Wylie:Gcod kyi lus sbyin gyi ngag 'don mu tig phreng ba
Karma Chakme, or Rāga Asya (1613–1678), was a remarkable scholar and yogin with an enormous literary output that covered a wide variety of topics from both the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. He founded the monastery of Nedo (mNas mdo dgon) in 1662, which became the locus of the Nedo Kagyu subsect and enabled the continuation of his teachings and practices (gnas mdo or chags med lugs). His Nyingma practices are continued by the Palyul tradition. Two entire volumes of his collected writings are devoted to Severance, and perhaps even more are not found there. It seems that the safest attribution of an unsigned Severance text is to Karma Chakme.
Pearl Rosary represents the now classical form of a Severance ritual to offer one’s body, to be done as either a group or an individual practice. It is not particularly specified as a healing ritual for the sick, as the previous text is, yet it contains many of the same prayers and liturgies, including most of the Ninefold Spirit Feast (here attributed not to Rangjung Dorje but to his student Yakde Paṇchen). The general order of practice is similar to most later Severance practices, even in the very condensed sādhanas, and matches the descriptions in Machik’s Complete Explanation. Authors of these rituals may expand any of the requisite sections almost indefinitely, adding the familiar prayers and praises that have become the classic fare of Severance. After the crucial separation of body and mind, the multiple transformations and offerings of the corpse that is left—as mandala, as ḍākinī feeding, as feast, and so on—can be confusing in their repetitiveness. Yet they reflect the many kinds of offering rituals to be found in Tibetan Buddhism, all of which are fulfilled by these offerings of one’s own body.
- Translator's notes
- Note from Ringu Tulku
- The Chod Series Giving the Body Away Practice Called "The String of Pearls".
- Other notes
- BDRC Link
- VolumeI1CZ3976
- BDRC Content Information
- No note on contents
Information about Unicode Tibetan and the digitization of this text
As the only available unicode Tibetan text at the time, Nitartha International's version of the Paro Edition of the gdams ngag mdzod is provided here. However, note that it has not been thoroughly edited and that there may also be mistakes introduced through the conversion process. Eventually we will provide a fully edited version of the entire Shechen Edition, entered and edited multiple times by Pulahari Monastery in Nepal, but as of fall 2017 that project has not been finished. Note that the folio numbers that appear throughout were added by Nitartha Input Center at the time of input.
Provided by Nitartha International Document Input Center. Many thanks to Lama Tenam and Gerry Wiener for help with fonts and conversion.
