Train across Siberia to Buddhist Russia

(Justin & Alina) The Trans-Siberian Railroad to the Asian part of Russia we are rarely shown: Buddhist Buryatia, Russia

• Buddhism in Buryatia
• Buddhism in Russia
• Religion in Russia
• Justin & Alina, YouTube; Amber Larson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Central Asian Buddha: Female warrior training

(National Geographic) Superskilled with Eva zu Beck: I trained like a Mongolian horseback warrior for five (5) days [to learn the skills Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha, learned on his white pony Kanthaka and during archery competitions of his day in Gandhara/Scythia/Saka/Shakya Land]

• Buddhism in Mongolia
• Buddhism in Central Asia
  
• Buddhism in Afghanistan
• Buddhas of Bamiyan
• Buddhism in Ukraine

Whites of Japan: Ainu, Emishi, Jomon?

Why do the Ainu people seem to have Caucasian features? (vrogue.co)

The fascinatingly mysterious origins of the Ainu

(TREY the Explainer) This is TTE's first video on human diversity and evolution. It discusses ancient and prehistoric human migration and evolution into East Asia, specifically Japan. [Did the Ainu, Emishi, or Jōmon people come from mating with nearby Russians, Koreans, Tartarians?]

• 15 fascinating facts about the Ainu - Japan’s [bear worshiping] Indigenous people

We examine the strange and somewhat mysterious case of the Ainu tribe [with possible origins in Africa as "Black Asians," as happened with many groups like the early blue-eyed Blacks of Ireland and British Isles, or even the Australian aboriginals and ubiquitous Polynesians] and other members of Y-Haplogroup D. In doing so it breaks down what exactly happened in Asia during prehistory.

Background Music by Kevin Macleod: The Fascinatingly Mysterious Origins of the Ainu

• Untold History, Feb. 2, 2024; TREY the Explainer, 3/18/18; CC Liu, Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Eli from Russia in Buddhist Mongolia

(Eli from Russia) First impressions of Buddhist Mongolia: from Soviet Era to nomadic life

• Buddhism in Mongolia

How cold does it really get in Mongolia?

Revival of Buddhism in EU and Siberia

There's a piece of Asia in Europe, with indigenously Buddhist people?

Kalmykia: Europe's only Buddhist region | Europe To The Maxx

(DW Euromaxx) DW is a German public broadcast service. July 12, 2019: ELISTA, Europe - Welcome to Europe's only Buddhist Region, Kalmykia, over the last four centuries. Some 160,000 Buddhists live here now. Kalmykia is an autonomous republic of the Russian Federation, located between the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea.

For the series "Europe to The Maxx," Euromaxx reporter Hendrik Welling has made his way to the southeasternmost part of Europe. Join him on his tour to see the highest statue of Buddha in Europe, to hear the sound of overtone singing, sleep in yurts, and to learn more about the rich culture of this special place in Europe. #EuropeToTheMaxx.

The Revival of the Buddhist Faith in Siberia

(Journeyman Pictures) Buryatian Buddhists (Oct. 1995) After decades of Russian/Soviet repression, Buddhism is flowering again in South-Eastern Siberia. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the revival has been going from strength to strength.

Once more the Buryat people wake to the sound of Buddhist conch shells and ritual chanting by lamas. The colored robes of Tibetan monks and gold topped temples are a common sight in this isolated land that has been Russia's cultural center of Buddhism for 300 years.

The Buddhist monastery's head lama is a pillar of the community, and locals seek his advice on just about everything from marriage to medical problems.

On a typical morning his office is full of peasants awaiting his wise words. At the turn of the century this part of Siberia boasted 46 Buddhist temples. Most were destroyed under communism, when it was decided religious faith was not necessary to a good life [for the state].

Now the ordinary people are rebuilding that spiritual practice all over the former Soviet Republic [or USSR, even recognizing that Russian Dictator Vladimir Lenin's grandparents (Lenins/Ulyanov were Mongolian from Buddhist Kalmykia, and his mother was half Jewish)].

Find out more at: journeyman.tv/film/164. Like on Facebook: journeymanpictures. Follow on Twitter: journeymannews/journeymanvod and Instagram: journeymanpictures. Produced by ABC Australia: Ref. 164. Distributed by Journeyman Pictures. Subscribe. 

