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Shenlha Okar literally means "wisdom deity of white light;" the variant Shiwa Okar means "peaceful white light." Shen can mean either "priest" or possibly in this case "deity who is a priest." In some accounts he is considered the sambhogakaya form of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, the founder of B�n (the nirmanakaya aspect). In other accounts, he is visited by Shenrab Miwoche when Miwoche is in a prior incarnation known as Salwa.. Additionally, some catagorize him as "corresponding exactly to the Buddhist category of dharmakaya."

Shenlha Okar is said to have created the world with the help of nine brother gods or nine cosmic gods (shrid pa 'i lha) who appear as war gods or drala (dgra bla). He is also considered a god of compassion with many parallels to Avalokiteshvara[8] and also with Amitabha.

Shenlha Okar is usually depicted with a white body "like the essence of crystal," holding a hook in his right hand (and sometimes a lasso in his left), and seated in a throne supported by elephants.

Shiwa Okar in the terma of Ch�gyam Trungpa Rinpoche..... Shiwa Okar featured prominently in a work composed by the influential Tibetan Buddhist lama Ch�gyam Trungpa, particularly a long verse epic composed in Tibet called The Golden Dot: The Epic of the Lha, the Annals of the Kingdom of Shambhala from The Chronicles of the Imperial Rigdens......
Chapter 1: "Which explains how it was in the beginning." Chapter 2: "Concerning the eight cosmic lha who unobstructedly produced phenomena, thus creating the existence of the outer world."
Chapter 3: Concerns Peaceful White Light (Shiwa Okar).
............and in terma he revealed beginning in 1976. The Golden Dot was lost in Trungpa Rinpoche's flight from Tibet in 1959. As Robin Kornman, a Buddhist scholar and student of his, explained,:

Trungpa Rinpoche began to reconstruct the original text after escaping Tibet, and it is this later work to which we refer. The first chapter describes the creation of the world by nine cosmic gods (shrid pa 'i lha) who appear in the form of native Tibetan dieties known as drala (dgra bla), or war gods. These gods represent primal or originary aspects of the phenomenal world. For example, one of these lha stood for all kinds of light. Glancing in many directions, this diety created all of the lights existing in the world, including the sun, the moon, the light of the planets and stars, and the inward luminosity of consciousness itself. Another represented space and the sense of direction . . . In Trungpa Rinpoche's epic these were directed by a ninth lha called Shiwa Okar . . . a sort of absolute principle behind creation and the nature of reality. After these nine cosmic deities have created the world, [Shiwa Okar] goes to the things they have created and invests each one with an animistic spirit, a drala..... first appeared the essence of ten thousand werma, the crown of one thousand drala and the finest, in general, of the ten million sotor, existing in the midst of nonexistent existence, the very best lha of warriors, Shiwa Okar, Peaceful White Light.

Kornman notes that one of the "striking things" about the text is that it refers not to Indic sources but to the "creation myths found in the royal chronicles and in the Epic of Gesar of Ling and "evoke the cosmology of native Tibetan religion, not Buddhism.". Many of his Shambhala terma feature Shiwa Okar as a yidam, or meditational diety, with a tantric retinue of drala and werma (Wylie: wer ma)

Trungpa Rinpoche's work has antecedents in the edition of the Gesar epic prepared by Ju Mipham and ritual practices he composed in conjuction with that work. Kornman notes "Mipham made his edition of the Gesar Epic a hybrid of Buddhist and local ideas. He made sure it would be read in this manner by writing a parallel set of Gesar chants that mix religions in the same way. These ritual practices may be found in the Na chapter of his collected works. In the Bon tradition, King Gesar of Ling is sent to Tibet by Shenlha Okar, and Trungpa Rinpoche's blending of native traditions and Indian Buddhism appears to echo Mipham's

MITHRAS

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MITHRAEUM.....It is difficult for scholars to reconstruct the daily workings and beliefs of Mithraism, as the rituals were highly secret and limited to initiated men. Mithras was little more than a name until the massive documentation of Franz Cumont's Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra was published in 1894-1900, with the first English translation in 1903. Religious practice was centered around the mithraeum, either an adapted natural cave or cavern or an artificial building imitating a cavern. Mithraea were dark and windowless, even if they were not actually in a subterranean space or in a natural cave...

mithraea are sunk below ground and there were no windows as each mithraeum was intended to be as dark as the original cave of Mithras.

Click here to View Shrine w/ Mithra on Horseback

The name Mithras is the Greek masculine form of Mithra, the Persian god who was the mediator between Ahura Mazda and the earth, the guarantor of human contracts....earliest images show Mithra holding in his upraised hands the Sword of Truth and Torch of Light.

