Fierce Compassion: Comprehensive Dzogchen Chod Training

A Complete Path to Authentic Practice

With Pema Khandro Ph.D. & Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee

4 Modules

June 9 – October 13, 2025

Embark on a transformative five-month journey into the heart of Dzogchen Chod with Tulku Pema Khandro, Ph.D, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee, and the Buddhist Studies Institute. This comprehensive Chod training offers a rare opportunity for an in-depth immersion in the Dzogchen Chod system, Healing Chod, and the Secret Black Dakini Teachings. Take your Chod practice to the next level and cultivate fierce compassion and psychological transformation while studying the Tibetan tradition. 

The Power of Chod: Cutting Through Fear

In a world increasingly defined by uncertainty and anxiety, Chod provides profound methods to reclaim your intrinsic wisdom and awaken innate courage. This dynamic Tibetan meditation practice literally means “cutting” – a powerful metaphor for severing the source of fear and hesitation.

Cut Through Fear with Timeless Practices

Train with an Authentic Lineage Holder

Teachings Rarely Taught in the West

Transform Through Radical Compassion

Cut Through Fear — Embrace Clarity

Join a rare opportunity to study authentic Chod with Tulku Pema Khandro, Ph.D. and Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee!

Chod encompasses a vast realm of knowledge essential for profound inner transformation, performing healing rituals, purifying sacred spaces, and conducting funerary practices. Until now, accessing these complete teachings typically required decades of immersion in traditional Asian settings.

This exceptional training brings the comprehensive Chod tradition directly to you, accessible in online and hybrid formats. While many practitioners currently piece together Chod knowledge from fragmented sources, our program offers you a holistic, structured approach within a supportive community environment.

Our curriculum preserves all vital components of authentic Chod practice:

  • Philosophical foundations and theoretical frameworks
  • Traditional melodic chanting and sacred instruments
  • Precise visualization techniques and embodied practices
  • Ritual dances and movement sequences
  • Complete ceremonial procedures

By participating in this rare training opportunity, you’ll gain everything needed to engage confidently in the genuine Chod tradition—a complete system of spiritual practice that has been carefully preserved in its integrity rather than diluted or simplified.

Flexible, Accessible Learning Format
This training offers a dynamic format accessible from home through live classes, recorded classes, solo-retreats and remote partner sessions. The first session of every module includes the lung, the oral initiation that gives permission to practice. This session must be attended live. The subsequent sessions may be attended live or asynchronously.

No more piecing together partial understandings or navigating this profound path alone. Join us to receive the complete transmission of this extraordinary lineage of practice.

What You Will Learn in Tibetan Chod Training

Module 1 – Troma Nagmo: Embodying the Blue-black Wisdom Mind

Module 2 – The Ritual Cham Dance of Chod with Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee

Module 3 – Laughter of the Dakinis – The Dzogchen Nyingthig Chod

Module 4 – Funerary Chod: Working with Death & Dying

Module 1 – June 9, 16, 23, 30

For four weeks, enter the world of Chod through the Three Dakini Chod the concise practice from the Jeweled Garland of Chod tradition (Rinchen Trengwa). This is one of the oldest continuous Chod lineages shared by the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages. It stems from the time of the third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339) who compiled the teachings and was edited and continued by the great Nyingma Master, Terdak Lingpa (1646-1714). Elements of the Rinchen Trengwa were also mixed with Dzogchen Nyingthig (rdzogs chen snying thig) practices such as the hundred thousand dakinis liturgy.

Students will learn the Chod worldview and be guided in how to select and use the chod damaru, bell, and kangling. The will be introduced to the lineage of Chod and the practice of the deity yoga of Troma Nagmo, the blue-black dakini of fierce compassion and embodied realization of emptiness.

The three Dakini Chod practice also includes the Prajnaparamita practice for purification of negative karma. It also has a profound, simple and direct Phowa practice, preparation for liberation at death. Following this it includes a red dakini meditation for magnetizing abundance. It concludes with the concise wrathful black dakini practice of Troma Nagmo for taming, commanding, and liberating demons.

