Chod and Shamanism

8/3/2019 Chod and Shamanism

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Library: Member Essays

Chd: An Advanced Type of Shamanism

IntroductionPa Dampa Sangye, the "Father" of ChdChd, combining Yoga and ShamanismChd's special appeal for womenThe invisible dimensionChd is an advanced practiceGiving up of the SelfThe real Demons that are slain by ChdConclusion

Introduction

There is something attractively romantic about the mysterious,shamanic practice of ancient Chd (Skt: ccheda-sadhana, Tib: gChodsgrub thabs). Chd-practice, cutting through delusion's root, ishaunting, strange and mysteriously beautiful all at the same time.This practice involves a whirling dance, accompanied by drum andbell. As the following essay will recount, Chd is a special type ofmysticism that unites shamanic practice with profound yogicmeditation.

Chd has long been a way of seeking direct and personal experiencesof mind and divinity outside of conventional and institutionalframeworks.

In Chd-practice, the yogi or yogini journeys into the night worldthe dangerous regions of ghosts, spirits and the damned, to bless allsouls lost for a time on the wheel of existence. The selflessness of thepractitioner's compassion, his or her contact with spirits of the other-world, and the making of himself into a vehicle of healing, all tends tobecome a path for the hero to win the noetic Mind-Jewel of trueawakening.

Chd is a practice that combines Buddhist meditation with ancientTibeto-Siberian shamanic ritual. The "liturgy" of Chd is sung to theaccompaniment of drum, bell and a thigh-bone horn. The word"Chd" means to cut through, to "chop," and what is chopped off is ultimately the Ego. Initially this begins withcutting all attachment to the body and to material things. When identification with the finite mind-body complex islet go of, then the pure awareness is set free to perceive reality as it really is. The whole world becomes potent asa place of blessing power and awareness.

Pa Dampa Sangye, the "Father" of Chd

Pa Dampa Sangye was a dark skinned South Indian saddhu who lived in the eleventh century. He came to Tibetand introduced a system of meditation called Zhi-jye, the pacification of suffering. The Zhi-jye teachings arefounded on the doctrine of Transcendental Wisdom (Arya-prajna-paramita) and meditation. Dampa Sangye visitedTibet five times at widely spaced intervals and imparted teachings to disciples more numerous than all the starsvisible in the night sky. He met with the poet-saint Milarepa toward the end of the latter's life.

Pa Dampa Sanggye is said, according to one tradition, to have been the reincarnation of Bodhidharma (c. 560 AD)who introduced Zen Buddhism into China1. Another figure in history who is credited with representing an earlierlifetime of Padampa Sanggye is Kamalashila (c. 800 AD). Kamalashila was the disciple of the learned sageShantiraksita. After the death of the latter, Kamalashila came to Tibet to carry on his master's work.

During Kamalashila's stay in Tibet a fierce debate grew up around a Chinese monk named Hwa-shang Mahayana,

who was preaching very favorably amongst the Tibetan people. Hwa-shang represented the "Cittamatra" point ofview, while Kamalashila taught the view known as "Madhyamaka-Yogacara." It is hard to know from the differingaccounts exactly who "won" this debate, but it is said that after the debate the Chinese faction poisonedKamalashila, and he died in Tibet. According to the Ri-tro Chos, or Hermitage Instructions, of Karma Chagme, theconsciousness of Kamalashila was then reborn in the far south of India amongst the dark skinned Tamil people. He

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grew up to become a very saintly Tamil sage and saddhu. It was in this form thathe eventually returned to Tibet as the wisdom-master "Father" Dampa Sanggye.

When Pa Dampa Sangye came to Tibet, he found the people in the county ofTingri, which is near Mt. Everest on the Tibetan side, to be especially amenable tohis instruction. He therefore settled in Tingri and established a school of Yogapractice there. A young Tibetan woman named Machig Labdrn (1055-1153) wasone of those who became his disciple.

