There was a wonderful event at the UN last month.  It was the 80th Anniversary of the Roerich Pact.  It was a pleasant, breezy day but still with the edge of unseasonable cold that had haunted the northeast all through the winter.  The day was bright.  I found my friends from the Moscow Roerich Museum standing just outside the security entrance.  Col. Stetsenko greeted me warmly. He has a wonderful way about him: matter-of-fact, coolly in command and with a lively intellectual curiosity.  He had given me his card after the 2013 Roerich Conference in Moscow and asked me to keep him informed as to our progress in Mongolia.  I was very happy to see him now in New York and to be able to report on many positive developments.

After passing through security and finding my way to the exhibit hall, I was very pleased to see my Bulgarian colleague Marga Koutsarova.  She is a very bright spirit of great intelligence with a deep and lively devotion to truth and culture.  We had spoken at length in Moscow about Mongolia.  And now we had a couple of hours time to catch up and to share ideas on world events, Buddhism, history.

After greeting one another, I noticed a display featuring a large photograph of Franklin Roosevelt.  I nodded to it and said, “What we need is another president like FDR.”  Marga laughed, saying, “I was thinking the same thing!”  And on that harmonic convergence of thought, we began to explore the expansive topics which occupy most of our waking thoughts.

In further conversation with Marga, I mentioned that Nicholas Roerich perhaps made a few mistakes when he visited Japan and China. His stated intention to carve out a pan-Mongolian Buddhist state was maybe a little too much for his hosts. His mis-steps were instructive to me.  I  told Marga that I would certainly not make the same mistake. I said that I hoped to bring a more nuanced message to our future Japanese partners, a message based on the international public order.  “World unity will not be a territorial matter but a matter of international law.  I have learned much from my dear mentor, Prof. Tajima Yutaka. He happens to be the legal advisor to the Japanese royal family.  I have spent a lot of time in Japan, discussing the future of international law with him. He said something remarkable to me the last time we met. He said that the basis of law is unspoken. It is based on a tacit understanding, a harmony that exists at a pre-verbal level.”

Soon the conversation came back to Mongolia: indigenous nation–its connection to Earth and Sky unbroken, its history expressing over millenia a tale of incredible scope.  Its immediate situation is one of profound emergency.  The tremendous power of the people must be called forth.  As difficult as the challenge is, as I told Marga, I have seen that Mongolians will take on the challenge with total commitment and with great success. My specific contribution involves the creation of a center for international law, based on Tenggerism. (My father, Philip J. Jimenez, a professor of International Law at Santa Clara University, is doing all he can to help and he shares this vision. He comes to Ulaanabaatar regularly to provide support and guidance.)

If anyone will know how to reach the stars without destroying the Earth, it is the Mongolians. And this tremendous innate talent lies in the awareness of Shambhala, in the nomadic ways and in a Mongolian philosophy which emphasizes triadic rather than dualistic thinking. There is a tremendous wealth of knowledge which is yet untapped and untasted by the world at large. I want to help communicate this treasure to the world.

For Mongolians, Shambhala is not merely a feel-good concept.  It demands study and active reflection.  Shambhala is a living phenomenon and directs the efforts of active dreamers like myself. Shambhala has whispered to me, even in my ignorance, only very recently.  It has invited me to contribute something.  I am happy to do so.  I am doing what I can, as it occurs to me.  With each step, more is revealed. It is not an indulgence in secret teachings.  It is here and now.  No special knowledge is needed at first. Knowledge comes through the gradual fulfillment of purpose, through action.

It was very exciting to attend the 80th Anniversary event.  The late afternoon sun illuminated the hall as Russian Ambassador Anatoly Churkin made his introductory remarks.  It was a pity that no US representative attended.  It was quite embarrassing for me, actually. The present geopolitical outlook of our US government is shutting out a great many intelligent and progressive possibilities. This bitter reality irked me and made me long for some sudden and dramatic awakening.  But for the moment, I was able to relish the feeling of peace.  As with everything to do with Roerich, one could feel a strong element of magic at the event.  This magic has less to do with hidden knowledge than it does with the growing awareness that a new era is upon us–the Epoch of the Heart–and that we need only exercise courage, discernment and compassion . . . and allow ourselves to be guided by higher sensibilities.

Shambhala becomes real when we listen, when we share in truth, when we work for peace.  It is no vain dream, but a thing which is unfolding unstoppably! When one works according to Universal Law, the great and primordial powers are happy to aid. But it is we who must initiate and drive the process.

We live in a difficult and glorious time. It is glorious because we embrace the difficulties. And it is difficult because we respect what is glorious. The momentary sense of calm and satisfaction that I felt at this UN event was balanced by the lingering aches of recent struggles as well as the sobering awareness of all that is left to do. It was an event that I will certainly always remember. I was enriched by the conversation with friends, the experience of hearing Ambassador Churkin’s address and shaking his hand, and by the glowing sense of vindication which crept over me as stood there at the UN wearing a badge that identified me as representing Mongolia. It was a kind of ideal day for your average Shambhala agent. I was excited to get back to Ulaanbaatar and report to Dr. Bira.