Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam Here, James Hilton was simply
Speaker 1: dreaming of a place that humans have yearned for since
Speaker 1: they first learned to yearn A heaven of sorts, of paradise, Utopia,
Speaker 1: Zanna do the Garden Vieden Chambala. Hilton, a popular writer
Speaker 1: in the first half of the twentieth century, named his
Speaker 1: happy place Shangri Law, and he made it wondrous and spiritual,
Speaker 1: talking it high into the mountains in northwest Tibet. It
Speaker 1: was the setting of his nineteen thirty three adventure novel
Speaker 1: Lost Horizon, which instantly became a worldwide bestseller. It was
Speaker 1: also made into a major Hollywood film, the legendary Frank
Speaker 1: Capra directed and Ronald Coleman and Jane Wyatt starred in
Speaker 1: nine seven. From the moment Lost Horizon hit bookstore shelves,
Speaker 1: Shangar Law became synonymous with utopia. Back then, it was
Speaker 1: an ideal, a place to escape too, during a time
Speaker 1: when the real world had just been through a global
Speaker 1: war and the Great Depression. Since then, the simple idea
Speaker 1: of the place has sparked countless trips to Tibet journeys
Speaker 1: of faith and perseverance, of hope and distant promise of
Speaker 1: supposed enlightenment and sometimes disappointment. It's kind of an amazing phenomenon,
Speaker 1: considering that the place doesn't exist, and it never has
Speaker 1: except for ten years or so when what's now called
Speaker 1: Camp David, the Presidential Retreat was founded under the name
Speaker 1: Shangar Law by then President Franklin Roosevelt in two or
Speaker 1: at least that was the only time it's existed until recently.
Speaker 1: But let's start at the beginning. Hilton reportedly did most
Speaker 1: of the research for his novel in the British Museum Library,
Speaker 1: not far from his home in the northeastern part of London.
Speaker 1: He never actually visited Tibet. Instead, he took inspiration for
Speaker 1: Shanger Law from another utopian dream, a place known for
Speaker 1: centuries as Shambala. We spoke with Ed Bernebaum, who lectures
Speaker 1: on comparative religion in mythology and wrote The Way to
Speaker 1: Shambala in He said there was one sort of very
Speaker 1: very garbled version of the Shambala myth that Hilton read,
Speaker 1: and one of the Catholic Explorer's writings, but it wasn't
Speaker 1: at all clear. It was this sort of universal theme,
Speaker 1: and at that time Tibet was pretty much unexplored, So
Speaker 1: if you're going to look for a hidden utopia, that
Speaker 1: was an ideal place to do it. Shambala is a
Speaker 1: Tibetan Buddhist legend about a utopian paradise far in the
Speaker 1: northern mountains of Asia. It's said to be a spiritual
Speaker 1: place where people of all religions and backgrounds lived together
Speaker 1: in harmony. It's also said to be the place from which,
Speaker 1: when war and evil engulfed the rest of the world,
Speaker 1: a leader will emerge to defeat the forces of chaos
Speaker 1: and usher in a new age of peace and happiness.
Speaker 1: Shambala grows out of the Buddhist teaching of Kala Chakra,
Speaker 1: or the wheel of Time, which states that the center
Speaker 1: of the universe is Mount Maru, sometimes called Mount Sumaru,
Speaker 1: said to be well north of Tibet. Burne Bomb said
Speaker 1: people sort of looked at Tibet as this mysterious, utopian
Speaker 1: kind of place, and the Tibetans themselves looked even farther
Speaker 1: north for that utopia. Shambala. If Hilton, who died in
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, was indeed modeling Shangri Law after the
Speaker 1: Buddhist teachings of Shambala. It might pain him to learn
Speaker 1: what's happened to his imaginary wonderland because it's become real,
Speaker 1: but not in a particularly Buddhist way. In two thousand one,
Speaker 1: the Chinese government, which has controlled Tibet since the late
Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, changed the name of Jongdian County to Shangri
Speaker 1: Law for a simple purpose to cash in on tourist dollars.
Speaker 1: Many areas in China had been buying for the right
Speaker 1: to change their names shangr Law, and it took nearly
Speaker 1: a decade to decide on a winner. Jongdian won out
Speaker 1: in what The Guardian in two thousand six called one
Speaker 1: of the most audacious rebranding exercises in history. Today, the
Speaker 1: larger area of Shangri Law boasts a Shangri Law resort,
Speaker 1: a Hilton garden in Shangri Law, and an airport with
Speaker 1: daily flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Lassa, the capital of
Speaker 1: China's Tibet Autonomous Region, in the heart of what westerners
Speaker 1: know as Tibet. The visitors can tour the largest Tibetan
Speaker 1: Buddhist monastery in Yunnan Province, and when they're done, they
Speaker 1: can quaff down to brew at the Changra Law beer
Speaker 1: bar tagline beer made in Heaven. Tibet and the newly
Speaker 1: named Shangra Law are a draw for reasons other than
Speaker 1: tourist traps. Of course, Tibet is known, after all, is
Speaker 1: the roof of the world. It shares the highest peak
Speaker 1: in the world, Mount Everest, but neighboring Nepal, though that's
Speaker 1: a long way from Shangra Law. The area's natural beauty
Speaker 1: is breathtaking, which makes it a destination for outdoor levers.
Speaker 1: That's especially popular with Chinese tourists. It's harder for Westerners
Speaker 1: to secure visas to get there. But is this the
Speaker 1: Shangra Law that James Hilton envisioned? Is it what modern
Speaker 1: travelers expect? That, it seems is probably up to the pilgrim.
Speaker 1: Burnbaum said, there are different ways of going to Shambala.
Speaker 1: To me, what I found most interesting was the symbolism
Speaker 1: of it. It sort of reflects an inner journey. Today's
Speaker 1: episode was written by John Donovan and produced by Tyler Clang.
Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other curious topics,
Speaker 1: visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production
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