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Wilderness Solos and the World of Business
Interview with JOHN P. MILTON
by RÚNA
Crestone, Colorado, August 15th. 2006
I am sitting in the only coffee shop in the little town of Crestone in
southern Colorado. The ambiance is friendly and serene. The place is
tastefully decorated with paintings that are for sale and various other
decorative objects. The walls in the little side room I
am sitting in are dark yellow, making the room both warm and alive.
It is quiet in here this morning, which suits me fine. In front of me
sits my long time teacher and mentor, John P. Milton. John is a
pioneering ecologist, T’ai Chi, Qi Gong and meditation master who leads
wilderness solo experiences for organizations and businesses as well as
for the general public. I have just come out of a six day solo on
John’s sacred land on the north side of town in the Sangre de Cristo
mountains. One of the ideas that came to me while out there was to make
use of the opportunity of being with John and interview him in between
his busy teaching and travel schedule. In a few days he will be off to
Sweden to lead corporate people through the Sacred Passage and
Awareness Training process (www.sacredpassage.com). John would say
that I managed to cultivate the gap which comes when you enter into
stillness and to allow my creative juices to flow out from the gap.
John was more than happy to accommodate this idea of an interview.
After some delicious breakfast burritos with freshly made and expertly
spiced salsa accompanied by John’s famous mocha coffee, we began:
Rúna: John, you have been taking people out on wilderness solos for
over 5o years. These have been people from all walks of life,
interested in exploring a deeper connection to Nature. But when did
you first start working specifically with professionals in institutions
and businesses?
John: In 1972 I had many friends that were professionals, politicians
and leaders in their various fields, and I noticed they were burning
out. I had myself combated the same syndromes and gotten myself back
to health and balance through extensive training in Shamanism, Zen
meditation, Mayan wisdom and energy cultivating practices. The natural
flow of events was that I started to make this same awareness training,
that had helped me so much, available to my professional friends and to
combine it with time spent in Nature through the wilderness solos or
vision quest process. That was the very beginning.
With time I noticed that, through this process, people not only started
to restore their health and vitality, but also became more harmonious
within themselves through the deep connection to Nature. Clarity of
vision and purpose broke through, and creativity that most of them had
lost touch with started flowing again. This deeper connection to mother
Earth also brought insights, inspiration, understanding and action to
the many pressing environmental issues that were facing us at that time
and still are, mind you. The result was that many of these
professionals joined me in the birthing of the environmental movement
in the seventies.
In the early eighties, I was contacted by a foundation that was holding
a large piece of land in Telluride, Colorado. The board of the
foundation had the notion that the land should be used in service of
humanity, but they didn’t quite know how to do that. They realized
though that they needed to tap into deeper parts of themselves,
individually and on a group level. That is why I was called in. I
designed a program for them based on the awareness training. The aim
was twofold. Firstly we needed them to harness their own creativity.
Secondly we needed to create a unified group community that could make
productive use of the collective energy. I taught them practices that
they did while out on solo, helping them to break through and connect
by connecting to Nature. The result was a huge upsurge of that very
needed creativity that got the group into a process that delivered the
whole foundation for their vision. That vision still holds today, more
than twenty years later. This started me on the path to help
professional groups to form group visions.
Rúna: In recent years how has this work with organizations and corporations developed?
John: There are two individuals that have played a key role here. The
first one is Maurice Strong. He took some of my ideas about new types
of technologies that were in alignment with the ecosystem and economics
from the environmental movement and presented them in The Stockholm
Conference on the Human Environment in the early 1970’s. Maurice’s
wife, Hanne Strong, has also been a strong ally of mine for years, and
still is. She was the one to introduce the other key person into the
process. That person is Brian Arthur, a leading economist, writer and
thinker. (www.santafe.edu/arthur). Hanna knew about
my background in Taoism and interest in technology and economics that I
shared with Brian and she learned about Brian’s interest in Taoism and
Nature. She thought it only fitting to bring us together. That was in
1992. Brian immediately embarked on his first passage here in
Crestone. He now holds the record for number of passages done with me
by anyone.
What I could offer Brian, apart from the direct access and connection
to Nature, was a broader vision of new, centralized principles, which
he could integrate into his Taoist training. Brian had previously
undergone an intense training with a Taoist master in Hong Kong for
many years. These principles of mine could be applied in the
understanding of technology that Brian had started to think about.
