Mahamudra for the Modern World

Reginald A. Ray, PhD

SESSION ONE

An Introduction to This Training

Series
Introduction
The innermost heart of the dharma
Seeing the miracle and meaning in
everything that appears
Mahamudra is a golden key that opens the
full depth of our human life
Trust in the unfolding journey
The Tibetan tradition
Practicing the depth of the Mahamudra
without the constraints of Tibetan
culture
The opportunity for study and practice that
we have as modern people
The imperative behind the creation of this
program
How to work with this Mahamudra training
program
To fly like this

SESSION THREE

View, Practice, Result

PART ONE

Introduction
The spiritual journey is a life-long
commitment
The importance of the view: the role of
conceptual understanding
The practice of meditation
The result of our practice is compassion,
love, and the desire to liberate others
We have to discover what is needed now

The Mahamudra Entry Protocol

Overview and purpose
PART TWO

Guided practice: The Mahamudra Entry

Protocol
SESSION FOUR

The Mahamudra Posture

PART ONE

SESSION TWO

The Basic Process

Introduction
The Mahamudra is a vajrayana practice
Open awareness or the natural state
We begin with touching the basic nature
Pure perception and the sacred world
Becoming a true personan unprecedented,
unique, unfolding process

This Mahamudra Lineage

Introduction
Shamatha (pacifying the mind) and
vipashyana (extraordinary seeing)
When our physical posture is relaxed, stable,
and open, our mind naturally falls into
an uncluttered state
Three levels of posture
The 12 points of the Mahamudra posture
PART TWO

Guided practice: The Mahamudra Posture

Exploring the authenticity of this

Mahamudra lineage
Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his
commitment to not holding back the
ultimate teachings
The fire of the inner lineage
The nakedness it takes to receive and deliver
the authentic lineage
How the need for external legitimization
obscures our vision
The tradition of the siddhas

S OUNDS T RUE

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Mahamudra for the Modern World

Reginald A. Ray, PhD

SESSION FIVE

SESSION SEVEN

PART ONE

PART ONE

Introduction
Prioritizing direct experience
Our ideas about the earth versus our
experience of the earth
The connection between the space inside the
body and the space of the earth

Introduction
Relax, stay focused on your body, and let
your mind open

Meditating as the Earth

Ground Mahamudra Transmission

PART TWO

Guided practice: Ground Mahamudra

Transmission

PART TWO

Guided practice: The 10 Points and the

Earth Descent
Opening to the infinite, primordial depth of
the earth

SESSION EIGHT

PART THREE

The Mahamudra Journey to

Becoming Rooted in the
Awakened State

Guided practice: Sitting as the Earth

PART ONE

SESSION SIX

The Tantric Journey of the Heart

Unfolding
Introduction
The great space of being is impersonal and
totally personal
Our human lives are expressions of the
universes love for us
Turning our faces toward the relative
The discovery of our closed hearts
Being naked and tender toward ourselves
and the world
The imperative to be our authentic selves

Introduction
Ground Mahamudra transmission connects
us to the awakened state

The Four Reminders

The imperative to grow and the three main
obstacles we encounter on the path
The four contemplations that change our
viewpoint
Precious human birth
Impermanence and the certainty of death
Karma is real
Suffering is unavoidable
PART TWO

Guided practice: The Four Reminders

Ground, Path, and Fruition

Mahamudra
Ground Mahamudra Transmission: At the
beginning of the vajrayana journey, we
are shown the goal
The second stage: path Mahamudra
Fruition Mahamudra: Living in amazement
as the three bodies of the Buddha

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Mahamudra for the Modern World

Reginald A. Ray, PhD

SESSION NINE

The Teacher After Transmission

PART ONE

Introduction
The role of the teacher in the modern world
The lineage delivers the teachings
Receiving transmission through recordings
Three kinds of teachers: the human teacher,
the world of experience, and the natural
state itself

Vajrayana Compassion
The centrality of compassion in the practice
of Mahamudra
Discovering the life-giving warmth of empty
space

SESSION ELEVEN

Shamatha with the Breath as the

Focal Point
PART ONE

Introduction
Overview of the seven levels of the breath
PART TWO

Guided Practice: The Seven Levels of the

Breath
Stages of working with these shamatha
practices
Overview of whole-body breathing
PART THREE

Guided practice: Whole-Body Breathing

PART TWO

Guided practice: Vajrayana Compassion

SESSION TEN

The Shamatha Tool Box

Introduction
How do we develop a deeper and more
constant relationship with the great
space of being?
Two ways to bring the mind into a state of
quiescence
Mahamudra shamatha is 75 percent of the
journey
Review of the five shamatha techniques
already introduced
All shamatha techniques are gates into the
natural state
The existential nourishment we find beyond
the world of preconceptions
Shamatha with a focal object: working with
the breath, body, and images
Transitional shamatha; shamatha without an
object; four-fold deepening; tightening,
loosening, and balancing

