“Meditation is learning to tap into the wisdom, inspiration and unconditional love of the body. All we need to do is let go and let the body show us our true life.”
~ Reggie Ray
An Online Course with Reggie Ray
Our body is the most direct and perfect path to profound spiritual transformation. Through our body, we connect with the inherent, self-existing wakefulness that is already present within it.
This online program centers around the somatic practice of pure awareness. This is the simplest and also the most advanced teaching — the essence — of the Tibetan tantric tradition. Pure Awareness, also called the awakened state or the Buddha mind, is our most fundamental nature, a part of ourselves that is neither born nor dies and underlies all of the experiences of our human life.
In this course, Reggie leads us through the training stages of the somatic practice of pure awareness. We are invited into embodied awakening as we journey into the limitless openness, wisdom, and joy that are within each of us, waiting just beneath the surface of our everyday experience.
Dharma Ocean online courses are designed to simulate a residential retreat experience in day-to-day life. We have found that the most influential learning comes through immersion in the teachings with live, human guidance and interaction with fellow practitioners.
This 10-week online course includes:
- 16 hours of video teachings and guided meditations from Reggie Ray, recorded specifically for this course.
- Guidance and accountability through the program by a Dharma Ocean senior teacher.
- Livestreams with a Dharma Ocean senior teacher, in which they will give live teachings and answer questions (dates are to-be-determined, and both will be viewable after the live events).
- Discussion forums and video conference calls facilitated by meditation instructors where you can ask questions and connect with other practitioners.
- Readings and study questions to deepen your learning and practice.
Course Details
For meditators of all levels, this program includes talks and practices centering around:
- The role of meditation as fundamental to human transformation
- Understanding the process of somatic meditation, and how to do it
- The posture of meditation as a practice
- Ways of knowing and moving from ego identification to our true self
- Uncovering the three “kayas” (or bodies) of the buddha, and why this matters
- Working with traumas big and small, through somatic meditation as a path of healing
- The tantric relationship to the body as a part of somatic practice
- The body as sacred journey, and the modern spiritual imperative
- Cultivating a daily somatic meditation practice.
Course Structure
New course materials will be released each Thursday for the ten weeks of the program. Participants may engage with that material at any time during the week, and previous weeks’ materials will be available to stream or download.
Participating in the forums is encouraged but not required, as is any engagement with assistant teacher Jessika Daniel.
The Awakening the Body website will remain open for about 60 days after the course is finished, so participants may download materials or go through the course again at their own pace.
Are there prerequisites for this course?
No. This is an introductory course that will involve practices for beginning and advanced practitioners alike, and this course is a prerequisite for further courses in this series.
What are Dharma Ocean Foundation courses?
These are online courses designed to allow for a deep dive into the core Dharma Ocean practices. Currently, there are two developed courses, Awakening the Body and The Somatic Practice of Pure Awareness. Two more will be developed in the next year. Awakening the Body is the first course that we offer of these four, incremental courses. Each one builds on the insights and practices of the previous ones.
How is this material different from other online courses, or from a CD course?
Dharma Ocean courses feature a dedicated and engaged Assistant Teacher, weekly Zoom calls with a meditation instructor where you can ask questions and interact with small groups of participants, online forums for discussions, a password-protected webpage featuring videos of guided meditations and teachings from Reggie, and two Livestreams with Reggie where he answers your questions relating to the course and its practices.
Is this the same as last year’s course?
The recorded materials are the same as last year, although the experience will be unique, with a different community of practitioners, different meditation instructors, and new Livestreams from Reggie.
How much time will this course require?
We suggest participants be able to set aside 8-10 hours weekly to get the most out of the course. The talks each week last about an hour. Reggie recommends an additional 45 minutes of daily, guided practice, as well as 1-3 hours a week to participate in the online Zoom calls and forums.
What happens if I miss a week, get sick, have an emergency, or am away for part of the course?
The materials will be available online for you to listen to whenever it’s convenient, and you will have access to the full website with all of the videos and audio practices for 60 days after the program ends, including downloading the audio teachings.
Can I take any of the Dharma Ocean courses?
Yes, but the courses must be taken in order: Awakening the Body, The Somatic Practice of Pure Awareness, Bodhichitta: the Heart-Centered Way, and The Vajrayana. You may also retake any course when it is offered, at the returning participant price.
How does this differ from a live, residential retreat?
Live retreats are more immersive (7-straight days of practice and teaching), but these courses are designed to be integrated into your daily life. When you do one of our online courses the experience lands in the midst of the “real” world. This can encourage you to integrate the teachings in a way that does not happen when on residential retreat.
The slower pace of the courses, and the time you have to both practice and to ask questions, means that you are able to take a deep dive into how these practices can impact every part of your life and your most meaningful relationships.
About the Teacher
Dr. Reginald “Reggie” Ray will be leading this pre-recorded course. Reggie draws on four decades of study and intensive 
meditation practice within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to address the unique problems, inspirations, and spiritual imperatives of modern people. He is the founder and Spiritual Director of the Dharma Ocean Foundation, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the practice, study, and preservation of the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the practice lineage he embodied.
Read full biography.
Registration
Registration is not yet open.
Dharma Ocean is committed to extending the teachings by making our online courses widely available. Therefore, we offer a number of levels of support for those in need.
Tuition for this program will be $379. An early bird offer will be in place for the first month of registration. To be notified when registration opens, please join our mailing list.