The Troma Nagmo deity yoga is a swift path to to transform fear into wisdom. It is a practice for recognizing primordial awareness through a robust identity with one’s buddha nature. It is a method for purifying deep karmic obscurations by cutting through the fictive self to experience one’s being in an expansive confidence. Troma Nagmo deity yoga directly addresses deep-seated trauma patterns and unresolved emotions by addressing them at their root.
The Troma Nagmo deity yoga connects us to the ancient dzogchen dakini lineage as a method for removing obstacles and awakening intrinsic power. It enhances emotional resilience through engaging directly with fears to cultivate an unflinching presence.

The Troma Nagmo deity yoga is a method to cultivate the ability to benefit others through fierce compassion, training the capacity to turn towards rather than turning away.
Practitioners will learn Tibetan, English and secular version of the practice to perform for oneself or lead as a guided meditation.

Module 2 – Mon & Tues – July 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29

Experience the profound tradition of Chöd Cham, an extraordinary form of meditation-in-movement where sacred dance meets transformative Buddhist practice. These remarkable ritual performances, emerging from Tibet’s great female master Machig Labdrön, combine haunting melodies, sacred drums, bells, and dramatic ceremonial movements to enact the practitioner’s offering of the body as a feast for all beings. The dances embody core Buddhist teachings on emptiness and compassion through their sophisticated choreography, where practitioners move through precise mudras (hand gestures) and steps that represent the cutting through of ego-clinging. Traditionally performed in charnel grounds and other challenging locations, these sacred dances continue to transmit their powerful method for transforming fear into wisdom, demonstrating how ritual movement can become a vehicle for profound spiritual realization.

1-Subduing the place
2-Dance of the five direction
3-Stamping the Phurba
4-Double dorjee dance
5-Chain of the Vajara
6-Walk of fire
7- Walk of Heroes
8-Walk of Dakinis
9-Walk of Mahasiddhas
10-Walk of Snake
11- Fly Vulture

The Vulture Dance forms the climactic finale of the Chöd Cham, embodying the ultimate transformation of consciousness through the sacred movement of the ‘Queen of the Charnel Grounds.’ In this powerful culmination, the practitioner embodies the wisdom dakini in the form of a vulture—Tibet’s sacred sky-dancer and consumer of the dead—performing a series of sweeping movements that represent the culmination of offering and the perfection of wisdom. Through precise choreography that mimics the vulture’s soaring flight and fearless nature, this dance symbolizes the practitioner’s complete victory over ego-clinging and the realization of emptiness, while the vulture’s role as consumer of corpses represents the ultimate transformation of attachment into wisdom. As the dance reaches its apex, it manifests the essential meaning of Chöd: the union of emptiness and compassion, where all fear dissolves into boundless space.

Module 3 – July 28, Aug 18, 25, Sept 8

Module three will focus on the Laughter of the Dakinis, the Dzogchen Chod lineage based on the Longchen Nyingthig treasures of Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798). Central to the Nyingma Chod lineage, Laughter of the Dakinis is practiced all over the world including its practices by yogis living in Tibet today. Learn the haunting melodies and instrumentation of this classical practice used for psychological transformation, healing oneself and others, blessing sites for homes and businesses, and conducting funeral rites for the deceased. The Laughter of the Dakinis is a method for cutting through conceptual mind to direct recognition of nature of mind. It is a path of transforming suffering into wisdom

Module 4 – Sept 22, 29, Oct 6 – Closing Session Oct 13

Discover the profound tradition of funerary Chöd, an extraordinary Buddhist practice that transforms our understanding of death, consciousness, and compassion. This ancient Tibetan ritual system, emerging from the wisdom tradition of Machig Labdrön, offers sophisticated techniques for working with death and dying that remain remarkably relevant for contemporary end-of-life care. Through studying traditional texts and practices, you’ll learn how Chöd practitioners serve as guides for the dying and recently deceased, using specialized meditation techniques, sacred sound, and precise visualization practices to assist consciousness at the time of death. This training explores how Chöd’s unique approach to death transcends cultural boundaries, offering practical and profound methods for transforming fear into wisdom while providing essential tools for those working in hospice, death care, or contemplative approaches to end-of-life support. The course bridges traditional Buddhist understanding with contemporary applications, revealing how ancient wisdom can inform modern approaches to death and dying.

