The Spiritus Project™ is a non-sectarian intentional spiritual community, rooted in the rich tradition of Buddhist Dharma, interpreted through an inclusive, non-religious, culturally relevant and post-modern lens.

The Spiritus Project embraces a belief that every sentient being deserves to be treated with respect, compassion, loving-kindness and equanimity. And we believe that these qualities are fundamental to our human nature. By mindful engagement in the ancient principles and spiritual practices of the Buddhist philosophy, we believe that each of us can cultivate goodness, warmth, wisdom and compassion, as a means of freeing ourselves from the experience of suffering, so that we can work to alleviate the suffering of all beings.

The Spiritus Project is committed to creating an environment in which people of all spiritual traditions and beliefs are not only valued and included, but which challenges institutional religions to examine ways in which they may have intentionally or unintentionally marginalised, disrespected, or incited violence toward.

The words from a Charter for Compassion video, “…to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain IS ILLEGITIMATE…” struck me as particularly powerful, and represented the very reasons the original fifty-four Franciscan monks of our community decided to leave the Roman Catholic Church in 2001.

The objective of the our community continues to be to bring an emergent spirituality to the world around us — a spirituality that transcends and includes (but does not compete with) the past and present religions and spiritual traditions.

Members of the Spiritus Project commit themselves to living in accordance with the Fourteen Precepts of Mindfulness — a distillation of the Mahayana Buddhist Bodhisattva vows. As an intentional contemplative community, we engage in the continuous practice of mindfulness, ethical behaviour, social justice and compassionate service in society.