Chöd

Chöd means "cutting through" and is the practice that cuts through clinging to a self. What gets cut is not something outside us, nor the demons of the stories. It is the assumption that there is a self here needing protection.

A teaching from Tibet

The practice goes back to Machig Labdrön, a Tibetan yogini of the eleventh century. Her teaching is the only one that arose in Tibet and was then carried back to India, unheard of at the time. She brought together the emptiness teachings of the Prajñāpāramitā with an instruction so practical you can begin with it straight away.

At its heart is generosity. Rather than running from fear and obstacles, the practitioner meets them with compassion and gives away what they hold on to most tightly. Generosity is carried through to the point where we normally stop.

Classically, Chöd is practised in places people would rather avoid, such as charnel grounds and mountain passes at night. This is not theatre. Fear is the working material, and fear is hard to summon in a warm shrine room.

Tröma Nagmo

Chöd is practised in every Tibetan school, which among tantric practices is unusual. Within the Nyingma it is closely bound up with the dakini practices. In the Dudjom Tersar, the terma cycle revealed by Dudjom Lingpa, its central deity is Tröma Nagmo, the black wrathful dakini. Her wrathful appearance is not a threat. It shows how thoroughly the clinging to a self is cut through.

Practising together

Above all it is a practice that sounds. The liturgy is chanted to a melody, and the damaru drum and the bell go together. Doing this in a group is not the same as doing it alone on a cushion. The sound carries, and it cuts straight through the running commentary that would otherwise simply continue.

Underneath it all the motivation remains the whole point. Anyone who practises Chöd while an expectation still runs quietly along, about merit or about how far they must be by now, has missed it. This is bodhicitta or it is nothing. That is why the Ngöndro belongs with it, not as a hurdle placed in front but as the ground Chöd grows out of.

At Rigdzin Dzogchen Ling we practise Chöd every Sunday at 11.00 in Hoofddorp. No experience is needed and there is nothing to bring. Just let us know you are coming.