Philosophical Foundations and Theoretical Frameworks

  • Historical and philosophical foundations of Chod
  • Chod’s relationship to Vajrayana Buddhism and non-dual wisdom
  • Understanding emptiness in Buddhist psychology
  • Working with the fictive good self & bad self dynamics in meditation
  • Dzogchen vs. Sutra & Mahayana views of emptiness
  • Demons as mind manifestations
  • Navigating outer obstacles through Chod practice
  • Life application & practical boundaries

Black Wrathful Dakini Diety Yoga

  • Deity Yoga of Black Vajrayogini, Troma Nagmo
  • Direct method for transforming ordinary perception
  • Connect with intrinsic bravery
  • Means to awaken fierce compassion
  • Transform self-image and limiting beliefs
  • Develop positive qualities through embodied spaciousness
  • A structured method for working with mind
  • Combines visualization, mantra, and contemplation

Traditional Melodic Chanting and Sacred Instruments

  • How to use the damaru and bell (drilbu)
  • Symbolism and care of drum and bell
  • Selection and decoration per Jigme Lingpa’s instructions
  • Kangling (thighbone trumpet): types, symbolism, usage
  • Dzogchen Nyingthig ritual melodies
  • Tibetan pronunciation & English mantras

Funerary Chod Practices

  • Phowa: Consciousness transference at death
  • Methods for transforming fear of death
  • Deepens understanding of impermanence
  • Transforms relationship with mortality
  • Develops fearlessness around death
  • Provides tools for working with loss
  • Prepares for one’s own death
  • Funerary Chod for the deceased
  • Methods for working with grief and loss
  • Techniques for post-death ritual support

Key Chod Texts and Ceremonial Procedures

  • Concise Rinchen Trengwa Chod
  • Purification pratice of Prajnaparamita
  • Magnetizing practice of Red Vajrayogini
  • Transforming obstacles practice of Troma Chod
  • Laughter of the Dakinis (concise English + long Tibetan)
  • The Secret Chod: direct path through fear + arousing intrinsic courage
  • Troma Nagmo Deity Yoga

Embodied Practice and Chod Ceremonies

  • Chod dances to begin retreats
  • Four Feasts: White, Red, Black, Striped
  • Dance of the Phurbas
  • Five Wisdom Dakinis
  • Five Elements practices
  • Modern adaptations of Chod for contemporary settings

Certification Requirements

  • Dzogchen Chod Retreat in person or online with Pema Khandro
  • 17 Monday practice sessions, Jun 9-Oct 13, 7-8:30pm PST
  • 20+ Self-paced video classes
  • Transmission from a qualified lineage holder
  • Oral initiations (lung) and permission to practice
  • Four solo chod retreats
  • Solitary practice of the 108 Charnel Grounds Chod

Co-requisites

To complete certification and for students who want to fully integrate the practices into their lives, attendance at at least one in-person Chod retreat with Pema Khandro must be completed.

The next two opportunities for in person Chod retreats are:

  • San Diego and Online: May 28 – Jun 1, 2025
  • Khandro Ling, Virginia and Online: March 18-22, 2026

What You’ll Experience

  • Annual Chod Retreat in person: Immerse yourself in the core practices and teachings that form the foundation of this transformative tradition
  • Troma Nagmo Teachings: Receive rare instruction on the black wrathful dakini from the Jeweled Garland of Chod and the Dzogchen Troma tantra
  • Optional Guided Solitary Retreat Journey: Deepen your practice with an extended training period following the main training. Complete 108 Charnel ground practice and four solitary chod retreats while meeting weekly with your chod practice partners. 

