Traditional Tibet held a unique spirituality, one with a depth and power far beyond anything most modern people have experienced. At the same time, its spirituality was often obscured under a heavy overlay of Tibetan cultural assumptions, beliefs, attitudes, and practices. Sometimes, many of us think that the cultural trappings somehow are the essence of Tibetan Buddhism. Then we end up trying to force ourselves into a rigid and alien cultural mold, leading to all kinds of emotional, psychological, and spiritual problems. According to Reginald Ray, the spirituality of Tibet in its most basic and integral form is quite real; but it is not about Tibet, Buddhism, or even religion. It is about how to discover, engage, and realize our deepest and most complete humanity.
Perhaps the most precious teaching Tibet has to offer us in the modern world is the practice of meditation. Ray presents the core and essence of this tradition through the somatic practice of Pure Awareness�a unique kind of meditation that is thoroughly grounded in the body and in ordinary experience. This fundamentally transformative practice offers the possibility of enlightenment in this present life and invites us into the immensely powerful journey that Tibetan tantric spirituality has to offer.
The book will include links to online audio recordings of the guided meditations. Practice of Pure Awareness: Somatic Meditation for Awakening the Sacred, Reginald A. Ray, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 304 pp, $18.95
Dr. Reginald "Reggie" Ray is the co-founder and Spiritual Director of the Dharma Ocean Foundation and has been dedicated to the evolution and flowering of the teachings of Tibetan Tantra for more than 4 decades. A longtime student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, today Reggie brings a uniquely somatic perspective to Buddhist practice. Reggie is the author of many books, including The Awakening Body and The Practice of Pure Awareness: Somatic Meditation for Awakening the Sacred. Reggie also offers online courses on somatic meditation and live Vajrayana retreats in Crestone, CO.
Contents: The Practice of Pure Awareness:
Somatic meditation for awakening the sacred |
|
Acknowledgments |
ix |
Introduction |
1 |
PART ONE |
|
The View and Somatic Practice of Pure
Awareness |
|
1. What is somatic
meditation |
15 |
2.
The body in tantric awareness |
23 |
3. Pure awareness and
traditional tibetan vajrayana |
29 |
4.
Pure awareness and traditional shamatha (Mindfulness) and
vipashyana (Awareness) |
38 |
PART TWO |
|
The Pernicious Ego |
|
5.
Impulse and the formation of ego |
45 |
6.
The five skandhas of the illusory ego |
52 |
7. How
the practice of pure awareness addesses the skandhas |
63 |
PART THREE |
|
The Posture of Pure
Awareness and its Practice |
|
8. The
essential instructions for pure awareness practice |
77 |
9. Guided
Practice I |
90 |
10. Guided Practice
II |
102 |
11. Guided Practice
III |
106 |
12. Guided Practice
IV |
112 |
PART FOUR |
|
Cultivating the
Empty Field |
|
13. A closer look
at feeling and impluse |
127 |
14. Working with
feeling and impulse on and off the cushion |
133 |
15. Getting into
the nitty gritty of the practice |
143 |
16. Going deeper |
151 |
17. Obstacles and
antidotes |
158 |
18. Bringing trauma
into the journey |
170 |
19. The wonders of
the natural body |
185 |
PART FIVE |
|
Shila: Establishing
a container for our practice |
|
20. Shila, the
crucible and protection of our practice |
197 |
21. Shila. Shila in
the modern day context |
213 |
PART SIX |
|
Everyday Awakening |
|
22. Complete
openness and "Something to Experience" in Practice and Daily Life |
227 |
23. Freely or
spontaneously responsive |
238 |
24. Pure awareness
and journey of our life |
251 |
Conclusion |
265 |
List of Audio tracks |
271 |
Notes |
272 |
Index |
276 |
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