Reginald A. Ray

Reginald A. Ray

DR. REGINALD “REGGIE” RAY is the cofounder and spiritual director of the Dharma Ocean Foundation, dedicated to the evolution and flowering of the somatic teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. He teaches in the tradition of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Reggie is the author of several books and audio programs, including The Awakening Body and The Practice of Pure Awareness. He makes his residence in Crestone and Boulder, Colorado.

Reginald A. Ray

DR. REGINALD “REGGIE” RAY is the cofounder and spiritual director of the Dharma Ocean Foundation, dedicated to the evolution and flowering of the somatic teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. He teaches in the tradition of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Reggie is the author of several books and audio programs, including The Awakening Body and The Practice of Pure Awareness. He makes his residence in Crestone and Boulder, Colorado.

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GUIDES

Marpa: A Reader's Guide

Marpa: A Guide for Readers

Marpa

Marpa, by Chris Banigan from The Supreme Siddhi of Mahamudra

Indestructible truth
Paperback | Ebook 

$34.95 - Paperback

The following is the beginning of a several page profile of Marpa from Indestructible Truth: The Living Spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism:

Marpa, the Tibetan founder of the Kagyu¨ lineage, represents yet another type of person. Born in 1012 of relatively prosperous parents in southern Tibet, as a young boy Marpa is depicted as possessing a fearsome temper and a violent and stubborn disposition. He is what one might call a holy terror, and while he is still young his parents send him off to be trained in the dharma with a variety of teachers. Marpa soon realizes that one has to make a lot of offerings in order to receive even basic teachings, let alone more advanced ones. Moreover, Tibetan teachers often guard their transmissions jealously, and Marpa is repeatedly rebuffed when he seeks the higher initiations.

Eventually, he comes to the conclusion that to receive the full measure of dharma instruction, he will have to journey to India. His parents capitulate, and Marpa sets off over the Himalayas on a long, tedious, and dangerous journey to India, the first of three trips he will make to the holy land. While staying in Nepal before descending to the Indian plains, Marpa hears of the siddha Naropa. His biography states, ‘‘A connection from a former life was reawakened in Marpa and he felt immeasurable yearning.’’

While many of his Tibetan contemporaries arrived in India and went straight to one or another of the great Indian monasteries for tantric instruction, Marpa takes a different course, bypassing the monastic scene, seeking for his yogin teacher in the forest. Marpa eventually finds Naropa, is accepted as a disciple, and receives extensive instruction and initiation from him.

From the first Marpa Kagyu volume of the Treasury of Precious Instructions:

Marpa Chökyi Lodrö of Lhodrak traveled to India three or four times. He received the sūtras and tantras in their entirety from many scholar-siddhas, Nāropa and Maitrīpa being the foremost among them. In particular, if his earlier and later journeys are added together, he studied with Nāropa for sixteen years and seven months. Through the combination of his listening, reflection, and meditation, Marpa came to dwell in a state of attainment. During his last journey, Nāropa had departed for [the practice of yogic] conduct. Nevertheless, enduring great hardships, Marpa searched for and supplicated Nāropa, finally actually meeting him in Puṣpahari in the North. He spent seven months with Nāropa and received the complete Aural Transmission of Cakrasaṃvara, male and female consorts. In Tibet, the principal disciples upon whom Marpa bestowed his profound dharma were known as the four great pillars. Among them, Mai Tsönpo, Ngok Chödor, and Tsurtön received the entrusted transmission of the explanatory tradition, and Jetsun Milarepa received the entrusted transmission of the practice tradition.

marpa
Paperback | Ebook 

$34.95 - Paperback

The Life of Marpa the Translator: Seeing Accomplishes All

By Tsangnyon Heruka, translated by Chogyam Trungpa amd the Nalanda Translation Committee

Marpa the Translator, the eleventh-century farmer, scholar, and teacher, is one of the most renowned saints in Tibetan Buddhist history. In the West, Marpa is best known through his teacher, the Indian yogin Naropa, and through his closest disciple, Milarepa. This lucid and moving translation of a text composed by the author of The Life of Milarepa and The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa documents the fascinating life of Marpa, who, unlike many other Tibetan masters, was a layman, a skillful businessman who raised a family while training his disciples.

As a youth, Marpa was inspired to travel to India to study the Buddhist teachings, for at that time in Tibet, Buddhism has waned considerably through ruthless suppression by an evil king. The author paints a vivid picture of Marpa's three journeys to India: precarious mountain passes, desolate plains teeming with bandits, greedy customs-tax collectors. Marpa endured many hardships, but nothing to compare with the trials that ensued with his guru Naropa and other teachers. Yet Marpa succeeded in mastering the tantric teachings, translating and bringing them to Tibet, and establishing the Practice Lineage of the Kagyus, which continues to this day.

