What is Chod?

Chod is an ancient Buddhist practice that creates a sacred container for deep healing and awakening. Rooted in the fierce and nurturing wisdom of the feminine, it invites us to find true refuge within ourselves. Through ritual, meditation, and visualization, practitioners learn to turn toward—rather than away from—fear, grief, and other unwanted experiences. This radical act of compassion transforms pain at its roots, allowing the energies of suffering to become the fertile ground for love, clarity, and liberation.

Often described as one of the crown jewels of Vajrayana Buddhism, Chod has been revered across all four Tibetan lineages for centuries. Traditionally transmitted only after years of practice, Chod is now being offered more publicly as a medicine for our collective time of instability and fragmentation. The practice calls on the great mother archetype of Tibetan Buddhism—the embodiment of fearless wisdom and unconditional care—to guide practitioners in cutting through the roots of ego-clinging and restoring wholeness. In this retreat, Sunisa will skillfully guide participants through Chod practice and ceremony, providing traditional context and embodied instruction.

Who is Chod Healing for?

This retreat is open to all meditators and spiritual practitioners ready to commit to deep inner work. It is not necessary to have completed ngondro, the preliminary practices of the Vajrayana, for Chod Healing. Sunisa will do the Chod ceremony. Chod Healing is for anyone who feels ready to call up their pain and work with it the ceremony.

Chod Healing may be especially supportive for those who feel stagnant in their practice, survivors of trauma seeking embodied release, and anyone drawn to ceremonies that transform personal and collective pain into wisdom and compassion. While there are no formal prerequisites, participants should have familiarity with silent sitting and mindfulness practice. The Chod Healing retreats includes sustained periods of meditation and visualization.

Chod is an invitation to bring up that which we fear to work on it. This can be intense. We recommend that participants have a history of therapy. It might be nice to be supported by therapy before and after the retreats. Participants should give themselves space when returning back to regular life to let the Chod energy settle and integrate.