Chod Practice Demystified: Severing the Ties That Bind

Welcome to the second installment in the Baal on Buddhism series in which I take complicated Buddhist topics and make them approachable to all. I was not initially intending on making this the second book in the series, in fact, I wasn't going to write this book until sometime in 2018. It has been on my list of books to write for several years, but an odd chain of synchronicities occurred in which pushed me to write this now.

I took it as a sign that my perspective on this practice is coming at the right time for many people. It also gave me the opportunity to reconnect with my own shadow self in the process. I keep myself to a disciplined schedule of writing, personal occult and meditation practice amongst other things. Sometimes, during this routine, certain things can be missed or fall to the side. This was an opportunity to slow down.

Chod is a very interesting practice within Tibetan Buddhism. Chod means to "Sever". It is a method of cutting through the ego so to speak. In the simplest of terms, it is a practice that allows you to release yourself from the negative effect of ego. When I say negative effects, I mean pretty much anything you may have an attachment to that is causing you pain in your life or perhaps you are avoiding. Often we are the source of our own pain.