The Lineage Holder and Teacher

The Chod training is designed and taught by Pema Khandro with practice sessions led by her senior students, the Buddhist Studies Institute faculty. 

Tulku Pema Khandro, Ph.D is an internationally renowned teacher and scholar of Buddhist philosophy. She is the founder of Ngakpa International and its three projects, The Buddhist Studies Institute, Dakini Mountain, and the Yogic Medicine Institute. In her work as a Buddhist teacher, she is an authorized Lama and lineage holder of the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions and was enthroned to carry on the lineage of her predecessor, the first Pema Khandro, an early twentieth-century yogini from Eastern Tibet, whose primary practices were Dzogchen and Chod. 

Pema Khandro has led a vibrant worldwide community since 1999. Through the Buddhist Studies Institute, she also offers a complete curriculum of training in Tibetan meditation and Buddhist Philosophy. She has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, a Master’s degree specializing in Tibetan studies, and a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Virginia. Today she is a Professor of Buddhist studies. Her scholarly research focuses on the history of Dzogchen and on Women in Tibetan Buddhism.

Guest Teacher

Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee is a Tibetan Yogi who specializes in the esoteric meditation known as Chod, severing the roots of suffering. He practices and teaches in the Charnel Grounds of Nepal and India and in his center in Boudha, the Khandro Labdron Shije Chod Institute. Since he is fluent in English, he offers a comprehensive training in all aspects of Chod for visitors from all over the world. His teachers are Lama Wangdu Rinpoche, Lama Chodak Rinpoche and Ani-Dawa, “Mo-mo-la,” who is a ninety-year-old yogini living in retreat in Nagakort. Learn more about his activities at his website: http://chodpa.blogspot.com/

Faculty Members

Aruna Rig’dzin was ordained in Nyingma Lineage by Pema Khandro Rinpoche in 2007.  A close student of Rinpoche since 2000, she is one of the Senior Faculty Members and Directors of the Buddhist Studies Institute. She is a NAMA certified Ayurvedic Practitioner and has over 19 years’ experience as an Advanced Yoga and Meditation Instructor.  Aruna is passionate about healing, sustainable living and giving people the tools to live a vibrant, healthy and joyous life.
Dr. Satya has been studying with Pema Khandro since 2001. She is a Senior Faculty Member and Director of Programs for the Buddhist Studies Institute since 2010. Satya has been the Clinic Director of the Yogic Medicine Institute since 2004. She is Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, as well as a NAMA certified Ayurvedic Practitioner and Panchakarma Specialist. She is the Retreats and Wellness Director at Dakini Mountain Retreat Center in the Tahoe National Forest.

About the Lineage

The Dzogchen Chod Lineage
This training presents the authentic Dzogchen Chod tradition, including:
  • The concise Three Dakinis Chod from the Rinchen Trenga
  • Exclusive teachings from the untranslated Troma tantra of the original Dzogchen Nyingthig corpus
  • Transmission and guided practice of Troma deity yoga meditation
  • The concise Khandro Geykyang (“Laughter of the Dakinis”) as taught by Pema Khandro
  • Powerful chanting in both English and Tibetan to connect with the lineage and integrate meaning
A Path of Profound Transformation

Learn the Secret Chod, a direct path to healing through fear. Through these embodied practices, you’ll develop tools to face death, meet your past with compassion, and transform psychological patterns that have limited your experience of freedom.

Join us for this extraordinary opportunity to study with a qualified teacher and engage with one of Buddhism’s most potent methods for psychological liberation and spiritual awakening.

