Category Archives: Yoginis

Tibetan Chöd practice – cutting through the ego

Every Sunday night, the nuns of Shugsep Nunnery and Institute in northern India practice a special ritual called Chöd (pronounced chö) also known as “The Beggars Offering” or “Cutting Through the Ego.”

Chöd, which literally means “cutting through”, is a spiritual practice that aims at cutting through the hindrances or obscurations of self-cherishing thought and ignorance, the greatest obstacles on the path to enlightenment.Chod, Buddhist nun, Tibetan Nuns Project, Brian Harris, Shugsep Nunnery, nun prayers

The tantric practice of Chöd originated in India but was greatly developed in Tibet by the great female practitioner or yogini of the 11th century, Machig Labdrön. She originated a new lineage of the practice that is the only tantric Buddhist practice that was introduced back to India from Tibet.

Shugsep Jetsun Rinpoche (1852–1953), Abbess of Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet, was also an exemplary practitioner of Chöd and was a recognized incarnation of Machig Labdrön.

In the Chöd ritual, practitioners visualize symbolically offering their own bodies, for the sake of others, as a tantric feast to sentient beings. This is a brave way to exchange oneself for others and develop compassion, and a quick method to realize emptiness.Chod ritual at Shugsep Nunnery
During the ritual, the nuns immerse themselves in a combination of chanting, music, prayer and visualizations. It is said that by engaging every aspect of one’s being this practice can effect a “powerful transformation of the interior landscape.”

While reciting the Chöd rite the nuns are accompanied by the sound of several Tibetan instruments: the damaru or hand drum, the kangling, a reed instrument, and the Chöd drum, which is larger than the hand drum.

There are both simple and elaborate forms of the practice. In the elaborate form, the Chöd practice is accompanied by offerings of ritual barley cakes, fruit, and other foods, and also involves a special Chöd dance performed as an offering to the spiritual teachers, deities, dakinis, and dharma protectors.chod altar at Shugsep photo TNP
This special dance is sometimes performed during funeral processions and involves visualizations of dakinis leading the spirit of the deceased person to a pure realm. This ritual is felt to remove the inner, outer, and secret obstacles of the deceased person.
Chod practice, Shugsep, Buddhist nun, prayer, chanting, Tibetan bell, Brian Harris, Tibetan Nuns Project

About Shugsep Nunnery

Shugsep Nunnery and Institute in northern India is one of the two nunneries built and fully supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project. Many of the nuns now in India came from the original Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet. They had been expelled by Chinese authorities for their political activities on behalf of Tibet and escaped over the Himalayas to practice their religion in India.

Shugsep Nunnery was re-established in India in 1992 and the newly built nunnery was inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on December 7 2010.

This important Nyingma nunnery traces its rituals and practice to some of the most illustrious female practitioners in Tibetan history. In the 20th century, Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet was home to one of the most famous teachers of her time, Shugsep Jetsunma.

Following the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1959, the nuns were forced to leave Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet and the nunnery was completely destroyed. Although the nunnery was partially rebuilt in the 1980s by the nuns themselves, the nuns faced frequent harassment by Chinese authorities.

Shugsep Jetsun, the Story of a Tibetan Yogini

The great female master Shugsep Jetsun Rinpoche (1852–1953) was revered as one of the last century’s best known woman teachers. She was the Abbess of Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet and passed away in 1953 at the age of 101.Tibetan yogini Shugsep Jetsun

Jetsun means “reverend” or “venerable”. She was also known as Lochen Chönyi Sangmo, as Ani Lochen (Ani means “nun”), and as Jetsun Rigdzin Chönyi Sangmo. Many consider her one of the most influential women in Tibetan spiritual history.

This great yogini was a recognized incarnation of Machig Labdrön, a renowned Tibetan Tantric yogini born in 1055. She was also an exemplary practitioner of Chöd, also known as “The Beggars Offering” or “Cutting Through the Ego.”

Many extraordinary stories are told of her remarkable abilities, such as the time on retreat when she left her body and “died” for a period of three weeks and visited the Copper Coloured Mountain Paradise of Guru Padmasambhava.

The late Tibetan scholar, Lobsang Lhalungpa, visited Shugsep Jetsun in the early 1940s at Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet and he wrote of her great spiritual beauty, even into old age. He said, “During my first two-week visit, I met with Jetsun Lochen for several hours a day, sometimes in the company of her main disciples. She was an extraordinary woman, small in stature, with a serene face radiating compassion and sensitivity. Only her white hair betrayed her age… In her presence we felt an awesome power that permeated our whole stream of being… Her teachings and blessings have given me inner strength and inspiration ever since. To me she was the personification of the great woman teachers of Tibet.” Continue reading