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.