Mountain Stream Meditation Center was founded by John M. Travis during the late 1980's. Please see an extensive description of our history and activities, below.
Ongoing sitting groups in Auburn and Nevada City/Grass Valley have met continuously since the late 1980's. We have held many daylong and residential retreats. We have a small board of directors, and our board meetings are open to the public and we welcome participation. Please see our schedule of board meetings. We received IRS approval for our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization status in 1995.
Board of Directors (Elected October, 2006, term of one year)
Guiding Teacher
John M. Travis
Kathleen Hare
Treasurer
Barbara Tandy
Secretary
Mary Helen Fein
Members At Large
Stuart Clancy
Linda Farley
John Mowen
Steve Solinsky
Susan Solinksy
Members of the Board of Directors have never received monetary compensation for their service as board members.
About Mountain Stream
Mountain Stream Meditation Center has held Buddhist meditation groups in the Northern California Sierra Foothills since 1986. Mountain Stream was started by our resident teacher, John M. Travis. As interest in Buddhism has grown, so has Mountain Stream. Today we have meditation groups meeting in many communities, we hold retreats many times a year, publish and distribute a newsletter to over 2,000 individuals, and generally serve as a center for the Buddhist community in the Northern California Sierra Foothills.
The primary form of practice for Mountain Stream is the retreat practice. Recently, Mountain Stream purchased a property in North San Juan, CA. It is our hope and intent to develop this property as a spiritual center where teachers and students from around the world may come to experience silent meditation retreats. Mountain Stream became a California Non-Profit Corporation in 1994. In 1995, we were granted a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt designation as a church from the United States Internal Revenue Service.
Overall Purpose
The overall purpose of the Mountain Stream Meditation Center is to provide for the practice of Buddhist meditation in the northern Sierra Nevada region of California. The particular type of Buddhist meditation is known as Vipassana or "insight" meditation, one of the classic meditation practices of the Buddhist tradition in Asia.
There are two main parts of the Buddhist tradition: Theravada and Mahayana; vipassana comes from the Theravada tradition whereas Tibetan and Zen Buddhism are part of the Mahayana tradition. The Theravada tradition has been kept strongly alive in monasteries throughout Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma. Theravada hearkens back to the original teachings of the Buddha; the actual teaching of the practice is to be found in the Buddha's "Discourse on Mindfulness," which in the Theravada Buddhist tradition one might think of as analogous to the Sermon on the Mount in the Christian tradition.
There are four primary means by which Mountain Stream's purpose is carried out. The first means is the organization and administration of meditation retreats, at which vipassana meditation is taught and practiced. We publish a newsletter ("Dharma Stream") announcing the dates and times of the many meditation retreats we hold. Meditation retreats are the principal means by which intensive instruction in and practice of vipassana meditation is carried out, and the holding of such retreats in California and the northern Sierra Nevada region is a principal function of Mountain Stream. Retreats are conducted by the resident teacher at Mountain Stream (John M. Travis) and also by teachers from other areas who are, from time to time, invited by Mountain Stream to lead retreats. In general the teachers that we invite are from the following groups: 1) the resident guiding teachers at Spirit Rock Center, a non-profit religious organization in Woodacre, California; 2) the resident guiding teachers at Insight Meditation Society, a non-profit religious organization in Barre, Massachusetts or; 3) persons designated by these resident guiding teachers as being qualified to lead vipassana Meditation retreats.
The second means by which the purpose of Mountain Stream Meditation Center is carried out is the holding of regularly scheduled meetings for meditation practice, instruction, and the organization of community development activities. These groups are known as "sitting groups," and generally meet for a period of a few hours on a weekly basis. Times and telephone contact numbers for these groups are also listed in our newsletter.
The third principal means for the carrying out of the purpose of Mountain Stream is the holding of community development activities, such as potluck dinners, community service workdays, and structured instructional dialogs with other Buddhist meditation leaders and groups. Weekly meetings and community development activities are organized and led by the resident teacher and by his senior students.
The fourth principal means of carrying out the purpose of Mountain Stream is the holding of introductory classes in vipassana meditation practice. These classes are organized and led by the resident teacher or by his senior students. These classes take place usually twice a year.
