Mahamudra for the Modern World: An Unprecedented Training Course in the Pinnacle Teachings of Tibetan Buddhism

Since Breathing Body series came out in 2008, I have been practicing Reggie Ray's meditations for the last few years. Those recordings have genuinely changed my life and even perceptions of the world. I wouldn't say I've mastered those meditations, but at some point I felt the need for further teachings and even considered trying to make contact with him on a personal level. Little did I know that this was in the market by the time I was ready....since I live in Shanghai, I waited patiently for the shipment for a month, and I can say that it couldn't have come at a better time. It's miraculous to be able to receive these teachings. This is 2012, when scientists have already pinpointed the "god" particle, and where popular culture has already entrained itself in the phenomenology of "reality" in a way that was contended by the Buddha some 2500 years ago. It is one thing to know that things are empty and well accepted by most fellows, but quite another to experience it. The problem is that we all probably do on some level, but can't quite put a finger on it. These unprecedented teachings will answer and help realize our so called "reality," and in the process make us forget why we had to ask in the first place.

The work is extensive and complete. From what I can tell, this is probably not for one who comes in with a journalistic outlook on wanting to know the truth. I am sure there are safeguards against these fly-by intentions, but this is a serious system that will truly change people's lives. Most people want self-improvement, but this is for a whole new outlook on life. The pointing out instructions would have been impossible were one not in the presence of a dharma meditation teacher. Here in the East, people expound destiny as if good fortune would entail one to meet the dharma, and here it is....the most valuable and open of secrets as well as the transmission itself. This wouldn't have been possible without the advent of this new age of information. It is accessible to anyone, but that also makes the receiver responsible since infinite freedom entails infinite responsibility.

On the western border of China, the silk road goes through one of the harshest deserts on earth. If you ever visit, you'd wonder how could people tell where the road was as it was all sand for infinity. You'd ask your guide how people in the past could tell they were on the path to India. ....then he'd tell you that it would be littered with bones, and not just animal bones. People who went on pilgrimage to search for knowledge in India were ready to give away their lives for this knowledge. The difference between then and now is that if and when the pilgrim reached his "knowledge" in India, the download would be immediate and in full, cause the receiver would have been 100% ready. Now, the information is more than free and open, but the receiver is generally not. This "guiding" series of cds not only dismantles the so called every day ego, but includes immediate realization of what in psychology is called imminent memory. This is similar to a journey that is taken initially not by weakening first the outer layers, but by going straight to the source and working backwards. The effect is immediate and drastic once the receiver is ready for it. Like they say, Mahamudra is a self-enclosed secret....it will open itself up to the one who is ready.

The reason theistic systems have a jumbled path is because sometimes, the whole forest has to be burned down to establish a path. Common sense tells us otherwise, but we all know from history and our own personal histories, that the truth divides more often than shows its face..and the bottom line is that it is just sooo hard.... Mahamudra tackles reality in a different way... At first, it's like a pickling process, and reality or truth comes up in a way that it becomes an interactive game with the universe itself...The receiver of this knowledge will come face to face with quite subtle effects that one was not previously aware of, but that encompasses the complete reality that person inhabits. A lot of people ask theoretical physicists why they are obsessed over infinitessimal small particles that only last a nanosecond. He will tell you that because this insignificant particle encompasses everything. The same can be said about our thoughts, mind, klesas, emotions, etc....they seem inaccessible/irrelevant and faster than light in an almost mythical way. We don't pay heed to them and even enjoy the drama, but these silly little recurrent thoughts actually IS us. In fact, in most systems of thought, one could say that the "reality" we encounter might just be the approximate meeting of our karma with our psychophysical tendencies....and since it's like the whole chicken and egg problem, stepping out of it might just require help....and that's where this program comes in.

