Chöd: The Sacred Teachings on Severance: Essential Teachings of the Eight Practice Lineages of Tibet, Volume 14

An astounding translation that brings Chod to life in its many complex liturgies. Sarah Harding shares Machik Labdron's teachings in her own words. She was that rare female master whose tradition is represented in every Tibetan Buddhist lineage today.

If there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, this could be it. A quick scan of the table of contents indicates the extensive coverage of scriptures and their commentaries, and empowerments, with the last section of the text devoted to instructions and guides. The author most familiar in the Chod “severance” tradition is Machik Lapdron but the other authors are a who’s who of the historical teachings. Of course its place in history also means it’s neither formatted nor written for the modern reader. This can be initially off-putting, but is worth the effort required and anyone who has studied historic Buddhist texts will have no trouble.The text is authoritative and at the same time matter of fact. This for instance;“At the times of mixing space and awareness, things and characteristics, rejecting and accepting – fixation on referents – are naturally cleared up. Abide in the ultimate nature of phenomena without subject-object dualistic fixation.” (at page 6)Could it be more direct? And it only gets better, continuing page after page with nuggets so beautifully translated that they echo in your mind until they become a part of you ….or perhaps they were always there.This is a formidable work and will certainly overwhelm you if not taken in small quantities and pondered and meditated upon after each reading session. Then its brilliance will be appreciated and have a profound effect. If you are serious about your studies of Buddhism and in particular dzogchen it deserves a place on your bookshelves. Will it become a classic? Perhaps.

If you practice Chod this contains so much information you need to have this book. The best thing is that even though it is scholarly It is readable. It is an enjoyable read. I have the kindle edition and the only criticism I have is there are no page numbers which makes it difficult if you are in a study group and some people are using the page numbers from the hard copy edition.

Of the hundreds of purchases over the years through amazon this is the first that has compelled me into writing a review. Mainly to say thank you to everyone who had a hand in getting this book made.

Great compilation of various Chöd practices. Indispensable to anyone on the path of practicing Dharma.

Meditation

It's a rare gift to have this material in one place. Chod is an important practice in Tibetan Buddhism and is rarely discussed. My only criticism is this book could have been better if it included examples of the rich iconography related to Chod practice. Spiritual entities are discussed but without reference to their form.

Absolutely wonderful and comprehensive

If you're practicing Chod this is a must read in terms of the depth of what the practice is. It's not a light read, and you would definitely need some background in Tibetan Buddhist knowledge to make sense of it. Totally wonderful that this was translated into English.

Ce livre donne énormément d'informations sur la pratique du Tcheu et de sa philosophie. Je le recommande car il donne des informations qui peuvent enrichir la pratique si on est déjà praticien de cette méditation.Ceci étant dit, si on veut pratiquer le tcheu, il est peut-être préférable, pour rentrer dans une dimension pratique, de lire "feeding your demons" par Tsulltrim Allione, et plus dans une perspective traditionnelle qui implique déjà une connaissance du bouddhisme tantrique, "chod practice manuel and commentary" (traduit du tibétain par Lama Lodo Rinpoche).Ensuite, il est possible aussi, et recommandé pour les personnes intéressés, de rencontrer des lamas qui pratiquent et enseignent et transmettent les initiations pour la pratique du Tcheu, par exemple à la pagode bouddhiste du bois de Vincennes, et également par des lamas qui passent en France et qui enseignent comment utiliser le tambour Damaru, le Kangling (qui peut (devrait ?) être en bois) et la cloche.

Excellent book!! Very high quality!!

Excellent