Some say its in Tibet.
Some think its in Nepal near Mustang.
I have seen some places that would easily pass for the "Shangriland".
Always wondered what if Shangrila really existed.......
and looked like this
(Wouldn't be a bad idea for a date)

Captain haddock's answer is just a philosophical answer.
Sangrila does exist but neither in physical nor in mind.
It is said to exist near mansarobar but is in a diff dimension.
So the best way to access it is through astral body.
Its not only imagination or state of mind.
anywho... seekers will learn more...eventually find it...
when there is a will, there are ways...

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I did a little wikipedia search and it gave me this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangrila

Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the novel, Lost Horizon, written by British writer James Hilton in 1933. In it, "Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Himalaya. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia - a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. The story of Shangri-La is based on the concept of Shambhala, a mystical city in the Buddhist religion.

Several possible places in the Buddhist Himalaya between north India and Western China have been suggested as the actual basis for Hilton's legend. In China, Tao Qian of the Jin Dynasty described a Shangri-La in his Story of the Peach Blossom Valley, for example. The legendary Kun Lun Mountains offer other possible Shangri-La valleys. There are also a number of modern Shangri-La pseudo-legends that have developed since 1933 in the wake of the novel and the film made from it.

Today, various places claim the title, such as parts of northwestern Yunnan province, including the tourist destination of Lijiang. Places like Sichuan and Tibet also claim the real Shangri-la was in its territory. In 2001, Tibet Autonomous Region put forward a proposal that the three regions optimise all Shangri-la tourism resources and promote them as one. After failed attempts to establish a China Shangri-la Ecological Tourism Zone in 2002 and 2003, government representatives of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region signed a declaration of cooperation in 2004.

In Chinese, Shangri-La is translated as ??????? (pinyin sh??wa??t??oyu??n; WG shih-wai-t'ao-y??an; literally 'the peach river-source away from the world'), from Tao Qian's work. In Hong Kong, it is transcribed as ?????-, as is the hotel chain of the same name (see other uses of Shangri-La).

In the beginning of World War II against Japan, the United States flew most of its bombers from mainland China. In propaganda, they claimed that they started them from Shangri-La. Later, one of the aircraft carriers used in the Pacific ocean was named USS Shangri-La.

Shangri-La was also the original name President Franklin D. Roosevelt chose for the new presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountain Park in 1942, before it was renamed Camp David by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1953.

Ojai, California is said to have been the setting for Shangri-La in the 1937 film Lost Horizon.

It is also said to have inspired Carl Barks when he wrote the Disney cartoon 'The Land of Trala La' published in 1954

How we want to perceive Shangri-La shall determine whether or not it exists.

An absolute utopia; a state of nirvana - tranquility, a place where happiness resides, where sorrow has no place, where joy knows no boundaries; does such place even exists?

I do not know any place that resembles the literal designation of Shangri-La, nonetheless, more importantly for me is: will I ever experience such a state of being?

I say - yes - and I have. I have found Shangri-La within myself many a times. Say-like, in that last drag of smoke I inhaled, when my mother was declared stable, those rare occasion when I walked my little sister to school just to hear her talk, when I earned my first degree, when I experienced love reciprocated, the calmness she bestowed on me that I felt, knowing I'd always have her; vice versa. When I listened to magic sipping my "holy-water" in some crowded bar, or for that matter a warm snuggle inside my quilt on a nippy winter morning, and those sound of rain drops kissing the earth that sounds akin to the Beethoven's master-piece.

I have courted Shangri-La on each of these occasions. She appeared as lovely as ever; at times lovelier than other. Mmmmm. . . how I can use the last one for now.

The premises I threw up there are meant to draw one conclusion, that being; Shangri-La is not out there, it is within us. I humbly refuse to agree upon the argument of any learned ones that there is such a Shangri-La, as in one size fits all. If it exists at all, then it has to be within ourselves, for each of us to perceive the way we experience it.

And if two people can actually find one Shangri-La, ah! could there be more beautiful a sight to behold?

I bet each one of you have found your Shangri-La, ditto like mine albeit with (possible) slight digress.

Now, if we are talking about a Shangri-La, in bodily form, a place, and picture; I know where it exists for me. I would tell you if only I could see my home. Yep that's my Shangri-La. It exists. And guess what, I do not need a picturesque depiction to confirm it.

It is there, I know it is!

In my heart - I have millions of Shangri-La(s).

IndisGuise:)

Well said IndisGuise,
But wait a minute you relate state of nirvana with shangri-la.Shangri-la isn't it just a place with some natural wonders.Or is it a state of mind?
iZen

Correct me if I am wrong. Is not a Shanrila suppose to be heaven on earth? If so, any place could be shangrila. It depends upon the a way look at it. For me, its where I find peace, happiness, tranqulity.

peace

Does hell exist? Do you believe in UFO? Was the world created in seven days? Did Shiva really walked through mountains schleping dead Parvati... and the list goes on and on.

NK,
Only questions lead to answers.A rational mind should never cease to ask questions.Otherwise we are simply accepting lies and dogmas that leads to an absolutism.
If we simply accept all that was taught then we are binding ourselves in blind belief.
:)

Presidential retreat established in rural Maryland, U.S., by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 and renamed Camp David (q.v.) in 1953.


RBT
Ciao

Presidential retreat established in rural Maryland, U.S., by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 and renamed Camp David (q.v.) in 1953.
RBT:I only live twenty minutes drive from Camp David.Now I know I am so close to Shangri-la.Thats funny...If that was the case why are Israelis and Palestanians still fighting.After all, It ain't no shangri-la?Hun....
But thanks for the info.
still wondering......:)

Izen,

My take on "Nirvana" and "Shangri-La" is this ? "?Two side of the same coin"

Why? Allow me to explain...