Essential Texts by and about Marpa

marpa
Hardcover | Ebook 

$49.95 - Hardcover

Marpa Kagyu, Part One - Methods of Liberation: Essential Teachings of the Eight Practice Lineages of Tibet, Volume 7

The Treasury of Precious Instructions

By Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye

The seventh volume of the series, Marpa Kagyu, is the first of four volumes that present a selection of core instructions from the Marpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. This lineage is named for the eleventh-century Tibetan Marpa Chokyi Lodrö of Lhodrak who traveled to India to study the sutras and tantras with many scholar-siddhas, the foremost being Naropa and Maitripa. The first part of this volume contains source texts on mahamudra and the six dharmas by such famous masters as Saraha and Tilopa. The second part begins with a collection of sadhanas and abhisekas related to the Root Cakrasamvara Aural Transmissions, which are the means for maturing, or empowering, students. It is followed by the liberating instructions, first from the Rechung Aural Transmission. This section on instructions continues in the following three Marpa Kagyu volumes. Also included are lineage charts and detailed notes by translator Elizabeth M. Callahan.

The pieces by Marpa in this volume include:

  • Vajra Song on the Meaning of the Four Points: Instructions on the Ultimate Essence, the Mahāmudrā of Nonattention Heard by the Lord Marpa Lotsāwa from the Glorious Saraha
  • Trulkhors for the Path of Method and the Caṇḍālī of the Saṃvara Aural Transmission
  • Eighteen Trulkhors for Caṇḍālī
Rain of Wisdom
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The Rain of Wisdom: The Essence of the Ocean of True Meaning

Translated by Nalanda Translation Committee under the guidance of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

The art of composing spontaneous songs that express spiritual understanding has existed in Tibet for centuries. Over a hundred of these profound songs are found in this collection of the works of the great teachers of the Kagyü lineage, known as the Practice Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

The chapter on Marpa, entitled The Grand Songs of Marpa, is 35 pages long and includes Marpa's first departure from India, his dream of Saraha, his third trip to India, his final farewell to Naropa, his  third return to Tibet, and the many songs these incidents inspired.

Great Kagyu
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The Great Kagyu Masters: The Golden Lineage Treasury

Compiled by Dorje Dze Öd, translated by Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche

The Golden Lineage Treasury was compiled by Dorje Dze Öd a great master of the Drikung lineage active in the Mount Kailasjh region of Western Tibet.  This text of the Kagyu tradition profiles and the forefathers of the tradition including Vajradhara, the Buddha, Tilopa, Naropa, the Four Great Dharma Kings of Tibet, Marpa, Milarepa, Atisha, Gampopa, Phagmodrupa, Jigten Sumgon, and more.

The profile Marpa is 25 pages long.

Hardcover | Ebook 

$24.95 - Hardcover

The Supreme Siddhi of Mahamudra: Teachings, Poems, and Songs of the Drukpa Kagyu Lineage

Translated by Gerardo Abboud, Sean Price, and Adam Kane

The Drukpa Kagyu lineage is renowned among the traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism for producing some of the greatest yogis from across the Himalayas. After spending many years in mountain retreats, these meditation masters displayed miraculous signs of spiritual accomplishment that have inspired generations of Buddhist practitioners. The teachings found here are sources of inspiration for any student wishing to genuinely connect with this tradition.

These translations include Mahamudra advice and songs of realization from major Tibetan Buddhist figures such as Gampopa, Tsangpa Gyare, Drukpa Kunleg, and Pema Karpo, as well as modern Drukpa masters such as Togden Shakya Shri and Adeu Rinpoche. This collection of direct pith instructions and meditation advice also includes an overview of the tradition by Tsoknyi Rinpoche.

This includes a chapter on Marpa's A Vision of Saraha The Essential Importance of the Uncreated Meaning of the Four Syllables of Mahamudra: A Pith Instruction Expressed in a Vajra Song. The pith instruction, the essence of the uncreated found in the meaning of the four syllables of Mahamudra, was revealed to Lord Marpa by the song of Saraha.

Combined with guidance from a qualified teacher, these teachings offer techniques for resting in the naturally pure and luminous state of our minds. As these masters make clear, through stabilizing the meditative experiences of bliss, clarity, and nonthought, we will be liberated from suffering in this very life and will therefore be able to benefit countless beings.

Translator on Gerardo Abboud on The Supreme Siddhi of Mahamudra

Image of Marpa by Chris Banigan

Marpa, from the Buddhist Art Coloring Book 2

$21.95 - Paperback

Additional Resources on Marpa

Lotsawa House hosts at least eight works by Marpa as well as several where he features.  lotswa house

BDRC has a set of associated works related to Marpa

...
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Sakya Pandita

Related Reader's Guides

Guide to the Sakya Tradition
Guides to Other Important Sakya Figures: Chogyal Phagpa | Sakyasribhadra

Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen (1182-1251)

www.treasuryoflives.org / Public domain

Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen (1182-1251), commonly referred to as Sapan, was one of five founding masters of the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the principle disciple of Drakpa Gyeltsen and a close student of the Kashmiri teacher Sakyashribhadra. Sakya Pandita completed an extensive monastic education and was well known for his abilities in philosophical debate as well as grammer and poetics. He is the author of the well known for introducing Dandin's Kāvyādarśa, or Mirror of Poetics to Tibet in the 13th century which later served as a standard guide to literary composition in Tibet across schools of thoughts. He also serve in the court of Koden Khan, the the Mongolian leader where he, along with his nephew Chogyal Phagpa developed the Phagpa script for Mongolian and helped to establish Buddhism in Mongolia.