Brian is in fact, at this present moment, writing a book about the
nature and principles of technology that will be published by the Free
Press in 2007/2008.
Brian has been a key person for me in terms of the development of
working with businesses in recent years. He suggested to or literally
instructed Joseph Jaworski to do a Sacred Passage
(www.sacredpassage.com) with me few years back. Joseph’s passage took
place in Baja, Mexico and has now become legendary. It was documented
in full in a chapter in the book Presence (www.presence.net) that
Joseph co-wrote with Peter Senge, Betty Sue Flowers and Otto Scharmer,
published in 2004. This book is now widely read within the business
community (as well as Joseph’s other book, Synchronicity.) Joseph’s
experience on the solo transformed his life and gave him personally and
his company, Generon Consulting (www.generonconsulting.com), a new
vision to work from. Out of this new vision and in collaboration with
Otto Scharmer (www.ottoscharmer.com), the U process was formed, that
was partly based on ideas from Brian as well as from Martin Buber.
This is a good example of how powerful this work can be.
In the past, I had mostly done work with institutions, the world of
foundations, people in politics and individuals in business. Now I get
to expand and work more with corporations and an example of that is work I
did with one of the world’s biggest tobacco companies. They brought their
president of the board, the CEO, and all their top people together on a
retreat in Arizona to do awareness training with me. I introduced to
them the energy development practices and put them out on a short solo,
only few hours, but it did the job.
Rúna: What was the immediate effect of this experience on the participants?
John: Some of the participants were more receptive than others, but all
went away with a profound experience and a new opening to life. They
even discovered the original use of tobacco through sacred ceremony,
honoring the elements and showing gratitude. I have also noticed since
this event that this company has taken on a more mature, responsible
and educational approach to their advertising. And they have started
to diversify their operation, so it is not solely focused on selling
tobacco any more. I do wonder if what they went through on the
retreat, the experience of touching a deeper part of themselves and
that of nature, has something to do with this noticeable change of
direction for the company? I would hope so.
Rúna: You seem to have an innate understanding and feeling for business, John. Where does that come from?
John: My dad was a businessman and a pilot, and my grandfather was a US
Senator for New Jersey. He had a lot of connections with various
institutions and corporations, and I suppose I picked up a lot of
skills in my upbringing about how to understand and work with
businesses. This imprinting has been useful to me in my own work. I am
most grateful for that.
Another interesting experiment I was called into took place in the
Pyrenees in the south of France a few years back. Generon Consulting
hosted a pilot project with one of their international clients, one of
the big oil companies. They had organized a learning journey for this
client, consisting of various events and travels when Brian and I came
into the picture. And you were actually there too. What we did in the
Pyrenees was to prepare them for and take them out on a one night solo,
high up on a beautiful mountain top. When they came back, they embarked
on a group process, coming up with the most pressing issues in their
work and new ways to address them. These issues were then condensed to
a few pilot projects that later were approved by management and
implemented to the betterment of the department.
After people come out of a solo there is usually a sharing process
where participants can express what they experienced and felt while out
there. It came as no surprise to me that one of the things that most
of the participants shared was that a one night solo wasn’t long
enough. It really takes a few days to unwind and uncoil from the
tension and tightness that has become our constant companion in every
day corporate life. This information led to Generon’s increasing their
solo time to three nights when they take professionals out these days.
Rúna: Do I understand correctly that Generon is now using the solo process in their work?
John: Yes, they use it as a way to get people to experience the bottom
of the U process that we talked about earlier. In a nutshell, they are
helping people to cultivate pliancy, fluidity of nature and
adaptability in order to deal with the ever changing world of business
and human interactions in a more conscious and authentic way. Part of
that process is learning how to sense and feel in a deeper way than
before and to become artful at listening. The secret which pliancy and
adaptability come from is to listen to your inner guidance as well as
to listen to those you are interacting with. You do this by being
fully present, reading the energy, interpreting it and while doing so
remaining grounded in your own source or essence.
Rúna: You have also been giving talks to the business community, haven’t you?
John: Yes, through my interactions with Joseph, Peter Senge came on
board. Peter is of course the leading authority on institutional
learning through his foundation SoL (www.solonline.org) as well as one
of the four authors of the book Presence. He has invited me several
times to Boston to give talks including a talk for the SoL Greenhouse
participants at their Emerging Knowledge Forum held at the Boston
College.
