Chöd 1

Chöd

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Chöd (Tibetan: གཅོད, Wylie: gcod lit. 'to sever'[1]), is a spiritual practice found primarily in Tibetan Buddhism. Alsoknown as "Cutting Through the Ego," the practice is based on the Prajñāpāramitā or "Perfection of Wisdom" sutraswhich expound the "emptiness" concept of buddhist philosophy. According to Mahayana buddhists, emptiness is theultimate wisdom of understanding that all things lack inherent existence. Chod combines prajñāpāramitā philosophywith specific meditation methods and tantric ritual. The chod practitioner seeks to tap the power of fear throughactivities such as rituals set in graveyards, and visualisation of offering their bodies in a tantric feast in order to puttheir understanding of emptiness to the ultimate test.

Nomenclature, orthography and etymology(Tibetan: གཅོད་སྒྲུབ་ཐབས་ gcod sgrub thabs; Sanskrit: छेद साधना cheda-sādhana; both literally "cutting practice"),pronounced chö (the d is silent).

Indian Antecedents

“...Chöd was never a unique, monolithic tradition. One should really speak of Chöd traditions and lineages since Chöd has never constituted aschool.[2] ”

A form of Chöd was practiced in India by Buddhist mahāsiddhas, prior to the 10th Century. However, Chöd aspracticed today developed from the entwined traditions of the early Indian tantric practices transmitted to Tibet andthe Bonpo[citation needed] and Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayāna[citation needed] lineages. Besides the Bonpo, there are twomain Tibetan Buddhist Chöd traditions, the "Mother" and "Father" lineages. In Tibetan tradition, Dampa Sangye isknown as the Father of Chöd and Machig Labdron, founder of the Mahāmudra Chöd lineages, as the Mother ofChöd. Chöd developed outside the monastic system. It was subsequently adopted by the four main schools ofTibetan Buddhism.The Chöd, as an internalization of an outer ritual, involves a form of self-sacrifice: the practitioner visualizes their own body as the offering at a tantric feast. The purpose of the practice is to engender a sense of victory and fearlessness.[citation needed] These two qualities are represented iconographically by the victory banner and the ritual knife. The banner symbolizes overcoming obstacles and the knife symbolizes cutting through the ego. The

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practitioner may cultivate imaginary fearful or painful situations since they help the practitioner's work of cuttingthrough attachment to the self. Machig Labdrön said: "To consider adversity as a friend is the instruction of Chöd".

Chödpa as 'Mad Saints'

Sarat Chandra Das, writing at the turn of the 20th Century, equated the Chöd practitioner (Tibetan: གཅོད་པ, Wylie:chod pa ) with the Indian avadhūta, or 'mad saint'.[3] Avadhūtas are renowned for expressing their spiritualunderstanding through 'crazy wisdom', inexplicable to ordinary people. Chöd practitioners are a type of Mad Saintparticularly respected, feared or held in awe due to their roles as denizens of the charnel ground. According totibetologist Jerome Edou Chod practitioners were often associated with the role of shaman and exorcist:

"The Chö[d]pa's very lifestyle on the fringe of society - dwelling in the solitude of burial grounds andhaunted places, added to the mad behavior and contact with the world of darkness and mystery - wasenough for credulous people to view the Chödpa in a role usually attributed to shamans and otherexorcists, an assimilation which also happened to medieval European shepherds. Only someone who hasvisited one of Tibet's charnel fields and witnessed the offering of a corpse to the vultures may be able tounderstand the full impact of what the Chöd tradition refers to as places that inspire terror."[4]

Iconography

Tibetan Board Carving of Vajrayogini Dakini

In Chöd, the adept symbolically offers the flesh of their body in a formof gaṇacakra or tantric feast. Iconographically, the skin of thepractitioner's body may represent surface reality or maya. It is cut frombones that represent the true reality of the mindstream. Commentatorssuch as Tsultrim Allione have pointed out the similarities between theChöd ritual and the prototypical initiation of a shaman, although sheidentifies an essential difference between the two in that the shaman'sinitiation is involuntary whilst a Chodpa chooses to undertake the ritualdeath of a Chod ceremony. Traditionally, Chöd is regarded aschallenging, potentially dangerous and inappropriate for somepractitioners.[5]

Ritual objects

Practitioners of the Chöd ritual, Chödpa, use a kangling or humanthighbone trumpet, and a Chöd drum, a hand drum similar to but largerthan the ḍamaru commonly used in Tibetan ritual. In a version of theChöd sādhana of Jigme Lingpa from the Longchen Nyingthig terma,five ritual knives (phurbas), are employed to demarcate the maṇḍala ofthe offering and to affix the five wisdoms.[6]

