Machig Labdron And The Foundations Of Chod

260 Pages·1995·7.23 MB·English

by  Jerome Edou

M CHIG LABDRÔN AND THE
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JÉRÔME EDOU

MACHIG LABDRON
and the Foundations of Chöd

MACHIG LABDRÖN
and the Foundations of Chöd
Jérôme Edou
Snow Lion Publications
Ithaca, New York
Snow Lion Publications
Post Office Box 6483
Ithaca, New York 14851 USA
607-273-8519
Copyright © 1996 Jérôme Edou
First Edition USA 1996
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any
means without prior written permission from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 1-55939-039-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Edou, Jérôme, 1952-
Machig Labdrôn and the foundations of Chod / Jérôme Edou
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-55939-039-5
1. Gcod (Buddhist rite) 2. Labdrôn Machig, 1055-1153.
I. Title.
BQ7699.G36E36 1995
294.3'923—dc20 94-40283
CIP
Table of Contents
Preface ix
INTRODUCTION
1. The Second Propagation of Buddhism in Tibet 1
2. Machig Labdron 3
3. The Chod Tradition 6
4. Chod as Viewed by the West 8
PART ONE: THE CHOD TRADITION
I. The Grand Poem on the Perfection of Wisdom by Aryadeva
the Brahmin 15
II. The Prajnaparamita 25
1. The Heart Sutra 25
2. The Mother of the Buddhas 28
3. The Indian Tradition 29
4. Dampa Sangye and the Tibetan Tradition 31
III. The Chod of Machig 39
1. The Practice of the Bodhisattvas 39
2. The Chod of Mahamudra 42
3. Union of Consciousness and Space 47
4. Transforming the Aggregates into an Offering of Food 50
IV. Gods and Demons 57
1. The Mad Saints 57
2. Cutting through Gods and Demons 63
3. The Four Demons of Chod 67
4. The Level of Final Accomplishment 72
V. Transmission 79
1. The Three Chod Traditions of Machig 79
The Sutra Tradition 81
The Tantra Tradition 85
The Combined Sutra and Tantra Tradition 88
2. Machig's Lineage Descendants 89
VI. Biographies of Machig 95
1. The Marvelous and the Imaginary 95
2. The Dakini of Primordial Wisdom 100
3. The Tradition of The Grand Exposition 105
4. Comparative Study of the Tibetan Sources 110
PART TWO: THE MARVELOUS LIFE OF MACHIG LABDRON,
A Translation of Chapters I and II of An Exposition of Transforming the
Aggregates into an Offering of Food, Illuminating the Meaning of Chod
VII. Machig's Previous Life, Her Birth and Early Years 119
1. The Previous Life 119
2. The Birth of Machig 122
3. Labdron 127
4. Dampa Sangye 131
5. The Initiation 133
VIII. Her Achievements 141
1. The Meeting with Thopa Bhadra 141
2. The Return to Lato 145
3. Zangri, the Copper Mountain 148
4. Arya Tara 150
5. Machig's Children 153
6. The Indian Acaryas 158
MACHIG'S LAST INSTRUCTIONS 165
Abbreviations 171
Notes 175
Tibetan-English Lexicon of Chod Terminology 209
Bibliography 219
General Index 233
Index of Tibetan and Sanskrit Names 239
To the mother of all the Victors of the three times,
The inconceivable and sublime Prajnaparamita,
I bow down in full prostration.
She, the very essence of space devoid of all origin and cessation,
The selfborn sphere of primordial wisdom.
Prajnaparamita or Yum Chenmo, the primordial mother of wisdom, from a rare Newari
manuscript. Photo courtesy ofR. A. Kluenter.
Special thanks to:
Human and non-human dakinis for their inspiration,
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso for the motivation,
Janet Gyatso for her compilation,
Tashi Tsering, Cyrus Stearns, Matthew Kapstein and Matthieu
Ricard for their suggestions,
Maruta Kalnins, Michelle Martin and Karry Moran for their
corrections,
Dolpopa Tenzin Norbu for the illustrations,
Snow Lion for the publication, and the editor, Susan Kyser, for
bringing it to completion,
Nicole, Jonathan and Kim for all the hours stolen from their
attention.