Enlightenment leads to nirvana. Enlightment, which implies where a person becomes free of pain, suffering, desires and other earthly matters. What does that lead to?
Yep! You said it. Indeed, a state of Nirvana.

Now, what is Shangri-la? An imaginary utopia where all is bliss and where there is absolute peace blah blah blah. In essence, a paradise on earth, like highfly interpreted.

Then what does both have in common. One implies a state free of pain, desire, and any earthly matters, and another; absolute peace, bliss, like a heaven on earth.
How is one possible without another?

Get the picture? I bet you can copulate one with another and come to the conclusion that it does not only relate to each other, but also can be used interchangeably.

Damn! Too much hash I believe. A short route to both. But not me. I hate em'.

Since you seem to have vowed to ask questions with a thread a day policy hehehe ;), and have stated that a rational mind have to ask question. Can I ask you one?
How about having a new ID with question mark in front and behind the nick. Reminds me of this character in some old hindi flick where the guy has a question mark on the forehead. J/k mate.

And yes Shangri-La is both. I mean it's an imaginary stuff man. Common. Since 1994 I have been seeing Shangri-la in Aishworya Rai. Aru ke bhanau. HAHAHAHa. there was this girl anmed Shangri-la from chabel I believe. She was not Shangri-La Shangri-la, but her name was Shangri-la.

Deemag kharab! ;)

As long as I am in the state of Nirvana...
IndisGuise:)

Did Deependra really kill the entire clan? Did man really land on the Moon? Was that you or somebody else at the table who ate your breakfast in the morning. Does Sitara rerally exist. Did Ashu really go to Harvard. Of course we all should ask these questions, and many more.
(:0) sorry could not help. You know me, right?

And yes Shangri-La is both. I mean it's an imaginary stuff man. Common. Since 1994 I have been seeing Shangri-la in Aishworya Rai. Aru ke bhanau. HAHAHAHa. there was this girl anmed Shangri-la from chabel I believe. She was not Shangri-La Shangri-la, but her name was Shangri-la.

The statement above was given birth by InDisguise...
Your appreciation for feminist beauty/discovering shangri-la in them reminds me of a reputed indian artist named Maqbul-fida Hussein who later was to be known as Madhuri Fida Hussein.
I meant M.F. Hussein:)Remember....Hum Aap ke Hain Kaun?
True beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder...and shangri-la can't be an exception.The latter part was added:)

The hardest part for me as you have declared my vow to challege the established belief is this.Is there an external existance in whatso ever form that can reflect itself in the form of nirvana or shangri-la?
Like you I have also surrendered to one conclusion.That is shangri-la is infact our state of mind like nirvana.But then shangrila doesn't exist because nirvana is impossible before our leaving behind of our physical self.Then one can argue he/she has achieved nirvana within their lifetime i.e their presence on the planet which I find very immature.

alk up a trail which vanishes into the shadows of the very mountain it follows, notice the lavendar colored grass flowers sprouting to give their own ray of color, the copper pink whiffs of clouds encircle the ice cones rising high above the horizon, blazing brick colored huts hanging defiantly on precarious ridges, follow the pebble I happen to kick over a cliff and admire the gorge which barely catch any ray of sunshine, notice the rhododendrons as they change from crimson to white like benchmarks of changing altitude, the highest rhododendrons camouflaged in the occasional snow a random icy wind brings, sit at a tea shop with its open hearth and smell of dung fuel, drink in the moment of mental emancipation. I've reached nirvana! I've reached my personal Shangrila!

~Sitara~


NK, I hope you aren't too obsessed by your own question of "Sitara's existence"!

:)

SITARA exists...I can see her paragraphs confusing my quest....
Shangrila doesn't?
Atleast not yet...

Keep wondering folks:)

All Sajhabasi haru, Shangrila does exsit. If you look around the far western part of Nepal, you really see Shangrila where horizon touches the bare lands of the heaven.
You better go there and feel by yourself. But do not afraid of Maosits. They are like us. Only they dislikes armies. Otherwise those places are safe.

Ahem.

Sitara, you do write well. Maybe I need to talk to you about writing the screen play for this independent movie project I am working on. The movie has to do with Nepal/US and Nepali's concept of what it is that they are attempting escape when they migrate to the US and can they really get away from all the struggles of life just because ther are somewhere else, perhaps in search of the Shangri La!

RBT
Ciao

Thank you Raybati! Your project sounds incredibly interesting. Innovative too. What do you have in mind? Shoot me an email via Sajha and we'll see if I can be of some use.

Ofcourse it exists - I just came back from there. Roundtrip $1700 from Boston. Lots of hot chicks, golden beaches, eclectic bars, great music, meditation, monasteries, thriving arts and literature, sailing, golf, hiking, biking, bungee jumping - you name it !

Shangrilla - now only a stone's throw away from anywhere! 1800-GO-SHANGRILLA

Happy Saturday - believers and unbelievers alike!

:)

Hi SITARA and RBT,
It is wonderful to see you heavyweights of sajha interested in making movies.My script is half way done at this point.SITARA,I am sure you have heard of an independent film festival organizer in DC metro named Guerilla filmProductions.John Hanshaw the director of the film production is very helpful to the foreigners who are interested in making independent flicks.Just curious RBT,are you planning to make the movie in English version or Nepali.Forget US I see a lot of oppurtunities in Nepal if movies are made that are not bollywood-ized.Bhutan is getting some market after a monk turned director started making world class movies.You know what I am talking about.
Well,guys its good to see folks interested in making indeendent movies here.
Isn't Sajha something?
iZ

yes....but mostly in the mind. perhaps this is the closest to a physical realization of it. simikot, humla. photo courtesy of nepalnews.