Per Inge Oestmoen writes...

I want you introduce Per Inge Oestmoen from Norway and his blog called "The realm of the Mongols" at http://www.coldsiberia.org/. He writes: "The pages available here are all dedicated to the philosophical and spiritual legacy of the Old Mongols, and to the memory of Chingis Khan. The wolf is the legendary ancestor of all Mongols, and is symbol of what qualities they possessed: an inclination towards the regions of the North, Dark and Cold, as well as limitless endurance, great intelligence, intuition and perspicacity."

He asks questions about Mongols and anything related to them, like how it was possible to achieve such extraordinary successes back in 13th century and many others, and trying to answer those in a way that , as far as I know, nobody did before. It is very interesting and I want my readers to visit his site and read all articles posted there. As invitation I posted here his introductory message "The Mongolian Message" and I leave the rest to you. Enjoy!

THE MONGOLIAN MESSAGE

By Per Inge Oestmoen 

These pages have been created with the single purpose of providing information on a phenomenon whose nature and role in world history has largely been obfuscated and misrepresented. I speak about the history of the Mongol Empire, beginning from the fateful incident in the year 1206, when the Founder and Father of the Mongol nation, Temuujin, who took the name Chinggis Khan, emerged as the "leader of all people living in felt tents." His investiture as supreme leader of the Mongols was to lay the groundwork for a profound change in the direction of world history.

What happened after 1206 is reasonably well understood at the academic/rational level. The invincible Mongolian hordes, under the leadership and tutelary power of Chinggis Khan, overran most of the Asian and Eurasian land, and in their heyday, the Mongols never met an army they could not beat. They were incomparably superior, man for man, to what their formidable military opponents in China, Russia, Persia and Western Europe could muster. Their dedication, sense of purpose and endurance is simply matchless in human history, past and present. Most remarkable of all was the degree of solidarity and feeling of shared purpose that the Mongols evinced up to the death of their beloved leader in August 1227.

Significantly, when his biological descendants of much lesser stature succeeded him, the spiritual foundation eroded, as they began to abandon the teachings of Chinggis, lost their sense of purpose and instead became attached to the allurements of this world. Material possessions, drink, and lewd women increasingly became the aims of the leaders, replacing what had been their spiritual foundation. This way the Mongols brought about their own downfall.

Many people, historians and laymen alike, have regarded the Mongols of Chinggis Khan primitive and terrible barbarians, and satisfied themselves with such a one-sided, superficial analysis. Why not instead try to ask how it is possible for humans to achieve so much? Theirs was an upward trajectory, a series of accomplishment so absolute, so unparalleled, that every historian trying to delve seriously into the matter will find himself amazed, if not awestruck. The Mongols had evidently broken out of the normal adaptive limits of humans. They had to do so, in order to accomplish what they did.

In the words of the historian Edward Gibbon, when he characterized the Mongol campaign of 1221-1223, when Chinggis sent his generals Chepe and Subedei on a reconnaissance mission with a mere 20 000 horsemen through the whole of Persia, through Caucasus, through the Carpathians and into Russia, where they virtually obliterated a Russian army of 80 000 men: Such a ride "had never before been attempted and has never since been repeated."

The conquest of Beijing by Chinggis Khan in 1215 defies our imagination. Beijing, the magnificent imperial Chin capital, whose ramparts around the city boasted a length of 43 kilometers, fell. Let it be borne in mind that the Chinese had 600 000 men against the 75 000 of the Mongols. That helped the Chinese very little. Now the nomad conquerors led by Chinggis himself could finally exact revenge for millennia of oppression and divide-and-rule policy towards the Mongols.

Chinggis Khan expressed his attitude this way: "Heaven grew weary of the excessive pride and luxury of China....I am from the Barbaric North. I wear the same clothing and eat the same food as the cowherds and horse-herders. We make the same sacrifices and we share our riches. I look upon the nation as a new-born child and I care for my soldiers as though they were my brothers."

Beyond doubt, it was first and foremost on the spiritual plane that the Mongols won. Moral and spiritual integrity are much more important than sheer strength or size. Their unique achievements notwithstanding, the small Mongol nation probably never counted more than two million people.

True, in all of human history their achievements had indeed never before been attempted, nor have they ever since been equaled on this planet. However, the Mongols demonstrated for posterity what lofty heights of consciousness, ability, dedication and excellence humans are capable of reaching.

How are we to explain the Mongol Phenomenon? How can we approach what may be called "The Secret of The Mongols"? And what is its relevance for us in our over-urbanized and in many ways unnatural world? Could it be that the Mongols have something to teach us with respect to our relationship to Nature as well as to the fruition and utilization of our innate human potentials? There is no denying that their animist/shamanist relation to Nature is something Modern Man would learn much from, if we can see beyond the carnage and destruction, appreciate their role in the world, and then begin to acknowledge the phenomenal physical, psychological, philosophical and spiritual powers of the Chinggis-Khanite Mongols.

Let us, then, acquaint ourselves with them and their life.