About the Path

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You may question whether these sacred Tibetan practices can be genuinely transmitted through an online format. This is a valid concern, as Chod has traditionally been taught through direct, in-person transmission. However, Pema Khandro has carefully adapted these teachings for digital learning without compromising their essence or power. The training incorporates specific elements to ensure authentic transmission—including proper transmissions,  clear visualization guidance, precise audio recordings of chants and melodies, and detailed instruction on ritual movements. Many students have reported profound experiences and transformations through this online format, confirming that the heart of these practices remains intact and accessible regardless of physical distance.

What about background knowledge, time commitment, or ability to practice correctly without in-person supervision? Our program addresses these challenges through a thoughtfully structured curriculum that builds progressively, accommodating practitioners at all levels. Flexible scheduling options and comprehensive support materials ensure you can integrate the training into your life circumstances. The program includes regular Q&A sessions, detailed practice instructions, community connection opportunities, and personalized feedback to ensure you’re developing proper technique. Whether you’re new to Tibetan Buddhism or have years of experience, this carefully designed training provides the scaffolding needed to develop confidence and competence in these profound practices.

Vajrayana practice has many different expressions, some requiring elaborate visualizations that take hours to complete, while others like ngöndro demand a hundred thousand repetitions of a single practice. Chod stands apart as a more simple, direct path that distills the essence of Vajrayana wisdom. It is traditionally revered as containing all esoteric practices of Vajrayana in their pith form—seamlessly integrating elements from Mahayana, Tantra, and Dzogchen into one powerful method. This elegant efficiency is why Chod has been called “the swift path” and “the practice that contains all practices.” Rather than compartmentalizing spiritual development into separate techniques performed over decades, Chod offers a complete system within a single practice session. Its genius lies in how it simultaneously works with body, speech, and mind through ritual movement, melodic chanting, and profound visualization—all centered on the courageous act of confronting and transforming fear. This accessibility doesn’t diminish its depth; rather, Chod’s apparent simplicity conceals layers of profound wisdom that unfold naturally through consistent practice, making it particularly well-suited for modern practitioners seeking authentic Vajrayana without overwhelming complexity.

Tuition

Tuition – Intensive Study & Certificate Program

  • General Registration open through May 9: $2100
  • Late Registration May 10 – June 9: $2300
  • Pay Per Module: $599

Member Tuition – Special Pricing for Intensive Study & Certificate Programs

  • Snow Lion ($150/month): 50% off General Curriculum, 25% off Intensive Study & Certificate Programs
  • Sustainer ($250/month): 100% off General Curriculum, 40% off Intensive Study & Certificate Programs
  • Monthly Member dues must remain in good standing for the duration of the Intensive Study program in order to be certified
  • Pay Per Module
  • $599
  • Includes One of 4 Modules
  • Access to Course Materials for 2 Years
  • *Apply 25% Snow-Lion Membership Discount Code at checkout
  • *Apply 40% Sustainer Membership Discount Code at checkout
  • Register for Module 1

  • Whole Training
  • $2300
  • Includes Full Training and Certificate of Completion
  • Access to Course Materials for 2 Years
  • *Apply 25% Snow-Lion Membership Discount Code at checkout
  • *Apply 40% Sustainer Membership Discount Code at checkout
  • Get the Whole Training

  • Become a Sustainer Member
  • $1380
  • 40% Discount on Advanced Studies with Sustainer Membership
  • Access to Course Materials for 2 Years
  • *Monthly Member dues must remain in good standing for the duration of the program
  • Unlock Discount with Sustainer Membership
  • Become a Sustainer

Financial Aid Considerations: The course costs are set at a minimum fee already, with financial aid built into all tuition rates. Because we are a non-profit organization, the costs of all activities and overhead of our organization must be covered by the participants of the courses or donations and all courses are offered at below cost. For those who are experiencing genuine financial hardship and wish to enroll in the course for the online version, Scholarship applications are available. Applications must be received in advance. Programs are always free for monastics. Financial Aid Application: https://forms.gle/xwYaTamt2autMLKa program

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