Machig and her guru Dampa Sangye are generallyviewed as the founders of the Chd system.However, it would appear that Chd itself is ablending together of Pa Dampa Sangye's teachingsand Machig's native inheritance. Pa Dampa Sangyetaught Machig the rudiments of Mahamudrameditation. Fairly soon after her meeting with PaDampa Sangye, the Tibetan woman Machig Labdrnwent to live in Central Tibet, where she took upresidence in a lonely cave and set herself to practicemeditation.

Following her guru's instruction, she began byspending the first year completing the preliminaryexercises (ngn-dro). Afterwards she went to a place

called Zang-ri Khar-mar, which then became herresidence for the rest of her life. It was there thatshe developed Chd as a definite system of practice.

Another leading disciple of Pa Dampa Sangye was aTibetan known as Kyton Sonam Lama. It was thelatter who, we are told, would come and visit Machigin her cave residence, and pass along further teachings from the guru Dampa Sanggye to her. Through theinteraction of these three, the Chd system grew into an amazingly beautiful and profound method of spiritualdevelopment

Chd, combining Yoga and Shamanism

Chd therefore is a subtle blend of the Buddhist path to enlightenment (as represented by the Mahamudra-masterDampa Sanggye) brought from India, and an ancient form of Shamanic ritual (introduced by the woman Machig

Labdrn) that was native to Tibet. It was the merging of these two streams which resulted in the actual emergenceof Chd as a practice used by yogins today, in their desire to gain Enlightenment by the shortest possible path.

Thus Chd is a more advanced form of shamanism, which has been raised to a higher level of perfection by virtueof its blending together with the innermost teachings of Mahamudra.

Machig herself said:

"My system of Chd consists of the intrinsic teachings ofMahamudra. This Mahamudra cannot be explained in words.Yet, although it is beyond verbal expression, it may beindicated [by means of the symbolism of Chd]."

Traditionally speaking, the path of yoga is a path of self-mastery andthe yogin is one, whether male or female, who aims for perfectEnlightenment. This is not a shamanic path.

The way of the shaman, on the other hand, has always been a pathinvolving communion with other powers and spirits, and in manycases the attainment of Enlightenment may not be perceived as its goal at all. A shaman or shamaness, bydefinition (vide Prof. Hutton, Shamans, Hambledon & London, London 2001), is "someone who works with spirits tohelp others." The shaman channels these spirits, to accomplish definite ends, such as healing or gaining access toknowledge of some kind. But Chd combines the path of Enlightenment and Shamanism into one.

Chd's special appeal for women

Chd practice has had a special appeal for women, perhaps because it was largely founded by a woman saint(Machig Labdrn was the "Mother" of Chd). All down through history, women have been spiritual leaders in theChd tradition. Besides having been created by Machig Labdrn herself, and also attributed to Princess YesheTsogyal, other famous woman figures in the Chd tradition include Shukseb Zangmo (1852-1953, herselfconsidered to be an incarnation of Machig), Jomo Menmo (1248-1283), Jetsunma Mingyur Paldron (1699-1769, the

daughter ofTerdag Lingpa), Jetsunma Thinley Chodron, a teacher of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, and Sera KhadroKunzang Wangmo (1899-1952). At the Shukseb Convent near Lhasa, more than one hundred Ka'gyu nuns stillfollow our tradition of the mKha'-'groi Gad-rGyangs Chd, a practice revealed by the great mystic Jigme Lingpa.




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The invisible dimension

Chd is a spiritual practice conducted by the yogini (or yogi) alone in the wilderness, where she must learn to faceevery fear and every bit of ego-clinging within herself. Indeed, to accomplish this, she (or he) is instructed todeliberately go to places that inspire supernatural dread. Traditionally, once the yogini has found a wild and lonelyspot, which is supposed to be a place that seems imbued with power or reportedly haunted by spirits, not tomention wild beasts, she sets up a tent. Erecting this tent is not a casual actit is done ritually, and each of thefour 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 theancient 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, bedominated in turn, which might mean becoming possessed, possibly leading to madness or even death.