Biographical Sources

Below is an excerpt from Reggie Ray's Indestructible Truth presenting a brief account of Sakya Pandita's life and legacy.

One of the most important and influential masters of the tradition was the renowned scholar Sakya Pandita, Kunga Gyaltsen (1182–1251), born to the fourth son of Kunga Nyingpo. His birth and early life proclaim his remarkable academic capabilities and attainments. At birth, according to his biography, he began to speak Sanskrit, and as an infant he was able to write the Sanskrit letters. As a child, he could memorize and understand any dharma that he heard. He was ordained as a monk in his youth, and thereafter until the day he died, he followed the prescriptions in the Vinaya with great devotion and purity. In his monastic training, Sakya Pandita’s studies ranged far and wide, and he became expert in the whole range of Buddhist literature available to him. In recognition of his unique academic talents, he was sent to many of the greatest scholars of his day to develop his knowledge as well as his analytical and debating skills. During his studies, he had numerous dreams in which the great Indian luminaries of Buddhist philosophy gave him direct transmissions of their teachings. Vasubandhu appeared in one dream and conferred knowledge of the Abhidharma, Dignaga passed to him the teachings on logic and epistemology, and so on.

In his scholarly work, Sakya Pandita attained a prominence unequaled by anyone else in his day. His specialties were logic and the theory of perception, and he wrote a textbook on this topic that is still respected. Samuel remarks, ‘‘Many of his writings have a strong flavor of controversy and logical disputation. His usual targets are the Nyingmapa and the Kagyu¨ pa, both of whom he accuses of carrying on the rejected and morally suspect ‘Chinese’ tradition and of running the risk of omitting the necessary moral foundation of bodhicitta.’’7 Unparalleled scholar that he was, Sakya Pandita was considered an emanation of Manjushri, the celestial bodhisattva of wisdom, and is depicted in the Tibetan painted scrolls known as thangkas with this deity’s symbols, the sword of prajna and the text of the Prajnaparamita.

It was through Sakya Pandita that the Sakyapa formed an alliance with the Mongols and became the first monastic order to rule Tibet politically. In the thirteenth century, the Mongols were threatening to invade Tibet and in fact had already sacked several monasteries. An envoy was clearly needed to try to negotiate some kind of settlement. At the same time, the Mongol leader Godan heard of Sakya Pandita’s reputation and summoned him to his court. In 1249 the lama journeyed to Godan’s court, made full submission, and wrote a letter to the lamas, lords, and people of Tibet, praising Godan and expressing the hope for good relations. In 1260, Kublai Khan, who had become ruler of the Mongols and of China, made Sakya Pandita’s nephew and successor, Phakpa (1235–1280), vassal ruler of all of Tibet. This arrangement, in which the Sakyapa were religious rulers of Tibet backed up by the Mongols, lasted until 1358, when—Mongol power having weakened— the Kagyu¨ lama Changchub Gyaltsen, head of the Phagmotru lineage, seized power from the Sakya. From this time forward, until this century, one or another of the New Translation schools, backed by local or foreign power, stood in the position of religious rulers of Tibet. This arrangement had the obvious merit of enabling Buddhism to flourish in Tibet in a unique way. Under what other political system could such a high percentage of people (perhaps 20 percent) have participated in the monastic way of life or Buddhism have permeated the life of the culture so thoroughly? At the same time, this theocratic system was not without its drawbacks. In modern times, the absolute control of religion over the affairs of state was certainly one factor in keeping Tibet in its extreme isolation. This, in turn, made the Chinese takeover of Tibet in the 1950s relatively easy and without much political risk.

Indestructible Truth

$34.95 - Paperback

By: Reginald A. Ray

Furthermore, in Treasures of the Sakya Lineage, Migmar Tseten describes Sakya Pandita's life explaining the profundity of his training, activities, and compositions. Her writes:

"When Sakya Pandita was twenty-seven, he received full ordination from Shakya Sri, receiving the monastic name Bhadra Sri (or Palzang in Tibetan). During this time, he also received the complete teachings maintained by his root guru and uncle, Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen. Specifically, when Sakya Pandita requested the profound path of guru yoga, he saw his uncle as Manjushri in person, the essence of all Buddhas, and understood the critical points of all dharmas without error; he thus gained unimaginable samadhi and realization."

In Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, John Powers gives a comprehensive overview of the Sakya school including it's founding by the five forefathers of the Sakya tradition:

  • Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092–1158)
  • Sonam Tsemo (1142–1182)
  • Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147–1216)
  • Sakya Pandita (1182–1251)
  • Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280)

Regarding Sakya Pandita he writes:

"One of the greatest figures in the early Sakya lineage was Günga Gyeltsen Bel Sangpo (1182–1251), popularly known as Sakya Pandita, “The Scholar of the Sakyas.” Considered by the tradition to have been an incarnation of Mañjuśrī, his birth was accompanied by auspicious signs. A great light filled the sky, and he began to speak in Sanskrit; people who were present at his birth noticed that his body had the major and minor marks of a buddha."

Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism

$36.95 - Paperback

By: John Powers

Another comprehensive account of Sakya Pandita can found in Buton's History of Buddhism in India and It's Spread to Tibet. This Tibetan source text is a classic introduction to Buddhist history in India and Tibet, giving a broad explanation of the impact made by the "Patron-Priest" alliance between the Sakya's and the Mongol Empire.

A more recent account of Tibetan Buddhist history can be found in Ringu Tulku's The Ri-me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great. Though he focuses on the role of the Ri-Me (nonsectarian) impulse in Tibet, he offers a short biography of Sakya Pandita.

Primary Sources

Along the lines of Ri-me (non-sectarianism), Kongtrul was known for his remarkable work in preserving the Eight practice traditions of Tibet, ie., The Eight Great Chariots catalogued and expounded upon in his 18 Volume Treasury of Precious Instructionstwo of which make up his catalog of the Sakya Tradition (see Volume 5 and 6 in the Books of the Treasury of Precious Instructions).

Volume 6 (forthcoming fall 2023) includes Sakya Pandita's Instructions on Parting from the Four Attachments in addition to other source texts form renowned Sakya masters such as his uncle and root teacher, Drakpa Gyaltsen.

* to learn more about Kongtrul's Treasury of Precious Instructions see our extensive Guide to the Treasury of Precious Instructions which includes information about current and upcoming publications, videos from the series translators and more.

 

In Straight from the Heart, Karl Brunnhölzl brings together a collection of inspiring texts including songs of realization, poetry, teachings, and meditation instructions. Included in the collection are two texts from Sakya Pandita: The Instructions on Being Free from the Four Kinds of Clinging and The Root Text on the Seven-branch Mahāmudrā.

I bow at the feet of the genuine guru.


In all phenomena, utterly at peace,
There are no reference points of existence or nonexistence.
To you who cut completely through reference points,
O freedom from reference points, I bow.

Verse 1 of The Root Text on the Seven-branch Mahāmudrā 

Straight from the Heart

$49.95 - Paperback

By: Karl Brunnholzl & Jamgon Mipham

Other Accounts of Sakya Pandita

In The Life and Times of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, Dilgo Khyetnse Rinpoche and Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche describe the "inner biography" of Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö including remarkable accounts of his visionary experience—many of which related to the Sakya Lamdré tradition—one in which Sakya Pandita appeared to him in a pure vision. He writes:

In the seventh month of the year of the earth dog (1958), I was about to give teachings on theAscertainment of the Three Types of Vowto Tsang Yangchö Tulku in Darjeeling, when I saw the Dharma Lord Sakya Pandita in a pure vision, sitting in half-vajra posture, his two hands in teaching mudra, and dressed like an Indian pandita. At his forehead was White Manjushri; at his throat, the “lion of speech” (a form of Manjushri); at his heart, Manjushri Jnanasattva; at his navel, White Saraswati; and at his secret place, White Achali. My devotion for these deities induced tremendous rays of light to stream from them and dissolve into me. It was some time after I’d had these mirage-like visions that I wrote them down, so I forgot about them.

There is a touching story about Sakya Pandita in The Nature of Mind: The Dzogchen Instructions of Aro Yeshe Jungne, which emphasizes his wisdom:

In the story Sakya Pandita is speaking to the Godan Khan:

Godan Khan asked Sakya Pandita, “Who is the most successful person in Tibet? Who is the richest? Who is the best speaker?” Sakya Pandita answered, “I am the best speaker in Tibet. The richest person is Karab Longjong. And the most successful is Milarepa.” The histories say that Godan Khan sent messengers to Tibet to check whether or not this was true. The messengers observed that Karab Longjong lived in a cave. The cave did not always protect him from the rain. He did not have a good pot, just a broken clay one. He had one yak hoof that was his serving spoon. Also, his clothes were ragged and poor. That was Karab Longjong’s style. The messengers also observed Milarepa and saw that he lived in a similar fashion.
After receiving the reports Godan Khan asked Sakya Pandita, “Why did you say that Karab Longjong is the richest person in Tibet and that Milarepa is the most successful? My messengers said they are so poor.” SakyaPandita replied, “Karab Longjong may appear to be poor, but he feels in his heart and mind that he has everything. He is absolutely happy and content. This is why he is the richest person in Tibet. And Milarepa? Milarepa has fulfilled his goal, and now he is fulfilling the goals of others. That is why he is the most successful person in Tibet.”

