Dubai | Boom | Bust | Schadenfreude

Dubai now hosts the tallest building in the world, which may or may not signal the coming of the Apocalypse and the Mahdi. See Is the World's Tallest Building a Monument or a Tombstone for Dubai? Dubai has now also become the Poster Child for Wretched Excess and an object lesson in everything that is wrong, so wrong, with the global economy.

The Khalifa Tower, the Tallest Building in the World. Photo courtesy of the Anarchists at Coming Anarchy. See also The World's Top Photo Opportunity.

In Appetite for Destruction John Gravois offers a corrective to the “cheap metaphors, apocalyptic exaggeration, and schadenfreude that marks the Dubai backlash.” Excerpt:

Alas, singlemindedly obsessed with facades and underbellies, the backlash correspondents fell quickly into weird observational pathologies. Writers would lavish numerous punishing column-inches on The World, an unpopulated offshore development that few Dubai residents have ever laid eyes on, while insisting that Dubai’s ubiquitous manual labourers are somehow concealed from the public gaze. Meanwhile, the same writers actually did render invisible vast segments of the population: namely, pretty much anyone who is not a rich, boorish westerner, an Emirati, or an immiserated low-wage worker. Entirely missing from most accounts was the Dubai of Indian shopkeepers, Filipino professionals, Lebanese restaurateurs, Iranian artists, Keralite longshoremen, African gold traders, Palestinian bankers and Pakistani estate agents. Between the facade and the so-called underbelly, an entire city went missing.

On a recent Swing through the Mideast I had a ten-hour layover in Dubai. If you are in transit the mammoth Dubai airport has a cornucopia of coffee shops, cafes, up-scale restaurants, luxury goods outlets, etc, where you can while away your time, but once you pass through immigration the choices are a lot slimmer. I ended up sitting in a Burger King drinking coffee until the sun came up, whereupon I took a cab down the Perfume Souk to the old section of the city. Every time I pass through Dubai I make a point of stocking up on scents.

Water Taxi in Dubai

I arrived downtown at 7:30 a.m. only to discover that the stores in the Perfume Souk did not open until 9:00. I strolled over to the nearby Gold Souk. Here I took a seat on one of the benches in the covered-over passageway through the souk. Already a few shopkeepers were arriving for work, most of them carrying a small plastic cup of tea they had picked up on the way. Soon a short little guy dressed in patched shorts, strapped tee-shirt, and plastic flip-flops came and sat down beside me. He appeared to be his seventies. From the large plastic bag of detritus he had with him I assumed he was the local version of a street person. For fifteen minutes he just sat there. Then he turned to me and asked in passable English, “What country are you from?” I really did not want to talk to the guy—I assumed he would try to beg money—so I said “USA.” In this part of the world in years past if you said you were from the USA people would usually just get up and walk away. But we live in different times. Instead, this guy exclaimed “Obama!” I was tempted to point out that in some in circles Obama is Thought to Be the Mahdi, but it was too early in the morning for eschatological debates.

“Where are you from,” I asked. “Pakistan. In Dubai twenty-five years. Never go back to Pakistan. Good here. Lots of Pakistanis.” He pointed to three guys walking by, each holding a little plastic cup of tea: “Pakistanis. Shops on the Gold Souk. Pakistanis like gold!” A group of five guys slowly walked by, engaged in an animated discussion. “Pakistanis?” I wondered. “No!” he exclaimed, as if shocked by my ignorance. “Iranians!”

Then, unbidden, he called out the nationality of each man (there were no women) or group of men walking by. In addition to Pakistanis and Iranians here were Indians, Afghanis, Yemenis, Sudanese, Somalians, Syrians, Chinese, and a host of others. There seemed to be inordinate number of Chinese. All were people who worked in the Gold Souk and other nearby souks. “Where are the Dubai people?” I wonder. He did not seem to understand me. “People born here, the local people,” I explained. He shook his head. “No people from Dubai. They don’t work here.”

The merchants of the Gold Souk are people between the “facade and the so-called underbelly” mentioned above. As noted, these are the people you don’t hear much about, and who will no doubt remain in Dubai through its various booms and busts. Skyscapers may rise and fall but gold remains eternal. And oddly enough the old guy, despite all the information he imparted on me, never did ask for any money.

Gold necklaces in the Gold Souk — apparently just looted from the Tomb of Ur.

