Commentary: Part one of a series.

Life long advocates for environmental protection are heartened by media attention recently given to global warming.  It's a vindication of sorts. Astute observers provide a more accurate description of this phenomenon as human induced climate disruption.  One such observer is John P. Milton.  His career as an ecologist spans five decades.  It is ironic and nearly inconceivable that, as a graduate student in the 1960's, he edited a policy statement from an international conference in Buenos Aires entitled "Future Implications of Increasing C02 Concentrations in the Atmosphere", clearly a cutting edge perspective for the early 1960's!  As society adjusts to the pressing ecological imperatives brought on by climate change, much remains to be done to bring human beings back into balance and harmony with Nature.  John remains on the leading edge of cultural transformation as a meditation teacher, spiritual awareness shaman and wilderness guide.

As the founder of Threshold Foundation Inc, Sacred Passage and The Way of Nature, he continues to provide innovative leadership to the environmental movement as one of its authentic elders.  In fact, his work is carving out a new model for our entire culture. While much has been done to protect wilderness for biodiversity, science and recreation, almost nothing has been done to preserve and protect land for it's inherent sacredness and undeniable essential value.  This is where the pioneering work of John Milton and his colleagues becomes critically important.  During this interview you will discover how and why John tirelessly inspires all of us to embrace new principles and practices to heal our relationship with Nature, repair the damage done and change the direction of our society.

Summary of Discussion Between Glennis Walters, Stephen Jay Smith & John Milton:

John began by sharing his perspective about the Sacred Land Trust and his discovery of ancient meditation seats in the San Luis Valley.  These "seats" are as old as 5,000 to 10,000 years.  They were fashioned by the early shaman of Colorado.  As a professional ecologist, author and University Professor of environmental studies, John was initially drawn to Colorado due to these extraordinary land formations in the San Luis Valley.

Prior to arriving in Colorado, John had done a great deal of research to lay the foundation for the Stockholm conference on the Environment in 1972.  This international gathering was conducted by Maurice Strong, with whom John collaborated.  It was the first major ecological conference of world leaders ever convened to evaluate human activity as it related to nature and the earth.  The question arose: What are we going to do about human development and it's impact on our Biosphere?  John's ecological research combined with his meditation and spiritual background led to his work with Hanna Strong's Manitou Foundation based in Crestone.  A small cluster of people worked to bring together a diversity of spiritual lineages and world traditions.  These groups were selected because they shared a common theme.  They all focus on liberation and enlightenment through rural mountain retreat practices and deep immersion in nature.   The underlining purpose and vision of the Manitou group was to demonstrate how these various spiritual groups could learn to live together in peace and harmony. The idea was to bring them close together; all living within a few miles from one another.  The group working with John and Hanna wanted to provide the world with a living demonstration of how these various traditions could work and live together in harmony.  Due to this "experiment" many people in Northern and Central Colorado have heard of Crestone by now.  In fact, it is developing a world- wide reputation as a center for extraordinary spiritual cultivation and healing.

Bud Wilson / Boulder Colorado September, 2007

JOHN MILTON: "When I first arrived in Crestone, it was a very small town, we had only just begun to bring in these spiritual groups.  It is through these small land grants and the establishment of mountain retreat centers that has contributed to what Crestone is today.  Each group represents a unique spiritual tradition or wisdom lineage.

My personal passion remains to provide a demonstration of how these lineages could grow and evolve together - learning from one another and exchanging their various practices, over time.  They could learn how to grow through this togetherness and communion.   Our underlying vision is for these groups to share concepts and principles and practices with one another.  We have a strong desire to demonstrate how these lineages can show all of us how to live in ecological harmony with the Earth. The land grants have gradually been given to various groups for a long period of time, actually for the past 20 to 25 year.  It is a long- term work in process.

It is our intention that these groups learn how to grow and evolve, based upon contact with one another rather than to draw inward and become further separated and isolated.  We've been giving gifts of land to establish retreat centers.  That was the underlying vision. My particular passion is to see how we can explore ways to develop a kind of spirituality with a deeper aspect of respect for the earth - a deep earth-honoring dimension within each spiritual tradition or discipline.  Obviously, today the degree to which humans are out of balance with Nature and one another has grown to an extreme.  It is clear, we simply can't continue to endlessly abuse the Earth or each other.  So, we asked all the lineages to make contributions and bring something to the table about how they can foster new ideas to bring humans into greater balance with Nature and the Earth.  It's a huge experiment we are doing there.