Growth
In the last 15 years, as the northern Sierra Nevada region has grown in population, many people with prior exposure to Buddhism have moved to the area and formed sitting groups which meet weekly for meditation and religious instruction. A number of these people have been students of the guiding teachers at Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California, and/or at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, before coming to the Sierra Nevada region and want to continue to deepen their study and practice of vipassana meditation. Many others became interested in joining the Mountain Stream's sitting groups after taking one of our introductory courses in Buddhist meditation.
As a result, there are now sitting groups in Nevada City/Grass Valley, Auburn, Rocklin, Sacramento, Placerville, Truckee, Chico, Davis, Reno, Carson City and other communities in the northern Sierra Nevada region. Mountain Stream specifically sponsors the groups in Nevada City/Grass Valley, Auburn, and Rocklin, and has a looser relationship with more independent and far-flung groups. Our guiding teacher visits the Grass Valley and Auburn groups frequently and many of the other groups usually invite him to come several times a year.
Mountain Stream also sponsors daylong retreats in Nevada City, Auburn, and Reno/Carson City, as well as weekend retreats and longer retreats at various sites. At early organizational meetings of Mountain Stream Meditation Center in 1995, strong sentiment was expressed for the sponsorship of multi-day, residential retreats led by our guiding teacher or visiting teachers. This has been one of our primary goals.
Mountain Stream holds introductory classes twice a year in the Nevada City/Grass Valley area. In addition, classes are held twice a year in Auburn or in the Rocklin/Roseville area. There are a total of four yearly introductory classes. The classes last five or six weeks. Mountain Stream assumes the cost of adverting the classes and charges only a small registration fee to cover costs.
Size and Attendance at Activities
Since the Mountain Stream newsletter mailing list is made up of addresses of persons who have attended retreats, introductory classes or weekly sitting groups conducted by Mountain Stream and have asked to be informed of future retreats and sitting group activities, it may be seen as perhaps the most accurate overall measure of the number of persons who depend on Mountain Stream Meditation Center to provide vipassana instruction and activities. The number of active subscribers to the newsletter at the time of this writing is over 3,000. Average attendance at meditation retreats has ranged from ten to twenty-five retreatants, depending on format (i.e., non-residential or residential). Average attendance at weekly meditation groups in Auburn and Nevada City ranges from ten to twenty-five persons, depending in part on what activities in addition to silent meditation may have been planned for a given meeting. If a special teacher is invited to a sitting group and advance advertising is done, we have had as many as one hundred people attend sitting groups. Average attendance at introductory classes ranges from ten to thirty, depending on advance advertising and publicity that may be given to us in local papers.
Special Relationship With Other Organizations
As stated above, the overall purpose of Mountain Stream is to provide for the practice of vipassana meditation in the northern Sierra Nevada region. In the United States, the largest and most active centers for the observance of this meditation practice are the Insight Meditation Society, a non-profit religious organization in Barre, Massachusetts, and Spirit Rock Center, a non-profit religious organization in Woodacre, California. Each of these centers has "resident guiding teachers" who are the most senior of its ordained meditation teachers, and who oversee all religious instruction and meditation practice at the two centers. The resident guiding teachers of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts are Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg; resident guiding teachers at the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California, are Jack Kornfeld, Ph.D., and Sylvia Boorstein.
These four resident guiding teachers comprise a Teachers Advisory Committee for Mountain Stream Meditation Center. The purpose of this committee is to advise the Board of Directors of Mountain Stream on the conduct of religious activities, such as the identification of teachers to lead meditation retreats, the conduct of such retreats and related activities, and other matters related to religious observances, instruction, and practice.
Thus Mountain Stream Meditation Center may be considered an informal spiritual affiliate of the centers in Massachusetts and in Woodacre, California. There is, however, no interlocking directorate among the centers and no fiduciary relationship. In every legal sense, therefore, Mountain Stream is a freestanding organization, and its Board of Directors is answerable to no other organization.
Guiding Teacher
The guiding teacher of Mountain Stream Meditation Center, John M. Travis, has been a student of vipassana meditation since 1969. 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 and many years of training ideally suited him to this role, having spent many years with recognized Asian Buddhist masters. Initially he studied Tibetan Buddhism, first under Thubten Yeshe and later with the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche. Mr. Travis took Initiation with His Holiness the 16th Karmapa who then became his primary teacher. In 1970 he began his studies in the vipassana tradition with Munindra, later becoming a student of S. N. Goenka. In 1979, Mr. Travis became a monk under the Venerable Taungpulu Sayadaw. His teachers are widely recognized today as among the great Asian masters of Buddhism of our time.