Another remarkable account of Sakya Pandita's legacy can be witness in the short story told in Jamyang Sakya's Namtar (spiritual biography), Princess in the Land of Snows. Describing her travels to Dzongsar she explains that she and her party made a detour to see the historical statue of Mahākala, the wrathful aspect of Chenrezig and an important protector in the Sakya tradition. She states:

Built in the twelfth century, this famous figure contained inside a walking staff, was said to belong to the Lord Buddha. The staff was the type used by all mendicant monks. On its top, the staff had a replica of a chöten from which hung three dangling rings. The rings signaled that a monk was present and asking for food. The tinkling sounds of this so-called alarm staff also possibly told harmful dogs and other animals that the monk did not wish to be disturbed.

This staff had been given by an Indian king to a Chinese emperor. My husband's ancestors, the Sakya Pandita and his nephew, Chogyal Phagspa, had been given the staff by the Mongol emperor, Kublai Khan. On the way home from China to Sakya, the two had had a vision at this holy place and built the Namgyalgon Monastery.

After the temple was finished, Sakya Pandita requested a Nyingma lama to remove any evil influences and obstacles to Buddhist teaching there. As the lama was performing the ceremony, the temple turned inside out-signifying that the harmful elements had been dispelled. The lama then said, "Now do the consecration," an act believed to ensure that the temple would be forever sacred and not be destroyed by the elements. When Sakya Pandita performed the dedication, the temple then returned to its normal position, an indication of Sakya Pandita's spiritual powers.

She further explains how touched she was as she witnessed the statue's face, feeling that the stories were true and that the protective power of the statue was authentic.

Princess in the Land of Snows

$34.95 - Paperback

By: Julie Emery & Jamyang Sakya

Additional Resources on Sakya Pandita:

Sakya Pandita's biography - Treasury of Lives.

The Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism by Dhongtong Rinpoche, published by Wisdom.

More Books from the Sakya Tradition

...
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"Radical Compassion" Free eBook

This free eBook is available from the following vendors:

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Tibetan Buddhism, In celebration of Naropa’s fortieth anniversary

What is compassion?

Much more than just being nice, compassion is about looking deeply at ourselves and others and recognizing the fundamental goodness we all share. It’s about opening up to the vulnerable space inside every one of us and letting our barriers down. And it’s about daring to be present to ourselves and others with genuine love and kindness.

Empowering personal awakening and social change, it might be the most radical and transformative thing we can do.


Empowering personal awakening and social change, it might be the most radical and transformative thing we can do.

The cultivation of compassion has long been at the core of Naropa University’s mission, since its origins in 1974—and its students and faculty have been leaders in contemplative education with heart.

Tibetan Buddhism, In celebration of Naropa’s fortieth anniversary


 leaders in contemplative education with heart. . . .

In celebration of Naropa’s fortieth anniversary, Shambhala Publications is pleased to offer these teachings on the path of compassion from a collection of authors who have helped shape the school’s unique and innovative identity, including:

  • Chögyam Trungpa on opening ourselves more and more to love the whole of humanity
  • Dzogchen Ponlop on how to cultivate altruism with the help of a spiritual mentor
  • Judith L. Lief on the common obstacles to compassion and how to overcome them
  • Gaylon Ferguson on awakening human-heartedness in oneself and society amidst everyday life
  • Diane Musho Hamilton on connecting to natural empathy and taking a compassionate approach to conflict resolution
  • Reginald A. Ray on spiritual practices for developing the enlightened mind and heart in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition
  • Ringu Tulku on the practices of bodhisattvas, those who devote themselves to the path of enlightenment for the sake of all beings
  • Pema Chödrön on building up loving-kindness for oneself and others with help from traditional Buddhist slogans
  • Ken Wilber on what it really means to be a support person, with reflections from his own life
  • Karen Kissel Wegela on avoiding caregiver’s burnout and staying centered amidst our efforts to help those in need and reflections on Naropa University and the meaning of radical compassion from longstanding faculty member Judith Simmer-Brown

For more information–Authors' Bios and Books:

Chogyam Trungpa

Chögyam Trungpa (1940–1987)—meditation master, teacher, and artist—founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America; the Shambhala Training program; and an international association of meditation centers known as Shambhala International. He is the author of numerous books, including Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the WarriorCutting Through Spiritual Materialism, and The Myth of Freedom.

Books by Chogyam Trungpa

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, born in 1965 in northeast India, was trained in the meditative and intellectual disciplines of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism under the guidance of many of the greatest masters from Tibet’s pre-exile generation. He is a widely celebrated teacher, known for his skill in making the full richness of Buddhist wisdom accessible to modern minds, and devotes much of his energy to developing a vision of a genuine Western Buddhism.

For more information, go to www.rebelbuddha.com.