Glennis:  "Yes, that's huge"

John Milton: Well, we need to have spiritual traditions that are ecologically conscious and committed.  It is really important to bring this new view to our culture.   Our Sacred Passage group is one of the lineages there.  in a sense, we are one of the oldest and newest of the groups to arrive in Crestone after the Baptists and the Presbyterian church.

Glennis: "When did you arrive there"?

John Milton: Sacred Passage arrived in Crestone in 1979/80 - we are one of the first and only groups that has stated emphatically the Earth is the church, the temple and the synagogue.  Out of all the groups, Sacred Passage was the first to declare this concept publicly.  No buildings have been built, with the exception of a couple of out houses and a little cabin that was there when we acquired the land.  If buildings are ever built, they would be built on the perimeter of the land not in the heart of it.  If we ever do build something it would most likely be a library, built on the perimeter.   Human structures and Buildings are much less important than Nature - This is why the Sacred Passage program has borrowed the name "The Way of Nature" from the Tao te' Ching  which states that the Way of Nature is unchanging - it is the essence of source. Source is the formless, infinite, nameless foundation that underlies all being, all form and the dance of all existence.  So The Way of Nature and Sacred Passage, by honoring the land in that way, is making a clear statement that it is the inherent sacredness in the land that is far more important than buildings and temples.  These man-made structures can be helpful at times, but they are really far less important than the Earth herself - the ultimate church.

Glennis - Wow, did you see that Hawk just fly by?  There is the vision that is actually going out just as you are saying this now!

John Milton:  "Ah, yes, a very good sign - an nice exclamation point for what we are discussing. By honoring nature in the way we are demonstrating the true church and temple being Nature herself, rather than something constructed by men, we are attempting to bring people back to this awareness.  We are making a clear statement that the Earth is the primordial temple.  This is one of the reasons we call ourselves the Way of Nature.

Glennis:  In my own mind I'm thinking about Nature and Earth, our own Nature and the planet - How do you take the big picture and the small picture vision into a practical expression and educate people about the sacredness that we all have and is all around us?

John Milton: One of the things I found particularly inspiring was something I learned from the little bit of contact I've had with the old ancient Native American way - which, by the way, our site there in Crestone has many ancient sites on it.  There are many ancient meditation seats there that I was guided to discover. As I mentioned they are 5,000 to 10,000 years old.  They were previously never discovered.  Your readers are probably familiar with the Vision Quest process.  I've been doing vision quests since 1945, but this was an entirely new experience for me.  After doing a vision quest in that tradition, I woke up one morning and Mother Earth and Great Spirit and the spirit of the land just picked me up and exposed me to the sacred sites that were all around me, which I had not previously noticed. .  I just began to take a walk out on the land.  In a 12 hour period, I was introduced to a completely new view of Nature.  As you know, I've spent my entire life as an ecologist and I was one of the people who helped to birth the environmental movement.  But I still had no idea how profound and deep nature was from this standpoint.

Glennis:  So this was like an initiation for you on another level.

John Milton: Yes, I was actually guided from one meditation seat to another - literally, there are thousands there.  After this vision quest at the headwaters of our land, I was given an extraordinary gift In particular, here in North America the Native American traditions and shaman have the capacity to lift up the human spirit in a profound way and provide extraordinary levels of insights... unfortunately and tragically much of this was lost as a result of the catastrophes that have befallen the Native American Cultures. 

What we have done as a result of these discoveries of the beautifully and skillfully constructed mediation seats that work with the internal meridians of the body in a way that opens one to spiritual development.  I've never come across anything like this. After all my travels to sacred sites around the world, I've not come across a site anything close to this. 

Glennis:  What a gift!  Coming from you, a world traveler, that's saying a lot

John: It has been a challenge to fund raise in order to save this land.  We just don't have a tradition here in this country to protect land for this purpose.  So, we have now established a movement to honor the earth in a new way through our Sacred Land Trust. We tried to preserve the land in conventional ways, but experienced little to no success. 

