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John Milton Jeffrey Glassman (Founder) Jim Kelley Robert Norton Kate Parrot Robert Rizika John Milton
 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 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.
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. 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. 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 in 2003 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.
About the Founder of Sacred Passage and the Way of Nature: Carla Brennan Interviewing John P. Milton
Q: John, when did you first start going on wilderness solos?
John P. Milton: With the encouragement of my grandfather and parents, I began doing wilderness solos and vision quests at the age of 7 in 1945. I told them I wanted to go out alone into the mountains "to be in the real Church." For the next five years, I did at least several vision quests a year in northern New Hampshire, Maine, or in the swamps and Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey. When I was 15, I did my first month-long wilderness solo in the Olympic Mountains of Washington State.
Q: What inspired you to begin these vision quests and wilderness solos?
JPM: A deep inner love of Nature and Spirit, and a desire to deepen that natural union. Later, I discovered the writings of John Muir, Henry David Thoreau and John Burroughs; these writings became a deep confirmation of my path. Starting at 15, I began conceiving and carrying out numerous expeditions in wild, remote areas little or never explored by Western culture. The insights given to me by Great Nature and Spirit during these expeditions have been profound teachings for me. As a result of this deep immersion in wilderness and wild nature from an early age, Nature has always been my primary Teacher: dissolving into the vast openness of sky; learning the way wind speaks as the voice of Spirit, seeing how gracefully clouds swirl through their changes - never clinging; absorbing the yielding power of water; experiencing the profound cutting-through energy of lightning bolts...all these, and mountain, animal, bird, stone, river, forest - all have been great mentors.
Q: Who have been your primary spiritual teachers?
JPM: As I mentioned, my main teachers have always been wild Nature and Great Spirit. But I have also been extremely fortunate in having had many wonderful human teachers. Since the late 1950's, I've been honored to work with fine teachers in Taoism and T'ai Chi, Buddhism, Dzogchen, Vedanta and both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra. I've also learned a lot from living with traditional peoples and Shamans in remote parts of Mother Earth.
Q: Tell me more about your Taoist background.
JPM: In 1958 I had my first teacher of meditative Qi Gong for spiritual cultivation; that opened an ever-deepening form of Taoist practice that I've continued with ever since. Then, in the late 1960's I was first exposed to T'ai Chi Ch'uan and immediately fell in love with that system of spiritual and energetic cultivation. From 1973 through 1980 I studied Cheng's Yang family style T'ai Chi - predominantly with Robert Smith and Ben Pang Jeng Lo - but also with Maggie Newman, Tam Gibbs and others. I also studied Qi Gong and Taoist yoga with Sifu Fong Ha, Mantak Chia and other Taoist teachers. I have taught these systems since 1979.
Q: You integrate a number of other meditation practices in your trainings. Where did you learn them?
JPM: My formal training in Far Eastern meditation began in 1958 at the University of Michigan, practicing Zen meditation with Ed Maupin as my teacher. I was fortunate enough to meet Ed shortly after his return from extensive Zen training in Japan. Zazen, combined with my regular vision quests, became the core of my spiritual practice. For many years, I practiced classical soto style zazen meditation between four and eight hours a day. Zazen continues until today as a core practice for me. Then, later on in the 1960's, I also became a serious student of the teachings of Taoism, Tibetan Buddhism and both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra. In the 1970's, I was also deeply influenced by the blessings of shaktipat and Siddha Yoga with Swami Muktananda. As a result of all this spiritual cultivation, my first major experience of the arising of Kundalini Shakti and the opening of central channel came in the mid 1970's. This was such a powerful experience for me that for six months all I could do was rest in profound waves of bliss and unmitigated presence. My usual reasoning mind and subject/object distinctions had dissolved, leaving open, spacious Being - filled with the bliss of powerful energy radiating through that spaciousness. Slowly, over three or four more months, normal rational consciousness began to naturally arise once more out of that pure State - but underneath ordinary discriminating mind, the bliss and spaciousness of pure Being still remains.
