the fraternity, least of all a Catholic priest.

Either way, we see that both this and HPB’s statement are clearly variants of the central or fundamental prophetic expectation inculcated in the Kalachakra Tantra.

It is usually said by researchers and scholars of Tibetan Buddhism that the Kalachakra Tantra maintains that the prophetic event we have just referred to will happen in the year 2424, i.e. 400 years from now. But in the first half of the 20th century many of the most respected Lamas of the Gelug or Gelugpa school or branch of Tibetan Buddhism came to be of the opinion that it would be happening imminently.

In the book “Heart of Asia” and elsewhere, Russian Theosophist and celebrated artist Nicholas Roerich describes how early Buddhist statues and artwork of Maitreya showed him seated cross-legged but that from the early 20th century this changed – in Tibet, the Trans-Himalayan regions, and Mongolia at least; possibly elsewhere – to show his feet already positioned on the ground in readiness of his Coming. Such statues proliferated after the 9th Panchen Lama (the one who counted English Theosophists Alice Leighton Cleather and Basil Crump among his pupils and officially endorsed their republishing of “The Voice of The Silence” which HPB had translated from The Book of The Golden Precepts) was forced to flee Tibet from the 13th Dalai Lama in 1924, which fulfilled one of the Kalachakra prophecies relating to the imminent dawning of the Era of Maitreya.

The Kalachakra prophecies about Shambhala and Maitreya mentioned that when such a time comes that the Dalai Lama turns against the Panchen Lama and the Panchen Lama flees Tibet, the Era of Shambhala or Era of Maitreya is at hand and will truly begin to dawn upon the Panchen’s eventual return. This is the main reason why, following the fulfilment of the first part of that prophecy in 1924, so many Gelugpa Lamas and monks, as well as many from other branches of Tibetan Buddhism, felt convinced that the Era of Shambhala and Coming of Maitreya long prophesied in the Kalachakra Tantra was now at hand.

Domo Geshe Rimpoche of Ghum or Ghoom monastery near Darjeeling, who was one of the most revered and occultly advanced Gelugpa Lamas of the 20th century, was perhaps the main promoter of building Maitreya statues with feet on the ground in the 1920s and 1930s. The largest Maitreya statue in the world was built by order of the 9th Panchen Lama at his Tashilhunpo Monastery in the early 1920s.

Soon after that time, there was of course a major war or battle on the physical plane, one which to many who lived through it certainly seemed in many respects akin to an “Armageddon.” We are referring to the Second World War of 1939-1945, the most deadly, disastrous, and widespread war in all of recorded history, resulting in approximately 60-million total deaths worldwide, whereas the First World War of 1914-1918 resulted in around 20-million total deaths. These, along with the many other wars and conflicts of the 20th century, made the latter the most barbaric, violent, and dangerous of centuries in the Earth’s history.

But did any truly Avataric figure akin to the prophesied Maitreya–Kalki appear on the world scene? There were hundreds, and perhaps now even thousands, of self-proclaimed Maitreyas and Avatars who are usually very obviously nothing of the sort. Nor did the 9th Panchen Lama ever properly return to Tibet, and the fate (at the hands of China) of the two subsequent Panchen Lamas who in turn succeeded him was most tragic and unfortunate.

However, as is gone into in much more detail in our article The Avatar, “The Secret Doctrine” teaches that the rule or reign of “the next Avatar” will be “purely Spiritual” and “not of this world.” Some might read this as meaning “invisible, otherworldly, not seen or known of by humanity at large,” whilst one could also read it as meaning “not a world leader and not involved in governance,” etc. If one looks back at history, very rarely – if ever – has any Avatar been recognised and accepted as such during their lifetime by more than a few hundred or few thousand people at the most. The Avatar does not need worldwide acceptance or recognition in order to do his work, the majority of which is invisible and hidden, unseen and unsuspected.

There are many other statements about and references to the subjects of Shambhala, Maitreya, and the Panchen Lama in the writings of H. P. Blavatsky. But there are other esoteric subjects dealt with in Theosophy in ways that have definite similarities with how they are dealt with or spoken about in the known Kalachakra teachings, such as Space, Emptiness or Voidness or Shunyata, and Adi Buddha.

Despite both the inferred and the directly affirmed links, the extremely and inseparably close connection between Theosophy and Kalachakra, the vast majority of Theosophists even in the 21st century have never heard of it or, if they have, no idea what it is.

Even in the United Lodge of Theosophists, the only Theosophical group dedicated specifically to the study and promotion of the teachings given by H. P. Blavatsky and her closest colleague William Q. Judge, no-one seems to have ever mentioned or realised the significance or relevance to Theosophy of Kalachakra or, if they have, they have rarely if ever spoken or written about it under the banner of the ULT.

Similarly, no later version or variant of Theosophy has ever emphasised or even mentioned Kalachakra, with one exception: Agni Yoga (literally “The Yoga of Fire” or “The Fiery Yoga”), the teachings which are alleged to come from HPB’s Guru the Master M. or Mahatma Morya via Helena Roerich (1879-1955), the wife of her much better known husband Nicholas who we referred to a moment ago. Each must make up their own mind as to the legitimacy or otherwise of that. Please note that our mentioning Agni Yoga does not equate to endorsing or recommending it.

Not everyone will feel equally inspired and enthused upon learning of the deep occult connection between the real Kalachakra and the Theosophy of H. P. Blavatsky and the Masters and that is perfectly fine and only natural. But it is certainly good and useful to be aware that such a connection exists.

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