Mithras was known throughout Europe and Asia by the names Mithra, Mitra, Meitros, Mihr, Mehr, and Meher. The veneration of this God began about 4000 years ago in Persia

MITHRA....."As a mounted horseman armed with bow and arrows and accompanied by the lion, Mithra himself was the 'verethraghnem' bearer of invisible 'hvareno'. The arrow represents the radiant energy of invisible wind which brings the vital change. The mounted Mithra rides with the swiftness of the wind. According to tradition, a fiery form in the shape of a man riding a fiery horse would bring in the 'fraskart', or final restoration of the world....The 'xvarr' fire which gives character, or spirit, to man was the invisible fire located in the breast of kings. The Vedic Surya, denoted the gleam of the rising sun or stimulating force (pra-sava: pre-impulse) which was in all forms of life and the governor of their fortunes. The eastern order runs counter-clockwise and requires either a northern or eastern orientation on the part of the spectator. The western order runs clockwise. 'Asa' (Asha) is the law of the cosmic wheel. In Mithraic iconography, the Sky has an eye in the form of a long solar ray that penetrates the world-cave. The Sun was known in the Rig Veda as the eye of Mithra. The Indo-European words for king: (rig, rajan, rex, rix, ric) means not only to regulate and direct, but also to shine with luster. The divine right of the king was derived from the brilliance and sovereignty of the sky itself; therefore it was fitting that his palace should be the 'padak' of the sun. 'Thumos' was essentially heat in the breath and body. The spirited or courageous power (thumoeides) is located in the heart (kardia). 'Arya' means faithful, loyal friend, helper, and is the root of the name of Aryans. The rising sun marked one part of the day, which was divided into five parts. The arrow has to do with the bringing down of sky-potency. The Sanskrit root for arrow (isu) means to send for and is related to 'isa' which is strength or vigor. In modern Persian, the word 'tir' means not only an arrow but also power and strength. The horse is black by nature but the part exposed to the sun is brilliant and bright. The sky was formed of a more or less transparent crystalline substance. The Scorpion symbol is common throughout Mithraic symbolism... If the cosmic man joins in himself the highest power of the essence (xvarr) of sovereignity (sahr) with the highest power of the essence of the Good..."..(Campbell, Leroy..."Mithraic Iconography and Ideology"...Leiden: 1968)...

MITHRA...."The Tibetan word Tsug-Pu (gtsug.phud) meaning 'crown of the head' approximates the actual word 'Mithra"...(June Campbell: 1996...pg 37)

(Middle Persian: Mihr)..."essentially a deity of light. He draws the sun with his horses and resides at the summit of Mt Hara. Has a clear significance as a warrior god. He is the guardian of Asha (truth and order)." (Eliade: 1987..Vol 9)

..."Mithra was the Persian God of the Sun who had the same attributes as the Manichaen Deity of Light (Middle Persian: Pydr Rwsn) (Litvinsky: 1992..pg 413)....

"Mithra is young. His eye is the sun. The rays of the sun are his arms. He wears glistening garments. His abode is golden. He is a king and a universal monarch. Mithra is ever waking and watches in darkness." (Gershevitch: 1959 pg 4, 31)...

The Avestan Hymn to Mithra dates at least to the 5th century BC. He was worshipped as far back as the 14th century BC."(Gershvitch: 1959..pg 30)...

Mithra was especially venerated by the Kushans...."Mithra looks at people without blinking, that is without closing his watchful eyes for the fraction of a moment. He overlooks the whole country...all that is between heaven and earth...even before the sun rises." (Acta Iranica: 1978)

MOUNTED HORSEMEN..."In Mithraic iconography, a mounted horseman armed with a bow and arrows and accompanied by the lion, Mithra was the 'verethraghnem' bearer of invisible 'hvareno'. The wings of the arrow represents the radiant energy of invisible wind or 'pneuma' which brings about vital change."..(Campbell: 1968..pg 201)..."Sassanian Kings were mounted on horseback whereas the old Persian and Assyrian Kings were mounted on chariots. A similar change took place between the time of the Trojan hero and the classical Greek warrior. The mounting of gods on horseback became a widespread phenomenon during the early centuries BC. Mithra is mounted on horseback in the Dura frescoes."(Campbell: 1968..pg 191)...The Fravashi warriors are Persia ancestor gods or warrior gods. Restorers of a cosmic order. Persian equivalents of the Tibetan dGra lha.