Nice solid gold necklace and earring set. Just the thing for Lady Ga Ga.

This little gold trinket cost 500,000 UAE dirhams — $136,147. Pick up a couple the  next time you swing by Dubai.

Dubai | Mahdi | Shambhala

Back in 2005 during a Visit to Dubai I wrote:

According to an alleged hadith (a saying of the Prophet Mohammad not included in the Koran), one of the signs of the approaching Apocalypse is that "you will see barefoot, naked, destitute bedouin shepherds competing among themselves in constructing tall buildings." According to some commentators, the bedouins who will build the buildings will come not from the Hijaz region of the Arabian Peninsula, that is the western part which contains Mecca, Medina, etc, but from the eastern part, which includes what is now Dubai and the other Emirates. In the days of the Prophet the people of what is now Dubai may have been barefoot, naked, and destitute. They are no longer. The city is awash in money from petroleum-related trade and tourism. And as if in fulfillment of the Prophet’s prophecy Dubai is now constructing the world’s tallest building, specifically designed to outclass every other skyscaper in the world. This is the building known as the Burj Dubai, tentatively scheduled for completion in 2009. It will reportedly be 160 stories—2213 feet— high.

Well, the Burj Khalifa, as the tallest building in the world is now known, was officially opened yesterday in Dubai amidst great fanfare.

Does this mean the the Apocalypse and/or the Appearance of the Mahdi will occur soon?

According to the Prophesy in the Kalachakra Tantra the Shambhala War will occur sometime after the appearance of eight teachers: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, The “White-Clad One,” (often identified as Mani), Muhammad, and the Mahdi. All have already appeared except the Mahdi, whose imminent arrival is Expected by President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and many others in positions of authority.

Sources in Mongolia have been predicting for several years now that the Shambhala War will begin in 2012. Could the Mahdi possibly appear by then? Or Has the Mahdi Already Appeared?

General Hanuman on a Shambhala Thangka

According to Mongolian tradition the Last Bogd Gegeen of Mongolia will be reincarnated as General Hanuman in the army of the Raudra Chakra, the 25th King of Shambhala in the final war against the Barbarians.

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Second of the Nine-Nines | Khorz Arkhi Khöldönö

Update 01/05/10 / 8:00 a.m.

Update 01/04/10 / 7:30 a.m.

Another Magical Moment! This is real Khorz Arkhi Khöldönö weather!

I mentioned earlier that the First of the Nine-Nines—the Nine-Nines being nine periods of nine days each, each period characterized by a certain type of winter weather—started on the day of the Winter Solstice, which occurred here in Mongolia on December 22. The Second of the Nine Nines, according to the admittedly outdated and outmoded Gregorian calendar which unfortunately seems to hold much of the world in its thrall (I prefer the Lunar Calendar myself), began on December 31. Known as Khorz Arkhi Khöldönö, this is the time when twice-distilled homemade Mongolian arkhi (vodka) freezes. As you will recall, the first of the Nine-Nines was the time when regular, or once distilled, arkhi freezes. As this indicates, the second period should be colder than the first, since twice distilled arkhi obviously has a much higher alcohol content. This morning at 7:30, however, it was a relatively balmy Minus 20°F / –29°C compared to Minus 40ºF / –40ºC back on December 25th. The Second of the Nine-Nines does not end until January 8th, however, and we could well have another cold snap before then. 

Turkey | Istanbul | Suleimaniye Mosque

During 2009 I wandered by the Suleimaniye Mosque in Istanbul. As you no doubt know the Suleimaniye Mosque was built by Sulieman The Magnificent (r. 1520-66), arguably the greatest of the Ottoman Sultans.

View of Suleimaniye Mosque (upper left) from near the Galata Bridge

View from the Golden Horn

Suleiman the Magnificent

Take a Take a Walking Tour of the Mosque

The Mosque was designed by Sinan (Ottoman Turkish: قوجو معمار سنان آغا), the greatest architect of Ottoman Turkey.

I have added this book to my Scriptorium and can recommend it most highly. By all means travel to Turkey yourself to see Sinan’s works, but if for some reason you cannot the breath-takingly luscious photos in this book are enough to make most people swoon.

Tomb of Suleiman, next door to the mosque

Suleiman the Magnificent

Tomb of Suleiman

Coffin of Suleiman. Although no longer in power, the Ottoman Family exists to this day.

