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my opinion on th matter.
"Those who died were killed by fear. Their vision were the creation of their own
imagination. He who does not believe in demons would never be killed by them."
I was much astonished when the anchorites replied in a peculiar tone of voice.
"According to that it must also follow that a man who does not believe in the existence of
tigers may feel confident that none of them would ever hurt him eyed: if he were
confronted by such a beast." . . .
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And he continued:
"Visualizing mental formations, either voluntarily or not, is a most mysterious process.
What becomes of these creations? May it not be that like children born of our flesh, these
children of our mind separate their lives from ours, escape our control, and play parts of
their own? . .
(See also in Chapter VIII what is said about tulpas.)
"Must we not also consider that we are not the only ones capable of creating such
formations? And if such entities exist in the world, are we not liable to come into touch
with them, either by the will of their maker or from some other cause? Could one of these
causes not be that, through our mind or through our material deeds we bring about the
conditions in which these entities are capable of manifesting some kind of activity?
"I will give you an illustration," he continued. "If you are living on a dry spot of ground at
some distance from the banks of a river, fishes will never approach you. But cut a channel
between the river and your dwellingplace and dig a pond in the dry spot of ground. Then,
as the water runs in it, fishes will come from the river and you will see them moving
before your eyes.
"It is only prudent to beware of opening channels without due consideration. Few, indeed,
suspect what the great store-house of the world which they tap unconsciously, contains."
And in lighter vein he concluded: " One must know how to protect oneself against the
tigers to which one has given birth, as well as against those that have been begotten by
others."
WITH MYSTICS AND MAGICIANS IN TIBET: CHAPTER IV: DEALING WITH GHOSTS AND DEMONS
The Dreadful Mystic Banquet
It is these theories and others akin to them which have determined the choice of the places
deemed proper as exercise grounds for mental wrestling with occult adversaries, as well as
the peculiar form of the rites to be practiced on these occasions.
The most fantastic of them is called chöd
(Written gchod.)
(cutting off). It is a kind of "Mystery" played by one actor only, the celebrant; and it has
been so cleverly devised
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to terrify the novices that one hears of men who have suddenly gone mad or died while
engaged in its performance.
A cemetery, or any wild site whose physical aspect awakens feelings of terror, is
considered to be an appropriate spot. However the place is thought even more suitable if it
is associated with a terrible legend or if a tragic event has actually happened there quite
recently.
The reason of this preference is that the effect of chöd, or kindred rites, does not depend
solely on the feelings aroused in the mind of the celebrant by the stern words of the
liturgy, nor upon the awe-inspiring surroundings. It is also designed to stir up the occult
forces, or the conscious beings which according to Tibetans may exist in such
places, having been enerated either by actual deeds or by the concentration of many
people's thoughts on imaginary events.
It follows that, during the performance of chöd, which I have compared to a drama
enacted by a single actor, the latter may happen to see himself suddenly surrounded by
players of the occult worlds who begin to play unexpected rôles. Whatever part auto-
suggestion and visualization may have in the production of these phenomena, they are
deemed excellent for the good result of the training; but the test proves too hard for the
nerves of some apprentice naljorpas and it is then that the accidents that I have mentioned
occur: of madness or death.
Like any other actor, the man who wants to perform chöd must first learn his rôle by heart.
WITH MYSTICS AND MAGICIANS IN TIBET: CHAPTER IV: DEALING WITH GHOSTS AND DEMONS
Then he must practice the ritual dance, his steps forming geometrical figures, and also
turning on one foot, stamping and leaping while keeping time with the liturgic recitation.
Finally, he must learn to handle, according to rule, the bell, the dorjee, and the magic
dagger (phurba), to beat rhythmically a kind of small drum (damaru) and to blow a
trumpet made of a human femur (kangling).
The task is not easy; I lost my breath more than once during my apprenticeship.
The lama teacher who directs the drill must be a kind
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of ballet master. But around him are to be seen no smiling dancing girls in pink tights. The
dancers are young ascetics emaciated by austerities, clad in ragged robes, their unwashed
faces lighted by ecstatic, hard, resolute eyes. They are preparing themselves, as they think,
for a perilous undertaking, and the thought of the dreadful banquet at which they must
offer their bodies to be devoured by the hungry demons haunts their minds.
In such conditions this "rehearsal," which might be comical, becomes rather lugubrious.
Lack of place prevents me from giving a translation of the text of chöd, in extenso. It
includes long mystic preliminaries during which the celebrant naljorpa " tramples down "
all passions and crucifies his selfishness. However, the essential part of the rite consists in
a banquet which may be briefly described as follows.
The celebrant blows his bone trumpet, calling the hungry demons to the feast he intends to
lay before them. He imagines that a feminine deity, which esoterically personifies his own
will, springs from the top of his head and stands before him, sword in hand.
With one stroke she cuts off the head of the naljorpa. Then, while troops of ghouls crowd
round for the feast, the goddess severs his limbs, skins him and rips open his belly. The
bowels fall out, the blood flows like a river, and the hideous guests bite here and there,
masticate noisily, while the celebrant excites and urges them with the liturgic words of
unreserved surrender:
" For ages, in the course of renewed births I have borrowed from countless living beings
at the cost of their welfare and life food, clothing, all kinds of services to sustain my
body, to keep it joyful in comfort and to defend it against death. To-day, I pay my debt,
offering for destruction this body which I have held so dear.
" I give my flesh to the hungry, my blood to the thirsty, my skin to clothe those who are
WITH MYSTICS AND MAGICIANS IN TIBET: CHAPTER IV: DEALING WITH GHOSTS AND DEMONS
naked, my bones as fuel to those who suffer from cold. I give my happiness to the
unhappy ones. I give my breath to bring back the dying to life.
" Shame on me if I shrink from giving my self ! Shame
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on you, wretched and demoniac beings,
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