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Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body
How is it that a person can meditate for five, ten, twenty years or more - and hardly change? Because they've reduced it to "a mental gymnastic," explains Reggie Ray. In Touching Enlightenment, the esteemed author of five books on Buddhist history and practice guides readers back to the original approach of the a systematic process that results in a profound awareness "in our bodies rather than in our heads." Combining the scholarship he's renowned for with original insights from nearly four decades practicing and teaching meditation, Reggie Ray invites readers to The body as the ideal place for spiritual pilgrimage; How to cultivate imagination, deal with pain, breathe more naturally, and other essential skills; and Why "rejected" experience becomes imprinted in the body - and the steps to release it.
395 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 31, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
March 5, 2012
I've been looking at this book for years but not buying it because I didn't see how there could be much to say on the subject. In the school of Zen in which I practice, we focus almost solely on the body. I'm really not interested in techniques, for this or any other kind of meditation. But Touching Enlightenment is not really about techniques (except in the last chapter) or about anything narrow at all; it's really vision of Buddhism in general, or spiritual practice in general. He says a number of things I've thought but never seen in print. It's a very large vision of what practice is. What he calls somatic practice ultimately connects you to everything.
November 23, 2011
"People have increasingly succeeded in creating an alternate reality: we spend our time in buildings--homes and workplaces--that shield and separate us from contact with the elements; we reside in cities, often at great remove from the natural world, that embody our collective human ideas and projectsl we often have little direct relation to our food sources; and mesmerized by the prospect of complete control over our lives, we regard even our bodies, as mentioned, as an object to be managed in the service of our ambitions.
In contemporary societies, the vast majority of us get ahead not through the acuity of our sense perceptions, the subtlety of our feeling, or the farseeing-ness of our intuition, but rather through a highly differentiated, conceptual type of intelligence.
Thus we arrive at the curious state of affairs in which the more disembodied we are, the more likely we are to survive and to gain social approval, success, and material wealth in our modern world.
Recovering our basic, inborn body has, then, profound implications for healing the self, mending our broken relationships, restoring a healthy relationship to our world, seen and unseen, and healing the planet."
In contemporary societies, the vast majority of us get ahead not through the acuity of our sense perceptions, the subtlety of our feeling, or the farseeing-ness of our intuition, but rather through a highly differentiated, conceptual type of intelligence.
Thus we arrive at the curious state of affairs in which the more disembodied we are, the more likely we are to survive and to gain social approval, success, and material wealth in our modern world.
Recovering our basic, inborn body has, then, profound implications for healing the self, mending our broken relationships, restoring a healthy relationship to our world, seen and unseen, and healing the planet."
August 7, 2011
I loved this book. Sometimes our culture treats meditation as an exercise in transcendence, which is really just a spiritual form of 'ignoring' and leads to further disembodiment and un-groundedness. This attitude gets nipped pretty quickly in this book which teaches us the benefits of deeply re-discovering 'being' our bodies instead of just 'having' them.
June 9, 2018
This is a Buddhist(ish?) book that starts from the to-me highly defensible premise that in our current culture, most of us are not well enough connected to our physical bodies and that this causes lots of problem. The book argues that even many frequent meditators (of which I guess I am one now) meditate in a "disembodied" way, and suggests various "somatic meditation" practices (in an appendix, the book is not mostly about the practice so much as why you should practice this way) to remedy this.
There is a connection here to Vajrayana Buddhism and Buddhist Tantra, which the author also apparently knows and teaches, and which I have some interest in.
A year ago I would have given this book one star and thrown it across the room after 50 ages. By the standards of previous me, this book is chock full of ludicrous woo: ideas about reincarnation, extrasensory perception and powers, reincarnation and the "cosmic body" that even to now-me feel so patently ludicrous I hesitate to call them ideas. And yet, the writing is often evocative or even lovely, and I find the basic theses of the book, namely that a better connection to our bodies is important and can be nurtured through meditating with the body itself as focus, quite plausible. So four stars.
