Chöd, “cutting through” is a symbolic, some say shamanic, practice from Vajrayana Buddhism. Its symbolism is meant to conquer mortal fear and to face the demons in one’s life square-on, cutting through one’s connection to them, to achieve liberation. So “ego” is cut. When identification with the finite mind-body complex is let go of, then the pure awareness is set free to perceive reality as it really is. The whole world becomes potent as a place of blessing power and awareness.
When Pa Dampa Sangye came to Tibet, he found the people in the county of Tingri, which is near Mt. Everest on the Tibetan side, to be especially amenable to his instruction. He therefore settled in Tingri and established a school of Yoga practice there. A young Tibetan woman named Machig Labdrön (1055-1153) was one of those who became his disciple. Machig and Pa Dampa Sangye are generally viewed as the founders of the Chöd system. However, it would appear that Chöd itself is a blending together of Pa Dampa Sangye’s teachings and Machig’s native inheritance. Fairly soon after her meeting with Pa Dampa Sangye, the Tibetan woman Machig Labdrön went to live in Central Tibet, where she took up residence in a lonely cave and set herself to practice meditation. Chöd is a subtle blend of the Buddhist path to enlightenment (as represented by the Mahamudra-master Dampa Sanggye) brought from India, and an ancient form of Shamanic ritual (introduced by Machig Labdrön) that was native to Tibet. It was the merging of these two streams which resulted in the actual emergence of Chöd as a practice used by yogins today, in their desire to gain Enlightenment by the shortest possible path. Machig herself said:
“My system of Chöd consists of the intrinsic teachings of Mahamudra. This Mahamudra cannot be explained in words. Yet, although it is beyond verbal expression, it may be indicated (by means of the symbolism of Chöd).”
Chöd is a spiritual practice conducted by the yogini (or yogi) alone in the wilderness, where she must learn to face every fear and every bit of ego-clinging within herself. Indeed, to accomplish this, she (or he) is instructed to deliberately go to places that inspire supernatural dread. Traditionally, once the yogini has found a wild and lonely spot, which is supposed to be a place that seems imbued with power or reportedly haunted by spirits, not to mention wild beasts, she sets up a tent. Erecting this tent is not a casual act—it is done ritually, and each of the four tent-pegs is driven into the ground, while mindful of the symbolic act of empowering the four directions: east, south, west and north, each having a specific color and meaning. As night falls, the yogini will begin to sing the ancient melodious chant, signifying the start of the meditation. She must face the spirits of nature, the “elementals,” and the ghosts of the dead, which the ritual evokes, and dominate them; or, failing that, be dominated in turn, which might mean becoming possessed, possibly leading to madness or even death. A good spirit is one which radiates love outwards from itself towards all others with whom it is connected. And the “higher” the type of spirit, the more it is intrinsically connected with all sentient beings. An evil spirit, on the other hand, is one which has become closed upon itself, isolated from the whole, and lives tightly turned inwards on its own neurosis. The tighter and darker becomes the suffering of that spirit, the more demonic its nature. But according to the Adepts of Chöd, nothing is permanent. A spirit lost for a time in one of the hideous “lower realms” of suffering, may always be healed (either through time itself, or by the intervention of the Chödpa) and gradually lifted up into the Light. Thus the work of the Chödpa, as of the saint who prays constantly for the welfare of others, is to transform spirits of darkness into angels of light.
The yogini in her tent calls the various spirits of the land to her. These she then must treat in different ways. The higher beneficial spirits, she may commune with for healing disease, and to do so she will establish a relationship of peace (Tib: zhi-wa, Skt: santika) between herself and those which come within the sphere of her influence. She may establish a similar relationship with the ghosts (preta) of the dead, but the more confused or troubled ghosts of the spirit world she must help to guide and, as it where, “raise their vibration” (Tib: rgyas-pa byed-pa, Skt: paustika) if she is to free them from their suffering. Tormented spirits, and elementals, have to be subdued (Tib: dbang-’dus, Skt: vasya) and directed. The really evil entities she must learn to dominate, exorcise (Tib: drag-shul, Skt: marana) and ultimately liberate. All of this the yogini (or yogi) accomplishes through the means of her Chöd-practice. To accomplish Chöd-practice it is a prerequisite that one develop an unconditional love for all. Such a love cannot be limited only to those we like, or approve of. Unconditional love means especially a love full of compassion for those who we least would want to be intimate with. For if we are going to heal others at all, we shall have to be intimate with them. We will have to share their pain, as also be able to empathically soothe and alleviate their confusion, their suffering, and their active negativity. Chusang Rimpoche made something of a joke of this. “The novice Chödpa,” he said, “is so eager to offer his very own body, to nourish and help the poor misguided evil spirits. But comes along just one mosquito, and then where is his love and compassion for all sentient beings?”
