The Chod Practice

The Tibetan people have thousands of years of spiritual knowledge that is available for the opportunity to awaken.

I was blessed in my Tibetan shamanic studies to have learned the ancient practice of chod.

There was a holy woman named Machig Lopdron who lived in Tibet. In her deepest meditative  initiation she encountered facing a part of her mind that held fear. This was manifested as a Naga ( snake spirit). In her awakend state she “fed” the snake demon her body as food, so the suffering spirit could be satisfied. In so doing, she allowed the Naga to gain merit and lessened the karma or pain of the spirit.

This became the foundation of one of the most powerful spiritual practices for “cutting the chords” of fear, known as chod.

I have learned various forms of chod. The one I would like to share now is the original one I learned, which is a shamanic practice for healing the community.

When a shaman is ready for his initiation, they are taken into a hut or cave called the Guffa. It is there that the shaman opens and prays with his drum to awaken the “hungry ghosts” . These angry spirits, known as ” massan” are the spirits that have suffered and are lost. Many are angry and they are always hungry. They wonder with their mouths wide open, never finding what they want and need.

When these spirits are around, in the community there will be suffering, and they spread disease and misfortune.

When the shaman practices chod, it is like a major clean up and clearing of the land, and the shaman also gets healed.

It is called the ” Wise Selfishness,” because when one takes in more pain and suffering into the body and is able to transform the suffering, there is healing for all.

This is the practice I learned and can be done journeying or in a meditative state. It is called The Black Feast.

The North is the place of Transformation and Wisdom. Make an offering to the North and ask to meet the Red Goddess known as Ghang Selmo. Her name is also Devi and she lives in a Red Castle. Journey to her and ask for her blessings. Ask her to give you your Soul essence. Then, ask her if she will be the Goddess who will help you to do chod.

Ask Devi to take you to Machig for her blessing and for her protection.

Next, ask to be taken to the Guffa, near a graveyard. This is nine levels up. At the Guffa, ask to meet Guru Rinpoche who is the original Shaman. Come with an offering and ask for His blessings and protection to do chod.

Once you have your teachers, you are ready.

See yourself in the Guffa with your drum. Circle the hut with tobacco and rice as offerings. Make a spirit plate and put it outside the hut.

Invite Guru Rinpoche to come. See Him offering you a bowl of luminous light. Drink the nectar. See yourself merging with the light of the Guru.

You become the Luminous Light Body.

Say out loud,” With His light is the fire of loving kindness.”

Walk outside of the Guffa and see the massan.

Ask them to come and eat the offerings you made.  See all their suffering and energy as black soot. Inhale the dark energy. Keep inhaling till you are totally full of their pain.

See the Devi ( Goddess) come out of the Guffa and She begins to cut you up ( dismembers you) and places your entire body in a huge cauldron. See the massan eating as much as they can until they are satisfied.

When you know they are fed, ask the Goddess to take you to a place to be ” remembered.” It is in this place that you will be re-born as your luminous body with a renewed fire of compassion in your own heart.

By allowing the lost spirits to eat your luminous body, they are able to gain merit and possibly pass over to the light.

In the ending after you are purified, say a prayer of gratitude and dedicate the practice for the happiness of someone you know who may need healing, love or blessings.

You can do this chod practice for any place or situation that needs healing. If you are in conflict with a person or know a place where there has been devastation or suffering, you allow yourself in the Guffa to be taken there.

It is a deep act of compassionate service, and in doing so, opens your own heart and allows your own fear ( of your body dying) to be released.

All beings are transformed.

For most people, there comes a time in their life when deep transitions are happening, uncertainty is around the corner and times when nothing makes sense.

Nowadays, most folks choose Prozac, weed, sex or some other exciting thing that can distract them from what is really going on inside.

Fifteen years ago when the life I knew was dissolving before me I was praying non-stop for guidance and support of where to go and what to do.

I went to see an old man who was a healer. He knew nothing about me. He looked at my palms and said, “You are a shaman.  In a past life, you were an oak tree . Then I started crying as my body trembled,  feeling the words were so true but I did not understand how or why. He said, “Trees are unconditional love . Find your forest.”

Then I moved to Takoma Park where it is also called, “Tree City.” It is here that I have planted my roots for my healing center, and a home  for my family.

After turning fifty I decided to go back to the land of my ancestors, Ireland. It was on that Emerald Isle that I found my true ancestors, the oak trees, during my Vision Quest. I would like to share what happened there.

My brother, Andrew, lead a small group of pilgrims to Ireland in 2007. That year had been a tough one for me. My youngest struggling with alcoholism and I was ending a long relationship that had taken the life out of me, so to speak.

I had done Vision Quests before but never one on land that was so alive and full of the energy of the Goddess.

