MaChik’s Chod Tradition

Purpose

• To learn the practice and meaning of the Machik Chod sadhana (LuJin or Offering of the Body) and all the various components of this popular daily practice, renowned among Kagyu practitioners.
• To learn the Ngondro or Preliminary Practice of Chod, from the Shuksep tradition of Ani Lochen Rinpoche.
• To learn and understand the meaning of the 16 specialized Red and White Feasts of Chod, as well as the Mixed and Black feasts.
• To deepen an understandings of how the principles of Chod occur in every moment of life.

Summary of Topics

Chod Teachings and Practice

Great Saint Ani Lochen

Chod Ngondro

The Shuksep Ngondro is a comprehensive preliminary practice that includes all the usual components of the Four Ordinary and Four Extraordinary Preliminary Practices:

• Refuge & Bodhicitta
• The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind
• Prostrations
• Mandala Offering
• Karmic Cleansing (relying on MaChik,not Vajrasattva)
• Guru Yoga.

Ani Lochen Shuksep Rinpoche (ChoYing Zangmo) (1865-1951) was the most renowned female Chod practitioner of the 20th century. A great mahasiddha or enlightened master, she was considered to be the reincarnation of MaChik Labdrön, t. Wandering as a yogini for decades, she eventually founded one of the largest and most influential nunneries in Tibet. Tsewong Rinoche’s father was direct disciple of Shuksep Rinpoche, and he poured this realization and experience into his son, who also holds this lineage.

 LuJin

The daily Machik Chod practice is unique, because of its comprehensive approach and many sections

• a complete refuge, extensive generation of altruistic compassion
• a purification mantra section or “Drib Sel” section
• Mandala of the Body offering
• The framework for very extensive and varied white and red feasts, each with its own specific theme and meaning.
• Chod tsok with an optional torma offering.

This is the basic Chod used in the Kagyu traditions, but since it is from the MaChik tradition, it is appropriate for any tradition or lineage. And while this is usually attributed to the 9th Karmapa, he was merely the editor. It derives from a much more extensive and older text found in the Treasury of Oral Instructions (Dam Ngak Dzo) collected by Jamgon Kongtrul the Great. This text, the Ruby Rosary, is itself part of an older tradition of Ranjung Dorje, and in fact reaching back to the years of MaChik. Thus it is an authentic and essential practice for all practitioners of all lineages and part of the modern Chodpas armamentarium of core practices.

The Core Feasts

Within the tradition of Chod are a core of 6 White Feasts and 10 Red Feasts, along with several adjunct or secondary feast methods. These can be, and are used as visualizations and meditations, for any Chod, wether long or short, or within any tradition. Grouped in pairs of Red and White feasts, or ordered according to one’s decision and intuition, they are part of the essential “toolkit” of Chod methodology.

With colorful names like “Checker Board,” “Boats and Sails,” “Flags and Banners,” and “Crystal Skull Cup,” these are not just variations for entertainment or colorful imaginings. Their graphic and intense nature hides profound meanings. Each has subtle differences in its effects and the direction of its blessing force. Through practice, the student comes to experience these shifts and qualities, deepening their wisdom and skill in applying these techniques.

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