FRAVASHI...."Hence Finite Time and Finite Space control man's destiny from the cradle to the grave. Yet the whole of the macrocosm is kept in being by the Fravashis ('Dralas'?), the spiritual powers that are indissolubly linked with each human being and with humanity as a whole. Finite time-space, then, is not a kenoma, an empty nothingness, but a pleroma, a 'full' and vital organism...."...(Zaehner..1961..pg 150)...

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INDO-EUROPEANS....."Like all goddesses during the patriarchial takeover of Europe by Indo-European invaders who worshipped male sky-gods, Medea's role was radically rewritten and invariably debased." (Article in Montreal Gazette, July 4, 1998)

"The Indo-Europeans with their devotion to celestial deities, encountered peoples whose religious beliefs looked downward to the chtohonic powers of the earth." (Hawkes: Man and the Sun:1962:pg 167)

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SHIWA OKAR

"Texts that we commonly call the Shambhala teachings stem from the visions that the Druk Sakyong, the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, had from an early age in Tibet......These visions came from the Rigden and from Shiwa Okar.....Shiwa Okar is referred to as the lha of lha.....the divine of the divine.....the ultimate principle of dharmadhatu, the most primordial reality, which we often call primordial Ashe, or the confidence of all......."..the Vidyadhara often said that he was merely writing them down...." Sakyong Mipham......Public Letter....January 23, 2005

The very best lha of warriors, Peaceful White Light........He wore great silver armor....... On his head he wore a white helmet.....On his feet he wore Shangshug boots...... a beautiful black moustache. ....

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SHEN LHA OKAR IN THE BON TRADITION

"Then gShen-lha 'Od-dkar, the God of the 3,000 realms, whose abode lies beyond the 3000 realms, was invited."....(The Arrow and the Spindle")

SHENLHA OKAR...Pictorial descriptions and information on the Tibetan deity Shenlha Okar appear in the book by Per Kvaerne, "The Bon Religion of Tibet" (Shambhala Publications, 1996)

"From the white pure light arises the deity Shenlha Okar at the center of the mandala."(Wangyal:1993 p147)...

"Kungtuzangpo gave the teachings to Shenlha Okar who passed them to Shenrab Miwo who taught them in Zhang Zhung. (Wangyal:1993 pg 210)...

"Shenlha Wokar, the deity who is the source of the lineage of teachings of the Dzogchen (rDzogs chen), the Great Perfection, in the lands of Lha, Nyen, and Lu". (Thangka in Kvaerne: 1996..pg 63)

"The body of Shenlha Wokar is white...his ontological status is than of bonku, 'unconditioned being' or 'supreme being', corresponding to the Buddhist category of dharmakaya...His association with light suggests Manichaean influences....The colour of his body is like the essence of crystal...his ornaments, attire, and palace are adorned by crystal light..." (Paul:1982) (Hoffman:1979,pg 105) (Kvaerne:1996, pg 26)

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SHENRAB...."his origins are said to be in Iran-Elam and his name is given as Mithra. The Tibetan word Tsug-Pu (gtsug.phud) meaning 'crown of the head' approximates the actual word Mithra." Campbell, June...."Traveller in Space".....New York:1996...pg 37

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The very best lha of warriors, Peaceful White Light.......He wore great silver armor, Shielding from a Thousand Thunderbolts, fastened together with lacing of divine white silk. From the space between the armor plates he emanated many divine white bull-yaks, with flames of confidence streaming out from the tips of their horns. On their hooves, sparks of authentic presence shot out. From each single hair, various jewels emanating rays of light streamed out. Many hundreds and thousands of these emanations streamed out. On his head he wore a white helmet, Divine Fierce White Forehead, adorned with many inlaid jewels and with flourishes. On the top of that was an inconceivable white pennant with gold designs. It fluttered showing the radiance of the warrior drala and the shining light dots of the werma. It moved with the wind in the space of the sky. On his feet he wore Shangshug boots, Array of Nine Braveries, wmbroidered with beautiful rainbow designs, drawn designs of impressive armor, and bound by hard, solid meteoric iron nails. His face was like a full moon and his two eyes twinkled like ilaid great stars. His eyebrows were beautiful like the outstretched wings of a grey vulture. The shape of his nose was beautiful and well-defined, expressing the white lineage of the father lha. His lips were in the style of a lotus and, like the outstretched wings of a wild rave, he had a beautiful black moustache. His glorious warrior-sote was impressive like the quality of phapong longbu. His smiling face was enjoyable to see; his bright radiant face transformed one's perception. His torso had a great pose, projecting masculinity. His shoulders were great and braod. The lower part of his body was steady and agile.