Event : Chöd Teachings & Practice by HE Garchen
Rinpoche
Date : January 1-5 2011
Venue : Garchen Buddhist Institute
Address : Chino Valley, Arizona
Directions :
http://www.garchen.net/eventguide.html#directions
Website : http://www.garchen.net/schedule.html#Chod
HE Garchen Rinpoche will give precious pith instructions on the
essence of Chöd and will teach and lead practice from the Drikung
Kagyu text "Chöd: The Method of Accumulating Merit by Practitioners
(Kusalay Tshog Chod) from the Profound Teachings of Lord Jigten
Sumgön." The Chöd lineage derives from Master Padampa Sangye who
passed it on to Machig Labdrön, a reincarnation of Yeshe Tsogyal,
Tibet’s most renowned female practitioner.
Chöd literally means "to sever." What we sever is not anything in
the outside world, but rather we cut through our ego-clinging,
which is the very root of our afflictive emotions and suffering. In
the practice of Chöd, rather than pacifying thoughts by letting
them settle down, we actually bring up the most difficult thoughts,
bring them up and cut through them. We work especially with
fear.
This practice strikes right at the heart of the selfish attitude.
In the practice of Chöd, rather than imagining defending ourselves
from potential harm-givers, from those perceived as enemies, we
imagine offering our treasured body-minds to those who might seek
to harm us. We also imagine making the same offering to satisfy the
needs of all beings. This requires us to examine carefully how we
hold the "I" thought, and that presents a supreme opportunity to
develop both wisdom and compassion simultaneously.