John Travis, Founding Teacher
John M. Travis has been a student of meditation since 1969. He is the guiding and founding teacher of Mountain Stream and founded many sitting groups throughout the Sierra foothills. He spent the 1970s in Asia with recognized Buddhist masters including His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, his primary teacher. Other teachers include Lama Thubten Yeshe, the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, S.N. Goenka, and Maharajji-Neem Karoli Baba. In 1986 he started a sitting group in Nevada City and in 1989 began a four-year Senior Teacher Training with Jack Kornfield at Spirit Rock. On completion he was given Dharma Transmission in the vipassana tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw and Achaan Chaa and authorized to teach vipassana. More recently, John has spent time in Thailand, India and in Nepal, travelling and studying with Buddhist teachers. He has studied in Dharamsala with His Holiness The Dalai Lama. Contact by email: john@mtstream.org

Adam Stonebraker, Resident Guiding Teacher
Adam Stonebraker is the Guiding Teacher of Mountain Stream Meditation. Practicing since 1999, he has been teaching the Buddha’s path since 2010, drawing inspiration from the Thai Forest Tradition, the Bodhisattva path, and the natural world. He has been mentored by Kittisaro & Thanissara in the lineage of Ajahn Chah and the Kuan Yin Dharmas as taught by Master Hsuan Hua. His teaching emphasizes innate wisdom, openhearted awareness, and embodied practice. Adam holds a Master’s in Mindfulness Studies and is currently in the four-year Spirit Rock/IMS teacher training. Contact by email: adam@mtstream.org

Alison Sweetser, Board President
Alison Sweetser’s first teacher was Jiddu Krishnamurti whose teachings she encountered through his books. Later, she attended his talks in both Ojai and San Francisco. After pursuing a solitary path for many years, she joined a local sitting group, and through it, met her second teacher, Adyashanti. She has attended many of his daylongs and intensives and been on numerous meditation retreats. Alison has served on the Mountain Stream Board and in 2023 became Board President. She is, additionally, a lapsed artist, an occasional poet, a gardener, a hiker and backpacker, and an activist. Contact by email or phone: alison@mtstream.org 530-268-1890

David Mazzola, Treasurer
From his earliest years David felt a strong yearning for spiritual connection, which led him to the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff as a young adult, a pivotal experience that has quietly shaped his path ever since. His exploration continued with periods of engagement at the San Francisco Zen Center and Spirit Rock in Marin County, each offering a different facet of contemplative practice. David’s career in international business and personal travel broadened his horizons, exposing him to the diverse spiritual expressions found in churches and temples across Europe, East and Southeast Asia, which he made a point to seek out. He holds a B.A. in International Relations and an MBA. In retirement, after raising a family together with his wife, he actively sought deeper understanding through various contemplative and insight meditation schools in the Greater Sacramento area. Ultimately, it was at Mountain Stream that he discovered a true home. The integrated teachings, dedicated meditation practice, and inclusive sangha provide not just support, but a deeply appreciated refuge for his ongoing spiritual exploration. Contact by email: david@mtstream.org

Marcia Craighead
“For me it all started in 1993. I attended a 9-day retreat at Spirit Rock in Yucca Valley with Jack Kornfeld and Gil Fronsdal. This was the formal beginning of my practice.” Marcia lived in Jackson, WY, and Mary Orr conducted retreats there in the mid-1990s which she attended. She met John Travis in 1996 and considers him to be her root teacher. She became registrar, manager and organizer for John as he offered retreats in the Jackson area. In 2014, she came to Mountain Stream and was our Executive Director, and later Program Manager before joining the board. She completed 5 years of training at Spirit Rock and is a Community Dharma Leader for Mountain Stream. Her eclectic backstory also includes: raising two kids (as a single Mom), producing nature documentary films (10 years), serving as Executive Director of the Teton Wellness Institute (11 years), freelance editor for still photography, Hospice volunteer (12 years), and becoming a certified Hakomi therapist (a form of body-centered psychotherapy). Contact by email: marcia@mtstream.org

Sharon Lane
Sharon Lane began her meditation practice at age 15.  Since then she has sought out various meditation practice modalities, eventually encountering Vipassana, as taught by John Travis, in 2008.  She finds herself at home with body-based awareness and insight inquiry practices as taught by both John and Heather Sundberg at Mountain Stream Meditation. Sharon has spent half her adult life working on various construction projects as an owner; understands architectural plans and teamwork. She enjoys enhancing natural settings with buildings that fit and don't overwhelm their sites. Currently she is in the middle of developing a Retreat Center near Sierra City, California. She holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Stanford and has spent many years as a studio artist - Plein Aire painting in oils and watercolors, and Figure Drawing. She loves hiking and swimming in mountain lakes!