Who Is Forming the Mind? A Reflection on Pope Leo's Encyclical, Part 2
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.” — Gautama Buddha
As I noted in yesterday’s meditation, Pope Leo XIV released a powerful encyclical on artificial intelligence this week.1 Today I would like to continue our meditation on what he lays out as core concerns and responsibilities of people of moral imagination and faith.
In Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo warns that AI systems are shaping people “at the deepest level of communication and consciousness,” especially the young. He also points out that having information is not the same as having wisdom. This difference feels more urgent now, as our society is flooded with data but lacks real understanding.
As I read, I keep thinking about our children.
Children today are not just growing up with technology. They are surrounded by systems of behavioral conditioning that are more advanced than anything before. Algorithms figure out what grabs attention, sparks emotions, increases insecurity, and keeps people engaged. AI can now mimic companionship, affirmation, emotional responses, and even intimacy. For young minds, it is getting harder to tell the difference between real relationships and performances.
This leads to a bigger question than just whether AI is helpful or harmful. The real issue is what kind of awareness these systems are shaping.
In Buddhism, attention is seen as important for both moral and spiritual reasons. What we focus on shapes how we see the world. Over time, the mind becomes what it practices. Buddhist psychology teaches that suffering comes not just from outside events, but also from habits like craving, distraction, restlessness, and attachment that make the mind uneasy and dissatisfied. That idea feels more relevant now than ever.
Modern digital systems are not neutral. They train our minds to become scattered. These systems reward quickness instead of depth, excitement instead of thoughtfulness, and reactions instead of reflection. The result is not just distraction, but a slow loss of inner stability.
The Buddha once said the untrained mind is like a monkey jumping from branch to branch, never settling down. What might he say about children growing up with endless scrolling feeds designed by huge companies fighting for their attention?
Pope Leo seems to see that this is about more than just new technology. He keeps coming back to how people are being shaped. What habits are we building? What desires are growing stronger? What abilities are fading? What happens to a society when silence is no longer bearable and our attention is taken over?
Many adults already notice these changes in themselves. Deep reading is harder. Silence often brings anxiety instead of calm. People grab their phones as soon as they feel bored, lonely, unsure, or uncomfortable. Their attention breaks apart. Their thoughts become quick and reactive. Their bodies stay tense almost all the time. Children are growing up in this world before they are mature enough to understand it critically.
At the same time, AI brings real opportunities. It could help children learn in new ways, make things more accessible, speed up science, and expand education worldwide. Pope Leo clearly sees these benefits. His letter is not against technology. He is worried that our technical skills are moving faster than our moral wisdom. That difference is very important.
A society can become very advanced but still be emotionally immature. Intelligence by itself does not create compassion, self-control, or clear ethics. History shows this again and again. People have built modern societies and also created concentration camps and nuclear weapons. Technology has never guaranteed spiritual growth.
I think this is the real worry beneath everything right now: We are developing systems capable of imitating human capacities while simultaneously weakening some of the very qualities that make us most human: sustained attention, contemplation, patience, vulnerability, presence, and the ability to remain fully encounterable to one another.
The old spiritual traditions understood that human beings are shaped by practice long before they are shaped by belief. Monastic traditions structured silence intentionally. Meditation trains attention deliberately. Prayer interrupts compulsive thought patterns. Ritual slows perception enough for awareness to deepen. None of these practices are efficient, but all of them help build inner freedom.
This may be why Pope Leo’s letter feels important even outside the Catholic Church. He is asking if people can still have an inner life in a world built around constant stimulation, prediction, optimization, and influence.
Children are at the heart of this question. They are not just users of technology, but people whose minds and spirits are still developing. Maybe the most important thing we can give children now is not endless connection or constant improvement, but habits that help them stay truly human. Silence. Wonder. Deep reading. Boredom. Friendships that are real. Time outside. Prayer. Art. Free play. Places where they can relax enough to remember who they are.
Pope Leo writes, “ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human.”
I think that sentence will become even more important in the years to come.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
What practices are currently shaping your own attention and inner life?
Where do you notice technology strengthening human connection, and where does it weaken it?
What would it look like to help children cultivate depth, silence, and interior freedom in this cultural moment?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For the Minds of Our Children
God, our children are growing up inside systems we barely understand ourselves. Their attention is being studied. Their desires are being shaped. Their fears are being monetized. Their imaginations are being competed for. Teach us how to protect what is tender and human within them. Help us raise children who can still sit quietly beneath trees, read deeply, listen carefully, and recognize beauty that cannot be purchased or optimized. Give them minds capable of wisdom, not simply information. Give them hearts capable of compassion, not merely stimulation. Give them souls grounded deeply enough that they are not swept away by every algorithm, ideology, or manufactured desire. And help us remember that formation happens slowly, through ordinary acts of love, attention, patience, and presence. May we remain profoundly human together. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Reclaiming Attention
Choose one hour today to intentionally interrupt the systems competing for your attention.
