KINDS OF MEMBERSHIP and HOW TO JOIN

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About Membership:

This notation, as of fall 2016, updates and supersedes the descriptions below in the entries below.  The general information in those entries helpful, and so we have retained it.  However, membership itself has now matured to include the following.  “Simply enrolling in the Community”, noted below, is now considered being a “Friend” of the Community and you will receive the newsletter and other communications.

“Membership” itself, however, now includes activity in either the Sannyas component of the Community or activity with the “Interspiritual Monastics in the World” as further described herein.

Contact the Administrator, Dr. Kurt Johnson (kurtjohnsonisd@yahoo.com) for general inquiries.  For inquires regarding Sannyas, contact Swami Shraddhananda at …… and for inquiries involving Interspiritual Monastics in the World contact James Hopkins at …………………

Although we have left all the entries of our earlier website intact below, since they contain helpful historical information, all membership and procedural matters there per se are superseded by this new information on Membership.  All content elements of the descriptions below are, however, rolled into the structures, content and activities of the Community through its current Friend, Sannyas, and Interspiritual Monastics in the World programs.

How does it work?

You can join the growing CMH community by simply enrolling in the community. Enrollment invites you into the conversation the community is having and gives you access to the materials and activities the community is providing. Its a chance for us to meet you and you to meet us. In the interim period while you have not been able to attend an Induction Ceremony you are still a member. However, any activities you would wish to create as a member of CMH, representing CMH, would need the approval of the community’s “Leadership Circle”. And, similarly, the “Leadership Circle” (a self-select circle recently approved by the community) also determines what the community is doing and what programs and activities constitute its “official” activities. CMH uses a “holarchical” circle-style group leadership, not a hierarchical one.

 

The Induction Ceremony, with its Transmission Rite, Sharing of the Vows, and Presentation of the Cords is a moving ceremony that, at some time, all CMH members will share in. In the meantime, many CMH members who have not had the chance to attend an induction ceremony in person have joined the community in absentia.

 

Steps for Joining:

 

 

Membership Structures of the Community of The Mystic Heart

 

MEMBERSHIP in the COMMUNITY OF THE MYSTIC HEART

The Community of The Mystic Heart has four kinds of membership. These are described briefly below. Additional details are available from the CMH Administrator, Kurt Johnson. Members of CMH who joined prior to the offering of these kinds of membership are welcome to re-evaluate their path and adjust it according to their need.
As is generally known, the over two hundred members who joined CMH in its first year did so as described in “3” below, “embracing the Nine Elements…as vows”. The rapid growth of our community, and the varying needs of persons interested in CMH, moved us to expand our concept of membership in 2011 and to offer the new option of making a Personal Covenant regarding one’s life of spiritual practice and sacred service.

Kinds of Membership

Persons wishing to explore Interspirituality. This kind of membership is called “Associate Member”. It is provided for those who want to explore the landscape of Interspirituality and what it might mean for theoir their spiritual lives. As their path unfolds, they are welcome to remain Associate Members or can choose another kind of membership. Associate Members receive a letter from CMH welcoming them and providing them further information and support for their exploration.

 

Persons wishing to embrace the Nine Elements of a Universal Spirituality as Aspirations. This kind of membership allows members to explore Brother Wayne’s Nine Elements as aspirations or intended directions for their lives (see the Nine Elements in the Website just below). There is a ceremony, in person or long distance, celebrating this relationship with the community and interspirituality and the member receives the CMH pin and a saffron ribbon denoting their aspiration. A member exploring the Nine Elements as aspirations can utilize the traditional statements of the Nine Elements or adapt their own, as appropriate to their path. These members are welcome to remain in this kind of membership or move to another kind of membership as suits their path.

 

Persons wishing to embrace the Nine Elements of a Universal Spirituality as Vows. This kind of membership allows members to commit to living Brother Wayne’s Nine Elements as vows (see the Nine Elements in the website just below). There is a ceremony, in person or long distance, celebrating this relationship with the community and interspirituality, and the member receives the traditional saffron chord of the Community and the CMH pin. A member committing to the Nine Elements as vows can utilize the traditional statements of the Nine Element or adapt their own, as appropriate to their path. These members are welcome to remain in this kind of membership or move to another kind of membership as suits their path.

 

Persons wishing to make a Personal Covenant further clarifying and declaring their life of spiritual practice and sacred service. This kind of membership is open to members of the Community who have already committed to living the Nine Elements as vows. Embracing the Nine Elements as vows and creating a Personal Covenant can also be done concurrently. There is a ceremony, in person or long distance, celebrating this relationship with the community and interspirituality. The members receive a certificate acknowledging the recognition of the covenant by the Community (and, if they have not already received them, the traditional saffron chord and pin of CMH). The basic, all optional, elements of a Personal Covenant are noted in further detail below under “Personal Covenants.” To assist and support these members, the Personal Covenant is reviewed annually between the Community and the member to provide further spiritual and community support. A member making a Personal Covenant can utilize the traditional statements of the Nine Elements or adapt their own, as appropriate to their path. These members are welcome to remain in this kind of membership or move to another kind of membership as suits their path.

 

Persons wishing to pursue full Sannyas. See the HOME PAGE and also Community of The Mystic Heart at www.jonesfoundation.net

 

Personal Covenants

Personal Covenants can include:

1. A general statement of the member’s vision, goals and overall lifestyle, especially in the context of Interspirituality, the message of Bro. Wayne and the Vows of the Community of The Mystic Heart.

 

2. A profession/declaration of the daily (or other) spiritual practice to which the member is dedicating herself or himself.

 

3. A profession/declaration of the kind of sacred service to which the member is dedicatingherself or himself.

 

4. Other appropriate details of the member’s lifestyle which he/she wishes to state, profess, declare, share, and/or celebrate, including persons/teachers/paths they wish to honor.

 

5. A statement about the member’s direction from this point, or an ongoing vision, which the member may wish to share in the presence, and with the support of, the Community

 

6. The member’s request for support in his/her covenantal lifestyle from and by the whole Community and a request for a written response from the Community acknowledging that the profession/declaration has been heard, accepted, and will be supported by the community.

 

7. Other elements as suggested by the member, or as may evolve as the activity of Personal Covenants grows and evolves.

 

What a Personal Covenant should not include:

CMH has an “Ethics Statement” because of the widely publicized problems occurring in some other circles worldwide regarding persons in authority (Teachers, Employers) effecting sexual relationships from those positions with students or employees. We generally support the Ethics Statements in the psychology and counseling communities that such relationships should not be encouraged or condoned. Especially since there is at least one “Teacher” from another circle who appears to be teaching that these should be a part of teacher/student employer/employee relationships, we counsel that a Personal Covenant should not include anything that advocates that kind of ethic.

 

 

The Nine Elements of a Universal Spirituality from The Mystic Heart

 

1. I vow to actualize and live according to my full moral and ethical
capacity

 

2. I vow to live in solidarity with the cosmos and all living beings

 

3. I vow to live in deep nonviolence

 

4. I vow to live in humility and to remember the many teachers and guides who assisted me on my spiritual path

 

5. I vow to embrace a daily spiritual practice

 

6. I vow to cultivate mature self-knowledge

 

7. I vow to live a life of simplicity

 

8. I vow to live a life of selfless service and compassionate action

 

9. I vow to be a prophetic voice as I work for justice, compassion and world transformation

 

 

Evolving from a suggestion by Rev. Diane Berke, a member of CMH’s Advisory Council, CMH founders elected to adapt Bro. Wayne’s “Nine Elements of a Universal Spirituality” (which Bro. Wayne used to structure his book The Mystic Heart) into a statement of intention and aspiration– ultimately the “Vows”– of his “Universal Order of Sannyasa” and, subsequently, the Community of The Mystic Heart

 

Is the Community of The Mystic Heart “Brother Wayne-centric”? No, Brother Wayne’s work is only a key guide; the major word in his original vision was “Universal” and many are contributing to this unfolding path.

 

to inquire about joining email the Administrator: kurtjohnsonisd@yahoo.com