The Buddha as paradigm is nothing new within the Buddhist tradition(s).

For the
Tibetan practice of Ch, we need look no further than the Jtaka tale of !rince
"ahsatt#a, who made the following wish$ %For the sake of all sentient beings in the
&harma world, '() * am seeking to attain the highest +a,. * will now gi#e up this
human bod, that the ignorant lo#e, in order to ha#e the great compassion for which the
sages stri#e,- (.amens, p. /01). "o#ed b, the suffering he saw, the prince laid down his
life, offering his bod, to a star#ing mother tigress$
2e '() broke off a stalk of dead bamboo and slashed his throat with it so that the
blood ran out, and again he went up and stood close b, the tiger. 3t that moment
the earth shook and rolled like wa#es and upon the sea when stirred b, the wind4
the light of the sun disappeared from the sk,, and there was darkness e#er,where4
flowers rained out of the sk, and fell in torrents all o#er the forest. '() +hen the
star#ing tiger saw the blood running from the prince5s throat, she lapped it up, and
then she de#oured his flesh, lea#ing onl, his bones. (.amens, p. /01)
6f all our m,riad possessions, the one most attached to and most closel, associated with
the self is the possession of one5s own bod,, which we seek to preser#e at all costs. Ch
is the practice of %cutting- off or through the self #ia #er, intense #isuali7ation, and thus
bringing one closer to the reali7ation of no8self. This meditation is carried out in
cemeteries and other places that instill great fear in the practitioner because such
en#ironments are conduci#e to e9cellent opportunities for the self to assert. Feeling
afraid and threatened b, the surroundings, the sense of self will make its presence readil,
apparent in an effort to be protecti#e. This brings about a chance for greater efficac, at
eradicating the ego when it rears its ugl, head out in the open, where it is e9posed and
therefore #ulnerable.
The cutting practice is a prime e9ample : especiall, in the setting of charnel
grounds and other places which e#oke trepidation and cultural taboo : of the tantric
propensit, for the transgressing of societal norms and the power gained through such
contra#ention. This also applies to the four pragmatic aims of tantra, specificall, the
aspect of ferocit,;destruction. The kusli5s accumulation of Ch mentioned b, !atrul
<inpoche e#en highlights tantric emphasis on female deities in the form of Trma
=agmo, the +rathful Black True "other who one #isuali7es as the embodiment of the
essence of their mental consciousness and cuts their bod, asunder.
The focus on the repulsi#eness of the bod, (as fat, greas, and huge) emphasi7ed
in Ch not onl, encourages non8attachment and helps the chpa ha#e an easier time
offering their bod,, but also demonstrates that their bod, will at some point become
grotes>ue to look at as it reaches the end of its use. This leads to a heightened
consciousness of the fact that the bod, of this life must ine#itabl, die, as is the case with
all things that are born. 3long with the setting of the 6uter Ch being in the charnel
ground, this portion of the beggar5s offering is e>ui#alent to the asubhabhvan practice
of meditation on the following t,pes of corpses mentioned in the Visuddhimagga$ %the
bloated, the li#id, the festering, the cut up, the gnawed, the scattered, the hacked and
scattered, the bleeding,- (Buddhagho?a, p. /@1). The maranasati practice also ties into
ego8cutting #ia one of the Aight +a,s of <ecollecting &eath$ %sharing the bod, with
man,$ creatures '() feeding on the inner skin, '() the outer skin '()4 on the flesh '(),
the sinews '(), the bones '( and) the marrow,- (Buddhagho?a, p. B1C).
Ch promotes the basic Buddhist principles of compassion in that not onl, is it a
#isuali7ation about gi#ing up one5s bod, and thus freeing from the conceptual burden of
one5s self, but further in actuall, offering that bod, : once so intimatel, connected with
the notion of self : to all the Buddhas, Bodhisatt#as, dkas;dkinDs, dharma protectors,
karmic debtors, and all beings in the si9 realms of e9istence (including e#en e#il spirits).
6ffering ,our horse or elephant is worth hundreds of other offerings4
6ffering ,our child or spouse is worth thousands4
6ffering ,our own bod, is worth hundreds of thousands. (!atrul <inpoche, p. BE@)
Fuch an act of offering for the sake of purif,ing and pa,ing off karmic obligations and
for satisf,ing the m,riad needs of others, without discrimination between enlightened and
samsaric beings and without showing a#ersion towards demons, is e9tremel,
compassionate and a great e9ample of bodhicitta. "achik Gabdrn states$
+ith the hook of compassion * catch those e#il spirits. 6ffering them m, warm
flesh and warm blood as food, through the kindness and compassion of bodhicitta *
transform the wa, the, see e#er,thing and make them m, disciples. Those
malignant spirits are for me the pri7e( (!atrul <inpoche, p. CHC)
The Buddhist principle of wisdom is shown throughout the ritual cutting of the
ego in the reali7ation that the %demons- to be destro,ed through the practice are none
other than the outer manifestations of belief in a self. 3 true chpa;chma therefore
recogni7es the #arious le#els of truth (outer, inner and secret) represented in the use of
the terms %demons- and %spirits- to refer to such conceptual pitfalls and obstructions. 3s
"achik Gabdrn sa,s$
%The man, spirits- means concepts4
%The powerful spirit- means belief in a self4
%The wild spirits- means thoughts.
To destro, these spirits is to be an adept of Ch. (!atrul <inpoche, p. CH0)
*ndeed, the terminolog, emplo,ed in talking about the ego8cutting helps point not onl,
toward no8self, but also sets up a framework in which one can acknowledge the different
le#els of truth operating in the world. 6utwardl,, the demons and spirits are #er, real
and can actuall, harm a person4 inwardl,, the, are all in one5s mind and can be a#oided,
functioning within the belief of the "ind86nl, (Iogacara;Cittamatra) school. But at the
le#el of ultimate truth, the demons are actuall, empt, and can be done awa, with once
and for all, as stated in the emptiness of the "iddle +a, ("adh,amaka). 3ccording to
the great saint, "ilarepa$
Take a demon as a demon and it5ll harm ,ou4
.now a demon5s in ,our mind and ,ou5ll be free of it4
<eali7e a demon to be empt, and ,ou5ll annihilate it. (!atrul <inpoche, p. CH0)
*n actuall, cutting through the misguided belief in self, one does awa, with all ignorance
and delusion.