The practice of Chöd means that the yogini or yogi meditates in such a way as to become, stage by ever deepening stage, absorbed into the whole process of surrendering and offering one’s body and self. This selfless offering only really occurs when the practitioner is finally absorbed into trance (samadhi) through the use of the ritual, aided in particular by the steady beat of the drum and bell. The adept of Chöd, uttering a secret mantra, then leaves his body, mounting the sky in the aspect of the Secret Gnostic Dakini, and there, in the mind-made-body (manomayadeha) of the Dakini, Who is black as night itself, she severs the metaphysical mind-body complex so as to offer it to the communing spirits (lha-dre), good and bad. What is really given to the spirits to feast on, is the energy used to bind the Ego in the mind-body form. In devouring this, they become liberated, as does the Siddha herself. The “offering up of one’s body” in this fashion is done not in this world, but in the spirit dimension of virtual space. If done properly, it can effect healing, and many a Chödpa has been called in to arrest the course of a plague or epidemic. Chödpas have also been requested to make their offering-of-self on behalf of the dead. Thus, in Tibet, we frequently see Chödpas present on the occasion of a funeral.
What common folk think of as a demon is something very, very big, and colored deep black. Who ever sees one of these is truly terrified and trembles from head to foot,” said Machig Labdrön. “Nevertheless, no such demons really exist apart from the mind!”
The truth of the matter is this: Anything whatsoever that obstructs or limits the attainment of Liberation is a demon. Even our loving and affectionate relatives can become “demons” for us, if they are obstructing our spiritual evolution. Thus the greatest of all “demons” is actually the Demon of Ego, which is your own sense of a permanent, independent self, separate from all others. If you do not slay this clinging to a self, then good and bad spirits (lha-dre) will just keep lifting you up and letting you down.
Machig Labdron defined four types of psychological “demons” that must be exorcised by the practitioner of Chöd.
The first is what she called the Tangible Demon (thogs bcas bdud), which is the error of mistakenly grasping at the objects of sense-perception as if the world were an objective reality separate from consciousness. We have to come to experience the fact that all “outer” appearance takes place within Mind. As long as the neophyte has not realized the holographic and entirely subjective nature of existence, and continues to view phenomena as something other than Mind itself, then reality is a “tangible demon” which must be cut through.
The second of her “four demons” is called the Intangible Demon (thogs med bdud). This is not external, but rather, stands for the positive and negative thoughts, feelings and impulses, which are within ourselves. These reactions and emotions, such as pain, fear, jealousy, greed, dislike of others, and so forth, are an Intangible Demon that has to be slain. The adept who accomplishes overcoming this inner demon is described as fearless.
The third is the Demon of Manic-Inflation (dga’ brod bdud) or of “Exultation”, which can be born from acquiring occult powers or special blisses in the meditation experience. Manic-Inflation is a sense of power, a heightened sense of spiritual worth or supernatural ability. It is the presumption of spiritual superiority. In meditation it is common to be thrilled by the energy and feeling of magnified glory, by the divine grace flooding through all the cells of one’s being. There is nothing wrong with such bliss, but the adept has to become unattached to the experience.
The fourth demon described by Machig Labdrön is the Demon of Pride (snyem byed kyi bdud), the Demon of Ego itself. This latter, she said, is the root of all the other three, for ultimately the Demon which must be killed is our own self. As soon as one cuts off the Demon of Ego, all other demons are simultaneously conquered. Immediately the Demon of Ego is slain, the person becomes Enlightened at once.
Though Chöd may appear on the surface like a shamanic rite, the Yoga of Chöd follows the same process of mystical development as in other systems of Buddhism. Machik Labdrön herself explains this as follows:
“Once the yogini has recognized the non-existence of inner and outer phenomena, after the psychic energy (prana-vayu) has entered and started to rise up the central nervous system (avadhuti), then she will begin to experience extraordinary states of ecstasy and [eventually] the Clear Light itself. Knowledge of the three times, and clairvoyant perception of events near and far, will begin to emerge. Having attained the uncreate Clear Light, then the yogini will acquire an ability of mind to aid vast numbers of sentient beings everywhere… The instruction lineage that explains how to accomplish this is that called the Chöd of Mahamudra.”
To cut the ego off at the root, where it is rooted in the unconsciousness, and likewise to cut off the five root afflictions—greed, hatred, confusion, pride and avarice—is the real meaning of Chöd. For the yogini this means also to cut through hope and fear, all of which possesses and controls ordinary individuals just like good or evil spirits. To be free of that, is to be Liberated. This is the ultimate value of Chöd.