Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body [Hardcover]

Reginald A. Ray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008

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

Editorial Reviews

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.)
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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.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 395 pages
• Publisher: Sounds True, Incorporated (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591796180
• ISBN-13: 978-1591796183
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful integration of Meditaiton and body, March 18, 2008

By 

B. Mathern (Seattle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body (Hardcover)

Reginald Ray has written a beautiful book full of important thoughts on how our bodies are front and center to the spiritual path. I cannot recommend this book enough for the spiritual seeker. So much of our time is spent moving away from our bodies as a result of pain or some other trauma. But the running away is the last thing we need to do. Going deeper into the wisdom of our body is the call by Mr. Ray and one that I find important. Our bodies are the gate way to truth inside ourselves.
I think Ray's book is timely in that so many seekers are searching for a deepening into the presence they find in their meditation. Yet unfortunately the body is not involved for many teachers and practitioners. But that should be the beginning point not an add on.

In Ray's words:
"It is my belief that we modern people can arrive at the full embodiment that has always been a possibility for our species. The impact and the implications of such a recovery are nothing less than revolutionary. For to recover our original or primary body as our own involves experiencing the totality of oneself, without judgment; living with a directness that is not filtered or distorted by the thinking mind; rediscovering ourselves within the network of relations with others; coming to awareness again of the primordiality of the natural world as a subject; and, perhaps most surprising, beginning to sense and see what has been called the "unseen world," the "other world," the world of "others" who, while not flesh and blood, are nevertheless living presences around us and with us, to inspire, guide, and protect. Recovering our basic, inborn body has, then, profound implications for healing the self, mending our broken relationships, restoring a healthy relationship to our world, seen and unseen, and healing the planet. All that we need is a method to enable us to reclaim our original body, the body that is our most basic being at this moment, but that we cannot clearly feel or see. That method is offered to us in the body work introduced in this book, the somatic practices of Buddhist meditation."

It is time to use our bodies for more than survival but as the real entryway for our experience.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent analyis of Buddhism in relation to the body, August 21, 2008

By 

Jessica Teel (Hawaii) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body (Hardcover)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars heartfelt, but only useful if you know very little on the subject, May 31, 2011

By 

Nicholas Van Borst (new york) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body (Hardcover)

Ray is a very charismatic person, a quality that translates into his writing. however, the book suffers from three major issues.

1) lack of originality- if you know a little about somatic psychology or have spent time in buddhist or bodywork communities, you probably won't read anything in this book you haven't heard before. Ray's coverage of the importance of the body in spirituality and the need to focus on the somatic dimension of experience is well written and at times quite engaging, and he clearly spent a great deal of time trying to present the information in as clear and detailed away as possible. however, he ends up saying very little.

2) overly polemical - some of his language verges on the kind of dualistic anti-westernism and anti-modernism (i.e. everything in our contemporary culture is bad, we need to return to a more holistic way of life etc.) that finds its worst expression in books like Gary Trudeau's 'Natural Cures'. I think the harshness of Ray's condemnation of 'modern life' stems mostly from a desire to get his point across. Ray would probably would agree that we need to have a balanced approach to these practices, and seek to correct some of the problems of post-industrial life without trying reject it entirely. but I think it's a mistake to be too polemical on this point because enthusiasm is infectious and the negative attitudes this kind of thinking engenders in students ultimately undermines the community.

3) vague - Ray's treatment of the subject is superficial; in fact, I was surprised that he managed to make the book as long as it was considering the relatively small amount of information presented. if you enjoy emotionally stirring writing on the subject of reconnecting with the body then you will probably find it captivating, but if you want specifics about the kinds of practices that support this experience, or want to read detailed and personal stories of transformation, you won't find them here.

if you are a spiritual practitioner who has never heard of body-oriented spirituality, or if you have an intuitive sense that the body is sacred and mysterious but have no experience with meditation, I would recommend this book as an introduction to the subject. however, if you have some experience with buddhism, yoga or bodywork, I would strongly recommend Tarthang Tulku's book 'Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga: A Complete Guide to Health and Wellbeing' over this one. it presents much of the same information in a much shorter space, and contains detailed and systematic instruction in over a hundred body awareness exercises. Ray's recordings 'Your Breathing Body' and 'Meditating with the Body' are also a lot "meatier" than this book.

I would also encourage anyone interested in these subjects to read Alexander Lowen's 'Bioenergetics' and the book 'Healing with Whole Foods'.