Charis Community Vows

The Charis Community Vows represent the values or ethos that holds the Charis community together. They are not meant as binding vows for everyone, but rather as ideals we strive to live into. These values consciously underlie all of our Programs. After completing a two-year program, participants in the Charis Interspiritual Formation program may decide to formally adopt them as precepts.

One

To pursue a deeper understanding of life and reality,
both the knowledge and the mystery at the center of all being

Two

To live in solidarity with all life and creation,
recognizing everything as sacred and interconnected.

Three

To refrain from harmful thoughts, words or deeds,
seeking a mutually beneficial relationship with all life and creation.

Four

To live a life committed to spiritual practice,
embodied in periods of contemplation and skillful action in the world.

Five

To cultivate responsibility and mature self-understanding
through an honest investigation of my own motives and actions.

Six

To cultivate forgiveness and generosity for myself and others,
as well as joy, appreciation, and acceptance in all aspects of my life.

Seven

To live a life of grateful humility, remembering all the sources of
sustenance, refuge, and help that I have received,
and which I continue to receive.

Eight

To live a life of simplicity, clarifying my own needs and
relationship to the Earth in support of its continued life and health.

Nine

To live a life of compassionate service and loving action,
understanding that we live because and not in-spite of one another.

Ten

To be a voice for justice, compassion and transformation in the world,
acting not only from my own limited understanding, but listening attentively
to the one voice that speaks through and for all being.

Eleven

To unite in contemplative fellowship
with people of all cultures, ethnicities, and religions,
sharing our spiritual growth and an ethical awareness of one another

Twelve

To cultivate sacred relationship and reciprocity
with nature, the cosmos, and all being.

Vows are adapted from Brother Wayne Teasdale’s “Nine Elements of a Global or Universal Spirituality” in his book, The Mystic Heart. Though drafted primarily by Netanel Miles-Yépez and Rory McEntee, significant contributions to the Charis Community Vows were made in dialogue with Joshin Byrnes Sensei, Chris Maddox, the Venerable Dr. Pannavati, and Alejandra Warden. An earlier version of “Nine Vows” was created by our colleague Rev. Diane Berke based on Brother Wayne’s text. The eleventh vow is adapted from the Church for the Fellowship for All Peoples in San Francisco, one of the first interreligious, interracial churches in the United States, where the Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman served as pastor.