The New Monasticism: A Manifesto for Contemplative Living

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Young leaders of the new monastic movement introduce their vision for contemplative life- one that draws from the long traditions of East and West but also seeks an interreligious and 'interspiritual' dimension to intentional living in our time. With a preface by Mirabai Starr, a foreword by Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, and an afterword by Fr. Thomas Keating. The New Monasticism is an introduction to the "new monastic movement," offering the authors' intellectual and spiritual reflections on what contemplative life could look like in the 21st century. With chapters focusing on spiritual practice, vocation, contemplation and activism, dialogical dialogue, the relationship with traditional religious paths, contemplative psychology and the building of intentional communities, the authors seek to "cut across the boundaries of religious traditions, of contemplation and action, and endeavor to create intergenerational alliances between those immersed in the depths of our traditional religious frameworks and those who are being called to contemplative and prophetic life outside of those frameworks." While drawing on the work of Ron Panikkar, St. Teresa of Avila, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Ewert Cousins, Fr. Bede Griffiths, Thomas Merton, Brother Wayne Teasdale, St. John of the Cross and the Russian sophianic tradition, among others, the book also incorporates some popular modern day academic, cultural, and contemplative theorists, such as Ken Wilber and Fr. Thomas Keating, who speak to young people about creating a more sacred and just world while providing them with sophisticated tools for psychological analysis and integrated action. It also offers specific practices for a disciplined contemplative life and inspired social justice activism. "I have been following Adam and Rory for a few years now...As you will see, Rory and Adam are very wise, and this book is a transmission of the perennial wisdom reimagined for an emerging globalized world. . . The New Monasticism is lucid and soaring, arcing gracefully between the landscapes of theology and love poetry. . . . When you read these pages, you step into a world you have always hoped was possible and find your own place there. . . I did." --Mirabai Starr, author, God of Love "Adam and Rory have responded both to their heart s calling and the need of the time . . . . Their new monasticism is not an escape from life, but a celebration of what it really means to be alive." -Llewellyn Vaughn Lee, author, Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth "The inspiration of this book and its presentation of The New Monasticism seems to be a genuine movement of the Holy Spirit . . . . Adam and Rory have recognized the benefits as well as the hazards of trying to create a new set of spiritual practices built on the wisdom of traditional monastic structures, but with great openness to the technological and scientific rtunities of contemporary culture . . . . This great love calls for a personal response from humans that leads to the most relationship conceivable. It awaits our consent. -her Thomas Keating, Trappist monk and author, Invitation to Love A superb, important new book surveying a significant new spiritual movement . . . A large part of this movement in any of its many forms is driven by the fact that today, for the first time in history, we have access to all of the world s great religious and spiritual traditions, and the many ways that they complement and in some ways complete each other . . . Highly recommended for anybody who wants their thumb on the spiritual pulse of today s religious seeker, or who feels themselves that they are spiritual but not religious. -Ken Wilber, authorm Sex, Ecology, and Spirituality