Glennis:  If people want to learn more about this, they can visit www.sacredpassage.com

John: Yes, there is a link on our web site about all of this information.

Glennis & Stephen:  Speaking of additional information, you've recently released a new book:  Sky Above, Earth Below - Spritual Practice in Nature.  I understand it was published right here in Boulder by Sentient Publishing.

John:  Yes, the primary reason I wrote the book was to offer the twelve Sacred Passage Principles of Natural Liberation.  I feel it is important for our culture at this time. The principles lay out a natural progression that most individuals go through, when they embark on a spiritual path.  They represent a path for many, but often are revealed more like a matrix where someone can enter at any point.  When one embraces the principles, they begin to open up and unfold.  One of the values of having an all-denominational approach to spirituality, is that we get a chance to actually look back deeply at one's own path, whatever it may be, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic and take a look at their own lineage.

The principles begin to inform that lineage at a deeper level, individuals begin to see certain universal truths that their lineage contains but they also begin to see: "Ah ha," my lineage does this but also that lineage does it over there, and that lineage also contains the same truth and so does that one and so on and so on.  People become much less likely to kill each other over the language of their faith.  The rigidity of their belief systems soften.  Is that an important issue these days or is it not? That is one of the main reasons I wrote this book, to help provide a simple, clear, concise language that people may find easy to relate to and understand.  The words are easy to understand, it's not complicated.  It is not trying to be a super intellectual book that tries to explain everything and provide all the answers.  If successful, people begin to see the commonality of their own beliefs and their own spiritual values and principles. If this book is successful in this, then, the motivation to fight each other, complain about each other and "dis" each other and put each other down, fades away. People see we are all striving to be happy, we are all striving to live lives that have some degree of peace and harmony.  I believe it is the Dalai Lama who suggests that we all share in common a desire to be happy. We all share the same fundamental life journey.  We all strive to relieve our own suffering and the suffering of those we are close to.  It doesn't mean someone has to abandon his own lineage or spiritual path to do this.

 Although, I do have a number of students that work dynamically with these twelve principles, as an ongoing path of spiritual cultivation toward liberation.  But for others, they can look back at the natural progression or perhaps a "matrix" that most people go through toward spiritual transformation and awakening - since it doesn't require a linear progression, one can enter the process at any point along the matrix that anyone can connect with and then it all begins to open or unfold.  With this path or matrix of the twelve principles, individuals can take a look at their own lineage.  People can look at the tradition that they are a part of.  This begins to inform people and that tradition at a much deeper level - so they can begin to see certain universal principles that their lineage contains, but they can come to the realization that AH HA,---  Ah, my lineage does this, but so does that tradition over there and that one does too!  And so there is much less of a tendency to kill one another over the language.  Is that an important issue these days, or what?  That is one of the reasons I did this, to provide a simple, clear language that lays this out for people.   I intentionally wrote this book to be easy to understand, it is not intended to be a super intellectual book that is trying to explain everything.  I'm really pretty simple minded.  If the book was too complicated, I'd be suspicious of it!  One of the main reasons I did this was to provide very clear and simple language to articulate this idea - that we all share the same fundamental life journey.

Our collective challenge is to provide a way to help see back into the original liberated essence of all religion. It is not always easy to recognize the common ground shared by all religious lineages. This Sacred Passage process informs the participants in any given religion to be more accepting of other paths and traditions.  Commonality of religious principles is revealed through the Sacred Passage process.  Plus those people who are not drawn to an organized religion but still feel a strong spiritual pull benefit greatly.

Another reason to write this book is to provide a very clear guide to reconnecting to the Earth and Nature and give a set of practices and process to begin to connect directly to nature and mother earth again to begin to shift their process outside in nature for prayer, ceremony and practice with the true church of the Earth... this gives ethical, moral and spiritual depth to our society in order to build a coherent set of values that is currently lacking in our culture. 

If we don't have this foundation, our society flounders. We are driven by economic and political expediency that is not grounded with any reverence for ecological principles. It is obvious today that we are not honoring the integrity and sacredness of nature.  It is time to establish a global culture with a primary spiritual focus harmonizing with nature that gives us a sustainable, legal, moral and ethical basis from which to make decisions about how we spend our human energy and financial resources. POTENTIALLY, THERE IS A GREAT BENEFIT TO GLOBAL CULTURE.  WE HAVE FOUND WHEN PEOPLE GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS, COMBINED WITH A WILDERNESS SOLO - THEY TOUCH DEEPLY INTO THE FUNDAMENTAL ESSENCE OF THEMSELVES.  THEY COME OUT OF THIS EXPERIENCE WITH BRILLIANT IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO BUILD, CREATIVELY, NEW WAYS TO ESTABLISH A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY.  ALL THE ELEMENTS THAT GO INTO CULTURE BECOME CLEAR TO PEOPLE.  A RAPID REBIRTHING OCCURS AND FRESH NEW INSIGHTS ARISE.  SPECIFICALLY, PEOPLE DISCOVER HOW TO HEAL THEIR OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE AND OTHERS.  

Interview by Glennis Walters & Stephen Jay Smith - Editing and introductory commentary by Bud Wilson.

By John P. Milton

John P. Milton is a pioneering ecologist, spiritual teacher, meditation master, vision quest leader and shaman.

John's vision quest and shamanic work began in the mid-1940's, after experiencing his first vision quest at the age of seven. Since the 1950's, John has guided thousands of people into the wilderness, always sharing with them a profound connection with Nature, and a deep commitment to the realization of Source Awareness. Over the years, many have sought his profound teachings on the Clear Light of Source and on spiritual cultivation and meditation in Nature. His has also been widely sought for his powerful yet gentle Qigong teachings, T'ai Chi Ch'uan training, and Sacred Passage programs. He has pioneered for western civilization a unique, vital way of spiritual cultivation in Nature that ripens in a deep ecological experience of Communion with all species and with Mother Earth herself.

John's teaching's draw upon many decades of practice in various styles of meditation, T'ai Chi, Qiqong, and extensive personal vision questing. His training is also informed by direct teachings from many of the world's outstanding spiritual teachers and lineages. From this comprehensive background, John has created and essentialized a path of key principles and disciplines that flow from Universal Source. He calls this path "The Way of Nature." The lead process of this Way John has named, "Sacred Passage."

The core of The Way of Nature Fellowship and Sacred Passage are Twelve Principles, distilled from his many years of solo time in the wilderness, and combined with deep training in some of the world's most profoundly enlightening, earth-connected lineages. Buddhist, Taoist, Dzogchen, Tantric, Vedantic and Shamanic traditions are mystically encapsulated in these Twelve Principles, the Heart of his Awareness Training. In John's teachings, the Awareness Training combines these Twelve Principles with powerful practices for realizing Source. The Training also concentrates on uniting inner and outer Nature. Supported by hundreds of specific cultivation techniques, these deep principles for spiritual growth bloom in the Hearts and minds of all those that go through his regular and advanced Awareness Trainings and Sacred Passages. For John, and all who associate with his teachings and principles, Nature - not human constructs - is the Church, the Temple, and the Altar.

John received his M.S. in Ecology and Environmental Conservation from the University of Michigan in 1962 and 1963; he was also a student at Mexico City College, and the OAS Inter-American Graduate School of Tropical Science in Costa Rica. A leader in his field, John focused attention on the environmental impacts of bilateral and multilateral organizations involved globally in economic development projects. During these years, he played an instrumental role in the birth of the environmental movement from the early 1960's, as well as the Tropical Forest and Alaska wilderness protection movements of the 1970's and 1980's. Following a landmark study conference that John designed by the same name, his 1966 book, "Future Environments of North America," was a first in opening the use of the word, "Environment" to describe our culture's paradigm shift into a responsibly ecological view of our oneness with Earth. With David Brower, John also was a founder of Friends of the Earth, both the United States-based organization, as well as many of the Friends of the Earth Organizations in other countries.