Books by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Judith L. Lief

Judith L. Lief is a Buddhist teacher, writer, and editor. She was a close student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who empowered her as a teacher, and she has edited many of his books including The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma volumes and Milarepa. She has been a teacher and practitioner for over 35 years and continues to teach and lead retreats throughout the world. Lief is also active in the field of death and dying and is the author of Making Friends with Death.

Books by Judith L. Lief

Gaylon Ferguson

Gaylon Ferguson is a faculty member in both Religious Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies at Naropa University, in Boulder, Colorado. He is an acharya, or senior teacher, in the Shambhala International Buddhist community. After studying meditation and Buddhist philosophy with Tibetan master Chögyam Trungpa in the 1970s and 1980s, Ferguson became a Fulbright Fellow to Nigeria and completed a doctoral degree in cultural anthropology at Stanford University. After several years of teaching cultural anthropology at the University of Washington, he became teacher-in-residence at Karmê Chöling Buddhist Retreat Center, through 2005, when he joined the faculty of Naropa University.

Books by Gaylon Ferguson

Diane Musho Hamilton

Diane Musho Hamilton is an award-winning professional mediator, author, and teacher of Zen meditation. She is the Executive Director of Two Arrows Zen, a practice in Utah, and cofounder of the Integral Facilitator, a training program oriented to personal development and advanced facilitator skills. She is the author of Everything Is Workable and The Zen of You and Me.

Books by Diane Musho Hamilton

Reginald A. Ray

Dr. Reginald "Reggie" Ray is the cofounder 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 four decades. A longtime student of Chögyam 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. Reggie also offers online courses on somatic meditation and retreats in Crestone, Colorado. More on Reggie can be found at www.dharmaocean.org.

Books by Reginald A. Ray

Ringu Tulku

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche was born in Kham Lingtsang, in eastern Tibet, and was recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa as the incarnation of one of the tulkus of Ringu monastery, a Kagyüpa monastery in his home province. He studied with some of the most distinguished khenpos of the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions and received teachings from many outstanding masters, including Thrangu Rinpoche, Dodrupchen Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and the Gyalwang Karmapa. He is the author of Path to Buddhahood and The Ri-me Philosophy of Jamgön Kongtrul the Great.

Books by Ringu Tulku

Ani Pema Chödrön became a novice nun in 1974, in her mid-thirties, while studying with Lama Chime in London. His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa came to Scotland at that time, and Ani Pema received her ordination from him.

Pema ChodronPema first met her root guru, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1972 and studied with him from 1974 until his death in 1987. At the request of the Sixteenth Karmapa, she received the full bikshuni ordination in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong.

Ani Pema served as the director of Karma Dzong in Boulder, Colorado, until moving in 1984 to rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to be the director of Gampo Abbey. She currently teaches in the United States and Canada and plans for an increased amount of time in solitary retreat under the guidance of Venerable Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche.

She is interested in helping to establish Tibetan Buddhist monasticism in the West, as well as continuing her work with Western Buddhists of all traditions, sharing ideas and teachings. Her nonprofit, the Pema Chödrön Foundation, was set up to assist in this purpose.

Books by Pema Chodron

Ken Wilber

Ken Wilber is one of the most widely read and influential American philos­ophers of our time. His writings have been translated into over twenty languages. He lives in Denver, Colorado.

Books by Ken Wilber

Karen Kissel Wegela, PhD, is a psychotherapist and professor of contemplative psychology at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. A longtime student of Buddhism, she speaks to professionals about the connections between Buddhism and psychotherapy and writes a popular blog at psychologytoday.com. She is also the author of The Courage to Be Present: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Awakening of Natural Wisdom.

Books by Karen Kissel Wegela

Judith Simmer-Brown

Judith Simmer-Brown, Ph.D., is professor and chair of the religious studies department at Naropa University (formerly the Naropa Institute), where she has taught since 1978. She has authored numerous articles on Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhist-Christian dialogue, and Buddhism in America. She is an Acharya (senior teacher) in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa. A practicing Buddhist since 1971, she lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Books by Judith Simmer-Brown

Related Books

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Impulse and the Formation of Ego | An Excerpt from The Practice of Pure Awareness

Tapping into our Soma

Practice of Pure Awareness

In order to understand the somatic practice of Pure Awareness and what it is trying to accomplish, let us begin by considering our Soma in relation to what Buddhism calls “atman,” our small or ego self. In the tantric teaching, as we have seen, our true body, our Soma, ever and always abides in a state of complete openness, the naked or ineffable experience that arises within that (“what is there to be experienced”), and a finely tuned responsiveness to our life and our world. In short, it abides in a state of awakening, for this is its basic nature. 

At the same time, as we have also seen, our habitual human mode is to live in separation from the inner enlightenment of our true body. This disconnection is not only ironic but tragic, for our Soma already embodies the very realization, fulfillment, and wholeness that we—not just as spiritual practitioners but simply as humans—are always desperately longing for and seeking. 

In fact, the Tibetan teachings say over and over that everything we do in our lives—the wild cravings, the seeming random actions, the craziness, and even the self-destructive behaviors—are all efforts, however misguided, to reconnect with our basic being. What is so deeply sad is that we are looking for the right thing always, but we usually don’t have the slightest idea where to find it. 

