The Sacred Hidden Land of Ultimate Bliss

In 2009, the Jnanasukha community undertook a pilgrimage to the remote and mystical Shang Zabbulung in Western Tibet. Their journey led them to one of the holiest and most spiritually significant places in Tibetan Buddhism. During their visit, the abbot of Zabbulung entrusted them with an important task: to translate the Pilgrimage Guide to Zabbulung, a revered Tibetan text. This guide, containing powerful teachings and prophecies from Guru Padmasambhava, is now being prepared for publication after years of dedicated translation work.

The Sacred Power of Zabbulung

According to the Jnanasukha community, Zabbulung is no ordinary place. It is a sacred land filled with divine blessings, where the spiritual energy is so potent that simply hearing about, seeing, or thinking of it can bring profound benefits.

Guru Padmasambhava himself described Zabbulung as a place where meditative concentration is enhanced, positive conditions manifest spontaneously, and spiritual practice is magnified. The community has shared that the blessings of Zabbulung extend beyond those who physically visit the land, making it a source of inspiration and transformation for all who connect with its sacred energy.

Here is a direct excerpt from the Pilgrimage Guide to Zabbulung, where Guru Rinpoche explains the immense blessings associated with this sacred place:

Distractions are few, so one’s meditative concentration improves. One is free of the eight fears, attendants gather, and all one’s wishes are fulfilled in accordance with the Dharma. Like a fabulous wish-fulfilling jewel, whatever one needs and desires showers down like rain from the sky, and one’s fine qualities expand like the waxing moon.The assemblies of outer and inner peaceful and wrathful deities dwell here, so it is equal to the twenty-four sacred lands.

Dakas and dakinis always gather here, so it is equal to the eight great charnel grounds. All the buddhas of the three times watch over and bless this place, and its solid and enduring rocks are immutable, so it is the same as the center of the world, Bodhgaya. Beings born here are noble Mahayana heroes and heroines, so it is equal to the Oddiyan Vajra Cave and to Mount Potala, which formed from light issuing from the ring of hair between the eyebrows of the Mighty Lord of the World, Avalokitesvara.

Numerous assemblies of Secret Mantra deities dwell there, making it equal to the actual Glorious Drepung. The Wheel of Mahayana Dharma was turned there, so it is equal to the actual Vulture Peak Mountain.The mountains are shaped like stupas, so it is equal to the actual Swayambunath. At its center, there is a five-peaked white snow mountain, so it is equal to the actual Wu Tai Shan. All classes of deity come before one to make offerings, so it is a spontaneously-accomplished Heaven of the Thirty-Three.Mahayana Dharma activities are constantly maintained, so it is equal to Tushita Heaven. Resources and treasures are bountiful here and the local deities are strict, so it is equal to the Palace of Changlochen, the buddhafield of Vajradhara.

This is the king of all practice places, and the banner of its renown pervades the ten directions.

If you stay at this supreme sacred place for SEVEN DAYS, you will be inseparable from me, Padma, so you will reach the Realm of Bliss in actuality.

MERITS THROUGH THE SENSES:

1. If you HEAR about the supreme sacred place of Zabbulung, you will be reborn having brought an end to cyclic existence.

2. If you TOUCH the soil, stones, or wood from Zabbulung, you will be released from harm caused by minor elemental spirits.

3. If you LAY EYES on the supreme sacred place of Zabbulung even once, you will perceive the truth of the first bodhisattva level.

4. If you THINK of glorious Zabbulung, the mamos and dakinis will grant their accomplishments.

MERITS OF DURATION:

• If you spend THREE days in glorious Zabbulung, you will be liberated from harm caused by subtle elemental spirits.

• If you stay for FIVE days, psychotic episodes and fits will be dispelled.

• If you stay for SEVEN days, leprosy and skin infections will be cured.

• If you stay for NINE days, evil spells will be averted.

• If you stay for ELEVEN days, subjugating activities will be accomplished.

• If you stay for FOURTEEN days, magnetizing activities will be accomplished.

• If you stay for SEVENTEEN days, enriching activities will be accomplished.

• If you stay for TWENTY-FOUR days, pacifying activities will be accomplished.

• If you stay for an ENTIRE MONTH, as soon as you cast off this body made of the four elements, you will reach buddhahood in the Realm of Bliss (Dewachen).

• If you stay for a WHOLE YEAR, even if you were able to weigh them on a scale with Mt. Meru, the positive effects would be impossible to measure.

Even if you were able to count all the drops in the ocean, the positive effects of staying here would still be impossible to count. The supreme sacred place of glorious Zabbulung is a palace of victorious great bliss. Its fine qualities are difficult to describe or fathom—Sovereign King, do your practice here!”

The Jnanasukha community looks forward to sharing the full translation of the Pilgrimage Guide to Zabbulung with the world in the future, offering a gateway to the blessings and teachings of this extraordinary place.

All photos taken in 2009 at Shang Zabbulung; last photo is the Enlightenment Cave of Yeshe Tsogyal where she attained the rainbow body, as did her consort Atsara Sale.