Mr. Travis continued his studies in Asia and later in the U.S. where he began teaching at a weekly sitting in Nevada City, CA, in 1986. He began leading daylong retreats as well at this time. From 1988 to 1993, Mr. Travis devoted himself to formal teacher training with Jack Kornfield, Ph.D. at Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. After completion of his training he was ordained and given Dharma transmission in the vipassana tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw and Achaan Chaa. Mr. Travis is thus authorized to lead meditation retreats and give religious instruction. He has functioned in the role of resident teacher of Mountain Stream Meditation Center since its inception. His responsibilities include planning, preparing for, and conducting various observances and instructional activities including retreats, sitting groups and introductory courses on behalf of Mountain Stream.
Mr. Travis is also a counselor. In addition, he works as a teacher for Spirit Rock Center. These activities require him for about 20 hours a week. Mr. Travis is a world-renown teacher. He travels extensively and is much in demand, leading retreats all over the United States.
Financial Support
Financial support for Mountain Stream comes primarily from contributions from those who attend our retreats and sitting groups and introductory classes. We recently began a fund raising program, sending out a postcard in our newsletter requesting support. It is anticipated contributions from attendees will continue and that requests for funding will continue to be the primary means by which financial support will be sought.
Mountain Stream received a bequest from a deceased benefactor in 1995. This was used to purchase a property on Robinson Road in North San Juan, CA. Mountain Stream hopes in the future to hold silent retreats and community activities at the property. We are in the process of applying for permission, from local government agencies, to build a retreat center.
Payments for Benefits and Services
Regular weekly meditation groups and other similar weekly activities are offered free of charge.
To date, Mountain Stream Meditation Center has conducted daylong retreats at the home of local congregants. In the future, multi-day residential retreats are anticipated and might necessitate instituting fees to cover costs. These costs include the rental or upkeep of facilities for the retreat, the cost of providing food for retreatants, the cost of travel and other expenses of the teacher(s) who will be leading the retreat, and the incidental costs to Mountain Stream of administering the retreat (such as printing and postage costs of announcing the retreat and communicating with the registrants, phone calls, and office supplies). Based on retreats conducted by Spirit Rock Center and Insight Meditation Society, it is expected that the total registration fee for a multi-day, residential retreat would not exceed $45.00 a day per person.
As mentioned above, introductory classes last for six weeks. They meet for 1 to 2 hours each week. A registration charge of $20.00 per person is requested.
Mountain Stream regularly offers "scholarship" programs for those who wish to attend our classes or retreats but cannot afford them.
Dana
An important tradition with vipassana meditation is that there shall be no charge for the teachings. Dana is a Pali word meaning generosity. Dana is traditionally offered at sitting groups, classes and retreats to support the teachers and any staff so that they may continue their dharma work. Registration fees do not cover the teachings, which are freely given because they are considered priceless. Vipassana teachers rely on Dana as a primary means of support. This tradition derives from the close relationship between the monasteries and the communities in Asia. Monks are dependent on the community for their daily food, and in return supply the community with spiritual inspiration.
Newsletter
Dharma Stream is a twice yearly, 8 to 16 page newsletter published and distributed by the Mountain Stream Meditation Center. It includes articles by the resident teacher, articles, poetry and artwork of those active in Mountain Stream and others, a comprehensive schedule of local retreats and retreats let by John Travis. The newsletter lists all sittings groups in the area, introductory classes sponsored by the Mountain Stream community as well as other related and community service activities.
Activities Open to the Public
Meditation retreats, weekly sitting groups and introductory classes are open to the public and advertised by the posting of flyers posted in bookstores, community centers, and similar venues in the northern Sierra Nevada area. Everyone who attends a retreat has their name added to the Mountain Stream mailing list, which is also the distribution list for the newsletter, in which weekly sitting groups, retreats and introductory classes are advertised. Participants also invite family, friends and acquaintances to come to sitting groups and related activities.
