gÇodpa Naljorpa

A Ngak’phang gÇodpa

the moment before the demons are summoned

This unknown naljorpa wears the tod-kheb (sTod khebs – waistcoat), and gomthag (sGom thag) – or meditation belt – characteristic of the ngak’phang naljorpa tradition. Under the waistcoat he wears the naljorpa kar-tod or white shirt (dKar-tods – dKar po Tod thung) and also wears the kar-sham or white skirt (dKar po sham thabs) of the Naljorpa / naljorma tradition. This naljorpa is a practitioner of gÇod – the practice of cutting attachment to the corporeal form as a reference point. He is poised at the point before he begins to play the gÇod drum and plays a series of blasts on his human thigh bone trumpet to summon demons to devour the feast he has prepared for them – the feast of his own dualistic identity.