Graves surrounding the tomb of Sulieiman

The grave sites host heart-stoppingly gorgeous roses

More graves

Graves and Roses

More Graves and Roses

Still more Graves and Roses

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Season’s Greetings

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Magical Moment | Nermel Arkhi Khöldönö

This morning at 7:34 a.m we reached that Magical Moment when the Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales coincide. It was Minus 40 degrees according to both. 

As you know, the Winter Solstice occurred on December 21-22 (December 22, 1:47 a.m. in Ulaan Baatar), marking the beginning of Winter. In Mongolia the Winter Solstice also marked the beginning of the so-called Nine-Nines: Nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather. The first of the Nine-Day periods is Nermel Arkhi Khöldönö, the time when normally distilled Mongolian arkhi (vodka) freezes. It certainly would have frozen last Night. The next Nine-Day Period starts on December 31. Stayed tuned for updates.

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Winter Solstice | 2009-2012

You are no doubt aware that the Winter Solstice is rapidly approaching. Here in Ulaan Baatar the solstice occurs at exactly 1:47 am on the 22nd. I am not yet quite sure what I will do that night, but if you see a light flickering on the top of Öndör Gegeenii Uul do not be alarmed, it is just me huddling around a fire (the temperatures have been going down to minus 35ºF / -37ºC at night). I do not know what you have planned for the Solstice, but as I alway do on these occasions I am asking people to refrain from making any Animal or Human Sacrifices.

As can be seen here the Waxing Crescent Moon sneaks by Jupiter around the Solstice. As an added bonus you should be able to see the usually elusive Mercury if you go out in the early hours of the evening after sunset.

Jupiter and the Waxing Crescent Moon should be putting on quite a show on the night of the Winter Solstice. Graphics courtesy of Sky & Telescope.

In case you were wondering it is exactly 1095 days, 17 hours, 25 minutes and 14 seconds from the 2009 Winter Solstice to the 2012 Winter Solstice (if you are keeping track that is 94,670,714 seconds), when as many people suspect the World is going to end. Indeed, the movie 2012 recently opened here in Ulaan Baatar, in English with Mongolian subtitles. I know of at least one company whose employees went en masse to see the show. Apparently they are working the date into their business plan. One of these people, who is also a professor at the Mongolian National University, opined that the movie was based on “scientific data.” Since I have not seen the movie I will not comment on that.

There are several Shambhalists here in Ulaan Baatar who are predicting that the Final War between the Forces of Shambhala and the Barbarians will also begin in 2012. They swear up and down that this has nothing to do with the whole Mayan Calendar Business. According to these sources, the signal in our three-dimensional world that the War would begin in the near future was the Destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in March of 2001. These same sources note that Chingis Khan, after invading Afghanistan, left a detachment of troops in the Bamiyan area to protect the Bamiyan Buddhas. The descendants of these people, known as Hazaras, still live in the region. Subjected to intense persecution by the Taliban, they were unable to fulfill their duty and the Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed.

Bamiyan Valley, with the Buddha niche visible in the cliffs to the left

Bamiyan Buddha before destruction by the TalibanBamiyan Buddha niche after destruction of the statue

Keep in mind that even if the Shambhala War does begin in 2012 we will probably not notice any immediate effects in our three-dimensional world. The War will be fought in another dimension, and subsequent events in our mundane world will be a mere shadow play of a much vaster cosmic conflict.

See Stars Over Washington for the inevitable connection between the Winter Solstice and the continuing war in Afghanistan.

By the way, the first person from the Occident ever to see the Bamiyan Buddhas was the eccentric Hungarian Wanderer-Scholar Csoma de Koros, who is also responsible for introducing the Shambhala Mythologem into the Occidental World.

I have made my own preparations for 2012, come what may. I have hidden 15 kilos of Puerh Tea in a cave on Bogd Khan Mountain, the location known only to myself and one other person. The tea was five years old when I hid it and so will be ten years old in 2012. If the world does end I intend to enjoy the spectacle while sipping suitably aged Puerh tea. If the world does not end the tea should serve as a valuable hedge against inflation and the rapidly devaluing dollar.

Mongolia | Ulaan Baatar | Book Launch

Wandered by one of Ulaan Baatar’s Notoriously Louche Coffee Houses for the Big Book Launch of Carl Robinson’s monumental Mongolia: Nomad Empire of the Eternal Blue Sky, which should very quickly become the Alpha and Omega of guidebooks to Mongolia. Normally I would never darken the door of a den of coffee swillers, being strictly a Tea Man myself, but I was anxious to meet Mr. Robinson, with whom I have communicated extensively via the internet but never before had the pleasure of meeting in person.