There is a connection here to Vajrayana Buddhism and Buddhist Tantra, which the author also apparently knows and teaches, and which I have some interest in.
A year ago I would have given this book one star and thrown it across the room after 50 ages. By the standards of previous me, this book is chock full of ludicrous woo: ideas about reincarnation, extrasensory perception and powers, reincarnation and the "cosmic body" that even to now-me feel so patently ludicrous I hesitate to call them ideas. And yet, the writing is often evocative or even lovely, and I find the basic theses of the book, namely that a better connection to our bodies is important and can be nurtured through meditating with the body itself as focus, quite plausible. So four stars.
September 26, 2012
Totally amazing to understand how disembodied we have become in our time. I loved reading the beginning chapters where Reggie outlines how this shift came about and the eventual affect it had on our psyche and emotional ways. Re-reading now and remembering the beauty and vastness of what dwells just below the surface moment by moment in all of us waiting to be acknowledged and joined from an open heart.
Thank you! again...Thank you, thank you Reggie!
Thank you! again...Thank you, thank you Reggie!
September 30, 2010
I was very impressed by this book. The author speaks with a unique voice of body-based meditation using thoroughly modern and vocabulary based on apparent first-hand experience, while still having strong roots in tradition.
October 19, 2013
Thoroughly nice. Scholarly, yet garnered with the writing ease of someone who has genuine practice abilities. Buddhism becomes negligible if it is just another head tool - it's power is only manifest in the eyes and arms of a practitioner. Ray is a Tibetan school teacher so I am more partial. But I would recommend it to any and all meditators.Rate it.
July 15, 2022
We tend to think of meditation as transcending the mundane, the corporeal, elevating and not dwelling on the negative. That whole bit about “transcending” is even in the name of the technique, transcendental meditation.
And yet somatic meditation, as the name implies, involves not only dealing with the body, but dwelling in it, even going to ground and imagining one sinking deep into the earth. This sensation, when one first experiences it, isn’t very pleasant. It gives one a vertiginous feeling, similar to what I imagine Renton felt when he sank into that red carpet after OD’ing at Mother Superior’s pad in Trainspotting. And isn’t meditation about avoiding the unpleasant, visualizing oneself floating on a massive, outstretched pastel lotus flower petal?
Not according to Doctor Reginald Ray, PhD. Somatic meditation is about dealing with one’s unresolved karma, here and now, while one is on the yoga mat and clutching the yoga strap, going toward the unpleasantness in body and mind. It’s not for everyone, but for those with unresolved physiological issues—especially an inextricably entwined combo of pain and PTSD—it’s just what the guru ordered. In fact, I found it to be the most fruitful modality I’ve encountered aside from only maybe passage meditation.
My only complaint is that the actual exercises are revealed separate from the theoretical framework, in an appendix after the main body of the text. Integrating the application with the ideas—pausing to let the novice try as well as read—would have been a more direct, hands-on way to learn. But maybe frontloading the ideas and dealing with them in toto before touching down on the mat once is the way to go.
Regardless, there is a lot of good information, good technique, and general wisdom both Eastern and Western to be found within these pages. Highest recommendation.
And yet somatic meditation, as the name implies, involves not only dealing with the body, but dwelling in it, even going to ground and imagining one sinking deep into the earth. This sensation, when one first experiences it, isn’t very pleasant. It gives one a vertiginous feeling, similar to what I imagine Renton felt when he sank into that red carpet after OD’ing at Mother Superior’s pad in Trainspotting. And isn’t meditation about avoiding the unpleasant, visualizing oneself floating on a massive, outstretched pastel lotus flower petal?
