Présenté en anglais et en français!

Shrīmālā is thrilled to be collaborating with Yuthok Ling Toulouse for this special workshop on Chöd and Provocation. Learn how Himalayan spirituality and medicine intersect with this fascinating and powerful healing practise from the 11th century yogini Machig Labdrön, as presented in the Yuthok Nyingthig cycle.

The Tibetan practice of Chöd (“Severance”) has been employed by yogis, healers, and weather-makers across the Himalayas for nearly a millennium, both for spiritual development and temporal ritual benefits like healing and pacifying obstacles. Accomplished adepts are famed in Tibet for their capacity to quell epidemic diseases and harmonize the outer elements by appeasing troublesome local spirits and afflictive energies.

In particular, Chöd is a principal ritual therapy employed in instances of dön disease (གདོན་ནད་), or provocation. This vast category of illness can include energetic afflictions caused by elemental spirits as well as infections caused by external pathogenic forces, and are understood to be related to human relations with the natural world.

The allure of this esoteric ritual has captivated spiritual seekers and academics alike for centuries, yet its essence transcends its occult mystery, tapping into a profound understanding of the human mind. Its teachings on the nature of the “four demons” reveal the true nature of our hopes and fears, while the ritual framework offers an opportunity to accumulate positive karma, develop spiritual potency, cancel karmic debts, and facilitate healing.

On a most essential level however, the true power of Chöd lies in its power to cut through dualistic ego-fixation, the root of all negative emotions.

This is an intensive course, ideal both for existing Chöd practitioners who wish to deepen their practise as well as beginners with a genuine interest in learning and engaging with this sadhana.