the chaos has come

Chöd Tibetan: གཅོད, lit. ‘to sever’, is a Tibetan spiritual practise primarily found in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism. According to Mahayana Buddhists, emptiness is the ultimate wisdom of understanding that all things lack inherent existence. Chöd combines Prajñāpāramitā philosophy with specific meditation methods and tantric ritual. The chöd practitioner seeks to tap into the power of fear through activities such as rituals set in graveyards, and visualisation of offering their bodies in a tantric feast in order to put their understanding of emptiness to the ultimate test. “External chod is to wander in fearful places where there are deities and demons. Internal chod is to offer one’s own body as food to the deities and demons. Ultimate chod is to realize the true nature of the mind and cut through the fine strand of hair of subtle ignorance.”  - UJetsun Milarepa (རྗེ་བཙུན་མི་ལ་རས་པ - 1052 – c. 1135 CE) Chöd is now a staple of the advanced sādhana (discipline) of Tibetan Buddhism. It is practiced worldwide following dissemination by the Tibetan diaspora. Vajrayogini is a key figure in the advanced practice of Chöd, where she appears in her Kālikā (pictured) or Vajravārāhī forms. This practice emphasizes cutting through grasping at the dualistic mind to realize complete selfless compassion.

Urama Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea.

Totoa “Chokwe Mask” Zambia

Senufo man wearing fire spitter mask (wanyugo) The man would dance around the cadaver and spit flames at the funeral of important Elders of Poro society in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Poro is a mens secret society.

Young boys returning from their initiation in the Poro. Panguma Villiage, Sierra Leone. 1936

Yoruba baby and mother wearing Gẹlẹdẹ mask Benin