According to the beliefs of psychic and Tibetan mystics, the physicalworld perceived by our five senses is only a small portion of the totalreality in which we live. All around us are invisible entities; types of"beings" or "spirits" which we cannot see. These entities exist inparallel, but separate, dimensions or worlds of their own.Nevertheless all these "parallel" realms are part of the same planet.For example, what appears as a river to us, might seem to be acurrent of color and energy within the realm of the Shining Devas.Again the same river would seem to be something like a current ofmolten iron lava to an evil spirit, or "demon", trapped in its own self-

created hell. For just like human beings, so too spirits can be eithergood or evil.

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 otherhand, is one which has become closed upon itself, isolated from the whole, and lives tightly turned inwards on itsown neurosis. The tighter and darker becomes the suffering of that spirit, the more demonic its nature.

But according to the Adepts of Chd, nothing is permanent. A spirit lost for a time in one of the hideous "lowerrealms" of suffering, may always be healed (either through time itself, or by the intervention of the Chdpa) andgradually lifted up into the Light. Thus the work of the Chdpa, as of the saint who prays constantly for the welfareof others, is to transform spirits of darkness into angels of light.

According to the Buddha our planet consists of six parallel "levels" of existence, or six bio-zones. If we look at thisfrom our human perspective, we can, for example, talk of the mineral realm, the vegetable realm, the animal

realm and the human realm. But is that all? According to the Sages, there is also a twilight or astral realm parallelwith the vegetable realm, which is called the ghost realm. This is not a terribly bad zone to experience, but it doesseem to be a place of great longing and considerable confusion. The mental state of this ghost realm is dream like,grey, vegetative, and filled with a yearning hunger. There are better places indeed to find oneself after death, andindeed, the sages say that one such place is the superior astral, or "heavenly" realm, where the consciousnessemerges as a shining spirit called an angel, or Deva.

Angels are classified, in Buddhism, into two categories. What we might call inferior angels and superior angels. InChristianity these two orders are known as angels and archangels. In Judaism they have long been called beni-Elohim (sons of the gods) and Elohim (gods). The ancient Buddhist terminology is very close to the latter, since inBuddhism we call these spirits Devaputra (also called Asuras), which literally means "sons of the Devas," andDevas (or Suras). The word "deva" or "sura" literally means a "shining being".

Where do the Devas live? Those adepts who can see with clairvoyant sight the higher vibrational levels, experiencethe Devas as luminous, vaguely humanoid forms of intelligence, seemingly abiding in the mountains and in forestgroves or in ethereal paradises. In most cases, however, these shining spiritual beings appear to live "above" thephysical plane; when we experience them, they seem to "come down" to our plane, so as to commune with us.Temples and shrines are also viewed as places where these Devas appear to come down to earth, as if in a sensethese sacred "power places" are inter-dimensional portals between the physical and nonphysical world.

After death, according to the Buddhist view, a being can take birth inany of the six realms. Thus, in one's next existence, once death hasoccurred to the body, you might find yourself emerging into a freshluminous existence as an Asura-spirit in a heaven-like realm of color,scent and musical rhythm. Or, if tortured by unresolved issues fromharmful actions which one has done, you may emerge as a dark,violent Demonic-spirit, in the discordant realm described as hell.There are six possible destinies for the consciousness of one who hasjust died.

Now, these six destinies or bio-zones of this our planetary world,

according to the Tibetan system, are as follows:

Lha (Skt: deva) - superior Shining Ones, or archangel realm1.Lha-ma-yin (Skt: asura) - inferior Shining Ones, or angel realm2.Mi (Skt: nara) - the Human realm3.




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Du-do (Skt: Tiryak) - the Animal realm4.Yi-dag (Skt:preta) - the Ghost realm = Vegetable realm5.Nyal-kham (Skt: Naraka) - the Hell realm = Mineral realm6.

It may be noted that the Lha and Lha-ma-yin dwell in what people of different cultures have all described as"heaven realms." The humans and animals abide together in what to us is the "physical realm". And ghosts anddemons apparently roam what might be called "the lower astral" domain.

When animal's die, they too may become elemental spirits chained to the physical location where death occurred.