Rúna: I know you are preparing for your next working trip to Sweden, as we speak. What will you be doing in Sweden?
John: A number of things.
Firstly I will be consulting with the Tällberg Forum
(www.tallbergforum.org) people. Like you and Brian Arthur I attended
the Forum earlier this summer. One of the activities that was offered
to the Forum participants this year was an overnight outdoor event,
“Re-connecting with nature” that I co-facilitated with Brian and Göran
Gennvi from Natureakademin. This event promised the opportunity to
spend some “open space” time in nature. Participation exceeded our
expectation. Over forty people signed up and we headed to the woods
outside Tällberg. Among other things we hiked to a hilltop where I
lead awareness practices that touched people deeply. After an evening
sitting by the fire, fending off the mosquitoes and reflecting on life
we went to sleep, some in a big tent raised for the occasion, other in
little typical sleeping huts and the rest of the group was brave enough
to sleep outdoors with the mosquitoes. The next morning we closed with
a sharing. It was rewarding to witness how deeply people had been
moved by this simple experience. It is obvious that people generally
do not take the time to get in touch with themselves and reflect
inwards. I am thrilled that the Tällberg Forum is offering these kinds
of nature experiences to their participants that come from the world of
business, government, organizations, politics and many other areas from
all over the world.
Secondly, I will be working with an amazing young Swede, Göran Gennvi
that I just mentioned earlier. Göran runs a pioneer company called
Naturakademin (www.naturakademin.se) that offers and facilitates
learning experiences in Nature, where Nature is the class-room. Through
Naturakademin we have already offered a number of Sacred Passages in
Sweden, and these have been extremely well received. This time around
we will be offering powerful leadership awareness training in the wild
Stockholm Archipelago to develop your authentic Self.
And lastly, we will be working with Scandinavian youth, introducing
them to the Sacred Passage process (www.sacredpassage.com) and
preparing for the foundation of a non-profit organization that will
solely focus on bringing youth to Nature work through The Way of Nature
Fellowship (www.sacredpassage.com). The seed money for this foundation
will come from the donation of the proceeds from The Way of Nature
Fellowship first youth program. I am deeply passionate about educating
and training young people in general, but especially Scandinavian
youth. I hope to train about a dozen young people in the next few years
that can then take over the youth movement operation.
Rúna: Why are you so particularly interested in Scandinavian youth, John?
John: Because it seems that Scandinavia in general has taken on the
role of providing planetary leadership in many ways. The Tällberg
Forum and Naturakademin are good examples. I feel that they have the
inborn understanding, passion and drive to bring together the process
of solo time in Nature and the principles and practices of deep
connection to Source into practical application of problem solving in
the international business community. Training and supporting
up-and-coming leaders through the youth movement is a part of that
development.
Rúna: Are there other areas of the world where you see new growth of conscious leadership coming from?
John: Yes. A number of countries in Latin American are most impressive
in their pioneer work of displaying a more human and conscious
leadership today - leadership that is in opposition to the greed
driven, profit-oriented and self-serving ways that most countries on
the planet conduct business today. I can mention Chile, Argentina,
Bolivia and probably Costa Rica as examples of this new and fresh
outlook on leadership.
And I should not forget a small country in Europe, namely Ireland. I
have been invited several times to Ireland in recent years. I have
been most impressed with what I have seen and learned. Ireland for the
longest time was one of the poorest countries in Europe. It didn’t
have much more than cattle and agriculture. Now they have become the
largest software exporters in the world and have many thriving
high-tech industries. Ireland has transformed itself into one of the
most affluent countries in Europe today. In my opinion they managed to
pull this off because of their spiritual heritage, the Celtic earth
connection. Irish people have this automatic connection and sacredness
in themselves, kind of as a birthright. They also receive this through
their very ancient land and sacred sites. It seems easy for them to
tap into their true source of creativity that we see so clearly through
their culture, music, dance, poetry and story telling. And they have
also demonstrated this dynamism in their creative response to building
up their economy in recent years. They have definitely done their
cultural homework by connecting with Source and Nature, and they are
now bearing the fruits of that.
Rúna: Can you explain to the general business person what is the
connection between these ancient awareness practices, that you
emphasize and talk so much about, and modern business practices of
today?
