� Victor & Victoria Trimondi The Shadow of the Dalai Lama � Part II � 12. Fascist occultism and it�s close relationship to Buddhist Tantrism 12. FASCIST OCCULTISM� AND� IT�S� CLOSE� RELATIONSHIP TO BUDDHIST TANTRISM Visionary fascism was, and indeed still is, exceptionally deeply fascinated by the Buddhocratic form of state. In the late thirties (as the various fascist systems bloomed in Europe and the whole world) Spencer Chapman, a traveler in Tibet, wrote that even in the days of the dictators one can only be amazed at what uncontested power the Dalai Lama possesses� (Chapman, 1940, p. 192). The idea of kingship of the world, the uniting of spiritual and secular power in a single person, the ideology of war in the Shambhala myth, the uncompromisingly andocentric orientation, the tantric vision of the feminine, the whole occult ambience and much more besides were specifically adopted by several fascist ideologists and welded together into an aggressive myth. As we shall soon see, entire fascist systems are based upon the adoption of Tibetan/tantric doctrines. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama�s national socialist friends As depressing as it may be for the Nobel peace prize winner�s followers, there has been continuous contact between the Dalai Lama and the far right wing and former national socialists (Nazis). His close friendship with his German mentor, Heinrich Harrer has become the most well-known of these. It caused a small scandal in 1997-1998 when, after years of research, the Austrian journalist, Gerald Lehner, succeeded in making public Harrer�s �brown-shirt� (i.e., German fascist) past, which the latter had been able to keep secret for many years. Harrer is not just anybody. He is one of the best-known international authors and has sold over four million books in 57 languages (mostly about Tibet and the Fourteenth Dalai Lama). The Austrian mountain climber and competition skier joined the SS on April 1, 1938 and in the same year received instructions to climb Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas after an official meeting with Adolf Hitler. Heinrich Himmler, himself most interested in occult phenomena is said by Harrer to have offered him a Tibet expedition. In 1942, the Reichsf�hrer of the SS (Himmler) ordered the creation of the Sven Hedin Institut f�r Innerasienforschung [Sven Hedin Institute for Central Asian Research]. This educational establishment had combined esoteric, scientific, and racial studies goals. It was completely in this vein that Himmler was interested in occult doctrines from �mysterious Tibet�, and assumed � probably under the influence of theosophical ideas � that a �race with Nordic blood� existed there, oppressed by the English and Chinese, and waiting for their liberation by the Germans. Himmler�s �advisor�, reports the German magazine Spiegel, �� and the scientist Ernst Sch�fer believed that Tibet was the cradle of humanity, the refuge of an �Aryan root race�, where a priestly caste had created a mysterious kingdom of Shambhala � decorated with the Buddhist symbol of the wheel of teaching, a swastika. In 1934 Sch�fer set out on the first of two expeditions financed by the SS to track down remnants of the �Nordic intellectual� nobility� (Spiegel, 16/1998, p. 111). Dr. Ernst Sch�fer, a specialist on Tibet and an ornithologist, was one of Himmler�s personal staff and in 1943 took over the scientific leadership of the notorious project, �Ahnenerbe� (�ancestral inheritance�), primarily devoted to racial studies. His third research trip to the Himalayas was officially described as the �SS Sch�fer Expedition� and was considered a huge success (Kater 1997, p. 80). Upon his return in August 1939, the scientist was presented with the SS skull ring and dagger of honor in recognition. Subsequently, the Reichsf�hrer of the black corps (Himmler) had grand plans for his prot�g�: Sch�fer was supposed to return to Tibet and �stir up the Tibetan army against the British/Indian troops� with a shock troop of 30 men (Kater, 1997, p. 212). The undertaking was, however, called off at Hitler�s direct order. In the years to follow, Sch�fer instead built up the Sven Hedin Institute for Central Asian Research with great success, making it the largest division within the Ahnenerbe project. But let us return to Heinrich Harrer. War broke out while he was still in India and the young German was interned by the British. It was not until 1944 that he was able to flee to Tibet with a comrade. Coincidence or fate led to his acting as the young Dalai Lama�s personal tutor until the early 50s, and teaching him about all the �wonders� of western civilization and introducing him to the English language as well. It is very likely that his lessons were tainted by the contemporary zeitgeist which had swept through Hitler�s Germany, and not by the British attitudes of the envoy Hugh Richardson, also present in Lhasa. This led in fact to some problems at the court of the young god-king and the English were not happy about his c...