Descriptions of the kingdom of
Shambhala are based both on literature said to emanate from Shambhala itself and by later commentators, mainly
Tibetans, who claimed to have visited the kingdom in the material realm, on an etheric plane, in dreams, or by some other means.
As the descriptions will make clear, this is not of “historical” Shambhala; i.e., a country that once existed in the time-space continuum recognized by Western historiography—for instance, the
ancient kingdom .