These unseen entities are the Elementals spoken of by occultists and clairvoyants. These are the fairies and spritesof folklore. In Tibetan teachings they are sometimes categorized as follows:

Dri-za (Skt: gandharva) - sylphs, air elementals1.Namkha'lding (Skt: garuda) - phoenix, fire elementals2.kLu (Skt: naga) - dragons, water elementals3.gNod-sbyin (Skt: yakshas) - gnomen, earth elementals4.

But there are many other types of elemental spirits mentioned in Buddhist lore, too. There are the Mi-'am-c'i(Kinnara), or lovely celestial musicians, and the Srin-po (Rakshasa) which appear as dangerous fire elementals.There are 'Byung-po (Bhuta) and harmful Sa-za (pisaca), spirits of the jungle, the cremation grounds and theforest, which can cause misfortune, or disease, or insanity. And there are the Gyalpo and the Tsen, powerful ghostsof slain heroes and Lama-sorcerers, who have died unfulfilled or with a curse on their lips; it is said their thirst forpower and vengeance lives on.

Do these good and evil spirits (lha-dre) actually exist, or are they but the imagination of a more primitive culture?

The decision has to be yours. Science does not appear to have proved, as yet, the existence of parallel realms,invisible to our telescopes, microscopes and measuring devices. As one grows spiritually, an awareness ofdisincarnate and non-incarnate entities is one of the features that the mystic develops. But the truth of thisexperience cannot be proven nor demonstrated to the skeptic. It is simply something that one has to experienceand judge for oneself no one else can say whether it is true or not.

The same goes for death. What happens after death? Some people believe that when the body dies, so does theperson, the mind and the consciousness. According to this way of thinking, mind is the product of the physicalbrain, and when the brain dies, that is the end. The religions of the world, on the other hand, have all taught thatafter death our experience continues. But the different religions are by no means in complete agreementconcerning "how" that continuation will take place. Some insist that the entity will never again return to a humanincarnation. Some, though they admit we may be reborn as a human person again, deny the idea that we candescend to an animal level of rebirth. So there are differing opinions.

Buddhism describes a world in which the mineral "hell" realm is at the bottom of the ladder of evolution, so to

speak, and the "deva" realm at the top. The Deva realm is also said to reach further and further upwards, to evermore refined states of being. But Buddhism does claim that we can also devolve, and not only evolve. We can godown the scale, as well as rise up it. Contact with those who have died, by psychics who are alive, may be able totell us a lot more about this so called "next world."

But what is true, and what really happens after death, can only be known when death itself intervenes. Until then,it is up to the individual to make his or her own rational judgment.

The yogini in her tent calls the various spirits of the land to her. These she then must treat in different ways. Thehigher beneficial spirits, she may commune with for healing disease, and to do so she will establish a relationshipof peace (Tib:zhi-wa, Skt: santika) between herself and those which come within the sphere of her influence. Shemay establish a similar relationship with the ghosts (preta) of the dead, but the more confused or troubled ghostsof 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 Chd-practice.

At the end, after the dedication of the power which has been generated by the practice, the yogini may make thefollowing prayer:

"May all you spirits and elementals eventually be born as human beings, and in future ages, becomemy disciples. There upon, may the Uncreated Light of pure, original Mind, arise in the consciousness ofyou beings; and avoiding the erroneous belief in an 'ego', may your consciousness become thoroughlysaturated with the gentle moisture of Love and Compassion."

Chd is an advanced practice

"As in all yoga, so in this," rightly said Evans-Wentz, the British gentleman who was the first to publish a Chd textinto the English language, "the yogi seeks to outstrip the normal, and, to him, over-slow and tedious process of

spiritual unfoldment; and, karma permitting, win Freedom, as Tibet's great yogi Milarepa did, in one lifetime."

Long probationary periods of careful preparation and training under a teacher of Chd are required before thenovice is ready to go forth on his own, to perform this psychically demanding practice. As Ven Bardok ChusangRimpoche points out, Chd is not for beginners on the Spiritual Path. Comparing the yogins training to western




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schooling and university, Rimpoche emphasized that Chd is equivalent to post-graduate work. Done properly, it isa powerful means of cutting delusions root, but it is also a dangerous exercise.