Not according to Doctor Reginald Ray, PhD. Somatic meditation is about dealing with one’s unresolved karma, here and now, while one is on the yoga mat and clutching the yoga strap, going toward the unpleasantness in body and mind. It’s not for everyone, but for those with unresolved physiological issues—especially an inextricably entwined combo of pain and PTSD—it’s just what the guru ordered. In fact, I found it to be the most fruitful modality I’ve encountered aside from only maybe passage meditation.
My only complaint is that the actual exercises are revealed separate from the theoretical framework, in an appendix after the main body of the text. Integrating the application with the ideas—pausing to let the novice try as well as read—would have been a more direct, hands-on way to learn. But maybe frontloading the ideas and dealing with them in toto before touching down on the mat once is the way to go.
Regardless, there is a lot of good information, good technique, and general wisdom both Eastern and Western to be found within these pages. Highest recommendation.
March 5, 2012
Ray says some really interesting new things in a new way--clearly coming from his insight and practice. Yet I also felt him reinventing the Wheel of Dharma. Many of the same knowledges, understandings, and insights are available in a variety of other contexts. I wish Ray had acknowledged his debt of gratitude or there had been more of a sense of humility somehow. He is tremendously learned and insightful. Yet I've experienced these body practices within the Theravada context, my sister says she's found many of them in modern dance, and I wonder which teachers Ray got them from in the first place.
I don't want to go too far with analyzing or critiquing, though I sense there are reasons why the book conveys this tone--as if Ray is the only person who could help you learn this stuff-- because I appreciate the book very much. His languaging -- 'meditating with the body' rather than 'on the body' -- seemed a particularly valuable contribution and was a valuable new tweak for me.
I don't want to go too far with analyzing or critiquing, though I sense there are reasons why the book conveys this tone--as if Ray is the only person who could help you learn this stuff-- because I appreciate the book very much. His languaging -- 'meditating with the body' rather than 'on the body' -- seemed a particularly valuable contribution and was a valuable new tweak for me.
July 25, 2015
Altho' this is an interesting perspective on meditation practice & embodiment, the book is repetitive & boring. Even if it had been edited to half its length, I think it would still have been repetitive & boring. Ray just says the same thing over & over, chapter after chapter: sense into your body, become intimate with its way of knowing, value that.
March 13, 2017
A fantastic resource on the salience of meditating with the body as the center of the process of personal evolution and unfurling. A must read, not only for the first time but over and over again. Reginald Ray is eloquent in his capacity to clearly depict how the modern world has become so disembodied and the devastating impact that has on the self, relationship with others and the natural world.
April 20, 2017
360 pages of explanation detailing the validity of somatic meditation with me nodding in agreement and 24 pages of actual details explaining how to practice somatic meditation. This book is some sort of non-fiction mystery where we find out who-done-it [or how-to-do-it] right at the end.
September 27, 2020
Reginald, A. Ray, PhD
Touching Enlightenment
Three stars
This book held so much promise for me. The topic interested me, that you could find enlightenment through the body. The book begins as a secular Buddhist practice but then mention "energy" a few times. It is not clear, really, what the author means by "energy." Does he mean "energy" in the context of more New Age and religious Buddhist teachings of "energy" and rebirth? Or, and I hope, is he talking about the physics and reality of the energy of our bodies, past the cellular level? Then, sadly, it deals with karma, which I believe is nonsense. Still, the way he talks about the body and meditation I kept reading, hoping for more on that topic and not on pseudoscience like karma. He talks of the subject of the Jungian shadow and how we encounter it in our meditation practice, a relief from the pseudoscience of karma. The last two chapters of the book were the best even though it still has the stain of pseudoscience. I give it two stars and one extra because in the appendix he introduces new meditation techniques (similar to the famed "body scan").