Key to the iconography of Chöd is the hooked knife or skin flail (kartika). A flail is an agricultural tool used forthreshing to separate grains from their husks. Similarly, the kartika symbolically separates the bodymind from themindstream.[7] The kartika imagery in the Chöd ritual provides the practitioner with an opportunity to realizeBuddhist doctrine:

The Kartika (Skt.) or curved knife symbolizes the cutting of conventional wisdom by the ultimateinsight into emptiness. It is usually present as a pair, together with the skullcup, filled with wisdomnectar. On a more simple level, the skull is a reminder of (our) impermanence. Between the knife andthe handle is a makara-head, a mythical monster.[8]

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Bone ornamentsA recurrent theme in the iconography of the Tibetan Buddhist tantras is a group of five or six bone ornaments[9]

ornamenting the bodies of various enlightened beings who appear in the texts. The Sanskrit includes the term mudrā,meaning "seal".[10] The Hevajra tantra associates the bone ornaments directly with the five wisdoms, which alsoappear as the Five Dhyani Buddhas. These are explained in a commentary to the Hevajra tantra by JamgönKongtrul:[11]

• the wheel-like[12] crown ornament (sometimes called "crown jewel"),[13] symbolic of Akṣobhya and mirror-likepristine awareness[14]

• the earrings[15] representing Amitābha and the pristine awareness of discernment[16]

• the necklace[17] symbolizing Ratnasambhāva and the pristine awareness of total sameness[18]

• the bracelets[19] and anklets[20] symbolic of Vairocāna and the pristine awareness of the ultimate dimension ofphenomena[21]

• the girdle[22] symbolizing Amoghasiddhi and the accomplishing pristine awareness[23]

• The sixth ornament sometimes referred to is ash from a cremation ground smeared on the body.[24]

Origins of the practiceSources such as Stephen Beyer have described Machig Labdrön as the founder of the practice of Chöd.[25] This isaccurate in that she is the founder of the Tibetan Buddhist Mahamudrā Chöd lineages. Machig Labdrön is creditedwith providing the name "Chöd" and developing unique approaches to the practice.[26] Biographies suggest it wastransmitted to her via sources of the mahāsiddha and Tantric traditions. She did not found the Dzogchen lineages,although they do recognize her, and she does not appear at all in the Bön Chöd lineages. Among the formativeinfluences on Mahamudrā Chöd was Dampa Sangye's 'Pacification of Suffering'.[27]

The transmission of Chöd to TibetThere are several hagiographic accounts of how Chöd came to Tibet. One spiritual biography asserts that shortlyafter Kamalaśīla won his famous debate with Moheyan as to whether Tibet should adopt the "sudden" route toenlightenment or his "gradual" route, Kamalaśīla used the technique of phowa to transfer his mindstream to animatea corpse polluted with contagion in order to safely move the hazard it presented. As the mindstream of Kamalaśīlawas otherwise engaged, a mahasiddha by the name of Padampa Sangye came across the vacant "physical basis"[28]

of Kamalaśīla. Padampa Sangye, was not karmically blessed with an aesthetic corporeal form, and upon finding thevery handsome and healthy empty body of Kamalaśīla, which he assumed to be a newly dead fresh corpse, usedphowa to transfer his own mindstream into Kamalaśīla's body. Padampa Sangye's mindstream in Kamalaśīla's bodycontinued the ascent to the Himalaya and thereby transmitted the Pacification of Suffering teachings and the Indianform of Chöd which contributed to the Mahamudra Chöd of Machig Labdrön. The mindstream of Kamalaśīla wasunable to return to his own body and so was forced to enter the vacant body of Padampa Sangye.[29]

Third Karmapa: systematizer of ChödChöd was a marginal and peripheral practice, and the Chodpas who engaged in it were from outside traditionalTibetan Buddhist and Indian monastic institutions, with a contraindication against all but the most advancedpractitioners to go to the cemeteries to practice Chod. Texts concerning Chod were both exclusivie and rare in theearly tradition.school. Indeed, due to the itinerant and nomadic lifestyles of practitioners, they could carry few texts.Hence they were also known as kusulu or kusulupa that is, studying texts rarely whilst focusing on meditation andpraxis:

The nonconventional attitude of living on the fringe of society kept the Chödpas aloof from the wealthymonastic institutions and printing houses. As a result, the original Chöd texts and commentaries, often

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copied by hand, never enjoyed any wide circulation, and many have been lost forever.Rangjung Dorje, 3rd Karmapa Lama, (1284–1339) was an important systematizer of Chöd teachings andsignificantly assisted in their promulgation within the literary and practice lineages of the Kagyu, Nyingma andparticularly Dzogchen.[citation needed] It is in this transition from the charnel grounds to the monastic institutions ofTibetan Buddhism that the rite of Chöd became an inner practice; the charnel ground became an internal imaginalenvironment. Schaeffer[30] conveys that the Third Karmapa was a systematizer of the Chöd developed by MachigLabdrön and lists a number of his works in Tibetan on Chöd. Amongst others, the works include redactions, outlinesand commentaries.