S OUNDS T RUE

SESSION TWELVE

Shamatha with the Body as the

Focal Point
PART ONE

Introduction
Exploring seven levels of the breath at the
perineum
PART TWO

Guided practice: Seven Levels of the Breath

at the Perineum

Shamatha with an Image as the

Focal Point
Working with internal and external images
PART THREE

Guided practice: Shamatha with Internal and

External Images
Further comments on the practice of
shamatha with an image as the focal
point

Page 3 of 9

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Mahamudra for the Modern World

Reginald A. Ray, PhD

SESSION THIRTEEN

Transitional Shamatha
PART ONE

Introduction
The technique of dissolving with the outbreath
PART TWO

Guided practice: Dissolving With the Outbreath

PART THREE

Guided practice: Dissolving With the Outbreath and Exploring the Gap

Shamatha without an Object

Mahamudra shamatha practices start in
different places but all bring us face-toface with the natural state
PART FOUR

Guided practice: Shamatha without an

Object

SESSION FOURTEEN

The Power and Depth of the

Shamatha Journey
PART ONE

Introduction
The Mahamudra person has a passion for
experience
The discovery that there is no such thing as
ordinary reality
The shamatha technique in intimate
relationships: Beholding the beloved
The more we practice shamatha, the more
the world opens to us in all of its depth
and sacredness
Shamatha brings us into a state of complete
embodiment
When we bring our mind into the depth of
tranquility, vipashyana naturally
happens

Enhancements to the Shamatha

State
Overview of tightening, loosening, and
balancing
PART TWO

Guided practice: Tightening, Loosening, and

Balancing

S OUNDS T RUE

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Mahamudra for the Modern World

Reginald A. Ray, PhD

SESSION FIFTEEN

SESSION SIXTEEN

PART ONE

Introduction

Introduction
Non-distraction, non-meditation, nonfabrication, non-effort

PART ONE

Enhancements to the Shamatha

State, continued

PART TWO

Guided practice: The Four-Fold Deepening

of Shamatha

Recognizing Obstacles and

Rousing Motivation
The Mahamudra journey calls us out of
hiding
The job of the teacher is to help us realize
the sacred possibilities of our human
incarnation
Obstacles on the journey: laziness and fear
The Oedipal dream
Spiritual inflation and other attitudes that
keep us from practicing
The Four Reminders as an important
resource for staying motivated on the
path
Compassion practice allows us to see that
the work we are doing is for everybody

Stepping Over the Threshold Into

the World of Vipashyana
Through the practice of shamatha, we come
to a door
Learning to look
Everything in our life falls into one of the
three areas of vipashyana investigation
We need to look with an absolutely fresh
and open mind
We are not looking for conceptual answers
but instead direct, naked experience
We will explore each area through looking
and through pointing out

Exploring the Abiding Mind

Looking directly at tamal gyi shepa, the
natural mind
PART TWO

Guided practice: Looking at the

Conformation and Location of the
Natural State
SESSION SEVENTEEN

Human Spirituality in the Modern

World
PART ONE

Introduction
The challenges of offering an ancient
tradition in a consumer society
The misleading nature of easy spirituality
Beyond self-deception, listening to the
subtle inner voice that calls us forward

Exploring the Abiding Mind

The instruction to look at your awareness
Staying with our actual experience and not
jumping to a conclusion
PART TWO

Guided practice: Looking at the Scope and

Extent of Awareness

S OUNDS T RUE

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Mahamudra for the Modern World

Reginald A. Ray, PhD

SESSION EIGHTEEN

SESSION TWENTY

PART ONE

Introduction
Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoches experience
with the Bardo Retreat
We cannot replant Tibetan Buddhism but
instead need to discover the vajrayana as
a process for unlocking human
spirituality
The unsettling nature of studying closely
with Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Allowing for the intimacy of this journey

Exploring the Abiding Mind

Introduction
Working with different gateways in the body
Letting go of the watcher
PART TWO

Guided practice: Exploring the Birth,

Abiding, and Ceasing of the Natural
State
The experience itself is the message
PART THREE

Guided practice: Exploring the Existence or

Non-Existence of the Natural State
Allowing these vipashyana investigations to
change us
PART FOUR

Guided practice: Exploring the Essence of

the Natural State
SESSION NINETEEN

Exploring the Abiding Mind

PART ONE

Introduction
Beyond conceptual knowing
PART TWO

The Bravery and Intimacy of this

Mahamudra Journey

Reality Works Through Our

Everyday Life
Addressing our fundamental human longing
This tradition is not a commodity
Our actual lives in contrast to our personal
narratives
How our relative lives work on us
Indestructible positivity: the discovery of
trust in what happens

SESSION TWENTY-ONE

The Pointing Out of the Abiding

Mind

Guided practice: Exploring the Cognizance

of the Natural State
Tuning in to how the natural state presents
itself

PART ONE

PART THREE

PART TWO

Guided practice: Exploring the Immaculate

Peace of the Natural State
Investigating the event of knowing

Guided practice: The Pointing Out of the

Abiding Mind

Introduction
The process of looking and the process of
pointing out

PART FOUR

Guided practice: Looking at the Knower and

the Object

S OUNDS T RUE

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Mahamudra for the Modern World

