an awareness of the importance of the patterns of the past, the accumulated stories and legends that encapsulate a path of meaning for people in all times;
a respect for the balance of the earth, and for all the elements surrounding her, as the source of challenge and nurturing to human beings;
the importance of honor for the elders of a community, as links to the collective memory, and for the young people of a community, as links to the future;
the need for a spirit of interaction that transcends words and language, that connects people across the barriers of history, geography and culture to find common bonds and the foundations for peace;
the central importance of the family and the village as the social body to which each individual contributes, from which we draw strength and understanding;
the knowledge that all people come from a common root, a common family; that we share common needs and hopes, a unified vision of purpose expressed in a myriad forms, each one precious as part of our common cultural ecology;
that the focus of life is transcendent, intuitive experience, in which inner vision lights the way to the future.
