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Dear Friends of the Maitreya,

... or Metta 'RayBurns' Future AI Buddha.

As we may know, orthodox Judaism is still awaiting Brian or some other Messiah, Jesuits are awaiting 'The Comforter', Islamists the Mahdi and Lobsters the landing of the flying teapot.

Meanwhile ... Using our current skill set, what can we prepare for our dharma descendants?

1. Be Cool
2. Be aware of what is important
3. Support the new Jewels
4. Repair the present

I listened to the podcast today. She's part cultural anthropologist, so there was much discussion of some of the cultural differences between Tibetans and the west.

My personal journey listening to the interview was interesting to me. At first I remembered many of the things I really loved about TB, and then when they started comparing attitudes to western ones I realized how much I have adopted and internalized some of those views. I was heavily involved in my early 20s, a pretty formative time. Then I thought, since then I've listened and read a lot of western people espousing very similar attitudes and realizing since leaving TB and looking for a more western approach I've probably selected for those who hold similar views. Then I'm wondering when they were talking about a "western" mindset just how western is it really. Is the western mind really so homogenous? Are they really just talking about the cultural world they inhabit in particular? With my general interest in science there's a known phenomenon in the scientific community that the vast majority of psychological and sociological studies have been done on young, western, college students and probably doesn't reflect the larger human experience very well.

Anyway, rambling aside, I thought she was interesting and liked what she had to say on the matter.

@Jeroen said:
Well, there is trauma and Trauma. Some traumas are so strong they shape people’s lives and intrude into the present. What most people have are background traumas, also important because they represent the most traumatic experiences of your youth but not intrusive. Both can be worked with.

I guess I think a different term for the small traumas of life would help. Like discomfort or anxiety, etc. Using the same term for meaningfully different things waters down the more severe traumas, it also elevates the stories we tell ourselves about the degree of hurt we experience.

I dislike the term ‘power’ because it’s actually not that, it just feeds the ego. I think presence is a better word, or perhaps groundedness.

In my metta practice I added a phrase, may all beings be confident, grounded and resilient in the face of life's hardships. I hadn't thought to use the word power, but all of those imply a sort of personal capacity. Though perhaps like the word trauma, power has different connotations depending on how its used and a different word would be better. How do you feel about empower? Or is that too close? Strength? Some connotation of having confidence that one has the internal resources to engage and overcome difficulty.

Well, there is trauma and Trauma. Some traumas are so strong they shape people’s lives and intrude into the present. What most people have are background traumas, also important because they represent the most traumatic experiences of your youth but not intrusive. Both can be worked with.

I dislike the term ‘power’ because it’s actually not that, it just feeds the ego. I think presence is a better word, or perhaps groundedness.