We try and try, but our basic human malaise—our disconnection—just goes on and on. Yet most of us feel we cannot and we will not give up striving, over and over, to win the big poker game of the universe. We may dimly sense that this particular poker game cannot be won, for it is rigged against us from the beginning: after all, we are conditioned, unfree, and mortal. But we won’t really face this, we won’t give in, and we won’t give up. And so we struggle endlessly. 

However, perhaps we are fortunate enough to play through our entire hand and come up empty. We played the last card and here we are, having lost again. We see that playing on and on is not going to solve our basic problem of feeling on some level always at odds with ourself, our life, our world; that whatever “it” is, it is not working. And somehow, at least some have the intelligence, the honesty, the integrity—and the grit—not to push this critical realization away. Somehow they find the bravery to stick it out and see what comes next. 

And what comes next, so very often, is exactly what many of us fear: hopelessness, depression, and even despair. The dark night of the soul, so well-known in other authentic spiritual traditions. Although extraordinarily painful and even frightening, this insight is perhaps the most important moment of our entire spiritual journey, because we are actually seeing clearly how things are with us, possibly for the first time. Abruptly we are stripped of our naïve belief—our wishful thinking—that our customary ego approach, with its constant posturing, manipulating, and attempts to control reality, is going to get us anywhere. 

At this point, it wouldn’t be all that unusual to have thoughts of suicide flash through our mind. “Okay, what I have been trying to pull off isn’t working and isn’t going to work. I can clearly see that. The life that I envisioned for myself is not an option.” It is not quite that we are quitting; it is that something in us has already died. At such a moment, we can feel very, very dark. 

When I was around twenty, all of this hit me, the result of wandering around Asia by myself for a year, being not just inspired but also horrified by what I saw. I became deathly ill. I went to see the world, but what I ended up seeing was the reality of my own situation. When I returned to the United States, I felt that my previous identity was bogus and that I had lost all control over my life and my mind; and I found myself in a state of more or less continual excruciating hopelessness and black depression. This went on for about eight years. At that time, my only consoling thought was, “Well, if this gets too much worse, at least I can always kill myself.” The solace provided by this thought reminds me of a woman I heard about who, dying of cancer and in very great pain, insisted on keeping a loaded revolver in her bedside table, in case her suffering passed beyond what she could endure. Though she never used it, it brought her some comfort. The thought of suicide was my revolver. As I have learned through my teaching, this moment in our journeys of realizing our ego games aren’t going to work is truly game changing and not infrequently leads to such thinking. I am not recommending that we all sit around and fantasize about killing ourselves, but I am saying that this absolute existential dead end happens, especially among spiritual practitioners; and when it does, we need to understand what is going on and realize that, while it is the end of the world in one sense, in another way it may not be. 

We are beginning to discover the wonders of our embodied awareness, along with its openness and freedom, so why do we find it so difficult to stay present with it?

Meditation as Another Way

Life wants to live. It is our nature as living beings always to want to be, to exist, to survive, to continue. And so, no matter how deep the darkness, we may well have a question hovering somewhere in our consciousness: is there another way? At this point the thought of meditation might come up as something to look into. I am not talking here about meditation as a lifestyle choice or as some kind of new technique that the ego can use to make its own thing work better. I am talking about meditation as a method we might consider in a moment of desperation by which to look deeply into our experience, without any other agenda than to find out what the hell is going on with us; as a practice with which to dig down underneath the incessant thinking, evaluating, judging, wishing, strategizing, and manipulating to see what else, if anything, might be there. And so, if we find connection to a tantric lineage, we are invited to enter the somatic realm. In tantra this is the supreme gate to the understanding we are seeking and, in fact, the only one. We may feel inspired to look into our body and its experience because, frankly, what else do we have right now? 

We enter into the practice of Pure Awareness with the invitation and the compelling prospect of tapping into our Soma and discovering what lies within that field. However, as our bodily awareness begins to develop, as we try to remain within that awareness, we find ourselves running into an obstacle. We immediately encounter an almost irresistible tendency to separate and disembody; we see how quickly and how often we flee from the direct, naked, nonconceptual experience of our body into our thinking mind. What is going on here? It is quite puzzling. We are beginning to discover the wonders of our embodied awareness, along with its openness and freedom, so why do we find it so difficult to stay present with it?

Let’s reflect on this for a moment. By nature, not just as humans but as mammals and as life forms, we are pleasure seekers. Even one-celled organisms seek pleasure in their own way. All of us, from the smallest beings to the largest, from the simplest to the most complex, seek to live; and, though we humans often distort the process of pleasure seeking, pleasure is nature’s way of telling us that we are heading in the right direction and drawing closer to greater life. Thus, we humans are constantly seeking the good feelings of satisfaction, security, comfort, safety, happiness, satiety. And we try our best to avoid hunger, thirst, physical pain, insecurity, emotional suffering, danger. Some religious traditions denounce and condemn this pleasure seeking, equating it with sin; but, really, let’s not get too down on ourselves. This tendency is fundamental to our own nature as living beings, essential to all living creatures, and part of the sacredness of life itself.

