Our Values

The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society's Contemplative Net team holds the following values as our guiding principles:

Advocacy and Service
We believe that our work should sustain people to do their work in a way that feels "real" to them and helps them remember the heart and compassion with which they originally came into their work. We want the fruits of our efforts to be of direct benefit to those on the front lines of social change/social justice work. We believe that the information that comes from our research and other activities of the Contemplative Net can help to sustain these visionaries. We will use the power, privileges, and resources available to us to help others leverage resources, shift power, and legitimize this way of working.

Diversity
We believe that diversity is an opportunity, not an obstacle, that it is a gift to have our own worldview enlarged and celebrate the richness of human life and expression. We believe that diversity has many dimensions, including spirituality, race, ethnicity, age, class. We recognize the tendency of projects and organizations to impose their own definitions on something dynamic, ever-changing, and multifaceted. As we carry out our work, we hold the intention of not creating more divisions and hierarchy. We will consistently remind each other of the need to break out of our internal networks and circles in order to encompass a larger point of view. We will strive to make the Contemplative Net the most inclusive container possible and get at "emic" (the insider perspective) definitions of contemplative practices.

Qualitative research with honesty and integrity
We believe that high-caliber research will lend credibility and legitimacy to contemplative approaches, thus benefiting our research participants. We value the act of research itself as an opportunity to practice contemplative principles: being aware of our own assumptions and biases; an openness to be with "not knowing," valuing questions as much as answers, a willingness to be surprised. We believe in being participants as well as observers in this process of research. We will explore the core questions of our project within our team and the organization, as well as in other organizations: what does it mean to work from a contemplative approach? What is the actual experience of working in a "contemplative organization"? In what ways do we (and do we not) live up to those principles? We will help to keep each other honest in our research efforts, and be aware of our own attachments to ego and outcome.

Knowledge is shared, not owned
We believe that the research process should be collaborative, both within our team and with our research participants. We believe in practicing generosity with our knowledge and experiences. We see ourselves as co-creators with our research participants of this body of knowledge, not possessors of some kind of "special or elite" knowledge. We honor the experiences of those who have devoted much energy to exploring ways to bring a contemplative approach to their work. At the same time, we recognize that we have a unique perspective; as gatherers of these stories and information, we can reflect back a larger picture to those who are in the midst of their work. We will make our best effort to ask for and listen to our research participants' ideas, but we will also be honest and clear in the cases where final decisions about how to use information rest with us. We will welcome critique of our findings and ideas and we will do our best not assume a position of reactivity or defensiveness.

Stories with Soul
We believe in the power of story to transform lives and society. We also value storytelling itself as a contemplative act, composed of both deep listening and heart-ful sharing. Our intention is to communicate the story of contemplative practices in the U.S. with soul intact! We will find creative ways to enable our research participants to tell their story, and also to convey the other findings of our project. By doing so, we will contribute to increase public knowledge, understanding, and excitement about the potential of contemplative practices.

The Power of Community to Build a Movement
We believe that we are helping to form a community of people who want to create a more just and peaceful world. We value the act of connecting the many strands of this web, because the community itself amplifies our ability to bring this transformative way of working into the world. We believe that our power as a collective whole is greater than any of us alone.