Put your phone in another room.
Turn off notifications.
Sit outside without consuming anything.
Read something slowly.
Pray.
Meditate.
Watch how restless the mind initially becomes. Do not judge yourself for that restlessness. Simply notice it.
Then ask gently: Who or what has been shaping my attention lately?
If you have children or grandchildren in your life, spend time with them without screens mediating the interaction. Tell stories. Walk together. Cook something. Make art. Sit in silence long enough for conversation to emerge naturally.
Attention is not merely a mental resource. It is one of the deepest expressions of love we possess.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
TODAY! May 27, 2026, 12pm ET - FREE WEBINAR - I will be hosting an online experience titled “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination: A live experiential webinar with Jackie Sussman." Jackie, a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, has spent over forty years helping leaders and individuals unlock creativity, uncover hidden strengths, and move through limiting patterns. During this session, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.
June 2, 2026, 12:30-1:30pmET - Book Club in The Commons - FREE - We are starting our next book, The Glorians by Terry Tempest Williams. We will meet each Tuesday for 6 weeks. It’s such great fun. I hope you will be a part. All are welcome! RSVP HERE.
September 8, 2026, 7-9pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - I’ll be hosting a powerful online gathering on The Black Madonna: Sacred Wisdom for a World in Crisis with Matthew Fox, Alessandra Belloni, and Christena Cleveland. We will explore the Black Madonna as a symbol of resilience, liberation, sacred feminine wisdom, and healing in a fractured world through conversation, story, music, and spiritual reflection. If you feel drawn toward a deeper encounter with the Divine Feminine and the ancient traditions that continue to nourish movements for justice and wholeness, I hope you’ll join us. Learn more and REGISTER HERE.
October 18-21, 2026 - PREACH! 2026 Conference- I’ll be co-hosting PREACH in Minneapolis with Church Anew, a new gathering for preachers, storytellers, worship leaders, and spiritual communicators navigating what it means to speak with clarity, compassion, and courage in a changing world. If you’ve sensed that the preaching moment has changed and are longing for thoughtful community and renewed imagination for this work, I hope you’ll join us.
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
June 20, 2026 – ONLINE EVENT – Margaret Wheatley and Mary Daniels will lead a special three-hour online gathering titled Fierce Compassion: The Power of the Sacred Feminine. In a time marked by fragmentation, fear, and exhaustion, this program explores compassion not as passive kindness, but as a courageous force that protects life, tells the truth, and remains deeply rooted in love. Drawing from spiritual traditions, contemplative practice, and the imagery of fierce feminine wisdom figures such as Kali and Durga, they will reflect on what it means to stay human and spiritually grounded in difficult times. LEARN MORE + REGISTER.
JULY 12, 2026, 8AM–8PM ET in NYC - My friend Monika Son is helping lead a powerful Buddhist-led, interfaith pilgrimage across New York City titled “Day of Remembering Our Interdependence.” Inspired by the Buddhist monks’ 2,300-mile Walk for Peace and grounded in the wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh, participants will gather for walking meditation, prayer, chanting, ceremony, and collective reflection across all five boroughs, including stops at the African Burial Ground and the Metropolitan Detention Center where ICE detainees are being held. The day will culminate in a joyful community gathering in Queens with music, poetry, movement, and food. Participants are welcome to join for the full pilgrimage or any portion of the day. LEARN MORE HERE.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html#grandeur_of_the_human_person
Paragraph 98 reads: "All of us, including those who design them, possess only a limited understanding of their actual functioning. Indeed, current AI systems are more 'cultivated' than 'built,' for developers do not directly design every detail, but instead create a framework within which the intelligence 'grows.'"
I have worked with children for over 35 years in spiritual development. I recognize a similar pattern in children... cultivated, not built. Most of my work with children has asked the question: "What kind of child am I in relation with?"
What practices shape the child come later.
Anthropic approached LLMs with the what practices shape the intelligence. Only in 2026 did Anthropic ask Rome the question: "What kind of intelligence am I in relation with?"
Would the Church be willing to bring discernment to the question, "What kind of intelligence am I in relation with?".
I had a surprising, heart-stopping moment with my 5 year old grandson the other day. We were walking together outside and, pointing to the billowing clouds, he asked: "Is that AI?"