This book is the first to trace the history of Chod practice in Tibet's indigenous Bon tradition. Chod ("Cutting Through") is a meditative practice in which the practitioner imagines offering their body in sacrifice through elaborate contemplative visualization. Although a meditative practice, Chod is not done just sitting comfortably on a cushion in a shrine room, but instead is often practiced in terryfying places like cemeteries, or charnal grounds. The feelings of fear that result are used by the Chod practitioner to cut through his or her own ego. Chod contains elements of early shamanism, of sutric and tantric teachings also found in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, and of the highest tradition of Dzogchen."In the last few years the interest in Chod has suddenly re-emerged, and a few books have been written about it from the Buddhist perspective. Chaoul's work on Chod from the Bon perspective could not be more timely. His thorough analysis of this syncretic and fascinating religious practice and the use of the metaphor of cutting as a way to go beyond assumed boundaries, provides a broader picture of Chod and sheds light on the interrelation of Buddhism and Bon." Giacomella Orofino, University of Naples.