Paramount to practicing Chd the seeker must learn to develop empathic altruism. The only thing that can dissolvethe emotional distance between the Chd-practitioner and communion with other beings is altruistic love. Onereally does have to learn to love everyone and everything. It is exactly for this reason that Chd-practice is nottaught to anyone who has not first undergone the preliminaries (Skt:purvaka, Tib: ngn-dro). This must beespecially emphasized for the Westerner.

As most correctly pointed out by the eccentric Russian woman-mystic, Yelena Petrovna Blavatskaya, in the lastcentury:

"All western, and especially English education is instinct with the principle of emulation andcompetition; each boy is urged to learn more quickly, to outstrip his companions, and to surpass themin every possible way. What is mistakenly called "friendly rivalry" is assiduously cultivated, and thesame spirit is fostered and strengthened in every detail of life. With such ideas 'educated into him'from his childhood, how can a Westerner bring himself to feel towards his co-students 'as the fingers ofone hand'? He who would be a student [of Tibetan occultism] must first be strong enough to kill out inhis heart all feelings of dislike and antipathy to others. How many Westerners are ready even toattempt this in earnest?

"In the East the spirit of 'non-separateness' is inculcated [in the monasteries] as steadily fromchildhood up, as in the West the spirit of rivalry. Personal ambition, personal feelings and desires, arenot encouraged to grow so rampant there. When the soil is naturally good, it is cultivated in the rightway, and the child grows into a man in whom the habit of subordination of one's lower to one's higherself is strong and powerful. In the West men think that their own likes and dislikes of other men andthings are guiding principles for them to act upon, even when they do not make of them the law oftheir lives and seek to impose them upon others."2

To accomplish Chd-practice it is a prerequisite that one develop an unconditional love for all. Such a love cannotbe limited only to those we like, or approve of. Unconditional love means especially a love full of compassion forthose who we least would want to be intimate with. For if we are going to heal others at all, we shall have to beintimate with them. We will have to share their pain, as also be able to empathically soothe and alleviate theirconfusion, their suffering, and their active negativity.

Chusang Rimpoche made something of a joke of this. "The novice Chdpa," he said, "is so eager to offer his veryown body, to nourish and help the poor misguided evil spirits. But comes along just one mosquito, and then whereis his love and compassion for all sentient beings?"

The practitioner has to be trained in Maitri-meditation. The latter is

meditation on Love, where all the walls protecting the heart fromfeeling total, unconditional altruism are systematically torn down.There must be no emotional distancing between the practitioner andthe being who is the object of his compassion, when he takes up thedangerous, shamanic practice of Chd. If this empathic love has notbeen thoroughly developed as a basis, the novice at the practice isliable to be overcome and possessed by the very powers which hehopes to work with.

Some Chd-practice has already been introduced into the West.Consequently we now have some genuine "Chd-pa" practicing invarious places here in America and likewise in Canada. However,something has to be said about some of the practice which has beenintroduced, but which is not very authentic. In a number of caseswhere Chd is being taught, the profound nature of the exercise is missing. Sadly, when that is the case, the

performance is no more than "play acting," and what was for the genuine practitioner in the Himalayas a very real"out of body" experience, and a way of directly dealing with the spirit-world, in America this has become no morethan an imaginary journey.

Students, taking up the practice without real training, are left to merely visualize themselves going through theperformance. It is all pretend. One "pretends" to become the black wrathful Dakini (krodha kali-ma); one"pretends" to leap out through the fontanel into the open space of the spirit-world. But the actual experience ismissing. And that is in part because these Western students are not being correctly informed about what thepractice is really all about.

The advantage of those who practice Chd without thoroughly understanding it, is that by only play acting the role,they avoid the danger of real contact with the spirit world. The Western student therefore may approach Chd as amild form of "self-help" system, with the aim of promoting a feeling of compassion for others. In that sense itcannot but prove to be of some benefit for those practicing it.