Between 1963 and 1972 he directed the International Programs Division of the Conservation Foundation, now a part of the World Wildlife Fund - WWF), in both New York and Washington, D.C. Between 1966 and 1973, he lead two major programs to transform cultural awareness of the ecological impacts of development. His first program was a project to commission fifty scientists to prepare several hundred comprehensive case studies on the then relatively little-recognized ecological impacts of economic development projects world-wide. This culminated in a major conference and his 1070 page book "The Careless Technology: Ecology and International Development." His other program was to distill the central ecological principles from all the case studies. This work was published in his 1973 book, "Ecological Principles for Economic Development." Taken together, these two programs and books played a major international role in shifting global awareness towards ecological and environmental sustainability. In the early 1970's, John was the first ecologist on staff at the White House, working with the President's Council of Economic Advisors. He went on to be awarded a position as a Woodrow Wilson Resident Scholar for a year at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars located in the original "Castle Building of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Between 1979 and 1981 he was visiting professor of Environmental Studies at Sangamon State University in Springfield, Illinois, and Director of its Center for Urban and Regional Studies. During this period, he developed a number of design projects to model how ecological sustainability can work at household, neighborhood, small town, city, farm, and entire watershed levels. His work on distilling core ecological principles for application to economic and community development were the unique element in this work to create models of sustainability for human cultures. He has also served on a variety of committees at the National Academy of Sciences.

Since the 1950's, John has conducted numerous expeditions and field projects in wilderness areas of the United States, Alaska and the Canadian Arctic, Central and South America, Asia and Africa. These have included rhino and tiger conservation in Nepal, protection of mountain ecosystems in both Nepal and Bhutan, preservation of Alaska's wilderness, and rainforest protection in Brazil, Cambodia, Central America, East Africa, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, and Venezuela.

John has also authored numerous books, articles and audiotapes, as well as produced video/CD/DVD media on ecology, environmental conservation, meditation, cultivating life energy, inner development, discovering and protecting sacred places, preserving wilderness and the shamanic way. Some of his publications include: The Future Environments of North America, 1966, Doubleday and Co.; Nameless Valleys, Shining Mountains, 1970, Walker & Co.; The Careless Technology: Ecology and International Development, 1972, Doubleday & Co.; Earth and the Great Weather: The Brooks Range, 1973, Friends of the Earth; Ecological Principles for Economic Development, 1973, John Wiley & Sons; The Last Great Wilderness, Wilderness USA, 1973, National Geographic Society; Sky Above, Earth Below: A Complete Course on Spiritual Practice in Nature, 1999, Sounds True (six audio tape set). In 2001 and 2002, working with Sarah Sher and The Way of Nature Productions, he released a CD and DVD entitled The Sacred Land Trust, and a preliminary VHS tape on The 12 Principles. His work scheduled for release includes: a multi-angled DVD on T'ai Chi Ch'uan; five 90 minute DVDs and a book on John's Qi Gong system; and a DVD and audiotape series on his Twelve Principles.

With his background as a professional ecologist, John embodies a unique blending of scientific grounding in ecology with spiritual awareness. For much of his life since the mid-1950's, John has labored to open what he calls" Sacred Ecology" as a new cultural foundation for The West. In the early 1970's he established Threshold, a foundation devoted to innovative environmental work coupled with opening the way to spiritual liberation in Great Nature. Later came Sacred Passage and The Way of Nature Fellowship, as well as The Golden Flower School, where he has instructed T'ai Chi for over 25 years. Threshold, Sacred Passage, and The Way of Nature programs all inspire Earth Stewardship by cultivating natural wisdom and an open, loving heart in the wild.

Under Threshold, John and several associates have also established the Sacred Land Trust, dedicated to preserving and lovingly communing with natural areas holding special sacred qualities. These areas are integral to deepening each individual's harmony with Nature, and enhancing their capability for spiritual liberation. All this work demonstrates John's life long devotion to the mystery of Gaia, and to the process of human liberation, allowing deep ecological and spiritual values to guide his own path.

John continues to live, explore and lead wilderness trainings in many of the Earth's wild and sacred places. Through the Way of Nature Fellowship, he offers Sacred Passages, Regular and Advanced Awareness Trainings, classical vision quests, weekend to week long Trainings on a variety of means to cultivate the Sacred View, and wilderness solo experiences for individuals and groups.

More Featured Articles