Chöd

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Chöd Tibetan: གཅོད། Wylie: Gcod

Chöd is a ritual practice belonging to the Shee Ché (Tibetan: ཞི་བྱེད།; Wylie: Zhi-byed) lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

Chöd (literally "cutting through") is practiced as a means to cut through hindrances (eg. karma, ignorance, anger, but in particular dualism and especially the dualism of a sense of self and other) and allows the practitioner to abide in a natural state free from fear.

Sources describe this practice as if the adept is offering the flesh of his body to be cut to pieces and devoured by the gods, demons and wild animals. The ritual reminds the initiation of a shaman though the attributed meaning is different (as stated above). This particular type of meditation is believed to be extremely mentaly challenging and can be dangerous if not handled appropriately.^[1]

The founder of the practice of Chöd was Machig Labdrön, the consort of Padampa Sangye.^[2]

Contents 1 Ritual objects 2 Notes 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Ritual objects

Practitioners of Tantric Chöd frequently use a Kangling (thighbone trumpet) and a Chöd drum, a hand drum similar to, but much larger than, a damaru.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Eliade (1989)
2. ^ Beyer (1973)

[edit] See also

• Kadag Trekchö

[edit] References

• Allione, Tsultrim (1984/2000). "The Biography of Machig Labdron (1055-1145)." in Women of Wisdom. Pp. 165-220. Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1559391413
• 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 0520036352
• Harding, Sarah (2003). Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chöd. Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1559391820
• 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.
• Eliade, Mircea (1989), " Histoire des croyances et des idées religieuses" Tome 3., § 316, Ed. Payot. ISBN 28881600