Tröma Nakmo Gar’cham

Tröma gÇod

Gar’cham

Ngak’chang Rinpoche once stated: gÇod is not a practice of Dharma we can apply within the cushioned comfort in our ever-so-commodious living rooms. Even graveyards in the West may not be such good places to engage in the practice of gÇod because they are relatively pleasant: manicured lawns, nice decorative stones, no hint of death or decay. One might even consider napping in a cemetery in the West. The charnel grounds in the East were much different. They were sites of great bestial behaviour. They were not quiet places, they were truly dangerous places for the living. Much noise and commotion would be occurring as animals ate the corpses.

The ethos of gÇod is inherent with that of Tröma Nakmo. She is a yidam whose quality is completely unconstrained and fully active. She mimics the activity of the animals one would find in a charnel ground, but instead feeds off of the blood of vow-breakers. For the average practitioner, this practice would be enacted to devour their own dualistic habits. Tröma is associated with Ati-yoga.