• Journeyman, March 20, 2008; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Cure for autism: Buddhist🐎shamanism

Oh, Bojack Horseman, you're not for kids. Real living horses can heal children.

Words of Wisdom: Rupert Isaacson on how horses bring us happiness

(Happinez Magazine International) Feb. 7, 2018: In search of healing for his autistic son, Rupert Isaacson traveled to Buddhist Mongolia and the world with that son on horseback. He discovered how horses have a wonderful effect -- not just on people with autism, but on every single one of us.

Healing autistic children with Shamanic Healer Dawn Paul

(Dawn Paul) I work with autistic children all over the world. I am able to connect with them and obtain information from them as well as carry out any necessary healing in order to allow them to be more whole and comfortable in their bodies. I work on them remotely and then email the parents a report of what I did for their child. Visit liberate-online.co.uk for more information and an article on healing for autistic children.

THE HORSE BOY (official US trailer)

(ZeitgeistFilms) Now on DVD from Zeitgeist Video. How far would you travel to heal someone you love?

An intensely personal yet epic spiritual journey, The Horse Boy follows one Texas couple and their autistic son as they trek on horseback through Buddhist Outer Mongolia in a desperate attempt to treat his condition with shamanic healing.

• Mongolian shamanism

When 2-year-old Rowan was diagnosed with autism, Rupert Isaacson, a writer and former horse trainer, and his wife, Psychology Professor Kristin Neff, sought the best possible medical care for their son — but traditional therapies had little effect.

Then they discovered that Rowan has a profound affinity for animals — particularly horses — and the family set off on a quest for a possible cure.

The Horse Boy is part travel adventure, part insight into shamanic tradition and part intimate look at the autistic mind.

In telling one family's extraordinary story, the film gives voice to the thousands who display amazing courage and creativity every day in the battle against this mysterious and heartbreaking epidemic.

The filmic companion to Isaacson's best-selling book of the same name and a festival favorite, this ravishing documentary odyssey gives insight into how, in life's darkest moments, one can find the gateway to joy and wonder. More: zeitgeistfilms.com/horseboy

• Zeitgeist Films, July 17, 2009; Dawn Paul, Sept. 6, 2019; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Sex: The science of Genghis Khan genes

Everyone was WRONG about Genghis Khan

(SciShow) July 27, 2024: There's an oft-quoted statistic that something like 5% of people are related to Genghis Khan. The guy (raping and pillaging from Japan to Eastern Europe) did have a lot of kids. But the truth is more complicated. Here's how science uses Y chromosome analysis and small groups of genetic mutations to see how we are all related to each other. Hosted by Hank Green.

Support us for $8/month on Patreon and keep SciShow going (scishow) or support us directly: https://complexly.com/support. Join our SciShow email list to get the latest news and highlights: https://mailchi.mp/scishow/email.

Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Odditeas, Garrett Galloway, Friso, DrakoEsper, Kenny Wilson, J. Copen, Lyndsay Brown, Jeremy Mattern, Jaap Westera, Rizwan Kassim, Harrison Mills, Jeffrey Mckishen, Christoph Schwanke, Matt Curls, Eric Jensen, Chris Mackey, Adam Brainard, Ash. You, too, can be a nice person, Piya Shedden, charles george, Alex Hackman, Kevin Knupp, Chris Peters, Kevin Bealer, Jason A Saslow.

Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/ #learning #education #science

Records show Chinese explored America

Henriette Mertz; Christopher Nyerges, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Xochitl (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Pale Ink: Two Ancient Records of Chinese Exploration in America

Native Americans learned of the Buddha

Author Henriette Mertz has 4.5 stars out of 5 with 29 ratings. She presents her theory and analysis of two ancient Chinese documents that provide evidence of early Chinese exploration and presence in America.

[The Chinese made it across the Pacific, which is as easy as being blown across by a storm or, more likely, simply traveling up and around, keeping sight of land until reaching the Americas by navigating the Pacific Rim.]

Pale Ink: Chinese Exploration in America

Mertz explores the stories and accounts mentioned in the "Fusang" and "Shan Hai Jing" texts, both of which date back to ancient times.

She argues that these texts describe voyages made by Chinese explorers to the American continent long before Christopher Columbus is said to have arrived in the Caribbean, never actually making it to the mainland.

Mertz suggests that these explorations occurred during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) and potentially even earlier.

Through meticulous research and analysis, Mertz connects the descriptions in the ancient Chinese texts to geographical locations and landmarks in America.

She examines linguistic, historical, and cultural evidence to support her claim that the Chinese had knowledge of and interactions with Native Americans on this continent in ancient times. More

• Geographical Myths
• Fu-sang
• Chinese Whimsy?
• Kuen 327 and the Liang-Sse-Kong Ki
• Mexican Legends
• Yucatan
• Related Items
• The Buddhists
• A Matter of Words
• Hwui Shan, Traveller par Excellence
• Early China
• The Shan Hai King
• Across the Sea
• The Great American Desert
• SAMPLE: Pale Ink: Two Ancient Records of Chinese Exploration in America (eBook)

The old Buddhists of Europe (video)

DW, 7/12/19; Namepedia, 5/5/15; Jen Bradford, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Kalmykia is Europe's only Buddhist region

(Pal in China) May 19, 2022. Kalmykia is located in Eastern Europe in Southwest Russia. The Kalmyk nomads, a Mongol subgroup, came here about 400 years ago. They brought their Tibetan Buddhist tradition with them from East Asia. The republic was dissolved in 1943 under the reign of Russian dictator Stalin, spiritual leaders were persecuted, and Buddhist temples were destroyed. The entire Kalmyk people were deported to Siberia and only allowed to return to the region after the end of Stalinism. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, Buddhism has flourished again in Kalmykia. There are now Buddhist temples, pagodas, and religious statues, especially in the capital city of Elista.

Kalmykia: Europe's only Buddhist region | Europe to the Maxx

(DW Euromaxx) ELISTA - Welcome to Europe's only Buddhist Region, Kalmykia. Some 160,000 Buddhists live here. Kalmykia is an autonomous republic of the Russian Federation, located between the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. For the series "Europe to The Maxx," Euromaxx reporter Hendrik Welling has made his way to the south-easternmost part of Europe. Join him on his tour to see the highest statue of Buddha in Europe, to hear the sound of overtone singing, and to learn more about the rich culture of this special place in Europe.

• Buddhism in Kalmykia
• #EuropeToTheMaxx

The grand Buddhist temple in Elista, Kalmykia, is full of European devotees.

.

What the Buddha taught is True!

There is a place at the edge of Europe, by the Caspian Sea, just before the Ural Mountains, where one can find the only Buddhist people with roots in this old continent called Europe.

The Kalmyk people

Kalmyks have been living there since the XVIIth century, after a long journey from Mongolian Djungaria, a land in Far East Siberia.

Buddhist pavilions under a bright blue sky made out of wood with ceramic roof arcing inward.

.

Kalmyk girl dressed in Russian fashion

Like all other people who have undergone an extensive journey looking for a new home, they tried to go back.

They have been chased around the steppes a few times: Kalmyks have been subjected to contrasting cultural influences and have emerged as quite original themselves.

• PHOTO: Kalmyk girl, wearing a red dress decorated with white lace and a head bonnet, typical of the Russian fashion of that time.

Map showing where the Kalmyk region is situated in the Ural Mountains

.

From their shamanic roots, to the Tibetan [Vajrayana] Buddhism they practice, to the pressure of living under a Russian bureaucracy, to the surprise that this was once the chess capital of Europe, Kalmyk culture has felt it all.

Kalmykia is the most Eastern of European realms and the most Western of Asian cultures, uniting such strong contrasts in everyday life and reflecting its history even in names. More

• Jewishvoiceforpeace.org
• The future of photography: PhotoVibrance.io
• The to publish and market a book (paperravenbooks.com)
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"Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (BBC)

The Forum (BBC.co.uk) programme w3csvsfl; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

LISTEN: Kubla Khan: A Vision in a Dream (The Forum on BBC.co.uk)

High in the Himalayan foothills of Kathmandu, Nepal is the famous Boudhanath stupa.

 

Sri Lankan Buddhist stupa

I maintain "Kubla Khan" is a Buddhist poem, which is to say, a poem based on Buddhist features of a real place and person. Coleridge knew of it because he read about the mysterious East and its ancient treasures.

They were recorded in a travel book he was reading when he wrote "Kubla Khan" titled Purchas's Pilgrimes by the English cleric Samuel Purchas about his pilgrimages in Asia. Purchas traveled and reported what he saw back to the English-speaking world.

The "dome of ice" is a clear reference to a sparkling white stupa (Buddhist reliquaries, burial mounds, kurgans popularized by the Scythians/Shakyans of Central Asia based on burial mounds going back millennia in Central and North Asia, even up to portions of Ukraine). They are now built all over Asia.

There really was a Kublai Khan, a Mongol ruler (son of Temujin, "Greatest Warrior," known to all as Genghis Khan), who built a great city (or set up fabulous temporary city of yurts) called Xanadu (Shangdu) but then abandoned it for a better center of trade from which to rule in Beijing, China. (Why did the Chinese lose to Mongol invaders? They may have been weakened by germs from working in nightsoil paddy fields).

• AUDIO: The Forum on the BBC goes into detail

POEM: Kubla Khan

Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poetryfoundation.org)

 

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

   Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round;

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!

A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,

A mighty fountain momently was forced:

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:

And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever

It flung up momently the sacred river.

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,

Then reached the caverns measureless to man,

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;

And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!

   The shadow of the dome of pleasure

   Floated midway on the waves;

   Where was heard the mingled measure

   From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device,

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

   A damsel with a dulcimer

   In a vision once I saw:

   It was an Abyssinian maid

   And on her dulcimer she played,

   Singing of Mount Abora.

   Could I revive within me

   Her symphony and song,

   To such a deep delight ’twould win me,

That with music loud and long,

I would build that dome in air,

That sunny dome! those caves of ice!

And all who heard should see them there,

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Were giants ever real?

Steve Quayle shared images of sculptor Mark Patrick's elongated skull on his Jan. 8, 2018 Coast to Coast appearance. "We will have this and a full size 12-foot giant on display at our True Legends Conference in September," Quayle writes. "These giants literally bit the head off their human prey and ate their bodies like a piece of jerky," he added. Giants are real, and the Titans (Asuras) of Buddhist lore are fierce.

Mongolia: "The Children of Genghis" (film)

Wisdom Quarterly; Asianworldfilmfest.org

SYNOPSIS Filmed in the beautiful landscapes of Mongolia, this film tells the story of children who compete in horse races at the country’s traditional festival of Naadam.

 

Byambaa is an 8-year-old boy whose village deems him too young to compete in the races. Jealous of his elder brother, who's riding for another trainer, Byambaa convinces his father to train him to race against the older children. He soon learns that love, dedication, and trust are all necessary qualities if he is going to win, and his hope leaves a lasting impression on everyone around him. More + TICKETS

Official Submission for Best Foreign Language Film - Mongolia

Genre: Drama

Country: Mongolia 

Year: 2017

Duration: 101 minutes

Director: Zolbayar Dorj 

Language(s):  Mongolian 

Subtitles: English subtitles

Producer(s): Angarag Davaasuren, Altantsetseg Jarantai, Tsengel Davaasambuu

Screenplay: Zolbayar Dorj, Chimedtseren Ganzorig, Ganbold Buyantsogt 

Cinematographer:  Angarag Davaasuren 

Editor: Gantulga Urtnasan 

Music: Ulziibayar Shatar 

Principal Cast: Brittany Belt, Ankhnyam Ragchaa, Batmend Baast, Dorjsambuu Dambii, Oyunzul Dash

Dates & Times: October 29, 2017 6:00 PM

November 1, 2017 2:00 PM

Followed by Q&A with Producer(s): Angarag Davaasuren, Tsengel Davaasambuu;

Plays in:  ArcLight Cinemas - Culver City

FILM: "The Eagle Huntress" (Oct. 28th)

Laemmle.com (NoHo); YouTube.com; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

"The Eagle Huntress" follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl from Central Asia [Scythia/Ancient Sakka or Shakya Land (see ranajitpal.com on the location of the real Kapilavastu), where the Buddha grew up].

She trains to become the first female in 12 generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter as she rises to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down from father to son for centuries.

Set against the breathtaking expanse of the Mongolian steppe, "The Eagle Huntress" features some of the most awe-inspiring cinematography ever captured in a documentary, giving this intimate tale of a young girl’s quest the dramatic force of an epic narrative film.

(Indie Films) Featurette on making of "The Eagle Huntress"

  

Central Asia above N.W. India

Opening at Laemmles at the Los Angeles Royal and in New York on Oct. 28th, Pasadena Playhouse 7 on Nov. 4th, Town Center 5 on Nov. 4th, Claremont 5 on Nov. 11th, and NoHo 7 on Nov. 18th.