I contributed one story—The Abduction of the Eight Bogd Gegeen—and a dozen or so photos to this magnificently produced tome. One of the photos was a full page spread of my pal Zevgee, with whom I have done a dozen or so Horse and Camel Trips, sitting in front of the ovoo on the top of Burkhan Khaldun Mountain.

Zevgee at the summit of Burkhan Khaldun. This is not the photo in the book. If you want to see that photo Buy The Book.

Zevgee’s Better Half Tümen Ölzii (right) and the marrow-meltingly gorgeous to say nothing of ever-charming and extremely intelligent Oyuna (since this photo was taken she has become a lawyer, but that does not necessarily make her a bad person) at the lake near the base of Burkhan Khaldun.

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Balsamic Moon

The Balsamic Moon begins today, December 13. As you probably know, the Balsamic Moon is the Moon phase starting three, or sometimes four, days before a New Moon. The New Moon this month occurs on the 16th at 8:02 p.m. local time.

The Balsamic Moon is the perfect time to stir out uncertainty and confusion because it is the time for psychic clearing. Wishes are more readily fulfilled as the way is cleared to feeling core need. A wish made at the Balsamic Moon is more likely to come true because needs are felt more deeply now. The more deeply a need is felt, the more invocative energy goes into the Moon cycle and the more likely this need will be met. Fulfillment comes at Full Moon in response to what is seeded at the New. Seed intentions may be more consciously sown when the Crescent Moon appears to be beginning.

The Balsamic Moon Rises today at 5:18 a.m. local time (check for Moon Rise In Your Area), just at the time I am usually completing my morning orisons, which is especially auspicious.

As I predicted, the Last Moon Cycle Was A Dilly. This Moon Cycle, with the Full Moon falling, by coincidence, on January 1 this year, should be a Doozie, which is an upgrade from a Dilly. Expect a lot of weird stuff to happen on New Year’s Eve and the next day! (I mean, of course, weirder than usual for New Year’s Eve and Day.)

By the way, Orion, the Hunter, is currently presenting a spectacular sight in the evening sky to the southeast. Before slouching off into the drinking dens and Louche Coffee Houses where most of you (you know who you are, so it’s no use trying to deny it!) spend your evenings in dissipation take a moment to glance up and enjoy this awesome display.

Constellation of Orion

Turkey | Silk Road | Chintamani | Carpets

Earlier I speculated on how the Shambhala Mythologem may have Arrived in Istanbul Via the Silk Road. Now the carpet cognoscente at the scintillatingly entertaining and informative Tea and Carpets Blog are pointing out what may be Buddhist influences in Ottoman Court Carpets:

Some of the most striking carpets of the Ottoman era are as white as a painter’s canvas and covered with finely drawn, mysterious icons. The never-changing symbols repeat in array after array, like waves building strength, creating a powerful, mesmerizing effect The mysterious icons are the “chintamani,” three balls hovering over a pair of cloud-like wavy lines. And for much of the 16th and 17th centuries, they held a special fascination for Ottoman court artists.

In carpet literature, the design is often said to derive from a Buddhist emblem. The word chintamani itself comes from Sanskrit and in Buddhist philosophy signifies a treasure ball or wish-granting jewel. A Buddhist background for the design is an appealing argument because it also recalls the distant past of the Turkic tribes who migrated to Anatolia from Central Asia and created the succession of dynasties that culminated in the Ottoman Empire.

A Chintamani Carpet from the Ottoman Era

According to one definition of Chintamani:

Cintamani, also spelled as Chintamani (or the Chintamani Stone), is a wish-fulfilling jewel within both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In Buddhism it is held by the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Ksitigarbha. It is also seen carried upon the back of the Lung ta (wind horse). Within Hinduism it is connected with the gods, Vishnu and Ganesha.

The Chintamani Symbol is of course also connected with notorious Shambhalist Nicholas Roerich.

Three circle motif in Roerich’s painting “Oriflamma”

Chintamani motif in Roerich’s painting “Sign of Chintamani”

The connection between the Sufis of Istanbul and Shambhala is still under investigation. In the meantime, since The Ottomans are Back might we soon see a resurgence of Chintamani Carpets?