As mammals and, moreover, as primates of the human type, our pleasure seeking is quite sophisticated. We are not talking about bananas here; we are talking about gourmet meals in Michelin three-star restaurants. We seek not only good food, physical comfort, memorable sex, blissful physical well-being, and a peaceful and beautiful place to live but also the pleasure of wealth and other resources that will reassure us about tomorrow; a place in society with status and power; ideas that help us make sense of our fragile, uncertain existence; states of mind that are free of uncertainty and anxiety . . . and the list continues. But there is something else in the way of pleasure that we seek above all: an idea or image of ourselves, an ego concept, that feels successful—solid, reliable, valued, and positive. Making positive sense of ourselves and carrying a measure of self-esteem are highly desired commodities for all of us.

Impulsiveness is the immediate and concrete cause of our separating from our Soma, from our own inborn enlightenment.

Here is the critical point: we associate the opposite of pleasure—namely, pain and discomfort—with threat, possible harm, and death. We want to avoid pain at all costs, even if the only way to do so is to block it out of our conscious awareness. And that approach, the approach of repressing unwanted and unwelcome experience into our unconscious, our body, is the default mode of the human person. We tend to go into a state of denial, profound ignorance, and disembodied disconnection from what is going on for us.

The awareness of the Soma is, as I’ve suggested, open and undefended; in fact, it is without boundaries, potentially limitless. The Soma just receives and flawlessly knows what is. That is what enlightenment means in the Vajrayana. But we humans have a big problem with our Soma, precisely because it is fully, unreservedly, and objectively cognizant of all the pain, fear, uncertainty, ambiguity, contradiction, and messages of vulnerability that run through our lives. And of course, this kind of information is always threatening to disconfirm the solid ego concept we are always trying to build up and fortify. So we set ourselves dead against it and negate, control, and suppress the Soma. 

As any meditation practitioner knows, the human tendency to turn away from unpleasant, disquieting, or threatening experience shows up big-time when we try to meditate. Sitting there on our meditation cushion, whenever anything dicey comes up, we tend to exit from our bodily awareness into our left-brain thinking mode. We shrink away, going back to our “technique” or conjuring up ideas of peace and clarity—anything that will distract us from what is right here; and what is right here, we push out of our awareness. Not surprisingly, we also do this throughout our daily life. Anytime something arrives that we find threatening, our reactivity is abrupt and instantaneous, so much so that most of the time we are not even aware of it; it ordinarily occurs below the threshold of consciousness. One second, we are present and somatically accounted for; the next, we have fled into some disconnected mental realm of our own choosing. When we sit down to engage in our meditation, whatever type we carry out, no matter how disciplined or devoted we may be, this is the dynamic we run into.

Soma and Impulsivity

Impulsiveness is the immediate and concrete cause of our separating from our Soma, from our own inborn enlightenment. If we can dismantle that blind, almost instinctive reactivity, then our Soma and its state of realization may become more available to us. Initially, impulsiveness is the fundamental issue addressed by the somatic practice of Pure Awareness. If we are left-brain, top-down meditators, what we can’t remain with is our breath; if we are bottom-up, somatic practitioners, it is the Soma we can’t stay with. But meditators all, we face this very same obstacle. There is some kind of powerful impulsive force that causes all of us, without much awareness, to lose what we are trying to mindfully attend to and to exit into our thinking mind. 

So what about this impulse? What is it and how may we begin to deal with it? The word “impulse” may call to mind a lack of impulse control, as in someone who acts out uncontrolled, overwhelming emotions such as anger and aggression, jealousy or fear, wild paranoia or compulsive desire. In this common definition, our feelings may be so unbearably intense that we have to off-load them. Thus we might think of someone as being impulsive who acts out without being able to give sufficient consideration to the possible consequences of expressing outwardly such difficult-to-handle and potentially destructive feelings. 

While not unrelated to these meanings, the Buddhist term for “impulse,” samjna, refers to something much more subtle and basic. Impulse as understood in Buddhism plays a critical role—in fact, it is the central player—in the moment-to-moment birthing of our rather shaky, porous, fragile ego concept. Our ego is not a solid, enduring entity; rather, it is a made-up idea or thought of “me,” which arises and dies away in each instant. Usually, we are so wrapped up in our thinking and moving so fast mentally that we are oblivious to the impermanence of our ego concept. However, the truth is that in order to maintain the illusion that this ego idea is real, solid, continuous, and therefore reliable, we spend most of our waking and sleeping moments rehearsing and repeating it to ourselves, over and over: “I exist, I am solid and real, I must maintain the continuity of my self-narrative, and I must do this and that with all my effort to remain ‘me,’ for my survival depends on it.”

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