Touching Enlightenment
Three stars
This book held so much promise for me. The topic interested me, that you could find enlightenment through the body. The book begins as a secular Buddhist practice but then mention "energy" a few times. It is not clear, really, what the author means by "energy." Does he mean "energy" in the context of more New Age and religious Buddhist teachings of "energy" and rebirth? Or, and I hope, is he talking about the physics and reality of the energy of our bodies, past the cellular level? Then, sadly, it deals with karma, which I believe is nonsense. Still, the way he talks about the body and meditation I kept reading, hoping for more on that topic and not on pseudoscience like karma. He talks of the subject of the Jungian shadow and how we encounter it in our meditation practice, a relief from the pseudoscience of karma. The last two chapters of the book were the best even though it still has the stain of pseudoscience. I give it two stars and one extra because in the appendix he introduces new meditation techniques (similar to the famed "body scan").
November 20, 2018
Exceptional. So many books on enlightenment essentially say "I saw this mind-blowingly beautiful animal. It is ineffable. But nonetheless let me try to describe it for the next three hundred pages. It was like a pig but one without a snout. It had no scales, yet it is definitely a fish - but one should not make the mistake of thinking one can understand it by imagining a thing that goes in water..." You finish wading through all the pages and you think: Okay. You have thoroughly established that you can't use verbal language to describe what you saw. And you are left only with a residual sense of frustration.
Reggie's book is refreshing because it’s not like this. The ideas in this book – about the body and listening to the body – are both fresh and illuminating. He seems more concerned with helping you go to see the animal yourself, rather than going on and on about how he saw or can see it. I’m glad I read it this remarkable book and I highly recommend it.
Reggie's book is refreshing because it’s not like this. The ideas in this book – about the body and listening to the body – are both fresh and illuminating. He seems more concerned with helping you go to see the animal yourself, rather than going on and on about how he saw or can see it. I’m glad I read it this remarkable book and I highly recommend it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2024
There definitely was times as I read the book that i felt was interesting, but the writing was just terrible. So hard to follow as it doesn’t seem to have a thread. This need for the writing in books like that to make it somewhat cryptic. If I wanted to read the bible, I’d just go read the bible. I get it, it’s about spirituality, but why can’t there authors just write a book that’s easy to read and that you can actually retain stuff from since you don’t have to try and keep focused on what you’re reading and constantly interpret it.
June 2, 2021
This is a useful, provocative book for a relatively small audience - people who have a consistent meditation practice, and are interested in exploring Tibetan Buddhist embodiment practices. Ray is an academic, and his style of writing isn't for everyone. Yet the path to awakening that he sketches out in this book is awfully alluring. It makes me think of the scene with Meg Ryan from When Harry Met Sally: "I'll have what she's having!"
August 21, 2024
lots of stuff i resonated with and experienced (though maybe not in said order), some things i didnt and many felt like author’s personal experienced disguised as more universal. validating, comforting for me in my ungrounded awakening as im code refactoring itself that touches all parts of the system and change as it does
included nice mix of western vs eastern perspective n religion i suspected but glad to have it described
included nice mix of western vs eastern perspective n religion i suspected but glad to have it described
December 17, 2024
.5 star for writing
0 star for research quality
.5 star for premise
0 star for impact
0 star for personal taste
I was really excited about this one, but found myself skimming at the end. There was a lot of build up and not much delivery.
0 star for research quality
.5 star for premise
0 star for impact
0 star for personal taste
I was really excited about this one, but found myself skimming at the end. There was a lot of build up and not much delivery.
October 23, 2023
This book changed my understanding of meditation, "karma," embodiment, and living the unlived life. I finished it and I'm starting over. So much to learn here.
Read
July 24, 2025Recommended by Francis Weller in “The Wild Edge of Sorrow.”
September 4, 2024
I I gave this one star for a few reasons and not because the book isn’t worth reading. It is. But because someone needed to.
Let me explain. I picked this book up at a meditation retreat at the Drala Center (formerly the Shambala Mountain Retreat that went bankrupt after sexual allegations about its leader came to light). The author, Reggie Ray, like his predecessors, has been accused of abusing his followers and falling prey to the Guru effect (https://medium.com/belover/the-guru-o...). It left me profoundly sad that the author is so disembodied by his own work. His response to the allegations was as blind to his harm as all the other Gurus before him (and the Pope, for that matter). I knew all this before I read it and read it anyway on purpose. It is a good book. He should read it.
Reggie Ray writes, “How can a person meditate for five, ten, twenty years or more - and hardy change?”
My take away… the time of the Guru ends with little atonement. It scares me that someone could write a whole book and be blind to their own harm. So I asked myself. Where am I blind? There I found my reflection staring back at me. All the times, I had a “spiritual awakening” only to elevate myself above those around me, even if just in my mind. All the times, I self-righteously thought I would “enlighten” someone with my “wisdom.” I caused harm too.
I choose to reside there. In the space between our shared humanity. Would I seek Reggie Ray out as a teacher after reading this book? No. No way in hell. Gurus that take a hard pass on their call to reckoning are toxic beyond belief. But I will follow my inner Guru, who asks me to look at him and not discard the opportunity for a lesson by relegating him to monster status. The lesson is not in his teaching but his faltering… and my own.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShambhalaBud...
Let me explain. I picked this book up at a meditation retreat at the Drala Center (formerly the Shambala Mountain Retreat that went bankrupt after sexual allegations about its leader came to light). The author, Reggie Ray, like his predecessors, has been accused of abusing his followers and falling prey to the Guru effect (https://medium.com/belover/the-guru-o...). It left me profoundly sad that the author is so disembodied by his own work. His response to the allegations was as blind to his harm as all the other Gurus before him (and the Pope, for that matter). I knew all this before I read it and read it anyway on purpose. It is a good book. He should read it.
Reggie Ray writes, “How can a person meditate for five, ten, twenty years or more - and hardy change?”
My take away… the time of the Guru ends with little atonement. It scares me that someone could write a whole book and be blind to their own harm. So I asked myself. Where am I blind? There I found my reflection staring back at me. All the times, I had a “spiritual awakening” only to elevate myself above those around me, even if just in my mind. All the times, I self-righteously thought I would “enlighten” someone with my “wisdom.” I caused harm too.
I choose to reside there. In the space between our shared humanity. Would I seek Reggie Ray out as a teacher after reading this book? No. No way in hell. Gurus that take a hard pass on their call to reckoning are toxic beyond belief. But I will follow my inner Guru, who asks me to look at him and not discard the opportunity for a lesson by relegating him to monster status. The lesson is not in his teaching but his faltering… and my own.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShambhalaBud...
Currently reading
October 8, 2008My favorite new resource by Reginald Ray. I already listen to his CD's to improve my understanding of Tibetan Tantra/Buddhism. I had the chance to see him at East West Books in AUgust. I am going on an embodiment retreat with him in Portland as part of my surgery recovery plan in Nov. I highly recommend him.
March 30, 2014
Reggie is the spiritual teacher of Dharma Ocean, my sangha. He included body work to expand the practices taught by his teacher, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and it was this somatic approach to Buddhist meditation that attracted me to work with him. This book explores and explains the somatic approach to meditation.
February 20, 2011
Fascinating subject, my favourite topic, so I wanted very much to like it but too much theory and not enough practice. It might have been better if the practices chapter had been at the beginning, so you could try it out as you went through the rest.
March 11, 2009
I really enjoyed this book. It is unusual in the sense that it takes the Buddhist mind game straight to the body and changes how we see our ego...a much more realistic view and experience. Enjoy!
February 11, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008, at 7:30pm at the Boulder Book Store.
January 17, 2009
Everything going on with me lately seems to pivot around what Reggie Ray is saying in this book.
February 8, 2009
Excellent book; my full review is here: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2008/0...
Want to read
May 8, 2009reading this for our newly forming "book club" w/ my husband. hopefully we can connect over some great books while the kids are otherwise occupied.
January 18, 2011
A bit gabby but some interesting nuggets ...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews