Multicultural Wisdom on Wholeness and Belonging

Theses words and phrases were unscientifically cultivated as part of Sangha Is All’s research on Recognizing Wholeness and represent language from every continent on the planet. Sources are identified for each. Contributions, corrections, and comments on this list are welcome and can be submitted here.

Eloheh – (pronounced Ay-luh-hay) (Cherokee): Signifies harmony, wholeness, abundance, and peace, rooted in a connected worldview. Origin: Native North America

Fa’asinomaga — (Samoan) referring to identity rooted in heritage and place. This scholar uses the metaphor of a Samoan house to explain. “two key points about the identity of a person. Firstly, one is incomplete without the foundation of [descent/lineage/heritage, the earth, language], and secondly, these three [foundational elements] strengthen one’s identity….to know one’s identity is to know one’s culture. Culture is fluid and ever growing, but is kept intact with one’s identity.” Origin: South Pacific

Hózhó (Ho-sho; Navajo) - Native North American: Harmony in all things; “in a literal translation, means “I am you, as you are me” or “I am another you, as you are another me”. “walking in beauty,” or living in a manner that strives to create and maintain balance, harmony, beauty and order. Hózhó is similar to, but much richer in meaning than the term “conservation” as it implies a deep connection between people and the land. One cannot restore land health without people and culture.” Origin: Native North America

In Lak’ech (in lah-KECH; Mayan proverb): You are another me;
According to Dr. Fidencio Briceño, the phrase “In lak’ ech, hala ken” expresses the concept of unity of Mayan thought, but it is a phrase created by people who do not speak Mayan, who are not Mayan and who do not have Mayan culture as their own. The phrase does represent the idea of relationship and collectivity of Mayan philosophy, but according to Don Fidencio, it is not necessary a phrase that is used daily among Mayan speakers and is a very literal translation.
“I don’t exist without you and you don’t exist without me. Therefore, you and I exist from relating, we exist from ‘us’”. According to various interpretations, Mayan people conceived the universe as a great unity where everything is related. The individuals, the community, the plants, the animals, the winds, and the spirits are united and nothing exists without the relationship to the other; everything is alive and everything is connected. That is why any action of one affects the other and that is why it is said that you are my other self. If I respect you, I’m respecting myself, and if I attack you, I’m attacking myself. Origin: Native South American

Kapwa - (Filipino) “I am who I am connected to .”
“Kapwa is a recognition of a shared identity, an inner self, shared with others. This Filipino linguistic unity of the self and the other is unique and unlike in most modern languages…Because implied in such inclusiveness is the moral obligation to treat one another as equal fellow human beings. If we can do this – even starting in our own family or our circle of friends – we are on the way to practice peace. We are Kapwa People.” — Professor Virgilio Enriquez, founder of Sikolohiyang Pilipino Origin: Eurasia, Southeast Asia,

Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ - (Lakota phrase /metaphor pronounced Mee-tah-koo-yay oh-yah-seen) Describes Reality by addressing it as “All My Relations.” All humans, all animals, all plants, all the waters, the soil, the stones, the mountains, the grasslands, the winds, the clouds and storms, the sun and moon, stars and planets are our relations and are relations to one another. “We are all relatives” Origin: Native North American

Neddo ko bandum (NEH-doh-koh-ban-DOOM; from the Fula - foo-la language-): A person is their relatives | The remedy of man is man. Origin: West Africa

Pono (poh-NOH; Hawaiian): Righteousness and balance ) Origin: Central Pacific

Shalom (Hebrew-Judaism) : Harmony, being in right relationship; “make it good,” “make full restitution ” “restore,” “an inward sense of completeness or wholeness” Shabbat Shalom stop/rest and restore your wholeness. Origin: Middle East (Israel is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa)

Ubuntu – sometimes translated as I am because we are, is “a Nguni Bantu term meaning ‘humanity,’ [and] embodies a philosophy that emphasizes communalism, shared values, and interconnectedness within African societies. This concept is central to African thought, reflecting the idea that an individual's identity is inherently tied to their community and relationships.”-- Bukunmi Deborah Ajitoni Origin: Africa

Whakapapa (va-kuh-puh-puh; Māori-the indigenous Polynesian inhabitants of New Zealand): The idea of shared genealogy; framework that links all animate and inanimate, known and unknown phenomena in the terrestrial and spiritual worlds. Origin: South Pacific, New Zealand

We’am | Wi’am (we-AM; Arabic): Harmony, peace | cordial relationships; Wi’am or Weam or Weaam: Harmony, concord, reconciliation, agreement, unity, peace. Origin: Middle Eastern/North African (from a google ai search)

Woori — meaning “we,” or “our” or “us” but tied to a deeper sense of context. Here is a story of a new mother who shares her appreciation of woori (https://sikodiwa.substack.com/p/does-kapwa-exist-in-other-cultures) . “It evokes a sense of community, unity, oneness. Korean culture values community over the individual, expressed through the way Koreans frequently use “our” rather than “my.” That’s “our house,” for instance, or “our husband,” or “our school….Meanwhile, the word “boundary” as used in this context doesn’t even exist in the Korean language.” Origin: Northeast Asia, Korean,

Your liberation is bound up with mine (attributed to Aboriginal activists), location: Australia, between Indian and Pacific Ocean

Yup’ik—shared personhood concept (from a google ai search) Origin: North American, Indigenous Alaskan