Shambhalatlan

“Atlan” is a suffix in Nahuatl meaning “place of”.

Shamhala is said to be a kingdom, secret and 

not so secret, existing yet hidden, in which all 

the inhabitants are enlightened. The pueblo I live in,

Tepoztlan, in Mexico, is as close as I’ve come to

such a place on earth where I have lived.

I was staying Oaxaca for a winter years ago, and 

I visited Tepoztlan where a Shambhala (Buddhist)

community had been established some years 

earlier. The first two mornings there, while I was 

eating breakfast alone in a restaurant, I found 

myself in tears. At first, I wondered why this was 

happening, until I realized it was because, for the

first time in my life, I felt I was home. 

Yada, yada, yada, I returned to the USA for a year,

then, the next year, moved to Tepoztlan to live, full

time. The process of living here for years has 

slowed me down from the intense days of my job

as a plumber. And it has been a nurturing environ-

ment for my meditation practice and my writing.

So, why do I use the term Shambhalatlan? I 

certainly wouldn’t avow that the inhabitants here

are all enlightened. On the other hand, there is a 

natural goodness, discrimination, and acceptance

of the people here that creates an atmosphere 

that pervades the place, and is, in fact, quite 

magical. An interesting phenomena that people 

have noticed here is that many people who visit 

have a strong reaction to the place, either falling in 

love with it, as what happened to me, or, finding

the energy not to their liking and having to leave;

a self selecting quality.

I heard of a prophesy about Tepoztlan. Perhaps 

thirty to forty years ago, a man asked a taxi driver,

at night, to take him to a certain place. This place

was in the middle of nowhere. The man asked the 

driver to stop, and then said to him something like:

“When the great sadness happens, Tepoztlan will

be protected.” Then, the man walked into the night,

like all these cool stories end.