Chöd Retreat

This four-day non-residential retreat offers an opportunity to engage deeply with the practice of Chöd as transmitted in the Zurmang tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

Chöd is a profound Vajrayāna practice rooted in the Mahāmudrā tradition that works directly with fear, fixation, attachment, and self-grasping through visualization, chant, melody, meditation, and ritual offering. Emerging from the teachings of Machig Labdrön, the 11th-century female tantric adept, the practice is designed to help loosen the deeply conditioned habit of experiencing ourselves and reality as solid, separate, and existing independently of causes and conditions. Rather than rejecting, avoiding, or becoming overwhelmed by difficult experience, Chöd invites us to turn toward experience with openness, courage, compassion, and wisdom.

In times of uncertainty, conflict, fear, and increasing polarization, these teachings can be a powerful resource. Chöd offers a way of relating to difficulty that neither collapses into fear nor hardens into defensiveness. Instead, the practice supports recognition of a deeper dimension of our being that is not ultimately diminished or destroyed by changing conditions, allowing greater presence, compassion, resilience, and the capacity to remain open-hearted to emerge more naturally. At its heart, Chöd is not only a practice of transformation, but also a Mahāmudrā path of directly recognizing the nature of mind and the empty, luminous, and interconnected nature of experience itself.

Known for its vivid imagery, haunting melodies, and rhythmic musical accompaniment, Chöd engages body, speech, and mind together in an integrated way. These elements are not merely artistic or symbolic additions, but integral supports that allow the practice to become increasingly embodied and deeply transformative.

During this retreat, participants will receive the reading transmission (lung) and practical instruction (tri) for the practice. Teachings will explore both the meaning and structure of the text as well as the accompanying melodies, musical elements, and ritual forms that support the practice. We will also engage in the practice together each day, allowing participants to gradually become more familiar and comfortable with the liturgy, melodies, visualization, and meditative orientation of Chöd.

This retreat is intended both for those new to the practice and for those wishing to deepen an existing connection to Chöd within a supportive practice environment.

Please note that the empowerment (wang) connected with this practice is required and will be offered separately by Lama Tsang Tsing at Sukhasiddhi Foundation on July 26.

[INSERT TIMES] Pacific daily

Fees**

Basic Retreat: [INSERT FEE]
Sukhasiddhi Member: [INSERT FEE]
Benefactor: [INSERT FEE]
Limited Income: [INSERT FEE] (you must make less than $50,000 in income per year and show documentation of this)

If you have financial restrictions that make it difficult to pay the limited income fee, please send and email to admin@sukhasiddhi.org.