One is the most powerful guides I have in my life is my intuition– it served well in the past 30 years and led me to where I am right now. However I met different teachers who taught me different healing techniques and practices. But every single time when I was open for new knowledge and skills I realised that more I know, the more I don’t know; and the the biggest lesson was “half empty is always better than half full “.
I am sharing this with you because I would like you to understand that we are often attached to what we know, we feed our EGO with pride and desires and we judge ourselves and others based on our knowledge and the way we see ourselves.
People often say that criticism is good and people should accept it, but my dear friend I can tell you it is very destructive it is not only lowers self esteem and confidence also can damage the way see ourselves so it has nothing to do with good at all.
However – Acceptance and ability to Let Go the control and expectations leads us to balance and creates space for positive NEW knowledge and things to come. And as I always saying we have to be aware about our choices, because that will determent our results in life.
So if we could just could eliminate our EGO when new information comes towards us and juts see all with absolute acceptation – do you think you would learn more or less? 😉
So there we go.
The ceremony I have participated – called: “Chöd“- (Tibetan: གཅོད, Wylie: gcod lit. ‘to sever’), is a spiritual practice found primarily in Tibetan Buddhism. Also known as “Cutting Through the Ego” the practice is based on the Prajñāpāramitā or “Perfection of Wisdom” sutras which expound the “emptiness” concept of buddhist philosophy.
Chod is a spiritual practice for resolving the most fundamental of life’s paradoxes.All the practices utilize the Chod damaru (Choda for short), bell and kangling (thighbone trumpet). Each has different sacred melodies, revealed by the dakinis to MaChik and various other Chod masters over the centuries. Intertwined with these rituals, sacred music and sacred language are absolutely essential parts of the process. Understanding what we are doing, step by step, and maintaining the traditional form, assure that the remarkable promise of the Chod legacy is fulfilled. The history of Chod spans over a thousand years, though its real origin is timeless and beyond human conception. With its roots deep in Mahayana Buddhism and Tantric Vajrayana, it has integrated practical elements of Bon and Shamanism, creating a dynamic and powerful personal path of spiritual development and benefit to others.
Benefits of Cho (Chod)
The Lineage of ChodRelative and Ultimate
The Mahamudra Chod has the express aim of full enlightenment, of attaining Buddhahood in this very life, in this very body. In order to accomplish this lofty goal, it rapidly perfects the accumulations of wisdom and merit, clearing vast oceans of negative karma that we have collected through infinite lifetimes.
But along the way, Chod also has remarkable effects here and now, on both ourselves and those around us. Practicing Chod has an impact on various aspects of daily, and different levels:
- Outer Level: The environment, weather, ecology, farmland and livestock can be affected by Chod, all the way to creating rain, ending droughts and causes crops to flourish and herds to increase.
- Material Level: Our career, financial and material success, relationships are greatly influenced by our karma, and Chod is the ultimate karmic-transformer.
- Inner Level: Our body and health are direclty affected by Chod in all cases, and there are specific rituals solely for the purpose of clearing the obstacles that created illnes. Chod has been used to quell epidemics and treat the most intractable kinds of illness, and is still used by modern Chod practitioners for this purpose.
- Secret Level: Our minds are deeply affected by Chod which clears of obstacles, cuts away of falsity, and generates a deepening compassion and dawning of wisdom.
Here we can do no better than quote the precious words of the luminaries of Chod, including the visionary architect of the practice, MaChik Labdron. None were shy or reticent about extolling the virtues of Chod. Some of their words were collected in one of the few Chod commentaries by the Third Karmapa, Ranjung Dorje, entitled “The Confident Explanation.” Karmapa tells us that it was written in order to dispel mistaken views and improper methods of Chod that had already begun to arise in his time.
Traditional Tibetan Tantric Ceremony was led by Karma Lhatrul Rinpoche the highest reincarnate lama at Zangdokpalri Monastery.
Born in the Himalayas of Bhutan, he was three years old when he announced to his parents that he was the high lama Karma Lhatrul, and requested they take him to be trained by Kunzang Dechen Lingpa Rinpoche. He actually guided his father, giving him directions to the monastery, hundreds of miles away. He spent nine years in solitary retreat under the direct tutelage of Kunzang Dechen Lingpa Rinpoche, whose Healing Chöd retreats at Kripulu were well received from 2002 until his passing in 2006. Karma Lhatrul performs Healing Chöd in Bhutan and at Zangdokpalri Temple.
The biggest aim of the ceremony is to build KARMA. Karma describes the way actions grow into experience… Every action either starts a new growth process or reinforces an old one as described by the four results. Small wonder that we place so much emphasis on mindfulness and attention. What we do in each moment is very important! Every action shapes our personality and our experience of the world.
The benefits of Chod are vast and profound. In essence however, we can say that this practice has the ability to remove the deepest causes of human suffering, sickness, emotional instability and pain, mental confusion and the clouds of negativity that envelop most people’s lives. Chod accomplishes all this through three main mechanisms:
1. Clearing karmic imprints that are attached to consciousness and life force
2. Reducing attachment to false identity (body and personality) and recognizing our true identity (5-elemental essence and pure consciousness).
3. Developing deep compassion, fearlessness and other human qualities, i.e. character building.
Through a full integration of our spiritual and human potential, we find our true humanity, helping other suffering beings, and our true nature, beyond and prior to any phenomena or experience.
Like realising the nature of the mirror, rather than looking in our reflection all the time, the Chod of Machik and subsequent lineages brings us back to our original, stainless and unchanging beingness, without deception.
The ceremony was held across 4 evenings, we slept for 1.5 hours each time and observe chanting by our teacher after which I felt my mind, body and soul becoming lighter and lighter and my thoughts getting brighter.
After to express my gratitude I interviewed our teacher Karma Lhatrul Rinpoche, soon you will be able to see our interview here:
<< INTERVIEW WITH Karma Lhatrul Rinpoche COMING SOON”
If you ever have the chance to attend a ceremony like this, do not hesitate – it is good for your Karma!! 🙂
Book I recommend to every one :
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