The Sound of Vultures' Wings offers the first in-depth exploration of the music of the Tibetan Chod tradition, which is based on the liturgical song-poems of the twelfth-century Tibetan female ascetic Machik Labdron (1055-1153). Chod is a musical/meditative Vajrayāna method for cutting off the root of suffering, namely, egoic identification with the body, or the belief that the "I" is the locus of the "self." Chod is regarded by many Tibetan Lamas as one of the most effective Buddhist practices for spiritual and social transformation. Jeffrey W. Cupchik details the significance of...