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Biography
John has practiced vipassana meditation since 1969. Since 1986, he has been the primary teacher for Mountain Stream Meditation Center. His work and teaching have been very important in the growth and development of Buddhism and meditation in the Northern Sierra Nevada region. His background includes many years of training both in Asia and in the United States with recognized masters of Buddhism, including the Tibetan, Thai and Burmese traditions. He has been a teacher at Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, CA, since 1987. John has children and grandchildren.

Beginners
If you are just learning to meditate, or if you need a refresher, John Travis has recorded meditation instructions. Please download the first talk from the list below.

In addition, Mary Helen Fein has recorded a series of 5 guided meditations starting with about 10 minutes and progressing to 35 minutes. Click here for guided meditations for beginners. In fact, these talks are part of a complete course in beginning meditation. The course is dana based, so you can pay whatever you can. Please go to http://www.beginningmeditationonline.com if you are interested.

Dharma Seed
Many of John Travis' recent talks are available through Dharma Seed. Please click here to visit this website and hear talks by John.

 

Talks
(To Download, Right Click the Download link, then choose "Save Target As")

Meditation Instructions

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Meditation Instructions
01/2010
15:42

 

Davis, December 2012

Topic
Date
Play
Length
First Instruction
12/20/12
12:43
Second Instruction
12/20/12
9:06
Dharma Talk
12/20/12
56:04
Guided Meditation
12/20/12
24:50

 

Kona, Hawaii, November, 2012

Topic
Date
Play
Length
First Night Talk
11/07/12
20:12
Precepts
11/07/12
11:58
Four Truths
11/08/12
29:35
Ox Herding Teaching
11/10/12
48:34
Dependent Origination
11/12/12
46:08
Precepts
11/07/12
11:58

 

Jackson Hole, October 2012

Topic
Date
Play
Length
 
10/06/12
59:07
 
10/07/12
50:56
 
10/08/12
53:30
 
10/09/12
53:31
 
10/10/12
12:40
 
10/10/12
20:12
 
10/11/12
43:11
 
10/12/12
50:45
 
10/12/12
37:39
 
10/13/12
40:03

 

Harmony Ridge Retreat, January 2012

Topic
Date
PDF
Length
The Fundamentals of the Journey - (Summary from Notes of Mary Helen Fein)
01/07/12
N/A

 

Cazadero, Sept, 2011

Topic
Date
Play
Length
Meditation Instructions
Transcription
09/24/11
27:16
Metta Instructions
09/24/11
12:04
Dharma Talk
Transcription
09/24/11
56:00
Meditation Instructions
09/25/11
14:28
Questions and Answers
09/25/11
6:34
Dharma Tallk
09/25/11
52:44
Meditation Instructions
09/26/11
36:30
Dharma Talk
09/26/11
56:45
Meditation Instructions
09/26/11
21:59
Questions and Answers
09/26/11
18:26
Dharma Talk
Transcription
09/26/11
1:02:38
Meditation Instructions
09/27/11
22:53
Dharma Talk
Transcription
09/27/11
1:02:30
Meditation Instructions
09/28/11
8:11
Questions and Answers
09/28/11
28:37
Dharma Talk
09/28/11
1:12:51
Meditation Instructions & Bells
09/29/11
1:03:57
Dharma Talk
09/29/11
55:12
Meditation Instructions
09/30/11
12:30
Questions and Answers
09/30/11
29:13
Dharma Talk
09/30/11
44:09

 

Origin, July, 2011

Topic
Date
Play
Length
Refuge & Vows
07/18/11
48:41
Guided Instruction
07/19/11
6:53
Meditation Instruction on Breath & Staying Focused
07/19/11
25:33
Meditation Instruction on Access Concentration
07/19/11
47:28
Metta
07/19/11
9:30
Meditation Instruction on Sitting and Consciousness
07/20/11
2:30
Meditation Instruction on Body Scan
07/20/11
1:26:08
Instruction and Dharma Talk
07/20/11
1:00:14
Meditation Instructions
07/21/11
4:47
Questions and Answers
07/21/11
28:46
Dharma Talk
07/21/11
54:11
Questions and Answers, bells
07/22/11
1:13:34

 

Sierra Friends, June, 2010

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Bolt of Lightning 06/05/10 49:32
Meditation Instruction on Forgiveness 06/05/10
14:18
The Body 06/06/10
49:33
Indonesia (Bobrador) 06/07/10
53:43
Four Aspects of Awareness 06/08/10
52:58
Meditation Instruction on Opening the Heart
06/08/10
15:33
Emptiness (Sunyata)
06/09/10
1:05:15
Meditation Instructions 06/09/10
22:18
Karma 06/10/10
1:12:40
Meditation Instructions on Releasing the Arrow 06/10/10 Right Click 17:55
The Crossroads 06/11/10 Right Click 1:03:57
Bells 06/12/10 Right Click 38:40
Dharma Talk 06/12/10 Right Click 1:09:16
Instruction, Dharma talk and bells 06/12/10 Right Click 50:07
Metta Sutta &
the Brahma Viharas
06/12/10 Right Click 1:21:38

