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Monk Manifesto

Sign the manifesto!

Want to join us in starting a monk revolution?

For a PDF version of the Monk Manifesto click the link to download a printable file.

The Monk Manifesto is also available in Spanish, German, and Norwegian translations.  Click here for PDFs of Manifesto del Monje, Mönchs Manifest, and Munkemanifestet.

We invite you to. . .

  • Sign the Monk Manifesto below (scroll all the way to the bottom for the comment box). State your solidarity with others who want to express their inner monk in everyday life.
  • Subscribe to the Abbey email newsletter and receive regular soul nourishment.
  • Watch the visual meditation version.
  • Share the monk love with others by sharing this page with others.
  • Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks!

Monk: from the Greek monachos meaning single or solitary, a monk in the world does not live apart but immersed in the everyday with a single-hearted and undivided presence, always striving for greater wholeness and integrity

Manifesto: from the Latin for clear, means a public declaration of principles and intentions.

Monk Manifesto: A public expression of your commitment to live a compassionate, contemplative, and creative life.

  1. I commit to finding moments each day for silence and solitude, to make space for another voice to be heard, and to resist a culture of noise and constant stimulation.
  2. I commit to radical acts of hospitality by welcoming the stranger both without and within. I recognize that when I make space inside my heart for the unclaimed parts of myself, I cultivate compassion and the ability to accept those places in others.
  3. I commit to cultivating community by finding kindred spirits along the path, soul friends with whom I can share my deepest longings, and mentors who can offer guidance and wisdom for the journey.
  4. I commit to cultivating awareness of my kinship with creation and a healthy asceticism by discerning my use of energy and things, letting go of what does not help nature to flourish.
  5. I commit to bringing myself fully present to the work I do, whether paid or unpaid, holding a heart of gratitude for the ability to express my gifts in the world in meaningful ways.
  6. I commit to rhythms of rest and renewal through the regular practice of Sabbath and resist a culture of busyness that measures my worth by what I do.
  7. I commit to a lifetime of ongoing conversion and transformation, recognizing that I am always on a journey with both gifts and limitations.
  8. I commit to being a dancing monk, cultivating creative joy and letting my body and “heart overflow with the inexpressible delights of love.”*

*quote is from the Prologue of the Rule of Benedict

 

1,701 Responses

  1. I, also, have just finished the 7-day course and am now embarking on the 7-week one. I am committed to the monk’s inner journey of becoming, and I feel that I have, here, found a place of support and connection.

    I read the above posts and see there reflections of my own thoughts and feelings in response to the course and this site. I had a dream once in which a friend who had died, said to me with regard to this purpose, “It is hard to go on without encouragement and concern.” I believe St Teresa of Avila said something like that. This site seems a place for that.

    Reply

  2. I love the idea of this “Abbey without Walls”. When I was a teenager in a catholic high school the nuns tried to recruit me for their convent; I seriously thought about it, but decided it was not for me. Little did they know that fifty years later I would become a Monk in the World. Thank you, Christine, for the beautiful 7-day e-course, and the other courses I have taken so far. Viel Spass in Wien!

    Reply

  4. Thank you. I am so grateful I had this opportunity to sign this Monk Manifesto. I am commited to live my life in Gods service.

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  5. Christine, the Monk Manifesto dovetails with my life’s walk and I am delighted to have the chance to sign on. I am so grateful that you have created the abbey for which so many of we kindred spirits may join together. I thank you immensly for your spirit and support. Looking forward to ways in which we can be and become together. Love’s blessings as you transition and take sabbatical.

    Reply

  6. I am signing the Monk Manifesto because it fits in with everything that I am working on in my life at this point. Looking forward to the summer course “Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist.”

    Reply

  7. I have just completed the e-course and found a great peace in the invitation to structure and commitment. I have,in the past few months, suffered a huge disruption due to mental health issues and see a healing pilgrimage before me as I seek to follow the way. I look forward to serving the world as a monk with care and hospitality and prayer.

    Reply

  8. I just finished the seven day e-course on being a monk in the world and I am very committed to live in the way that is outlined in the Monk Manifesto. I have read Christine’s book – LECTION DEVINA – and have gotten a lot out of it as I find myself doing this practice daily along with my centering prayer. I’m most trilled to be a member of this revolution.

    Reply

  9. I believe I have signed the Monk Manifesto. I received and was/am nourished by the 7-Day e-course. I also signed up for the
    Newsletter but have not received that. I am telling my friends about Abbey of the Arts. This arrived at precisely the perfect time in my life. Thank you.
    Margo

    Reply

  10. after seeking and seeking I have found you..I live in Germany and I am an Oblate since 1988 .because I live 700 km away from my convent I am now alone by myself with 76 years of age……but walking alone is very “alone ” .I have been teaching such artist-things at the catholic school in Bremerhaven for 30 years……now I am very grateful having found you and I hope I have found finally MY PLACE ..after having signed the MONK MANIFESTO….I am making a picture out of it and I will hang it over my bed……….obviously these last days I am finding : yesterday a gardener to help me in my 1800 squaremeters garden and now you.PRAISE THE LORD.. I speak German , English , French and Latin…..so there will be no problem for understanding ……….Marianna

    Reply

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