Reginald Ray (born 1942) is an American Buddhist academic and teacher. Ray studied

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

, traditional

shamanic Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiri ...

wisdom, and yogic-contemplative practices with the

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

refugee and recognized

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

traditional-wisdom holder

Chögyam Trungpa Chögyam Trungpa ( Wylie: ''Chos rgyam Drung pa''; March 5, 1939 – April 4, 1987) was a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, the 11th of the Trungpa tülkus, a tertön, sup ...

; and later studied under the tutelage of traditional Dagara teacher from

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

, Malidoma Somé. A founding academic member of

Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named for the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university describes itself as B ...

, Ray was a longtime senior teacher in

Shambhala International Shambhala International is the umbrella organization that encompasses many of the distinct institutions of Shambhala Buddhism. Details Shambhala International, which is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, links a worldwide network of urban Buddhist me ...

and teacher-in-residence at

Shambhala Mountain Center Drala Mountain Center was formerly known as Shambhala Mountain Center. It was renamed in 2022, several years after widespread clergy sexual misconduct became publicly known. Drala Mountain Center was also previously known as Rocky Mountain Dharm ...

from 1996 to 2004. He left the Shambhala organization to found his own teaching center in 2005, Dharma Ocean. Dhama Ocean, in addition to teaching meditation programs and hosting intensive retreats, is a non-profit foundation "dedicated to the practice, study and preservation of the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche."

Academic training

Ray has a BA in religion from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

(1965), and received an M.A. (1967) and Ph.D. (1973) in History of Religions from the

University of Chicago Divinity School The University of Chicago Divinity School is a private graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today lacks any s ...

, where he focused on Buddhism and Indian religions. Among his mentors at Chicago was

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanians, Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who establ ...

, a Romanian historian of religion.

Teaching career

Ray first encountered his main Buddhist teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1970, and studied with him until Rinpoche's death in 1987. In 1974, at the invitation of Trungpa Rinpoche, Ray left a tenure-track position at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

and relocated to

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

—then the center of Trungpa Rinpoche's community–to become the first full-time faculty member and chair of the Buddhist Studies Department at Naropa University, where he taught until his retirement in July 2009. Ray also served on the Nalanda Translation Committee and held a half-time appointment in the Religious Studies department at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. From 1996 to 2004, Ray was teacher-in-residence at the Rocky Mountain Dharma Center (now called

). Ray is the director of the Dharma Ocean Foundation.

Publications

Published books: * ''The Wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism.'' (2017 Shambhala Publications) () * ''The Awakening Body: Somatic Meditation for Discovering our Deepest Life.'' (2016 Shambhala Publications) () *''Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body''. (2008 Sounds True) () *''Tibetan Buddhism Reader,'' editor. (2010 Shambhala Publications) () *''In the Presence of Masters: Wisdom from 30 Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Teachers''. (2004 Shambhala Publications) () *''Indestructible Truth'', which describes the exoteric traditions of

. (2000 Shambhala Publications) () *''Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values & Orientations''. (1994 Oxford University Press US) () *''Secret of the Vajra World'' explores the esoteric and tantric aspects of Tibetan Buddhism, focusing on the

. (2001 Shambhala Publications) () Audio recordings: *''Awakening the Heart: A Somatic Training in Bodhicitta'' (2017 Sounds True) () *''Somatic Descent: Experiencing the Ultimate Intelligence of the Body.'' (2016 Sounds True) (ASIN: B01M24YBVS) *''The Practice of Pure Awareness: Somatic Meditation for Touching Infinity''. (2015 Sounds True) (ASIN: B0176O6IDU) *''Buddhist Tantra: Teachings and Practices for Touching Enlightenment With the Body'' (2003 Sounds True) () *''Meditating With The Body: Six Tibetan Buddhist Meditations for Touching Enlightenment With the Body'' (2003

Sounds True In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

) () *''Your Breathing Body: Beginning Practices for Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Fulfillment, Volume 1" (2008

) () *''Your Breathing Body, Volume 2 (2008

) () *''Mahamudra for the Modern World'' (2012

) ()

References

External links

Biography of Reginald A. Ray on Dharma Ocean Foundation site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Reginald 1942 births American Buddhists 20th-century Buddhists 21st-century Buddhists Living people American scholars of Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism writers Tibetan Buddhist spiritual teachers Tibetan Buddhists from the United States Williams College alumni Shambhala vision Naropa University faculty University of Chicago Divinity School alumni Indiana University faculty American religious writers