John P. Milton is a

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

and

Qigong ''Qigong'' (), ''qi gong'', ''chi kung'', ''chi 'ung'', or ''chi gung'' () is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training. With roots in ...

instructor, author, and

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

. He is the founder of ''Sacred Passage and the Way of Nature''. He pioneered

vision quest A vision quest is a rite of passage in some Native American cultures. It is usually only undertaken by young males entering adulthood. Individual Indigenous cultures have their own names for their rites of passage. "Vision quest" is an English ...

ing in contemporary Western culture in the 1940s. In 1945, at the time he began his sacred solo retreats in the wilderness, vision quests were unknown in the Americas outside Native American culture. He received his M.S. in ecology and conservation from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1963.Milton, John P., Sky Above, Earth Below, Sounds True, Boulder CO, 1999, Milton is also known for organizing and leading dozens of expeditions into some of the wildest areas left on Earth, starting in his late teens. A founding father of the environmental movement in the early 1960s, he was a professor of environmental studies and a

Woodrow Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Was ...

scholar at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. He was one of the first ecologists on staff at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

as a member of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, and was a founding member of the environmental organization Friends of the Earth. He is a frequent lecturer and workshop leader, and sought-after meditation and Qi Gong teacher. Thousands of people have sought his instruction since he began teaching in the 1950s. He has developed unique practices for uniting inner and outer nature through training in

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...

Vedantic ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...

, Tantric, and Native American spiritual traditions, and he incorporates

T'ai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

and

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

in his work. The book '' Discovering Beautiful: On The Road To Somewhere'' includes several sections detailing a student's apprenticeship with John. His books and articles focus on inner development, Qi Gong and ecology. He recently published the book ''Sky Above, Earth Below''. Devotees of Milton say his programs inspire Earth stewardship by cultivating natural wisdom and an open, loving heart in the wild. John Milton lives in Crestone, Colorado.

Sources

*Milton, John P., Sky Above Earth Below: Study Guide, Sentient Publications, Boulder CO, . *Wilson, Bud and Jennifer Lennon, John P. Milton
Sacred Passages Teachers
retrieved March 2007.

External links

John's work on the Transition United States web site
John P. Milton on Sacred Earth Conference - 1 of 4 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0oLX-Hf4Dw John P. Milton on The Value of Solo Time in Nature - 2 of 4 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTJeO9wT9sg John P. Milton on Sacred Earth Origins & Sacred Sites 3 of 4 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOQMTraMdTY John P. Milton on "Ecological Spirituality" - 4 of 4 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdnncQiKGpc Sacred Land: Healing Through Immersion in Nature – John Milton at U of Florida * http://www.ufspiritualityandhealth.org/assets/wmv/miltonStream.wmv Night in Nature at Tällberg Forum – John P. Milton & Goran Gennvi * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_UkDTdt8cU John Milton's Bus Stop Meditation * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlFLOfwjHVI Cultivate Longevity Clip – John P. Milton * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYErCchAyVI Develop Qi Strength and Power – John P. Milton * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMrIjLvPTLA Cleanse and Build Inner Qi – John P. Milton * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ7DrhdKE8U Get Wild – Nature Quest in Sweden * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZKYS0I6Ux0

References

Future environments of North America: Transformation of a Continent. (1966). Eds: F. Fraser Darling & John P. Milton Garden City, NY: The Natural History Press. The Careless Technology: Ecology and International Development (1969). Eds. Farvar, M. T., Milton, J. P. Washington D.C.: The Conservation Foundation and The Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, Washington Univ. Milton, John P. 1969. Nameless Valleys, Shining Mountains: the Record of an Expedition into the Vanishing Wilderness of Alaska's Brooks Range. New York: Walker & Co. Dasman, R. F., Milton, J. P., & Freeman, P. H. (1973). Ecological Principles for Economic Development. NY: John Wiley & Sons. {{DEFAULTSORT:Milton, John P. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American ecologists American environmentalists Qigong practitioners Smithsonian Institution people University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment alumni