Rang byung was renowned as a systematizer of the Gcod teachings developed by Ma gcig lab sgron. Histexts on Gcod include the Gcod kyi khrid yig; the Gcod bka' tshoms chen mo'i sa bcad which consists ofa topical outline of and commentary on Ma gcig lab sgron's Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa zab mogcod kyi man ngag gi gzhung bka' tshoms chen mo ; the Tshogs las yon tan kun 'byung ; the lengthyGcod kyi tshogs las rin po che'i phrenb ba 'don bsgrigs bltas chog tu bdod pa gcod kyi lugs sor bzhag;the Ma lab sgron la gsol ba 'deb pa'i mgur ma; the Zab mo bdud kyi gcod yil kyi khrid yig, and finallythe Gcod kyi nyams len.[31]

Key elements of the PracticeChöd literally means "cutting through". It cuts through hindrances and obscurations, sometimes called 'demons' or'gods'. Examples of demons are ignorance, anger and, in particular, the dualism of perceiving the self as inherentlymeaningful, contrary to the Buddhist doctrine of no-self. The practitioner is fully immersed in the ritual: "With astunning array of visualizations, song, music, and prayer, it engages every aspect of one’s being and effects apowerful transformation of the interior landscape."Dzogchen forms of Chöd enable the practitioner to maintain primordial awareness free from fear. Here, the Chödritual essentialises elements of phowa, gaṇacakra, pāramitā and lojong[32] gyulu, kyil khor, brahmavihāra, ösel andtonglen.[33]

Chöd usually commences with phowa in which the practitioner visualises their mindstream as the five pure lightsleaving the body through the aperture of the sahasrara at the top of the head. This is said to ensure psychic integrityof, and compassion for the practitioner of the rite (sādhaka).[citation needed] In most versions of the sādhana themindstream precipitates into a tulpa simulacrum of Vajrayoginī. In the body of enjoyment attained throughvisualization, the chodpa offers the tantric feast of their own physical body, to the 'four' guests: the three jewels, thedakinis, the protectors' beings of the bhavachakra, the ever present genius loci and hungry ghosts. The rite may beprotracted with separate offerings to each maṇḍala of guests, or significantly abridged. Many versions of the chodsādhana' still exist.[34]

The chod sadhana generally includes music, song and also a dance.Chöd, like all tantric systems, has outer, inner and secret aspects. They are described in an evocation sung to NyamaPaldabum by Milarepa:

External chod is to wander in fearful places where there are deities and demons. Internal chod is to offerone's own body as food to the deities and demons. Ultimate chod is to realize the true nature of the mindand cut through the fine strand of hair of subtle ignorance. I am the yogi who has these three kinds ofchod practice.[]

The Chöd is now a staple of the advanced sādhana of Tibetan Buddhist traditions. It is practiced worldwidefollowing dissemination by the Tibetan diaspora.

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Western reports on Chöd practicesChöd was mostly practised outside the Tibetan monastery system by chödpas, who were yogis, yogiṇīs and ngagpasrather than bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs. Because of this, material on Chöd has been less widely available to Westernreaders than some other tantric Buddhist practices. The first Western reports of Chöd came from a French adventurerwho lived in Tibet, Alexandra David-Néel in her travelogue Magic and Mystery in Tibet, published in 1932. WalterEvans-Wentz published the first translation of a Chöd liturgy in his 1935 book Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines.Anila Rinchen Palmo translated several essays about Chöd in the 1987 collection Cutting Through Ego-Clinging:Commentary on the practice of Tchod.[citation needed] Giacomella Orofino's piece entitled "The Great WisdomMother" was included in Tantra in Practice in 2000 and in addition she published articles on Machig Labdrön inItalian. In 2009, Tsultrim Allione, a recognised incarnation of Machig Lapdron published a book entitled FeedingYour Demons, describing a 5 step practice inspired by the Chod practice she has studied since the early 1970s.

