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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

 

1,703 Responses

  1. There is something about the way Christine expresses and invites me into Monk-ness that really touches my heart. I’m so ‘out’ in the world in my daily work and busy busy doing something something something, that to feel the gift of this gentle journey is so inspiring to me. I never want to be to far away from the ‘Manifesto’ In love and light, with love and light.

    Reply

  2. I am a Benedictine monastic in Oakland, CA who started an urban non-resident Benedictine Community 30 years ago, dedicated to the teaching and practice of Christian Meditation. As the community continues, and I am on sabbatical, my attention was drawn to Abbey of the Arts recently. What Christine has created is what our world needs: people committed to monastic values: “Monks in the world.” I am inspired and excited by this vision and I want to be more involved in its on-going life.

    Reply

  3. My journey seems to have so many parallel points of contact, yet the gathering of these rules and their simplicity is so welcoming. I’m such a bad typist that the lack of cursor seems almost paradigmatic. Again I find myself wondering why I don’t learn to establish a website. The journey inward has been difficult to stay on, in fact, to start on, and, so rich, that I’m deeply grateful for this means of focus. Maywe use it to choose LIFE. Grace and peace.

    Reply

  4. What an interesting journey life is! To be guided here as absolutely the most perfect moment! Incredible. My purpose is to create joy and harmony and look! Here is a fellowship doing exactly that. You have my commitment. Blessings to you.

    Reply

  6. A wonderful, succinct basis for developing a Rule of Life. Marvelous wisdom for anyone in the discernment process and/or seeking to life the contemplative life.

    Reply

  8. I happily and with conviction sign this manifesto. I share and embrace these values and am very grateful to have been introduced to this website. I look forward to continuing the journey of being a monk in the world.

    Reply

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