Kangling

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Kangling (Tibetan: རྐང་གླིང་།, Wylie: rkang-gling) is the Tibetan name for a trumpet or horn. It is made from a human tibia or femur and is used in Tibetan Buddhism for various chöd rituals and funerals performed by a chöpa. The leg bone of a deceased person is used.

Kangling (Tibetan: རྐང་གླིང་།, Wylie: rkang-gling) is the Tibetan name for a trumpet or horn. It is made from a human tibia or femur and is used in Tibetan Buddhism for various chöd rituals and funerals performed by a chöpa. The leg bone of a deceased person is used. Sometimes, the leg bone of a respected teacher is used. The kangling may also be made from wood.

The kangling is only used during chöd rituals performed outdoors with the chöd damaru and bell. In Tantric chöd practice, the practitioner, who is driven by compassion, plays the kangling to show fearlessness. This action calls hungry spirits and demons so that they can be fed, which helps reduce their suffering. It is also played to "cut off the ego."

A person from Katok Monastery named Chopa Lugu (17th to mid-18th century) is known for blowing the kangling and shouting during his pilgrimages. This disturbed the business traveler who was with him. Chopa Lugu became famous as "The Chod Yogi Who Split a Cliff in China (rgya nag brag bcad gcod pa)."

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