Notes[1] "Chöd Teachings & Practice His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche January 1–5, 2011, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Chöd literally means "to sever." What

we sever is not anything in the outside world, but rather we cut through our ego-clinging, which is the very root of our afflictive emotions andsuffering." - current version of http:/ / www. garchen. net/ schedule. html

[2][2] (Emphasis preserved from print original.)[3] Sarat Chandra Das, Graham Sandberg & Augustus William Heyde (1902). Tibetan-English Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms. Calcutta,

India: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, p.20. Source: (http:/ / books. google. com. au/ books?id=8AbIHweo7PMC& pg=PA20& lpg=PA20&dq=Avadhauts& source=bl& ots=otPppa3w8u& sig=dKZoJzveyvIBeRlj60nHoBSIBWY& hl=en& ei=b9VwS5DEH8qHkAWYp9SFCg&sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=1& ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage& q=Avadhauts& f=false) (accessed: Tuesday February 9,2010)

[4][4] , p.61[5] Eliade, Mircea (1989), "Histoire des croyances et des idées religieuses" Tome 3, § 316, Ed. Payot. ISBN 28881600[6] Jigme Lingpa (revealed; undated); Liljenberg, Karen (translator; 2006) The Longchen Nyingthig Chöd Practice "The Loud Laugh of the

Dakini" (http:/ / www. zangthal. co. uk/ files. html)[7] A Buddhist Guide to the Power Places of the Kathmandu Valley (http:/ / www. keithdowman. net/ essays/ guide. htm)[8] Tantric Symbols (http:/ / buddhism. kalachakranet. org/ tantra_symbols. html)[9] Sanskrit: aṣṭhiamudrā; Tibetan: rus pa'i rgyan phyag rgya[10] Kongtrul, Jamgön (author); (English translators: Guarisco, Elio; McLeod, Ingrid) (2005). The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Six, Part Four:

Systems of Buddhist antra, The Indestructible Way of Secret Mantra. Bolder, Colorado, USA: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-210-Xp.493

[11] Kongtrul Lodrö Taé, Disclosing the Secret of the Invincible Vajra: Phrase by Phrase Commentary on the Hevajra Tantra TwoExaminations. Rumtex, Sikkim: Dharma Chakra Centre, 1981.

[12] Tib: 'khor lo[13] Tib: gtsug gi nor bu[14][14] ādarśa-jñāna[15] Tib: rna cha[16] Skt: pratyavekṣaṇa-jñāna[17] Tib: mgul rgyan[18][18] samatā-jñāna[19] Tib: lag gdu[20] Tib: gdu bu[21][21] tathatā-jñāna[22] Tib: ske rags[23] Sansrit: kṛty-anuṣṭhāna-jñāna[24] Tib: thal chen: Kongtrul, Jamgön (author); (English translators: Guarisco, Elio; McLeod, Ingrid) (2005). The Treasury of Knowledge: Book

Six, Part Four: Systems of Buddhist Tantra, The Indestructibe Way of Secret Mantra Bolder, Colorado, USA: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN1-55939-210-X p.493

[25] Beyer, Stephen (1973). The Cult of Tara. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03635-2 p.47[26] Thrangu, Khenchen & Klonk, Christoph (translator) & Hollmann, Gaby (editor and annotator)(2006). Chod – The Introduction & A Few

Practices (http:/ / www. rinpoche. com/ teachings/ chod. htm). (accessed: November 2, 2007)[27] Tib: zhi byed[28][28] kuten[29] Tantric Glossary (http:/ / lionsroar. name/ tantric_glossary. htm)

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[30][30] 1995: p.15[31] Schaeffer, Kurtis R. (1995). The Englightened Heart of Buddhahood: A Study and Translation of the Third Karma pa Rang byung rdo rje's

Work on Tathagatagarbha. (Wylie: de bzhin pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa). University of Washington. Source: (http:/ / www. scribd. com/doc/ 22730687/ The-Enlightened-Heart-of-Buddhahood) (accessed: Friday February 12, 2010), p.15.

[32] Thrangu, Khenchen & Klonk, Christoph (translator) & Hollmann, Gaby (editor and annotator)(2006). Chod – The Introduction & A FewPractices (http:/ / www. rinpoche. com/ teachings/ chod. htm). (accessed: September 28, 2008)

[33] Jigme Lingpa (revealed; undated); Liljenberg, Karen (translator; 2006). The Longchen Nyingthig Chöd Practice: "The Loud Laugh of theDakini" (http:/ / www. zangthal. co. uk/ files. html). (accessed: September 28, 2008)

[34] Tantric Glossary:Chöd (http:/ / lionsroar. name/ tantric_glossary. htm) (September 29, 2008)

Further reading

Primary Sources• Machik Labdron: Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod (Tsadra Foundation), Snow

Lion Publications (June 25, 2003), ISBN 1-55939-182-0 (10), ISBN 978-1-55939-182-5 (13), Translation bySarah Harding ( Review by Michelle Sorensen (https:/ / www. h-net. org/ reviews/ showrev. php?id=12208))

Secondary Sources• Allione, Tsultrim (1984/2000). "The Biography of Machig Labdron (1055-1145)." in Women of Wisdom.

