Tergar Shrine Hall
16 March 2025
Chöd is one of the central rituals in the Arya Kshema Spring Dharma Gathering. It is a practice regarded as of special importance for female practitioners. Its aim is to cut through attachment and ignorance, especially attachment to the body, ego-clinging and the dualistic idea of a self, and thereby lead to the realisation of emptiness. Of the Eight Great Chariots— the eight practice lineages of Tibetan Buddhism —Chöd is the only one originating with a woman, the 11th century Tibetan yogini, Machig Labdrön, who developed the practice.
Traditionally, the Karmapas have a strong connection with the practice, and the text used at the Arya Kshema is called Chöd: A String of Jewels, which was composed by the third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje.
The Dorje Loppön, a senior nun, led the practice, supported by umdzes and musicians. The nuns sat in rows in the shrine hall, turning the special green Chöd drums in their right hands to one rhythm and ringing their bells with the left to a different rhythm - a difficult technique to learn!