Reginald A. Ray, PhD

SESSION TWENTY-TWO

Thoughts as Expressions of the

Natural State
PART ONE

Introduction
We change by experience
Making a relationship with our unresolved
karmic propensities
Thoughts as explosions of energy
Relating to our mental experience from the
point of view of the awakened state

SESSION TWENTY-FOUR

Exploring the Moving Mind

PART ONE

Introduction
Guided practice: Looking into the Lifespan
of a Thought
PART TWO

Guided practice: Looking for the Agency of

Thoughts
Practice insights on working with thoughts
in the Mahamudra

Exploring the Moving Mind

Cutting through any preconceptions we have
about thoughts
PART TWO

Guided practice: Looking into Thoughts

SESSION TWENTY-FIVE

The Pointing Out of the Moving

Mind
PART ONE

SESSION TWENTY-THREE

Exploring the Moving Mind

Introduction
We are developing a Mahamudra style of
working with thoughts

PART ONE

PART TWO

Introduction
Resting in luminosity, we perceive the
natural directionality of awareness
toward phenomena
We are investigating the nature of thought,
not the content

Guided practice: The Pointing Out of the

Moving Mind

PART TWO

Guided practice: Looking at Thoughts at the

Moment of Arising
PART THREE

Guided practice: Looking at the Abiding (or

Dwelling) of Thoughts

S OUNDS T RUE

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Mahamudra for the Modern World

Reginald A. Ray, PhD

SESSION TWENTY-SIX

SESSION TWENTY-EIGHT

Introduction
Considering the range of experiences that
make up the moving mind
There is no possibility of escaping mental
occurrence
The underlying life force of the moving
mind is pure

PART ONE

The Pure Energy of the Moving

Mind

Dismantling the Klesas: The

Fundamental Building Blocks
of Ego
How the Klesas (sticky thoughts) operate as
driving forces
The five primary Klesas
The Klesas as primitive survival
mechanisms formed in early life
Dismantling the Klesas through heightening
the intensity of our experience of them
Eating the poison: The vajrayana approach
to working with the Klesas
SESSION TWENTY-SEVEN

Working with the Klesas

PART ONE

Introduction
Each of the five guided sessions on the
Klesas includes looking and pointing out
PART TWO

Guided practice: Investigating Desire

PART THREE

Guided practice: Investigating Anger and

Hatred

Working with the Klesas,

continued
Introduction
Guided practice: Investigating Paranoia
PART TWO

Guided Practice: Investigating Ignorance

The Klesas in Ordinary Life

We need to have a tremendous amount of
respect for the power of the Klesas
The importance of training on the cushion
Klesa attacks are given by the lineage to
purify us
Practicing lovingkindness when the Klesas
erupt
Deactivating during Klesa
upheavals and then falling back into
the natural state
SESSION TWENTY-NINE

All Experience Frees Us and

Makes Us Whole
Introduction
The sacred world
Everything that appears is an expression of
wisdom
Pure relative truth
The universe communicates its love for us
through our relative life

Exploring Sense Perceptions

Pure perception and our usual conceptual
overlay

PART FOUR

Guided practice: Investigating Pride

S OUNDS T RUE

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Mahamudra for the Modern World

Reginald A. Ray, PhD

SESSION THIRTY

Exploring Sense Perceptions

PART ONE

Introduction
Working with the sensory experience of the
body
PART TWO

Guided practice: Exploring Internal Sense

Perceptions
Working with a visual object
PART THREE

Guided practice: Exploring External Sense

Perceptions
SESSION THIRTY-ONE

The Mahamudra Evolves in Us

Exploring Enhancing Practices
PART ONE

Introduction
The Mahamudra grows in us and grows us
An overview of three enhancing practices
PART TWO

Guided practice: Exploring the Unborn

Light
Connecting with the ultimate feminine space

SESSION THIRTY-THREE

How Is the Mahamudra Unfolding

in the Modern World?
Introduction
Appreciating the Mahamudra teachings
independent of any cultural situation
Our thirst for direct experience
Sacred outlook and a nonsectarian view of
spirituality
Everybodys journey through life is a
journey of spiritual unfolding
The primacy of meditation practice
Individuation as the fundamental human
imperative
Secular enlightenment and a contemporary
view of renunciation
The importance of lineage and the need to
make a commitment
The spiritual possibilities of the householder
life
Spiritual elders, community, and the death
of the guru
The discovery of self-existing devotion
The open-ended journey
Five markers on the path

PART THREE

Guided practice: Yin Breathing

SESSION THIRTY-TWO

Exploring Enhancing Practices

PART ONE

Introduction
The energy of emptiness
Discovering the vajra body
PART TWO

Guided practice: The Inner Appearance of

the BodyExploring the Chakras

S OUNDS T RUE

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Many voices. One journey.

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