I am sighing right now as I am writing this, remembering how raw I was once I got there. It all settled in my womb, where I started bleeding, after almost a year of not. It felt like my womb was crying, shedding her deepest sorrows. I felt I was circling downward into Her womb of dark, wet wisdom.

I had never experienced that power of connecting to my ancestors like this. I brought my pain of the struggle with my son to the land and She understood. I brought my heart filled with scars of disappointment and shame and She opened me up ever so gently and simply said in Her sweetest whisper…” You are worthy of so much more.”

Never before had I felt so at home. The green of the trees and the sound of the wind brought me to a place of peace I had longed for my whole life.

Wicklow mountains are the home for Glendalough, a spiritual sanctuary where St. Kevin lived among all the animals and nature spirits. It was on this land where Andrew prayed us out for a day of silence and healing. A gentle Vision Quest.

It was early and there was a gentle rain upon me as I walked to the west. My whole being was seeking comfort and shelter. I was drawn up the mountain and the voice of the Grandfather Oak offered His shelter to me. It was here that I made my sacred circle and settled in for the day.

I slept, prayed, and slept some more. When sleeping I had many dreams and visitations from the spirits on the land. I offered tobacco, lavender and prayed with my sacred Ireland Pipe.

As I continued to be in the deep silence, with the Trees and all the loving energy of the land I had a simple vision. As I looked up, there kept being this circle of light that was being help by the leaves of the trees. As the wind gently blew, this circle pulsated and was totally alive with healing energy.

As I allowed myself to merge  with this circle, I could feel a knowing flowing into me. A knowing that I was part of a greater whole. I realized the circle is life, is myself, is love and all there is.

The rest of my time there continued to unfold with magic, grace and wonderment.

After my experience on this Quest, I have had the freedom from loneliness and despair.

And I also know that a Vision Quest does not need to be about suffering. It is about getting quiet enough with all the distraction of life to be able to listen with my eye, ears and heart.

For the land and all Her glory, and Grandfather Oak.

I am forever grateful.

When the spirits find someone to work through to help others who are suffering, sometimes that person finds themselves practising shamanic healing.

This happened to me.

Sometimes I wonder how many times I will die and be re-born in this lifetime! And then I remember, I am a shamanic healer. My soul has asked for this , so I have to get use to the ride. And believe me, it has been an adventure!

In my travels to Nepal and studying with the Tamong and Tibetans, we were asked to go through an initiation called the Guffa. It is believed that the shaman needs to go into a cave from anywhere to a day, to weeks,to  pray, do chod ( offering your body to the masson, suffering souls ) and to invite in the hungry ghost. The whole purpose is to test the pure heart of the initiate.

This was my second time to Nepal and we were outside the Kathmandu Valley. My friend who put it together did a great job with hiring local shamans to assist us and add to the deep sense of community.

For a week we spent in a huge tent, sleeping on the floor with out camping gear, praying, drumming, and praying some more. We would drum and pray at the graveyard near the tent area, to call up the hungry ghost. This was all part of the ceremony and I was a simple participant.

Every night as the village folk would come up after their day, we would drum and do shamanic dancing with different masks that would represent the various deities and shadow parts of ourselves. I remember the local shaman’s,  Bell, Samindra, Amma, Maya and Ram would be sharing their particular medicine with the community.

It was so beautiful to see the glowing faces of the town folk, the laughter and joy that we were there. They knew, that what we were doing would help “clean up” the dark spirits, which in turn would bring happiness and joy to the hillside.

In the forest, they had constructed three little huts that each initiate would stay in for how ever long they wanted. The decision was made at the beginning, that most of us would stay for one night.

So, each night, after the evening puja, we would walk the initiate to the guffa huts, sending them off with prayers of protection. At dawn, they would be gathered and walked back to the main tent to rest, as part of the initiation, was to stay up all night and help the hungry ghosts.

The third night was my turn. I was pretty nervous and excited at the same time. I forgot to mention that the first night we were there and we had prayed, drummed and danced on the graveyard, that night there were these spirits that came in the tent and were trying to eat me. I was deep in sleep and all I could do was moan! In the morning Larry asked who was moaning and I just said…” if you only knew..”

Off I go to my guffa hut. There was room for a candle, my drum and my alter, with a cloth curtain for the door. The wind kept blowing it open and it was pitch dark.  Within minutes of me not hearing my friends footsteps, going back up the hill, someone was shaking the hut…it literally felt like I was being shaken up.

I got my drum out and started chanting. I could see with my shaman’s eyes layers and layers of spirits outside the hut. They were all asking me for help. As I began to feed them my body ( chod) and see who needed help passing over,  many started to tell me their story of suffering. I was so moved and chanted and prayed for hours, until I felt they had all been helped. Then I decided to lay down for a few moments.

As soon as I fell asleep I felt myself being pulled out of the hut by my hair. I woke up and shouted, “NO!!” and again began the chanting praying and drumming.