By prolonged commitment to meditation and listening to this program, the supramundane path will open....not because of some specialness in us, but that is what humans are designed for....we are the material vestiges holding the last degree of freedom of our left and right "wings".... When the path opens, the so called magic becomes evident. You become your own Monalisa or ambiguous work of art. Reality would have seem magical to the people in the past who have gone through this, but as modern people, we know that some of the so called veils of time space and matter can be explained already, and time itself is something that wisdom-love itself can surmount. When our ability to have a relationship with this so called invisible reality opens up, the rest of nature will also open up...and not just the earth and its billions of denizens, but literally the whole universe. You will not only understand the workings of the huge universe, but actually be intimate in a way that all the so called myths and obsessions of our ancient ancestors, from the precession of the equinoxes, to the minutest workings of karma. You will relate to your closest friends and acquaintances and find out why working on yourself can actually help others....paradoxical, but often works. Of course, this truth is hard to explain, but just like all myths are expounded to reveal a truth, reality can be even more fantastical.

This is an amazing course. In 2000, after 20 years of inner work, I had a spontaneous awakening experience of the natural state that turned my sense of self and the world inside out. I wish I had had this course to guide me through the aftermath of that experience. This is the course I have been waiting for all those years to help me embody and embrace what I saw. It helps explain how things really are and leads you there, and then beyond ego all together and back again. If you are seeking a way into the truth of reality, and way to embody it in the world rather than escape from the world then this could be a doorway to it for you.

Reggie Ray is a very effective teacher and he takes Vajrayana Buddhism and makes it truly accessible. Ray is a teacher in the Kagyu lineage and I also follow the Kagyu lineage via Garchen Rinpoche and the combination of empowerments and blessings from Garchen along with the real step by step guidance from Ray have been very helpful. But Ray himself is a living embodiment of the linage and so you need go no further to access the lineage and the mind-soul-stream of this profound awakening tradition.

If you are hungry and ripe for the truth and it is burning inside of you, and if you are sick and tired of being your small self and know that you cannot improve it any further without changing the base programming so to speak, then this course can lead you there and help you see your way through the veil of consensus reality and the separate self-sense. It helps you clear the lens of perception.

Note: I listend to the first ten and last ten teachings first and then hit the real meat which is the meditations in the middle of the course. This was an effective way for me to approach it. Also, there is a lot of talk in this course. It is part of the process. By getting to know him you are moving into the mind-stream of the lineage. It is less about what he says and more about growing close with him, and slowly aligning with the view he embodies, the view of the truth of reality.

If you read this Reggie, and I feel like I know you very well now, thank you for this course. Thank you for sticking to your path these last 40 years and then speaking your truth. Your work here is a gift to the world. I have been waiting 13 years for this course. So thank you for creating it and helping to provide a clearer path for the unfolding of this journey into life, clarity and love.

M.T. Baker

This is an utterly fabulous set of cds. At about disk 16 you are guided into silence wotj geode;ones to help you experience. Wow. Reggie Ray has written a book on "touching enlightenment" which really sets the stage for these cds. Actually that book should be among Oprah's favorites. Wow. You might not be attracted to the program on Mahamudra for the Modern world unless you have been interested and pursuing this field for a period of time. Reginald Ray has a website where you can also look at more introductory teachings.

I spent 5 years studying and practice ing in the Theravadin tradition. Bounced around for another few year trying several Tibetan lineages. Reggie Day and Dharma Ocean are my dharma home now. These teaching have brought me full circle enriching the mindfulness and vipassana practice I originally learned. Beautiful.

And I return to those teachings over and over again and glean new insights or am reminded of aspects of practice that had fallen out of my brain. When I receive teachings like this, I feel so fortunate to live in a time when I can receive them no matter where I am Timbuktu or Texas.

I am inspired by Reginald Ray. This collection of CDs may take me a lifetime to digest but essential primers for one who is learning how to balance one's spiritual practice in the modern world. I have not yet made a dent however thus far, it is really amazing.

A beautifully eloquent experience in learning. I'm on disc 5. Taking my time as was suggested. Enjoy the journey inward/outward.