Product Description

How is it that a person can meditate for five, ten, twenty years or more--and hardly change? Because they've reduced it to "a mental gymnastic," explains Reggie Ray. In Touching Enlightenment, the esteemed author of five books on Buddhist history and practice guides readers back to the original approach of the Buddha: a systematic process that results in a profound awareness "in our bodies rather than in our heads." Combining the scholarship he's renowned for with original insights from nearly four decades practicing and teaching meditation, Reggie Ray invites readers to explore: * The body as the ideal place for spiritual pilgrimage * How to cultivate imagination, deal with pain, breathe more naturally, and other essential skills * Why "rejected" experience becomes imprinted in the body--and the steps to release it "To be awake, to be enlightened, is to be fully and completely embodied. To be fully embodied means to be at one with who we are, in every respect, including our physical being, our emotions, and the totality of our karmic situation," writes Reggie Ray. Readers everywhere now have a map of unprecedented clarity and power for embarking on the journey toward ultimate realization in and through the body, with Touching Enlightenment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39088 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 395 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Ray, a student of Tibetan Buddhist master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, has written several other books and very evidently knows a great deal about meditation and the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as passed down by his unconventional guru. This book about the ultimate nonconceptual wisdom—what we can know in our bodies —is, paradoxically, highly conceptual and very slow going. The prose is labored (a clear and accurate conceptual understanding of the subtle processes involved is necessary so we have the apparatus to receive, comprehend and give voice to our experience). Frequently, Buddhist teachers use concrete examples or real-life stories to illustrate difficult or subtle points. Ray shares one important anecdote from his own life, but more tales from his or his students' lives would help. The critique of Western overdependence on thinking is certainly familiar, so the author's starting point is not new. The visualization exercises he offers in the book's appendix are comparatively fresh. But these instructions are probably more effective heard than read, and Ray's publisher indeed offers an audio program of related meditation practices. This book could use hard editing and clearer, more concrete language and examples. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Reginald A. Ray, Ph.D. is one of the most innovative and experienced meditation teachers currently teaching in the West, drawing on thirty-eight years of study within the Tibetan tradition and many years of solitary and group retreat practice. He teaches within the dharma and meditation lineages of the great siddha Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. On the faculty of Naropa University since its beginning, he is the author of Indestructible Truth (Shambhala, 2002), Secret of the Vajra World (Shambhala, 2002), Buddhist Saints in India (Oxford University Press, 1999), In the Presence of Masters (Shambhala, 2004), and other books.

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive and immensly helpful
I don't give many reviews unless I consider what I've just read as great or awful. This book is great. If you wish to develop a meditation practice that will retain your enthusiasm for what many consider a boring exercise, this book could very well be for you. It first provides the basis for this particular practice then, at the end, provides a few sample meditations. I have been practicing zen for a year; the instruction given by Reginald A. Ray is compatible with my zen practice. It is based on the basic teachings of the Buddha which incorporate the mind with the body which is the first step toward developing mindfulness in one's life with, gradually, the reduction of mental and physical pain. I have found it so helpful that I will be going to one of Dr. Ray's teaching retreats when he comes to NYC.

Please ignore the Publisher's Weekly review
I strongly echo the sentiments in Mr. Bucher's review. This is an important book. Mr. Ray appears to be a rare example of someone who is both a serious scholar and a deep practitioner. By the latter, I mean someone who is not just talking about the realization that is contemplated by Buddhist philosophy as an intellectual exercise, but who has experienced it personally through his practice. Anyone who has embarked on that path with any seriousness comes to realize that language and ideas, no matter how eloquent, can't change us in the ways described by the Buddha; only direct experience, unmediated by the conceptualization implied by language, can be transformative. The practices Mr. Ray discusses, derived from Tibbetan Yoga traditions, are a very direct path to this experiential wisdom. Ray seems also well positioned to speak to the particular needs of the modern person, including Westerners. His body-based approaches also, as eluded to by Mr. Bucher, seem especially appropriate for people who have experienced trauma. Although not discussed in the book, this is consistent with recent neuropsychological research, which is revealing the extent to which emotions and "unconscious" material are experienced and held throughout the nervous system, and hence, the body (see, e.g., the work of Allan Schore [[Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self: The Neurobiology of Emotional Development; and Bessel Van Der Kolk Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society.

I'm not sure how objectively I can evaluate the "tone" of the book--which two reviewers describe as a bit intellectual--having seen Mr. Ray at several talks prior to reading it. In person, he is warm, engaging, humorous, and most essentially, human. In fact, he emphasizes that the purpose of these practices is not to transcend our humanity, but to become fully human for the first time. I personally experienced the tone of the book in the same way I experienced Mr. Ray in person, but it's possible one may have colored the other.

I found this book, and most especially the practices Ray describes and teaches, to be extremely beneficial to my personal practice and growth. I'm not sure where the Publisher's Weekly reviewer is coming from, but my best suggestion is to ignore that review and read this book.

Excellent analyis of Buddhism in relation to the body
Reginald Ray's thoroughly researched book discusses the Buddha's teachings on attaining enlightenment through the body. This is an interesting angle and makes for a fascinating and useful book. The book has an academic tone, and feels very intellectual and analytical. The book resembles a dissertation that has been turned into a book (which isn't a bad thing, but does reflect on the overall tone of the book). Despite being a rigorous analysis of the body and enlightenment as it appears in Buddhist literature, the book contains many useful descriptions of hands on techniques. I suffer from chronic pain issues and found many of the techniques extremely helpful. I've often read about creating a shift in consciousness in relation to pain in the body - and I've never quite been able to grasp a "healthier" approach to physical pain. Touching Enlightenment is the first text to actually lead me to a different consciousness in regards to approaching physical pain. As a consequence, I feel a new level of relief and comfort in relation to my body and illness. Having these techniques, and the experience of practicing them, placed within the larger context of Buddhist theory was also helpful. Ray is strongest when discussing Buddhist literature, but is less successful when describing the emotional issues in his own life. That being said, this book is a welcome addition to the literature on Buddhist theory. People interested in yoga therapy and other healing modalities will also find Touching Enlightenment to be essential.