Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Login Here

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

 

1,705 Responses

  2. I am so grateful for this website, for Christine and her blessed work, and for this reminder to slow down, to meditate, to Be, and to fulfill the tenets of my life.

    Reply

  3. I was a “monk in the world” since I was young, even though I did not know to call myself that. So grateful that being a monk does not necessarily mean that one has to live in a monastery, desert, or hermitage (although on days that sounds like a good idea :) Thank you for the tenets – they are rich and deep, yet uncluttered – ones to which I choose to commit

    Reply

  4. What simple tenets to live by. I’m thankful for finding this website that has put everything I strive for in a simple manifesto.

    Reply

  5. I, too, believe that I was led to this site and this blessed community! I have always wanted to be a monk, crave solitude and contemplation, pray with my life as a creative in this world and am deeply attracted to simplicity- a perfect storm for joining up with this monk revolution! I humbly commit to these 7 principles to live a compassionate, contemplative, creative life as a monk in the world! Thank you Christine :>)

    Reply

  6. After many many retreats to the Abbey of Gethsemani, I long for the solitude and peace that they enjoy as monks. Hopefully this will help me maintain that attitude between retreats.

    Reply

  7. Christine, it was such a joy to discover your website. I am so very happy to be part of this online community and commit to the principles of the Monk Manifesto.

    Reply

  8. I’m so delighted to have found this online Abbey of the Arts, where I can celebrate the contemplative photographer / writer within. I will endeavour each day to honour God’s creation around me in words and images, working towards publishing books of my work. Australia is such an amazing place!
    (I’m an ordained woman, living in Sydney)

    Blessings
    Rev. Rae Trenerry

    Reply

  10. I fully commit to this manifesto and aim to centre it at the heart of my day to day life.
    David

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *