Chöd
   HOME
*



picture info

Chöd
Chöd ( lit. 'to sever') is a spiritual practice found primarily in the Yundrung Bön tradition as well as in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism (where it is classed as Anuttarayoga Tantra). Also known as "cutting through the ego," the practices are based on the Prajñāpāramitā or "Perfection of Wisdom" sutras, which expound the "emptiness" concept of Buddhist philosophy. According to Mahayana Buddhists, emptiness is the ultimate wisdom of understanding that all things lack inherent existence. Chöd combines prajñāpāramitā philosophy with specific meditation methods and tantric ritual. The chod practitioner seeks to tap the power of fear through activities such as rituals set in graveyards, and visualisation of offering their bodies in a tantric feast in order to put their understanding of emptiness to the ultimate test. Definition and Sanskrit ''chedasādhanā'' both literally mean "cutting practice". In Standard Tibetan (the prestige dialect asso ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Machig Labdrön
Machig Labdrön (, sometimes referred to as Ahdrön Chödron, ), or "Singular Mother Torch from Lab", 1055-1149) was a female Tibetan Buddhist monk believed to be a reincarnation of Yeshe Tsogyal, and the renowned 11th-century Tibetan tantric Buddhist master and yogini that originated several Tibetan lineages of the Vajrayana practice of Chöd (). Nyingma scholar Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche states that the Chöd tradition developed by Machig Labdrön is "a radical synthesis of the Prajnaparamita tradition and tantra guru yoga that 'cuts' through the ego."Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, ''Illuminating the Path'', pg 189. Padmasambhava Buddhist Center, 2008. Historical texts portray Machig Labdrön as the originator of the Chöd lineage which she developed in Tibet. This was confirmed in her own lifetime by Indian Brahmins and others, and Machig Labdron's creation of the Chöd lineage is not doubted by its modern practitioners. The influences of other practices on Chöd ar ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Chöd Practitioners At Boudhanath Stupa
Chöd ( lit. 'to sever') is a spiritual practice found primarily in the Yundrung Bön tradition as well as in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism (where it is classed as Anuttarayoga Tantra). Also known as "cutting through the ego," the practices are based on the Prajñāpāramitā or "Perfection of Wisdom" sutras, which expound the "emptiness" concept of Buddhist philosophy. According to Mahayana Buddhists, emptiness is the ultimate wisdom of understanding that all things lack inherent existence. Chöd combines prajñāpāramitā philosophy with specific meditation methods and tantric ritual. The chod practitioner seeks to tap the power of fear through activities such as rituals set in graveyards, and visualisation of offering their bodies in a tantric feast in order to put their understanding of emptiness to the ultimate test. Definition and Sanskrit ''chedasādhanā'' both literally mean "cutting practice". In Standard Tibetan (the prestige dialect associ ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majority regions surrounding the Himalayan areas of India (such as Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and a minority in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), in much of Central Asia, in the southern Siberian regions such as Tuva, and in Mongolia. Tibetan Buddhism evolved as a form of Mahāyāna Buddhism stemming from the latest stages of Indian Buddhism (which also included many Vajrayāna elements). It thus preserves many Indian Buddhist tantric practices of the post-Gupta early medieval period (500 to 1200 CE), along with numerous native Tibetan developments. In the pre-modern era, Tibetan Buddhism spread outside of Tibet primarily due to the influence of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), founded by Kublai Khan, which had ruled China, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Lojong
Lojong (, 'mind training') is a contemplative practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition which makes use of various lists of aphorisms or slogans which are used for contemplative practice. The practice involves refining and purifying one's motivations and attitudes. There are various sets of lojong aphorisms; the most widespread text in the Sarma traditions is that of Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (12th century). There is also another set of eight lojong slogans by Langri Tangpa. In the Nyingma tradition, there is a list of seven lojong slogans which are part of the Dzogchen Nyingthig lineage.Jigme Lingpa (2016). ''Steps to the Great Perfection: The Mind-Training Tradition of the Dzogchen Masters,'' pp. xii-xiii. Shambhala Publications. Lojong slogans are designed as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits that cause suffering. They contain both methods to expand one's viewpoint towards absolute or ultimate bodhicitta, such as "Find the consciousness you had before you were born" a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Vajrayana
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring to Buddhism, Buddhist traditions associated with Tantra and "Secret Mantra", which developed in the Medieval India, medieval Indian subcontinent and spread to Tibet, Nepal, other Himalayan states, East Asia, and Mongolia. Vajrayāna practices are connected to specific lineages in Buddhism, through the teachings of lineage holders. Others might generally refer to texts as the Buddhist Tantras. It includes practices that make use of mantras, dharanis, mudras, mandalas and the visualization of deities and Buddhas. Traditional Vajrayāna sources say that the tantras and the lineage of Vajrayāna were taught by Gautama Buddha, Śākyamuni Buddha and other figures such as the bodhisattva Vajrapani and Padmasambhava. Contemporary historians of Bu ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Phowa
''Phowa'' (, ) is a tantric practice found in both Hinduism and Buddhism. It may be described as "transference of consciousness at the time of death", "mindstream transference", "the practice of conscious dying", or "enlightenment without meditation" (). In Tibetan Buddhism phowa is one of the Six yogas of Naropa and also appears in many other lineages and systems of teaching. Lama Thubten Yeshe taught on the subject of phowa that "We have to choose the right time to transfer our consciousness; we’re not allowed to do it at the wrong time because that becomes suicide." Outside of Buddhism "This controversial esoteric technique (Skt.utkrānti), by which a tantric practitioner is able to sever his connection to the physical body, goes by the Indian reference to 'yogic' or spiritual suicide. It is referred to in many Saiva scriptures, in one Vaisnava Samhita, and a handful of Sākta Tantras. Application The method can be applied at the moment of death to, according to Vaj ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kagyu
The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineages trace themselves back to the 11th century Indian Mahasiddhas Naropa, Maitripa and the yogini Niguma, via their student Marpa Lotsawa (1012–1097), who brought their teachings to Tibet. Marpa's student Milarepa was also an influential poet and teacher. The Tibetan Kagyu tradition gave rise to a large number of independent sub-schools and lineages. The principal Kagyu lineages existing today as independent schools are those which stem from Milarepa's disciple, Gampopa (1079–1153), a monk who merged the Kagyu lineage with the Kadam tradition. The Kagyu schools which survive as independent institutions are mainly the Karma Kagyu, Drikung Kagyu, Drukpa Lineage and the Taklung Kagyu. The Karma Kagyu school is the largest of the sub-schoo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Six Dharmas Of Naropa
The Six Dharmas of Nāropa (, Skt. ''ṣaḍdharma'', "Naro's six doctrines" or "six teachings"), are a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa (1016-1100 CE) and passed on to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa Lotsawa (c. 1012). Another name for the six Dharmas is "the oral instruction transmission for achieving liberation in the bardo," or "the ''Bardo Trang-dol'' system". Bardo here, refers to the three bardos of waking, sleep and dying. They are also referred to as "the path of means" (''thabs lam'') in Kagyu literature.Kragh (2015), p. 345. They are also sometimes called the ''Six Yogas of Nāropa'' (though not in the traditional literature which never uses the term ''ṣaḍaṅga-yoga'' or ''sbyor-drug''). The six dharmas are a collection of tantric Buddhist completion stage practices drawn from the Buddhist tantras. They are intended to lead to Buddhahood in an accelerated manner. They traditionally require ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Dzogchen
Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. The primordial ground (''gzhi'', "basis") is said to have the qualities of purity (i.e. emptiness), spontaneity (''lhun grub'', associated with luminous clarity) and compassion (''thugs rje''). The goal of Dzogchen is knowledge of this basis, this knowledge is called ''rigpa'' (Skt. ''vidyā''). There are numerous spiritual practices taught in the various Dzogchen systems for awakening rigpa. History Dzogchen developed in the Tibetan Empire period and the Era of Fragmentation (9th-11th centuries) and continues to be practiced today both in Tibet and around the world. It is a central teaching of the Yundrung Bon tradition as well as in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. In these traditions, Dzogchen is the highest and most defin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ganachakra
A ganacakra ( sa, गणचक्र ' "gathering circle"; ) is also known as tsok, ganapuja, cakrapuja or ganacakrapuja. It is a generic term for various tantric assemblies or feasts, in which practitioners meet to chant mantra, enact mudra, make votive offerings and practice various tantric rituals as part of a ''sādhanā'', or spiritual practice. The ganachakra often comprises a sacramental meal and festivities such as dancing, spirit possession, and trance; the feast generally consisting of materials that were considered forbidden or taboo in medieval India like meat, fish, and wine. As a tantric practice, forms of gaṇacakra are practiced today in Hinduism, Bön and Vajrayāna Buddhism. Professor Miranda Shaw summarises the experience of a ''gaṇacakra'': Samuel holds that: Origins John Woodroffe (writing as Arthur Avalon, 1918) affirms that the panchamrita of Tantra, Hindu and Buddhist traditions are directly related to the Mahābhūta or Five Elements and th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Jamgon Kongtrul
Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (, 1813–1899), also known as Jamgön Kongtrül the Great, was a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, poet, artist, physician, tertön and polymath.Jackson, Roger R. The Tibetan Leonardo, 2012, https://www.lionsroar.com/the-tibetan-leonardo/ He was one of the most prominent Tibetan Buddhists of the 19th century and he is credited as one of the founders of the Rimé movement (non-sectarian), compiling what is known as the "Five Great Treasuries".Jamgon Kongtrul, Kalu Rinpoche translation group, The Treasury of Knowledge: Book One: Myriad Worlds, Translators' Introduction. He achieved great renown as a scholar and writer, especially among the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages and composed over 90 volumes of Buddhist writing, including his magnum opus, '' The Treasury of Knowledge''. Overview Kongtrül was born in Rongyab (rong rgyab), Kham, then part of the Derge Kingdom.Alexander Gardner, "Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye," Treasury of Lives, accessed May 18, 2018, ht ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]