Needless to say, Jerome Edon (see: Machig Labdrn and The Foundations of Chd, Snow Lion, NY 1996) is utterlymistaken when he makes the claim "that in the Chd tradition there is no trace of either trance or ecstasy, nor ofwhat in shamanistic terminology is referred to as an initiatory journey."




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Frequently, once a system of spiritual practice is "popularized" in the West, its power becomes watered down. Thishas happened to Hatha-yoga, the form of yoga devised by Mahasiddha Gorakhnath which uses physical posturesand movements of the body to trigger the Kundalini (Tib: gTu-mo) experience. With the correct physical postures(asanas), Gorakhnath's yoga was a dangerous exercise taught only to advanced initiate's of his Nath SiddhaSchool. However, having been brought to the West, and then re-introduced back into India, as a system of physicalexercises for the purpose of inducing health, the whole system has been so changed as to become quite ineffectiveas a tool for Kundalini. Thus, it is fairly "safe"3.

The student of Chd must receive proper transmission and permission to practice Chd. This transmission is aspiritual blessing that is passed down in an unbroken lineage through a line of wisdom-masters, and as suchprotects the student on this most advanced, critical path of endeavor4.

Furthermore, the disciple needs to learn the proper intonation of the mystic mantras; the manner for beating thedrum, the sounding of the spirit-evoking horn made of human thighbone, and the rhythm of the bell. Each Chdtransmission has a certain specific "liturgy" of its own, and this has to be carefully adhered to.

With genuine Chd, the whole practice must be committed to memory. The steps of the dance in relation to thevarious geometrical arenas have to be mastered. And the spirits, both those that are safe as well as those that aredistinctly evil, need to be truly evoked. To accomplish the latter, it is said that it is best to perform the exercise in aplace well known to be haunted, such as a cemetery. So, after all the acts of the performance has been thoroughlymastered, the Lama sends the student out, to go to a haunted spot alone. It is then that she or he, in the dark ofthe night, has to confront not only all the supernatural fears created by such a place, but also actual spirits.

Giving up of the Self

The practice of Chd means that the yogini or yogi meditates in such a way as to become, stage by ever deepeningstage, absorbed into the whole process of surrendering and offering one's body and self. This selfless offering onlyreally occurs when the practitioner is finally absorbed into trance (samadhi) through the use of the ritual, aided inparticular by the steady beat of the drum and bell. The adept of Chd, uttering a secret mantra, then leaves hisbody, 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 asto offer it to the communing spirits (lha-dre), good and bad. What is really given to the spirits to feast on, is theenergy used to bind the Ego in the mind-body form. In devouring this, they become liberated, as does the Siddhaherself.

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 Chdpa has been called in to arrest the course of a plague orepidemic. Chdpas have also been requested to make their offering-of-self on behalf of the dead. Thus, in Tibet,

we frequently see Chdpas present on the occasion of a funeral.

However, it must be kept in mind that the ultimate purpose of Chd is not only an act aimed at helping others, butmuch more importantly, it is for the generation of Enlightenment. The Enlightened-mind is, however, a mind ofutterly selfless love. So in that sense, the two aims go hand in hand. Real love and compassion cannot be artificial;it has to be absolutely real. The Chdpa therefore applies wisdom as a remedy to "cut through" ignorance, which ishis own erroneous notion of ego.

The real demons that are slain by Chd

What common folk think of as a demon is something very, very big, and colored deep black. Who ever sees one ofthese is truly terrified and trembles from head to foot," said Machig Labdrn. "Nevertheless, no such demons reallyexist 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 spiritualevolution. Thus the greatest of all "demons" is actually the Demon of Ego, which is your own sense of apermanent, independent self, separate from all others. If you do not slay this clinging to a self, then good and badspirits (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 Chd.

The first is what she called the Tangible Demon (thogs bcas bdud), which is the error of mistakenly grasping at theobjects of sense-perception as if the world were an objective reality separate from consciousness. We have tocome to experience the fact that all "outer" appearance takes place within Mind. As long as the neophyte has notrealized the holographic and entirely subjective nature of existence, and continues to view phenomena assomething 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 reactionsand 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 acquiringoccult powers or special blisses in the meditation experience. Manic-Inflation is a sense of power, a heightenedsense of spiritual worth or supernatural ability. It is the presumption of spiritual superiority5. In meditation it is




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common to be thrilled by the energy and feeling of magnified glory, by the divine graceflooding through all the cells of one's being. There is nothing wrong with such bliss, butthe adept has to become unattached to the experience.

