Thirty of the most creative, eloquent, and energetic Tibetan Buddhist teachers of Westerners in recent decades are featured in this collection of teachings that are certain to be highly treasured by all students of Buddhism. The contributors are masters who helped establish Buddhism in the West, founding centers in North America, Great Britain, Australia, and Europe: publishing books in English: and gaining recognition among Western Buddhists. Their teachings, drawn exclusively from the spoken word as given in talks and seminars, convey the directness and power for which the oral tradition is so valued in Buddhism. The book highlights the teachings of the practice lineages, the branch of Tibetan Buddhism that emphasizes meditation practice, personal experience, and spiritual realization. Selections are thematically organized, including topics such as the major approaches to the spiritual path, meditation and other practices, Buddhist ethics, tantric practice, and the role of the teacher.
In the Presence of Masters; Wisdom from 30 Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Teachers, Reginald Ray , ed., Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 2004, 192 pages, $24.95
Reginald Ray (born 1942) is an American Buddhist academic and teacher.
Ray studied Tibetan Buddhism, traditional shamanic wisdom, and yogic-contemplative practices with the Tibetan refugee and recognized Vajrayana traditional-wisdom holder Ch�gyam Trungpa; and later studied under the tutelage of traditional Dagara teacher from Burkina Faso, Malidoma Som�.
A founding academic member of Naropa University, Ray was a longtime senior teacher in Vajradhatu (renamed Shambhala International in 2000) and from 1996 to 2004 was teacher-in-residence at the Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center (which became Shambhala Mountain Center in February 2000).[1] He left the Shambhala organization to found his own teaching center in 2005, Dharma Ocean. Dharma 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 Ch�gyam Trungpa Rinpoche
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