Genre: Adventure, documentary, family. Language: English, Kazakh. Director: Otto Bell. Cast: Bosaga Rys, Boshai Dalaikhan, Daisy Ridley (narrator), Nurgaiv Aisholpan, Rys Nurgaiv, Kuksyegyen Almagul.

"The Eagle Huntress" (video)

Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; COMMENTARY: Barbara J. King (npr.org, Jan. 28, 2016); Brandon Li (Matador Network/Unscripted.com); Seeker Stories

Still image from the documentary The Eagle Huntress. The film follows teenager (Ashol Pan) Aisholpan Nurgaiv, the first female in a traditionally male role, as she trains a golden-eagle chick to hunt in Mongolia (Asher Svidensky/Kissaki Films).

(Matador Network) Filmmaker Brandon Li and his producer (unscripted.com) went out on a limb to make this video, spending several weeks living with ethnically Kazakh eagle hunters on the Russian/Mongolian border in their traditional yurts. Living in the wild also as nomads, we see their daily activities of training eagles to hunt, herding yaks, and racing camels. Moving every 3-10 days to cover ground as travel-filmmakers, they saddle up and enjoy the ride. See more: Instagram and Facebook: facebook.com/RunGunShoot.

 

Teenage "Eagle Huntress" overturns 2,000 years of male tradition

Fly, extension-of-my-arm! (BBC.com)

The Eagle Huntress, a documentary film set in Mongolia directed by Otto Bell and starring teenager (Ashol Pan) Aisholpan Nurgaiv, debuted [Jan. 24, 2016] at Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

With its focus on a charismatic girl who has accomplished something other women have not in 2,000 years -- she hunts on horseback with the help of a golden eagle -- the film has earned standing ovations.

(On Native Ground) Sundance Film Festival 2016, Danny DeLeon, Alex Greenlee, Jack Kohler

 

Aisholpan's family members are nomadic Kazakh herders of the Altai mountains region who base their subsistence economy on herding cattle and goats.
 
An essential supplement to the herders' livelihood comes from the practice of training golden-eagle chicks to become their close partners in the hunting of foxes and other small mammals used for food and clothing.

 

This specialized hunting practice -- woven into the fabric of everyday life and celebrated at regional competitions -- has been an entirely male endeavor throughout its history, passed down in families from generation to generation.

(Seeker Stories) "Who Are The Eagle Hunters Of Mongolia?" A small Kazakh tribe in Mongolia's Altai Mountains hunts with a rather unusual tool: the golden eagle. Meet the world's last eagle hunters and their trusted companions.

Now, just as climate [chaos] threatens this way of life and as only 250 eagle hunters remain in Mongolia, Aisholpan is coming to the world's attention as the first woman eagle huntress.

 

I sat down at Sundance for a wide-ranging conversation with Aisholpan; her father, Nurgaiv Rys; her mother, Alma Dalaykan; and also Otto Bell. Aisholpan's cousin, Baldygryn Baidola, translated. As a young child, Nurgaiv told me... More + AUDIO:

• AUDIO: Sundance Favorites: "The Eagle Huntress"

• VIDEO: Al Gore's money-making lies exposed by Congress 
• AUDIO: Al Gore's failed global warming alarmism/scare campaign (The Bolt Report, Australia)
• VIDEO: Dr. Happer destroys climate hysteria in 7 mins
• VIDEO: Global Warming? 31,487 scientists say NO to alarm 
• VIDEO: How the global alarm began (John Coleman)

A great scientist named Roger Revelle had Al Gore in his class at Harvard and the global warming campaign was born. Revelle tried to calm things down years later, but Gore said Revelle was senile and refused to debate. John Coleman documents the entire story and shows how our tax dollars are perpetuating the global warming alarmist campaign even though temperatures have not risen in years and year.

Coming up behind Ashol Pan is Bahak Birgen, the youngest male eagle hunter (BBC.com).

Kalmykia (Europe): Monk's White Path (video)

Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; RT (Russia Today); NuMeditationMusic 

Buddha behind "Shamans of Siberia" (RT)

Kalmykia is a steppe region in the south of European Russia and the only European Buddhist republic. An international Buddhist festival is going to take place in a temple in the Kalmykia's capital, Elista. 