The fourth demon described by Machig Labdrn is the Demon of Pride (snyem byed kyibdud), 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 offthe Demon of Ego, all other demons are simultaneously conquered. Immediately theDemon of Ego is slain, the person becomes Enlightened at once.

"Using obstacles [i.e., demons] on the path is the meaning of Chd-practice.Realizing that everything is mind, not the slightest object to cut through. Whenthe emptiness of mind itself is realized, then no duality between "cutter" and"cut" remains. When this nonduality is realized, then angels and demons vanishand one is left like a thief in an empty house, with nothing to cut."(Jigme ChokyiSenge)

Though Chd may appear on the surface like a shamanic rite, the Yoga of Chd follows the same process ofmystical development as in other systems of Buddhism. Machik Labdrn herself explains this as follows:

"Once the yogini has recognized the non-existence of inner and outer phenomena, after the psychicenergy (prana-vayu) has entered and started to rise up the central nervous system (avadhuti), thenshe 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 vastnumbers of sentient beings everywhere... The instruction lineage that explains how to accomplish thisis that called the Chd of Mahamudra."6

To cut the ego off at the root, where it is rooted in the unconsciousness, and likewise to cut off the five rootafflictionsgreed, hatred, confusion, pride and avariceis the real meaning of Chd. For the yogini this means alsoto 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 Chd.

Conclusion

The system of Chd which comes down to us from the Venerable Bardok Chusang Rimpoche and from KhanchenPalden Sherab Rimpoche to the Dharma Fellowship is the transmission of Yeshe Tsogyal revealed by Jigme Lingpa,known as the "Far-reaching Laughter of the Dakini".

(mKha'-'groi Gad-rGyangs), a profound Chd-practice from the Longchen Nyingt'ig tradition. Thanks to the brillianttranslation work and musical ability of David Molk and his wife, who reside in Big Sur, we are able to learn to singthis Chd-practice in English, while retaining the ancient Tibetan shamanic melody. Since it is an advancedpractice, it may only be taught to members of the Fellowship who are deemed ready to properly take it on. Thisbeautiful and uplifting ritual is a profound meditation with manifold transcendental ramifications, yielding to thehighest of insights. Through this Chd-practice many a western person can now rapidly progress on the path ofEnlightenment and win through to complete Liberation.

Footnotes

1 When asked whether he thought it a fact that Pa Dampa Sanggye was a reincarnation of Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen, theVenerable Bardok Chusang Rimpoche said that he thought it quite possible, but ultimately whether or not he was, was not overly

important. Venerable Bardok Rimpoche is himself recognized as the present day reincarnation of Pa Dampa Sanggye.

2 Gorakhnath was the founder of Hatha-yoga. The heart of his system is to be found in the Six Khorlo of Naropa, which is kept a secret

teaching in the Ka'gyu School. Gorakhnath's orginal asanas and mudras are still taught amongst initiates of the Nine Nath tradition.

3 There are some in America who are practicing Chd outside of a recognized line of transmission. This is psychically dangerous. Topractice Chd safely and beneficially, one must be intimately embraced by a school or "brotherhood" of others, who are all part of one'sparticular transmission. There are also different Chd lineages, and one should practice always according to the oral instruction,

encoded liturgy, and practice of one's own lineagenot mix the lineage practicesotherwise the practice may result in direconsequences, or even prove fatal.

4 H.P.Blavatsky, Raja-Yoga, or Occultism, Theosophy Company (India) Ltd., Bombay 1931).

5 Is Machig Labdrn here talking about what modern psychiatry calls the "messianic complex"?.

6 Machig Labdron, Phung-po gzan skyun rnam bshad gcod kyi don gsal byed.


Documents

Chod and Shamanism