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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.

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

 

1,813 Responses

  4. I commit to following this Monk Manifesto to the best of my ability and I pray that my abilities will increase with time and practice.

    Silence and Solitude are much needed practices that I would like to incorporate into daily life with the added benefit of having the posture of silence and solitude radiate from me.

    Hospitality is very much of who I and has been validated by pursuing a Benedictine sense of prayer and spirituality. I am temporary absent from my Oblate Community due to some other obligations.

    Community has been my mantra for as long as I can remember, but lately I have found it difficult to become more stable within the group I associate. I never really know how much to reveal about myself in order to see if I fit.

    Kinship with Creation is all around me. I live in a little town within a large city structure and our house is at the end of a little dirt road. I have trees and plants everywhere. We had such a large puddle last year in our driveway that one day I found a Great Blue Heron standing in the middle. I also have two dogs that keep me connected in wonderful unexpected ways.

    Work is homemaking and grand parenting. I make quilts, jewelry, paper arts, knit, read and a little bit of this and that. I am also a certified Spiritual Director.

    Sabbath is a practice that I struggle with finding real balance. I have been doing research (reading) because I want to present a women’s program on Sabbath Keeping in the 21st century in the age of non-stop technology. When I hear the word Sabbath I think of sacred.

    Conversion is an ongoing event for me, releasing more of my desires and wants to become empty so that the Holy can fill me with His treasures. I am Roman Catholic by choice and continue to explore what that means to me in my everyday life. Not as a challenge but with humility and love.

    Creative Joy what my fingers and mind and lips can express. The blend of colors in a quilt or smoothie, waving my elephant trunk arm to illustrate a story I am telling my granddaughter. It is celebration of the energy that runs through me daily.

    Reply

  5. I am so happy to have found this Sacred Space with like-hearted pilgrims. I commit myself to practices of Silence, Hospitality, Awareness, Sabbath, ongoing Transformation, and Cultivating Creative Joy! Thank you for this opportunity to be a Dancing Monk in the World!

    Reply

  6. Dear fellow Dancing Monks,

    How grateful I am to have found you. With God’s help, I joyfully join hands with you all, and with courage garnered from unity with each of you, I commit my heart to live a compassionate, contemplative and creative life.
    “Enlarge the place of your tent,
    and let the curtains of our habitations
    be stretched out;
    hold not back, lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes.”
    Isaiah 54:2

    Kind regards,
    Kristen Silveira

    Reply

  7. Yes I am committed to living a compassionate, contemplative, and creative life. Thank you and I look forward to what lies ahead and within.

    Reply

  8. Amazing! What a beautiful offering you have provided. This has inspired me and will be considered as a synchronicity in my own path towards a PhD looking at the intersection between art making and pursuit of spirituality!

    Reply

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