Also starting in the late 1960's and through the 1970's until now, I have been fortunate and very blessed to have many fine teachers from several Tibetan lineages, particularly Sogyal Rinpoche, His Holiness Dilgo Khentze Rinpoche, H.H. the Karmapa, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Lama Tharchin, Lopon Tenzin Namdak, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and many other wonderful Lamas. In particular, the blessings of opening and deepening Dzogchen contemplation have been at the heart of my personal cultivation. From the late 1960's on until now, I have been very active in helping protect Himalayan forests and in setting up wildlife reserves and national parks in Nepal and Bhutan. I often hired large numbers of Tibetan refugees to help me in survey and parks work in the Himalaya Mountains along the Tibetan frontier. All this has given me some extraordinary opportunities to study and practice with Himalayan masters on their home ground and often in a very traditional way, with few or no other westerners around.
I was also fortunate to study Vipassana meditation with S.N. Goenka and his wife in Nepal. Another major teacher for me has been the great tantrika, and devotee of the Divine Feminine, Vasudev of India and Nepal. Over a number of years I was blessed with being able to study with him in mountain caves, at Nepal's great temple to Shiva as the God of All Nature, Pashupatinath, and in the cremation grounds of Nepal and Varanasi (Benares). His teachings, transmissions and direct initiation into the Sacred View have been an incredible blessing to my life and my ability to serve my students.
Q: Why did you leave a successful career in ecology to teach and to offer the Way of Nature programs full time?
JPM: One reason was, simply, to be able to respond to many requests from students and others to teach and to offer an accelerated series of Sacred Passages and Awareness Trainings. Another reason was to serve the need for cultural transformation at the deepest level. In earlier years, my professional background focused on first helping to birth the environmental movement. Then I specialized on ecological studies, uncovering suppressed ecological and economic development issues, helping create national and international environmental policies, Alaskan wilderness protection, saving Earth's rapidly-dwindling tropical forests and on preserving the planet's rapidly vanishing wilderness. After immersing myself in creating these and other major environmental initiatives for many years, I became convinced that political, legal and economic approaches did not go deep enough. These outer initiatives could not alone bring about the penetrating changes in human culture that we need for people to live in true harmony and balance with the Earth. The next great opening of ecological view would have to be an internal one.
Reflecting on the profound internal changes that I, as well as others I had taken into the wilderness, had experienced from nature solos - I knew that this process could help provide human culture with the deep inner communion with both the Earth and Universal Source that would be necessary for living in true harmony and creative integrity with One's Essence and with Nature.
Q: How did Sacred Passage and the Way of Nature programs get started?
JPM: Starting in the late 1950's and continuing through the 1970's, I took friends on vision quests and wilderness solos once or twice a year. Most of my training to prepare them focused on ways to meditate and cultivate energy in Nature. I also developed a series of practices to refine and purify perception - to allow each sense to transform from an experience of subject/object separation into a direct perceptual realization of Union with that which is being perceived. In the 1980's, first the NatureQuest, and then the Sacred Passage and Way of Nature Programs became a way to make this experience more widely available. In many ways, I see the Passages as a form of Deep Ecology training and opening: a profound union of inner and outer Nature. Many who have done Sacred Passage have gone on to be of immense help in the healing and protection of the Earth.
Since the 1960's I've been working on creating an inner development process that defines the essential universal spiritual principles and provides carefully selected and refined practices that cultivate these principals. This process combines guided Awareness Training with alone time in wild Nature. I call this "Opening the Sacred View"...This View is now grounded in The Twelve Principles, The Sacred Passage program, the NatureQuest process, and the basic and Advanced Awareness Trainings now offered through the Way of Nature ?s spiritual fellowship.
Q: What other experiences contributed the most to your life and your Teachings?
JPM: From a deeply personal view, I received a great gift in 1984, when I was struck by a Thunderbolt. What next unfolded was a classical death experience - somewhat similar to what others have reported, those who have died and been brought back - often through medical intervention. One instant I was preparing for bed around eleven O'clock, slipping under the covers - the next instant the Universe-shattering roar of a massive thunderbolt cut through my awareness, and my physical being - completely and perfectly shattering all conceptions of reality and my world. In a moment, I found myself hurtling headfirst up through a giant, dark-walled tunnel of immense proportions. Earth and bedroom were totally left behind. At the end of the vast tunnel I dissolved into the Boundless. Many have attempted to describe the Unborn: Pristine Awareness, The Clear Light, The Essence of God and Goddess, The Formless Presence that births all forms - but for me it was an Initiation impossible to describe in words. I simply call it Source.
