Dzokden

The ancient practice of Chöd is one of the most extraordinary and rarely encountered paths in the entire Vajrayana tradition. Born from the fearless realisation of the 11th-century yogini Machig Labdrön, Chöd strikes at the very root of what binds us, the deeply held clinging to self that generates all suffering, fear, and confusion across our lives and countless lifetimes. We live in an age of extraordinary distraction, yet beneath the noise, the fundamental questions remain: What is the self we protect so fiercely? What would it mean to truly let go? Chöd does not offer a comfortable answer it offers a direct and embodied encounter with these questions, through sound, movement, ritual, and the living transmission of an unbroken lineage. This weekend retreat is a rare opportunity to step fully into that tradition. Over four immersive sessions across Saturday and Sunday, you will receive the Chöd lineage empowerment from Shar Khentrul Rinpoche, before moving progressively through instrument instruction, sadhana transmission, and culminating in a complete group Chöd practice, Q&A, and dedication of merit. Whether you come as a complete beginner or a seasoned practitioner, this weekend has the power to open something real.

What is Chöd?

Chöd (གཅོད་, pronounced ‘Chö’) means ‘to sever’ or ‘to cut’ and that single word points directly to its purpose: the complete severing of ego clinging and conceptual grasping at the very root of suffering. It is a practice unlike any other in the Vajrayana, originating with the great 11th-century Tibetan yogini Machig Labdrön, whose realisation was so radical, so complete, that she founded an entirely new lineage. Where most Dharma practices invite stillness, Chöd moves. The practitioner chants, drums, and wanders traditionally to wild and fearsome places, charnel grounds, mountain passes, cemeteries and there performs the ritual of offering the body itself to all sentient beings. It is an act of ultimate generosity and fearlessness, dissolving the illusion of a self. At the heart of this practice are the sacred instruments, the Chöd drum (damaru) and bell (drilbu). These are not accompaniments they are the voice and the heartbeat of Chöd itself, inseparable from the practice. To learn to play them is to begin to enter the transmission from the inside.