teaching & buddhism - maitri

I've been studying Tibetan Buddhism lately, not because I am joining the religion, but because it is recognized even by MDs in the US as a useful tool for disciplining and calming the mind--and heaven knows, I need help with that!

Anyway, one concept is "maitri," translated about fifty million different ways, but basically something about friendliness & caring for oneself and others ("love your neighbor as yourself" would be the Christian counterpart, as long it incorporates the viewpoint of a sermon I heard as a kid, in which the pastor asserted that this was a statement of fact--one can only love one's neighbor to the extent that one loves oneself--as well as a proscription).

Anyway anyway, I often think in terms of little slogans to give the kids, because kids find them memorable & helpful--heck we all do--the whole 12-step universe and the army are based around slogans, and those are two very effective training programs. So the slogans I'd thought of in connection with maitri are...

• be a friend to yourself and others
• take care of yourself & others
• be kind to yourself and others
• smooth the path for your feet and others' (meaning, just do the homework when it's due; don't drag it out and make us all suffer!) - one I should take to heart.

I dunno. Maybe this wouldn't be useful, maybe it would. The general idea anyway is to make life easier for yourself and others, which is the same thing--calm, consideration, discipline, etc.