I was taken to NY as 9/11 had just happened a month ago. I stayed up till dawn listening to where I needed to go to be of service. By then, I felt fearless. All I could feel was my soft, vulnerable heart and the sound of my drum and my singing.

As I was brought back to the main tent in the morning, I got a high fever and slept most of the day. I simply allowed myself to feel what was transforming in my being. At the same time, knowing I was in the right place and so grateful to be alive.

After the week was over, there was a huge celebration from the village community, with prayers, food, flowers and many hugs. We also had a fire ceremony, where we walked on the hot coals and brought the “scared flame” back to the people. It was a powerful full moon that night and there was much laughter and joy in the circle!

I had met this lovely village woman named Sita. She would bring us water daily up the mountain. Even not knowing the language, we could share and speak with our hearts ( it was also great to have an interpreter). I will always remember the hugs, knowing we were spirit sisters, with the sweet memories of what we shared with the community.

It was later in the trip that I was able to meet the Tibetan shaman’s in Pokara. There, I felt I had come home. I knew that somehow my shamanic work would be working in the lineage of His Holiness, The Dali Lama.

Years later, I met Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and he continues to be my main root lama ( teacher). The Bon teaching are based on ancient shamanic principles and the main protector, is a Goddess, Weshi Walmo, who is the Mother, protector and guardian. She is fearless and she lives in my heart.

My shamanic work is a combination of all the studying I have done over many years and I continue to have gratitude for all the indigenous cultures who have preserved their shamanic teaching, as the Mother Earth and Her children, need this wisdom more than ever!

After my third son was born I went through a deep passage of death and re-birth. The post-

partum took me deep into a very dark place. I am sure the circumstances of his birth contributed, as he was born two and a half months early.

I was having serious thoughts of ending my life and knew I needed to ask for help.

I prayed.

A friend told me of a  woman nearby who was a shaman.

When I went to see her the first thing she said to me  that I was not in my body and she was wondering how I was functioning.

That moment changed my life, because I knew what she was saying was true. I sat there weeping , with total humility and asked,” How do I get back in?”

She said,” Be committed to your healing and come weekly and we will begin the healing journey”.

Slowly, as I had support from her and other healers, I began to call back parts of myself that had fled ( to another reality outside of myself), to be loved, nurtured and cared for.

This process is called soul retrieval. At this time in my life a door open for me. The path of shamanism and earth spirituality.

I began to see the unhealthy patterns I was in, besides the abusive marriage and a community I had outgrown. This community also had supported my silence as far as not speaking my truth. I needed to get out of the box!! My soul was longing for the sacred feminine, which I slowly began to see as my souls divine food.

I would like to share my experience with soul retrieval, as it was such a pivital part of my own transformation.

The body never lies. It also is very smart and protective of our essence.

When we experience trauma, in any way, there is a part of our soul that checks out, so not to feel the impact.

When someone experiences  trauma, they can have energy holes in their body. This is called being “fragmented.” You can see it in someones eyes. They are not there.

Where these parts hang out is a very real place I call The Dreamtime. It is a reality or dimension that is unseen, but very real.

The shaman, with the help of their guiding teachers, using the drum or plant spirits, journeys to these places in behalf of a client and finds the soul parts. In this sacred place the shaman ask their teachers to heal the soul parts before they bring them back.

In this reality everything happens quickly. The spirits come with compassion for us, as they know how we humans struggle here on earth . It is like traveling into the darkness, until we find the places the souls are hiding.

When our teachers say the soul parts are ready to come back, we blow them back into the clients body and focus on the light coming back to them. The love of these soul parts, are like lost children who have found their way home. It is so beautiful.

Then we support the client to begin the process of integrating this new energy, by first just allowing the energy to sink down into their bones and cells. To go deep.

Then I support them to connect to each soul part, asking them what do they need to feel loved and safe. It’s all about wanting to be responsible for being here, to be willing to be “seen” and share our gifts with the world.

Everyone is different in how long they take to integrate the soul parts back into their being. It all depends on their own psyche.

I encourage time in nature to just be with the new energy. To have quiet time to allow them to speak what they need, since they have come back home.

It is a powerful time to create new patterns and let go of old ways that no longer serve them.

We also look at stolen souls and curses that may have been put on a person or family. These can all prevent a person from living a healthy life and are energies that are “unseen” but very real.

The land and places where there has been tragedy are places that need soul retrieval also.

Soul Retrieval is a path to transformation.

It is a part of the healing story.

Since my first soul retrieval, I have probably had ten or more as I patched together my life. The shaman path is who I have become. And I am seeing the death and re-birth process  as a part of life.

I have been teaching soul retrieval for fifteen years in my training called The Shaman’s Circle.

I hope this encourages you to explore this powerful healing tool.

And, I am happy to say, it was totally worth it!!