I was brought back through the dark tunnel, feet first. As my awareness re-integrated in my human body, I discovered my body was no longer under the covers, but on top of the bed in a lotus meditation posture. I have no idea how it got there. Even as I sped back into form down the tunnel, my eyes never left the Clear Light. Coming back into my body, my eyes remain fixed on that Light that I had been perfectly unified with. However, now I found myself looking through the window, gazing deeply into the light of rising Venus, the Morning Star. About six hours of our normal time had passed. It was dawn.The Gift of that transmission has been the Origin of most of my teachings on formless Source itself.
Carla Brennan did this interview with John P. Milton in May 1996, after completing her first (of two) 49-day Awareness Training (and 28-day solo) with John in Crestone, Colorado during July-September 1995.
Jeffrey Glassman, Founder
[ Back to top ]
Jeffrey Glassman Jeffrey Glassman, Founder 
Ever since I was a kid, I?ve always had a strong connection to trees. It began when I read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein at least twenty times. I heard the story of Johnny Appleseed and decided I wanted to be him when I grew up.
Somehow, my path took a different turn and I became a lawyer! But even as I received my finance degree at Syracuse University and my law degree at Suffolk University, I always remembered how I felt when I was in nature. The problem was that I never allowed myself the time to enjoy it. Anybody who works and lives in a city knows what I am talking about. Then one weekend back in 2001, I decided to purchase a series of meditation tapes so I could reduce my stress level. Believe it or not, running a law firm can be stressful! But instead of purchasing any generic meditation tape, I chose one that seemed to be calling to me. It was called Sky Above, Earth Below by John Milton . The focus was not simply around meditation, but meditating and connecting with nature.
John explains that nature is the greatest of all teachers. Waiting outside your door is a teacher who embodies every higher quality you are seeking. Who, for millions of years, has served as the spiritual wellspring for all wisdom traditions. This living example of a liberated existence is as close as the wind in your face, and the sun on your back.
After listening to only a few minutes, all seemed peaceful. My stress, worries, and contractions completely disappeared. I was inspired to spend more time in nature so I dived right in and embarked on a sacred passage led by John in Baja, Mexico. After receiving John's teachings, I was to spend 7 days completely alone in nature. No music, no books, no people, nothing to distract me except my own thoughts! And I had plenty of them because after 2 days, all this silence was more than a city lawyer could take!
So 5 days before I was to be picked up, I packed up my tent and my overpacked bags and hid them behind a cactus bush. The cell phone I snuck into my campsite had no reception so I hitchhiked an hour and a half across Mexico. When I finally arrived at base camp, there was John. And he was not surprised to see me! I learned it was quite common, especially for city dwellers like myself to have this type of experience. This was because it was the first real time in my life when I had nothing around to distract me. It was an amazing life lesson.
The following year, I got the nerve to try it again. This time I set a goal for myself to spend just 2 days in nature, but not to go completely insane! When I made it 2 days, I decided to stay for 2 more. Eventually, I made it through the entire sacred passage. The experience I had with nature was so meaningful that words could simply not explain it.
Ever since my sacred passage, nature has taught me to be more relaxed, present, and peaceful. It has also provided me wonderful gifts such as energy and compassion. When I travel now, I take special effort to go on nature hikes. And these nature hikes are what led me to Costa Rica.
I visited Costa Rica in 2004. I was awed by it's incredible beauty and just remember feeling the Rainforest was alive! Being there however, I could not help noticing the huge tracts of Rainforest land that had been completely destroyed. While there were obvious financial reasons why someone would cut down the forest, I remember thinking that the person or company who cut it down obviously placed no value on the Rainforest while it was alive. I wished I had the opportunity to give a copy of Natural Capitalism to the person or company that was cutting down the rainforest before they did it. (It is a classic book and part of it explains the true cost of exploiting natural resources and why Rainforests are worth more alive than destroyed.)
Since that time, the rest is history. I have been on a mission to plant rainforests. Some lawyers are referred to as Rainmakers because they make the rain by bringing in the business. I have enjoyed being a successful rainmaker since opening up my law firm. But now it is time to give back to the Earth. It is time to honor the planet we live on. It is time to become a RainforestMaker. I hope you join me.
Jeff [ Back to top ] Jim Kelley 
Jim Kelley is an attorney by trade, who possesses expertise in
matters relating to contract negotiations, joint ventures, corporate
governance, finance acquisition, and corporate law. He structured
myriad business transactions, including private equity deals, joint
ventures, re-seller and distribution partnerships, mergers, reverse
mergers and acquisitions. Several of the more complex transactions
involved companies such as E-Bay, Advent, Morgan Stanley, Dow Jones and
Sungard (to name but a few).
An investor by profession, Jim Kelley founded Anam Cara Venture Partners, LLC,
a company organized for the purpose of making private equity
investments. He has participated in and/or led numerous investments,
primarily in new and emerging technology oriented business endeavors.
For example, he is the largest individual investor in Smartleaf, Inc.,
having led three rounds of investment into the Massachusetts Software
Company ? a company that presently manages over 6.3 Billion Dollars of
private wealth in a fully automated, tax centric, portfolio management
system. Jim Kelley earned degrees in philosophy and economics from the
University of Massachusetts and a Juris Doctor from Suffolk Law
School. Jim. Kelley serves on the Board of Directors of Smartleaf.
[ Back to top ] Robert Norton
Robert W. Norton concentrates his civil trial practice in personal injury law. Mr. Norton's experience includes  both jury and bench trials in the trial courts of the Commonwealth, the Federal District Court, the United States Bankruptcy Court, and the United States Administrative Law Courts. He has briefed and argued appeals before the Appeals Court of Massachusetts and the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Norton has also tried cases on business litigation, product liability, aviation accidents, admiralty claims, and motor vehicle and premises liability.
Robert Norton's most recent accomplishment included receiving the highest jury award on a personal injury case in 2006 for 12 million dollars with interest.
Robert W. Norton, born Boston, Massachusetts, February 6, 1959; admitted to bar, 1987, Massachusetts; 1988, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts. Education: Colby College (B.A., 1981); Suffolk University Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1987). Best Oral Advocate, First Year Moot Court McLaughlin Competition; International Law Advocate Team Member. Member: Massachusetts and American Bar Associations; The Association of Trial Lawyers of America; Massachusetts Association of Trial Attorneys.
[ Back to top ] Kate Parrot 
Kate Parrot is currently a PhD student in the Organization Studies Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She is interested in the relationship between adult human development, corporate social responsibility, and socially responsible investing. Kate holds a master's degree in Technology and Policy from MIT, where she studied multi-stakeholder approaches to global environmental issues. Kate also has a master's degree in Conscious Evolution from the Graduate Institute, and a B.S. in Biology from Oakland University.
From 2003 to 2006, Kate served as a core research team member of the Generative Dialogue Project (www.generativedialogue.org), which aims to develop and promote dialogic approaches to global problem solving. Prior to her graduate work at MIT, Kate worked in municipal water resources planning in Colorado, and at the Rocky Mountain Institute in Snowmass, Colorado on corporate social responsibility and community economic development.
Kate is the co-founder of Boston Omega and the Student Working Group for Sustainability@MIT , a graduate student group that aims to integrate the principles of social and environmental sustainability into MIT's operations, curricula, and research. [ Back to top ] Robert Rizika
Robert Rizika, President and CEO
Robert Rizika works with the founding team at Acinion to set the company's strategic direction. Mr. Rizika oversees business development, product management, marketing, and investor relations. A proven entrepreneur and CEO, Mr. Rizika has over twenty years of experience managing emerging technology companies. His success in these endeavors has been fueled by a combination of technology insight, sales and marketing expertise, and a dedication to customer satisfaction. Most recently Rizika served as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales & Entertainment Strategy for Macrovision Corporation (MVSN: NASDAQ), managing a global $250M business. In this position his responsibilities included the creation and deployment of comprehensive anti-piracy strategies for motion picture studios, music labels, video game publishers and trade associations. He also managed sales development of Macrovision's market-leading electronic sell-through platform for video games, extensible to movies, cable television networks, television programming and music. Previously, Mr. Rizika was a founding team member of VeridSoft Corporation, a mobile iLife technology provider sold to Yahoo! in 2003. At VerdiSoft Mr. Rizika was responsible for World Wide sales to global mobile operators and ISPs. Prior to co-founding VerdiSoft Corporation, he co-founded QuantumClicks and Reflective Technologies, Inc. As SVP of Marketing and Sales for Reflective Technologies, Rizika grew that company from a small Boston-based start-up to a multi-national corporation, leading to a successful sale in 1999. Mr. Rizika came to Reflective Technologies after holding leadership positions in sales at Teradyne, Inc.
Rizika received his M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management in 1994, and holds a B.S.M.E. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [ Back to top ]
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