 

Harmony Ridge Retreat, January 2010

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Journey - Internal Trekking
01/08/10
45:23
Mind and Body
01/2010
50:33
Here and Now
01/2010
15:42
Obstacles
01/2010
56:29
7 Factors of Awakening
01/2010
1:01:39

 

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Mindfulness Stress Reduction: Body Scan
Posted
5/15/2009
42:27
Mindfulness Stress Reduction: Guided Meditation
Posted
5/15/2009
37:30

 

Jackson Hole , October 2006

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Four Truths
10/07/06
55:16
Body 10/08/06
1:03:52
Mara's Trance
10/09/06
56:55
Self Acceptance & Practice
10/10/06
56:40
Karma
10/11/06
59:41
Two Truths / Death
10/12/06
1:08:33
Dependent Co-arising
10/13/06
53:24
Working the Heart
10/14/06
48:33
Ending Retreat
10/15/06
36:58

 

Origin, July 2005

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Settling In
7/25/05
40:04
Through The Body
7/26/05
42:16
Welcoming The Difficulties
7/27/05
55:19
Turning Out Towards Deeper Water
7/28/05
51:37
Metta
7/29/05
13:46

Nevada City, June 2005
On the Cushion/Off the Cushion
Dr. Thynn Thynn

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
In The Moment
6/17/05
45:28
Likes and Dislikes
6/18/05
51:58
Judgement - Rational vs. Irrational
6/19/05
55:03
Three Filters - 1
6/20/05
50:21
Three Filters - 2
6/21/05
1:00:43

Monday Night Talks, April 2005

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Devotion & Pilgrimage 4/25/05
49:35

Jackson Wyoming, April 2005

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
View - 4 Ways
4/9/05
44:24
Body
4/10/05
52:08
Hindrance
4/11/05
55:53
Insight
4/12/05
56:25
One Taste - Talk 1
4/13/05
49:04
One Taste - Talk 2
4/14/05
49:48
Ordinariness
4/15/05
54:45
Sound Meditation
4/15/05
41:19
Big Mind
4/17/05
37:01

Shasta Lake, February 2005

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
The Four Nobel Truths
2/5/05
41:19
Embodiment
2/6/05
45:01
Knowing Our Difficulties - 1
2/7/05
47:27
Knowing Our Difficulties - 2
2/8/05
46:29
Three Characteristics
2/9/05
1:02:38
Seeing Clearly
2/10/05
47:10
Wheel of Life
2/11/05
55:02

Coram Ranch, January 2005

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Fear as a Basis for Practice 1/31/05
40:23

Sun Valley Idaho Retreat, January 2005

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Dying & The Open Question
1/24/05
56:12
Difficulty & The Unconditioned
1/25/05
51:34
Faith
1/25/05
33:13

Indiana, November 2004

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
The Bottom Line
11/6/04
47:06
Waking Through The Body
11/7/04
57:46
Difficulties
11/8/04
54:45
War and Metta
11/9/04
52:34
Rainbow and Practices - 1
11/10/04
1:03:01
Rainbow and Practices - 2
11/11/04

57:47

Jackson Wyoming Retreat, October 2004

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Mind Heart Scrub
10/2/04
41:23
Meditation of Embodiment
10/3/04
53:08
Devotion & The Awakened Heart
10/5/04
47:09
Spiritual Immediacy
10/6/04
53:48
Renunciation & Joy
10/7/04
57:23
Precious Human Birth
10/8/04
53:12
Meditating With Sound
10/8/04
34:30
The Path in the World
10/9/04
55:17
Coming Out of Retreat
10/9/04

27:09

Vajrapani, August 2004

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Challenging the Difficulties
8/9/04
56:45
Beyond the Struggle
8/12/04
54:11

Origin California Retreat, July 2004

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Refuges, Precepts & Overview
7/23/04
34:18
Facing the Problem
Junk vs. Freedom
7/24/04
39:25
Reclaiming the Body
7/25/04
45:59
Opening the Black Bag
7/26/04
51:14
Transcendence vs. Transformation
7/27/04
54:57
The 5 Spiritual Faculties
7/28/04
27:51
The 3 Characteristics of Phenomena
7/29/04
18:11
Big Mind Meditation
7/29/04
40:08
The Wisdom Factor
7/30/04
1:00:51
The Eightfold Noble Path
7/31/04
52:46
The Art of Conducting Ourselves
in the World
7/31/04
38:18

Spirit Rock, November 2002

Topic
Date
Download
Play
Length
Mindfulness and Metta 11/27/02
49:21