Scythian Buddha, Gandhara

Russian-Buddhist monks are preparing a sand mandala. It is a palace that may serve as a temporary abode for an enlightened deity. Colored marble sand is applied to the canvas through a cone-shaped tube. Follow the monks' white path on RT.

Buddhism and shamanism also thrive in Buryatia, now a colony of the Russian Empire.

The USSR tried to colonize formerly Buddhist Afghanistan below North Asia (Siberia, next to Alaska). This great frontier region, where the Buddha was born, is called Central Asia (ancient Scythia and Greco-Buddhist Bactria), the "middle country" of Eurasians between Europe from Asia.

(IH) Who were the Shakyians/Sakas? They were Scythians.

From Sakha to Magada (r-sport.ru)

Can it be a coincidence that the Scythian Prince Siddhartha (who became the Buddha) traveled east from the Republic of Shakya Land (Bamiyan, Mes Aynak, Kabul, Tepe Nereng, Afghanistan, literally, the territorial foothold of the Sakha Clan led by the Buddha's father, Tribal Chief Suddhodana, who would have headed a kind of loya jirga (see Wm. Dalrymple) as is still done today in Central Asia) to the Kingdom of Magadha (now a state in northern India) -- and the North Asian Buddhist-shamanic regions echo their names as the Sakha Republic and just to the east, the Magadan Oblast?

"Kalmykia: The Monk's White Path" (special program presented by RT)

.

Everyone is, of course, misdirected to think it was Nepal (due to deception by the early British historian Jones, as pointed out by Dr. Ranajit Pal). We do not suggest that the Buddha was from Ukraine or North Asia but that the nomadic Buddhists there named their land after the familiar places to the south in Central Asia and India on both sides of Gandhara.

(RT) Buddhist-Shamanic Buryatia, Russia: "Shamanism in Siberia"

(NuMeditationMusic) Two hours of hypnotic shamanic meditation music

featuring Tuvan throat-singing for chakra cleansing and mystical journeying.

• RT on Twitter: twitter.com/RT_com
• RT on Facebook: facebook.com/RTnews
• VIDEO: Exploring Lake Baikal (Siberian Sea)

Shamanism and Buddhism in Buryatia (video)

Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; RT (InstitutulHermetic.ro/Scoalamisterelor)

Russian, like European "shamans" (Pagans, Wiccans, followers of the Earth-based "Old Religion") as was the case around the world with amazing uniformity, were most often women (not Medicine "Men") and autistic-like introverts, psychics, and poets, who serve the people by interfacing with the unseen spirit world. Early Buddhists were shramans (WQ).

.

Shamanism/Buddhism in Russia, Part II

(RT) Faces of Russia: Russian Far East above Central Asia, home of the Buddha and his relatives' "Shakya Land" (ancient Scythia/Bactria), near Mongolia, still thrives in Kalmykia and Buryatia.

• Buddhism in Buryatia, Far East Russia

Russian Buddhism: Vajrayana Buddhist temple in Buryatia, Russia (VOA.com/J. Weeks)

.

Far East Russia: rural Buryatia

In 1701 there were eleven dugans (small Buryat Buddhist temples) in Transbaikalia.

In 1722 the border was delineated between Mongolia and Russia. Buryat tribes living nomadically in the northern part of Mongolia then became part of Russia. The Russian government closed off the border, induced the Buryat nomads to take on a relatively settled lifestyle, and made itself the authority on the region's religious matters.
 

Buddhism in Russia (Snelling)

Buddhist monastic universities, called datsans, were built in Buryatia -- including the one at Tsongol, completed in the early 1740s.

In 1741 Empress Elizabeth (Yelizaveta Petrovna) adopted a decree recognizing the existence of a "lamaist faith": She legally recognized the existence of eleven datsans, and with them 150 lamas. Buddhism was formally accepted as an official religion in the Russian Empire.
 

Kalmykia, indigenous-Buddhism in Europe

(In July 1991 the Buddhists of Buryatia commemorated 250 years of official recognition). [Alexandr Berzin, Tibetan Buddhism: History and Future Prospects, Moscow, 1992; Буддизм, Л. Л. Абаева, М., Республика, 1991 (Buddhism, L.L. Abaeva, Respublika, Moscow 1991)]. More

• Buddhist Revival in Buriatia: Recent Perspectives (Anna Bernstein, Mongolian Studies, Vol. 25, 2002, pp. 1-11, Mongolia Society)