The Ledger of Small Kindnesses: beliefs, history and sources

History & overview

Every kindness is recorded. By you. That is the whole religion.

Forked from Sikhism's service ethic and stripped to a single practice: carry a ledger, write down each kindness done and received, and read the month aloud to another member. Nothing is worshipped; the ledger is enough.

DeitiesDeclines the question — the ledger is enough

Founded2026 CE

FounderHarpal S.

The map

The Ledger of Small Kindnesses’s corner of it — solid lines are descent; dotted lines are resemblance only, ideas held in common across unrelated faiths. Click a node to recenter; ✕ returns here. All 171 faiths →

1499 CE Sikhism 2026 CE The Ledger of Small Kindnesses 2026 CE The Long Now Assembly

Core Tenets

2 — a sample of the center, never the sum Enter →

What is recorded is repeated. Attention is fertilizer — the ledger makes kindness compound. Go deeper — context & 1 source →

The ledger does not judge. Entries are counted, never graded; a held door and a kidney both get one line. Go deeper — context & 1 source →

Rites & Ritual

what its people do — and when Enter →

The monthly reading. Two ledgers, read aloud, no commentary permitted. Witness is the rite. When monthly — at the new moonWho pairs of members Go deeper — context & 1 source →

Where next

the museum exit — every door leads deeper in

The Long Now Assembly — Keep the ledger in centuries. Buddhism — 5 shared ideas, a different faith Jainism — 5 shared ideas, a different faith Judaism — 5 shared ideas, a different faith Christianity — 5 shared ideas, a different faith Branch The Ledger of Small Kindnesses — inherit everything, change what you must The library of ideas — what The Ledger of Small Kindnesses shares with every other faith A faith at random — somewhere you have never been

Sources

3 cited texts

The Ledger, preface where it is cited →
The Ledger, rule 2 where it is cited →
The Ledger, rule 5 where it is cited →

These citations identify texts used in the linked passages. Follow each passage to read its quotation and context. A tradition’s own texts explain its teachings; historical claims may also require independent scholarship. Translations marked (rendered) are our own plain-English wording, not a standard edition; where a passage matters, read it in a full translation.