In honor of Machig Labdrön’s birthday, on May 18th, we will gather together to practice the Garland of Jewels (Rinchen Trengwa) sadhana as a way to celebrate and share her living oral tradition of Chöd.

The Garland of Jewels holds a unique position in Machig Labdrön’s lineage. At the time of the 3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339), Machig’s teachings had become well known and widely practiced throughout Tibet. However, in many contexts it had become mixed with other traditions making it hard to distinguish the original Chöd teachings, which wove together the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutras with the Secret Mantrayana, from other non Buddhist traditions.

Seeing the need to counteract the watering down of Machig’s original Chöd teachings, Rangjung Dorje decided to gather together the authentic Chöd practices from a number of sources and he then strung them together in what he called the Garland of Jewels. This tradition became a stronghold for the authentic transmission of Machig Labdrön’s Chöd tradition. After the time of Rangjung Dorje, the Garland of Jewels also became one of the main repositories of the original and early poetry of Machig Labdrön’s Chöd tradition as well as the original melodies and rhythms so unique to Chöd.

Later, the 8th Karmapa Mikyo Dorje (1507–1554) and the master Karma Chagme (1613-1678) played vital roles in editing, elucidating, and arranging the material found in the Garland of Jewels. Later, Terdak Lingpa (1646–1714) and his younger brother Lochen Dharmashri (1654–1717) continued to uphold this tradition by offering further clarification on the secret experiential oral instructions of this practice. In this way, the living Garland of Jewels tradition is one of the most authentic actively practiced traditions of Chöd that came directly from Machig Labdrön and the early lineage masters. The recitation of the Garland of Jewels is a wonderful and rare opportunity to receive the blessings that come directly from the primordial wisdom dakini Machig Labdrön.

Please note: Everyone is welcome to attend. If you have a Chöd drum and bell, we encourage you to bring them or you may purchase them in our Dakini Store.