Ray studied Tibetan Buddhism, traditional shamanic wisdom, and yogic-contemplative practices with the Tibetan refugee and recognized Vajrayana traditional-wisdom holder Chögyam Trungpa; and later studied under the tutelage of traditional Dagara teacher from Burkina Faso, Malidoma Somé.
[1] He left the Shambhala organization to found his own teaching center in 2005, Dharma Ocean.
"[This quote needs a citation] Ray has a BA in religion from Williams College (1965), and received an M.A.
In 1974, at the invitation of Trungpa Rinpoche, Ray left a tenure-track position at Indiana University and relocated to Boulder, Colorado—then the center of Trungpa Rinpoche's community–to become the first full-time faculty member and chair of the Buddhist Studies Department at Naropa University, where he taught until his retirement in July 2009.
[4][5] Ray also served on the Nalanda Translation Committee[6] and held a half-time appointment in the Religious Studies department at the University of Colorado.