Pp. 165–220. Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-141-3• Allione, Tsultrim (1998). "Feeding the Demons." in Buddhism in America. Brian D. Hotchkiss, ed. Pp. 344–363.

Rutland, VT; Boston, MA; Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc.• Benard, Elisabeth Anne (1990). "Ma Chig Lab Dron.” Chos Yang 3:43-51.• Beyer, Stephen (1973). The Cult of Tara. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03635-2• Edou, Jérôme (1996). Machig Labdrön and the Foundations of Chöd (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/

books?id=AQULAAAAYAAJ& ). Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 978-1-55939-039-2.• Harding, Sarah (2003). Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chöd. Snow Lion

Publications. ISBN 1-55939-182-0• Kollmar-Paulenz, Karenina (1998). “Ma gcig Lab sgrn ma—The Life of a Tibetan Woman Mystic between

Adaptation and Rebellion.” The Tibet Journal 23(2):11-32.• Orofino, Giacomella (2000). “The Great Wisdom Mother and the Gcod Tradition.” in Tantra in Practice. David

Gordon White, ed. Pp. 396–416. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.• Stott, David (1989). “Offering the Body: the Practice of gCod in Tibetan Buddhism.” Religion 19:221-226.•• Lawrence, Leslie L. (2002) "Csöd" ISBN 963-8229-76-4

External links• Ganden Chökhor, Chöd and Meditation Center (http:/ / www. ganden. ch/ english/ chodkurs. html)• The Longchen Nyingthig Chöd Practice: "The Loud Laugh of the Dakini" (http:/ / www. zangthal. co. uk/ files.

html)• Extract: Machik's Complete Explanation, Clariyfing the Meaning of Chod (http:/ / www. wisdom-books. com/

ProductExtract. asp?PID=11016)• Review: Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod: A Complete Explanation of Casting

Out the Body as Food (https:/ / www. h-net. org/ reviews/ showrev. php?id=12208)• Chö/Chöd - Lineages associated with Machig Labdrön (http:/ / vajrayana. triratna. info/ Chod-tradition. html)• Chod – The Introduction & A Few Practices (http:/ / www. rinpoche. com/ teachings/ chod. htm)• His Eminence Khentin Tai Situ Rinpoche: An Introduction to Chod (http:/ / www. rinpoche. com/ teachings/

chod2. htm)• Chöd: An Advanced Type of Shamanism (http:/ / www. dharmafellowship. org/ library/ essays/ chod. htm)

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• School of Tibetan Healing Chö (http:/ / www. tibetancho. com)• Everyday Chöd (http:/ / everydaychod. com/ )• The Merit of Practice in a Cemetery (http:/ / www. yogichen. org/ cw/ cw27/ bk010. html)• Kapala Training (http:/ / www. kapalatraining. com/ index. htm)• Lochen Chönyi Zangmo, Chod practitioner (http:/ / www. rigpawiki. org/ index.

php?title=Lochen_Chönyi_Zangmo)• A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Yeshé Tsogyel (http:/ / www. thdl. org/ collections/ journal/ jiats/ index.

php?doc=jiats02gyatsoj. xml& v=p)

Article Sources and Contributors 8

Article Sources and ContributorsChöd  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=577620683  Contributors: Aitias, Anomie, Aoidh, Arch dude, Auntof6, Awbery, B9 hummingbird hovering, Bgwhite, Bsod2,Cmichael, Csbodine, Cundi, Curious Blue, Dakinijones, Dougluce, Dream of Nyx, Ekajati, Eu.stefan, Eumolpo, Excirial, FinalRapture, GlassFET, Helpsome, Homohabilis, IPSOS, Iskaral2, J04n,JMS Old Al, Jjt2345, John of Reading, JohnI, KarenLil, Lamajinpa, Leolaursen, LilHelpa, Makeswell, Moonsell, Nat Krause, Ogress, PhnomPencil, Redtigerxyz, Rjwilmsi, Sfan00 IMG,ShhDragon, Ssprince, Sugarbat, Sylvain1972, Tenofour, Tgreats24, That Guy, From That Show!, TheEvilPanda, Trelawnie, Tshering, Wikipelli, Zara Aleman, Zero sharp, 58 anonymous edits

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