Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod (Tsadra Foundation) [Hardcover]

Machik Labdron (Author), Sarah Harding (Editor, Translator)

Book Description

Series: Tsadra Foundation | Publication Date: May 9, 2003

This book is the most famous book of teachings of Machik Labdron, the great female saint and yogini of 11 and 12th century Tibet, now finally translated in its entirely into English.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Since Western translators have privileged the genres of biographical and ritual texts, the richness of indigenous materials on Chöd (both in terms of quantity and quality) has been obscured. This problem has been redressed by Sarah Harding's translation of Machik's Complete Explanation, one of the most comprehensive written texts extant within the Chöd tradition. Given the prominence of Machik and Chöd in the history and praxis of Tibetan Buddhism, Harding's translation is a valuable contribution to the study of this figure and her teachings." -- H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews OnLine

"To experienced practitioners, the Tsadra Foundation Series is more precious than gold dust." -- Tricycle Magazine

"Sarah Harding's masterful translation is a real gift to students of Chöd and this extraordinary woman teacher. It provides much new material including intimate question and answer sessions between Machik and her disciples. The translation has such a fresh living quality you almost feel you are receiving teachings directly from Machik Labdron herself." -- Tsultrim Allione, author of Women of Wisdom --Tsultrim Allione, author of Women of Wisdom

"Sarah Harding's magnificent translation of this key work of Machik Labkyi Dronma, Tibet's most famous yogini, opens up for Western practitioners the startling world of Chöd practice: severing the devil of ego-fixation. This meditation manual explains how the rich symbology of tantric yoga can be used in a disturbingly effective way to transform one's life."-- Stephen Batchelor, author of Buddhism Without Beliefs --Stephen Batchelor, author of Buddhism Without Beliefs

"In this remarkable work Sarah Harding has combined her well-honed translation skills with her own practice experience to give us the most complete, detailed, lucid, and well-contextualized study to date of the meaning and practice of Machik's Chöd."--Jan Willis, author of Dreaming Me --Jan Willis, author of Dreaming Me

"A clear translation of a standard Tibetan handbook on the history, practice, and theory of a striking meditation system that is unique to Tibetan religion. The book provides much else besides, not the least of which is an array of Tibetan cultural conceptions about the body, society, and divinity. The translation is complemented by a balanced introduction aimed at lay students and practitioners of meditation alike."-- Janet Gyatso, author of Apparitions of the Self --Janet Gyatso, author of Apparitions of the Self

"An important contribution to an understanding of Tibet's most innovative female saint, revealing her vast diversity of teachings that place Chöd squarely in the mainstream of tantric Buddhist meditation. Harding's translation deftly reveals new and rare biographical, anatomical, philosophic, and meditative lore essential to understanding the tradition as a whole."--Judith Simmer-Brown, author of Dakini's Warm Breath --Judith Simmer-Brown, author of Dakini's Warm Breath

From the Inside Flap

Fear, anger, and negativity are states that eqch of us have to contend with. Machik's Complete Explanation, the most famous book of the teachings of Machik Labdron, the great female sain and yogini of the 11th-12th century Tibet, addresses these issues in a practical, direct way. This valuable text is now finally translated in its entirety into English. Machik developed a system, the Mahamudra Chod, that takes the Buddha's teachings as a basis and applies them to the immediate experimences of negative mind states and malignant forces. Her unique feminine approach is to invoke and nurture the very "demons" that we fear and hate, transforming those reactive emotions into love. It is the tantric version of developing compassion and fearlessness, a radical method of cutting through ego-fixation.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Snow Lion Publications (May 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559391820
• ISBN-13: 978-1559391825
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #576,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Chod of Mahamudra - Machik's complete explanation, November 15, 2004

By 

Peacock Eye - See all my reviews

This review is from: Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod (Tsadra Foundation) (Hardcover)

Machik Labron, historically a Tibetan woman (11th-12th century) and contemporary of Milarepa, was an adept, an outstanding teacher, a mother, as well as the founder of a unique transmission lineage known as the Chod of Mahamudra.

Chod (Severance) is based on the Prajnaparamita teachings of Buddhist mahayana, and refers to cutting through the grasping at a self and its afflictions. Chod is particularly famous for its teaching on transforming the aggregates of self into an offering of food for demons, as a compassionate act of self-sacrifice.

"With the hook of compassion I catch those evil spirits. Offering them my warm flesh and warm blood as food, through the kindness and compassion of bodhichitta, I transform the way they see everything, and make them my disciples." (Machik Labdron)

The general attitude of the Chod practice is that the meditator does not renounce the world by protecting him- or herself from afflictive emotions, but deliberately evokes these emotions by entering situations or encountering objects that will make them arise, in order to cut through (chod) them and use them on the path of meditation.

This great book, which is already "Machik's complete explanation", together with "Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod" by Jerome Edou (ISBN 1559390395), will give the reader a thorough and complete overview of this great subject.

"To consider adversity as a friend
is the instruction of Chod"
- Machig Labdron

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for more detailed explanation from the Chod founder, June 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod (Tsadra Foundation) (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book that covers all aspects of Chod.The internal workings of your physical and energetic(channels,chakras etc) anatomy are explained by Machik to her student.There are detailed explanations from the founder to her students and son on the practice and the stages you encounter in your Chod practice.

27 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Meaning of Chod, December 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod (Tsadra Foundation) (Hardcover)

The ancient religion of Bon Pa predates Buddhism in Tibet. Among the spiritual practices utilized by Bon Pa (which is Shamanistik in essence) the Chod rite is one of the most sublime and beautiful. Chod is an act of compassion which liberates tortured incorporeal beings such as ghosts and demons from their suffering by entering into direct intimate contact with these confused, angry, and lost beings and offering-up one's very beingness in communion and total empathy thereby providing the chance for their liberation and possible rebirth as a human beings.
Chod is a very complex and extremely dangerous ritual which should only be undertaken by the adept who has received extensive training and the blessing of their guru. This book does a incredible job of explicating Chod, written by Machig Labdron, who is the woman adept who created this powerful healing practice. A wonderful book from the very source of Chod!