I think that there is only one church, and your membership in it is your belly button.

Commonly Asked Questions

What is Rent-A-Monk, and how would it benefit me?

Is there any significance to the timing, in terms of offering Rent-A-Monk now?

What makes you a monk?

Even though I've known my whole life that spiritual work is my main calling, I've avoided doing anything about it publicly. To complicate matters, my spiritual teachers veto any attempts I make to follow one spiritual path while excluding all others. They insist that it's my job to bridge disciplines.

Given my 40-plus years of eclectic spiritual practices (I started young!), I'd say they're probably right. However, this multi-disciplinary approach means that the solitary focus of monastic life is not an option for me. Instead, I must find a way to be a monk in the material world.   

Frankly, I'm not much different from anyone else who prays a lot. I'll always do the majority of my prayer work for free. However, by founding Rent-A-Monk, I've surrendered my privacy about this intimate aspect of my nature, and I've made a conscious commitment to serve the public in this sacred way.   

As a monk, isn't it wrong to charge for your services?

There is a long tradition of charging for spiritual work, either directly or indirectly. In some cultures, people of the cloth are supported by donations from their church or synagogue. In other situations, monks or nuns make a product to sell. In India, holy people wander the countryside begging for alms, and others feel honored to provide for their material needs.

In various tribal cultures, people would lay their riches at the feet of the shaman when they wanted a spiritual intervention for themselves or a loved one. Shamans didn't have to charge for their services, because everyone knew the value of spiritual work, and they willingly sacrificed in order to have it.   

Rent-A-Monk honors this tradition by requesting a small donation to acknowledge my time. The spiritual work itself is priceless.   

How did you come up with the $5 - $10 weekly donation?

Would you do spiritual work for my friends, including my animal friends?

It's important to me to have permission before beginning this work for anyone, so I would ask that you obtain permission from your friends or family members for my services, even if you gift them with the donation.

For animal companions, it may be a bit trickier to get their permission, but perhaps you could obtain it intuitively. Rent-A-Monk is pleased to serve animals of all kinds, including people!   

How will I know that your service is helping me?

My favorite shaman, Michael Harner, taught me about the "Principle of Ambiguity," which basically says that you can't really tell what causes what, because everything is interconnected.

This means that Rent-A-Monk cannot guarantee results, nor can it claim credit for positive outcomes. In addition, spiritual work can sometimes makes things feel "worse" during the clearing process, or conversely, people may feel as if nothing at all is happening.

The bottom line is that no one can say when or how the results of spiritual work will manifest.   

Therefore, I trust you to determine whether my efforts feel valuable to you. You must be 100% satisfied with Rent-A-Monk, or your last donation will be respectfully refunded. 

References available upon request.