John: To answer this, let’s start by asking the classical question,
“why have the Japanese for decades been so successful in their business
practices, such as in the car industry?” The answer is that they have
an ancient tradition to train the mind and to connect with Source and
themselves on a very deep level. This is ingrained into their culture
as they have done this for thousands of years, giving them the
qualities of adaptability, flexibility and pliability, which we talked
about earlier. These are the same qualities and practices we teach
through our 12 Principles at Sacred Passage (www.sacredpassages.com).
Westerners don’t have the same capacity as the Japanese, or the Koreans
or Chinese for that matter, as this is not in our culture. We are
mostly ignorant about the powers of such training and practices. That
is what needs to change in the West if we want to have any chance of
being able to compete with these countries in the future.
Last fall I was invited to China by the Taoist Association of China. I
spent two months visiting monasteries and wining and dining with abbots
and other Chinese leaders. One of the things I got out of this
experience was a tremendous appreciation for the emergence of the East
and the West in China today. Chinese leaders want to tap into their
ancient culture and traditions of powerful leadership practices but do
not want to fall back into the old ways of communism nor colonialism.
They are also looking at the West, figuring out what is worth copying
from the Western model and what needs to be left behind as practices
that are outdated, ineffective and simply unhealthy. They want to
integrate the best from both East and West. They want to create a
balanced, collaborative and integrative approach to leadership of
future China and by doing so create a society that will be superior to
the West. One of the cornerstones for this kind of superior society is
the old Taoist principles and practices such as Qi Gong, Tai Chi and
Taoist meditations. The Chinese intend to do the same as the Japanese
did, using these ancient spiritual traditions to bring creativity and
adaptability into their corporate world and the world of leadership in
general. The West doesn’t have traditions like this to fall back on.
We are very poor in this area and at a great disadvantage. We are
likely to be left behind unless we start using some of these same
principles. These Eastern principles I have integrated into The Twelve
Principles and their associated practices that form an
all-denominational body of unique teaching that create the heart
essence of The Way of Nature path that I offer.
Rúna: What do you suggest we do John, here in the West, to have any
chance of being able to compete with these Asian countries that have
these rich and sacred traditions?
John: Again, there are a number of things I believe we have to do.
1. We have to focus on a new breed of leaders by introducing vision
questing and solos into the culture. Not only do we have to help
transform, re-train or re-program existing leaders, but we also have to
prepare for the future by educating and training the youth. This will
cultivate and bring in the opening and the silence that allows the gap
to come in. The gap is the place where the creativity comes from.
2. The principles and practices that support you on a solo
experience allow you to go deeper into the silence than you usually can
do on your own. This is the bottom of the U in Otto Scharmer’s U
Process. This will enhance the power of the experience greatly and
accelerate your connection to Source.
3. The deeper you go into Nature and the more you connect with all
living beings while out on solo, the more apparent to you the planetary
“cook-off” becomes. In other words you become aware of the degradation
and breakdown of the ecosystem and the imminent destructions of oceans,
threatening life on the planet. Part of the antidote to this newfound
awareness is to go deeper into connection to life and to cultivate a
sincere and profound respect and humility to nature and to life.
4. Out of the union of the first three points will arrive a creative
inspiration, offering us ideas and solutions to how to reverse this
destructive phase we are now going through. This will birth and create
new types of technologies, modeled after how natural systems work. I
talked a lot about this already in 1973 in my book called Ecological
Principles for Economic Development, published by John Wiley in London,
1973. When we do this, it will bring about a new and strong economy as
well as a complete technological rebirth. A new cycle will have
started, and we here in the West will be able to participate in the new
creations alongside our friends in the East.
Rúna: John, how can people learn more about your Twelve Principles and the associated practices?
John: As we speak, my new book, Sky Above, Earth Below: Spiritual
Practices in Nature, is being published by Sentient Publications, LLC.
(www.sentientpublications.com). There I lay out the sequential
unfolding of the principles, but nevertheless, it is not a hard and
fast rule to follow that sequence. The Twelve Principles ultimately
are realized as a multi-faceted matrix where we can enter from many
doorways, depending upon our unique situation. If people would rather
like to listen to me talk about the principles, we have a tape set with
the same title Sky Above, Earth Below published by Sounds True
(www.soundstrue.com). The last and maybe the best option is to simply
join me on one of the Sacred Passages (www.sacredpassage.com) that I
offer regularly in various locations around the world.
I thank John for his precious time, his vision of a better world, and his inspirational message to humanity.
Rúna Bouius | Santa Fe | 2006 |www.runora.com
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