Scuffed-Up Shoes: Buddhist Poetry

The poems John shares in this collection are deeply personal. They offer a glimpse into decades of devoted practice--living out the teachings of the Buddhist masters of our age. His poems transport readers to a cave in Nepal, a hut in Tibet, and along the banks of a Wyoming river. But, perhaps, John's greatest gift is his direct transmission of the Dharma to his audience.

Inside the pages of this book readers get a good look inside the mind of a man on a spiritual oddessy. It depicts reflections on navigating a Buddhist trek of human experience. Filled with devotional insights (sometimes raw, often humorous and painful, and occasionally rebellious) the book is a delightful read and a refreshing taste of spirituality.

In this rich sampling of John's poems--64 of them--he provides deep insight into Buddhist teachings and the path to relieve suffering. The book's compact size makes this collection a wonderful trekking companion.

SCUFFED-UP SHOES

Longing for ground,
Scuffed-up shoes,
A flower opens.

Drawn to Asia by some unknown magnet in the 1960's, John M. Travis pursed the Dharma directly from Buddhist masters in India, Tibet, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar and other centers. Fifty year later, John still treks, still studies, and still captures his contemplations in poetic form. Today he lives as "a wandering holy sadhu, a dauntless yogi, a courageous spiritual adventurer. He is a poet and a meditator, a student of 100 spiritual teachers and a beloved teacher himself. He a father, grandfather and community builder-all along a lover of the Path of the Heart." John M. Travis is the founder of Mountain Stream Meditation Center and remains its guiding teacher. His teachings have been important to the growth and development of Buddhism and meditation throughout Northern California and several other areas in the Western United States. John first trekked from London across Europe to India along the way he was arrested in Greece (he was suspected of being a spy) and "grilled by guys in trench coats and hats. It was a scene right out of some grade-B movie". He was again arrested in Eastern Turkey and thrown in jail, but was being pulled to Nepal where he met his first and primary teacher for Tibetan Buddhism. John still travels extensively both in the United States and around the world. He leads retreats throughout the United States and pilgrimages to sacred Buddhist sites in India and Nepal. Recently he and a group visited sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet.

For most of his career, Coy was a historian for the U.S. Air Force, 9th Reconnaissance Wing. There he wrote and edited many works. After he retired, he continued his spiritual journey and continued to write and edit important works. His latest work was editing John M. Travis's first book of poetry. Coy became interested in bringing John's poems, which are deeply personal, to a wider audience. Coy explains, " John expresses himself more profoundly in these poems than he can in a Dharma talk. Over the years he has been protective of his poetry and reluctant to approve publication. I am deeply honored that he entrusted me with publishing his most personal thoughts and expressions. Reading and rereading these poems provided me with a deeper insight into John, the Buddha's teachings and the path to relieve suffering."

GIL FRONSDAL - a Norwegian-born, American Buddhist teacher, writer and scholar based in Redwood City, California, Gil has been practicing Buddhism of the Soto Zen and Vipassana sects since 1975 and is currently teaching the practice of Buddhism in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gil was taught by the Vipassana practitioner Jack Kornfield and he was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the SF Zen Center in 1982, was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1995, he received Dharma transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He has a PhD in Buddhist Studies from Stanford University. Some of his books include: The Buddha before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early Teachings (2016), A Monastery Within: Tales from the Buddhist Path (2010), The Dhammapada: A New Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations (2005). JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN - has been leading insight and loving-kindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and the Forest Refuge. Since 1967, he has studied and practiced different forms of Buddhist meditation under eminent teachers from India, Burma, and Tibet. His books include: "A Heart Full of Peace", "One Dharma", "Insight Meditation", and "The Experience of Insight, 7 Treasures of Awakening".