Philosophy – Lesson 3: Person as an Embodied Spirit

Teacher: Mr. Ferdie Tamayo

Recognize Own Limitations and Possibilities

 Transcendental (adjective) and transcendence (noun) convey the basic concept of “climbing or
going beyond”
 Appreciating art has transcendent existence
 Knowledge and law also require transcendence
 Scientific knowledge are transcending simple, phenomenal things to abstract
 Spirituality within man is identified with the divine image in the soul

 There are many aspects to transcendence, this lesson will cover three main spiritual
philosophies:
 Hinduism
 Buddhism
 Christianity

Hinduism

 Hinduism is one of the oldest Eastern traditions, practiced by hundreds of millions of people for
about 5,000 years

 At the heart of Hinduism lies the idea of human being’s quest for absolute truth, so that one’s
soul and the Brahman or Atman (Absolute Soul) might become one

 For the Indians, God first created sound and the universe arose from it

 As the most sacred sound, the Aum (Om) is the root of the universe and everything that exists,
and continues to hold everything together

 According to Hinduism, man has a dual nature: one is the spiritual and immortal essence (soul);
and the other is empirical life and character

 Between the two natures, it is the soul that is ultimately real. The existence of the body is
considered as nothing more than an illusion and even an obstacle to an individual’s realization of
one’s real self

 Hindus believe that the soul is eternal but bound by law of Karma (action) to the world of matter,
which it can escape only after spiritual progress through an endless series of births

 God allots rewards and punishments to all beings according to their Karma

 Hinduism holds that humanity’s life is a continuous cycle (samsara)

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 There will be no end to the cycle unless the individual exerts real efforts to break away or liberate
one’s spirit from the monotonous cycle

 Ultimate liberation, freedom from rebirth, is achieved the moment the individual attains that
stage of life emancipation, from which inevitably arises a total realization by the individual of a
spiritual nature as well as the transient nature of the body

 This enlightened state (Moksha) is where one attains one’s true selfhood and finds oneself with
the One, the Ultimate Reality: Brahman

 This Hindu view of humanity’s reality places a lot of emphasis on the attainment of self-
knowledge

 The goal of human life thus is to overcome congenital ignorance

 True knowledge (vidya) consists an understanding and realization of the individual’s real self
(atman) as opposed to lower knowledge that is limited to an interpretation of reality based solely on
the data offered by sense experience

Buddhism

 Another major Eastern tradition is Buddhism, contained in the teachings of its founder,
Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha

 Freedom of thought and intellectual independence of Buddhism are unique in the history of
religions

 Wherever it has spread, Buddhism has adapted itself to its environment with a generous
flexibility

 In Buddhism spread over Asia, India itself largely absorbed it into Hinduism. Buddhism exists
side-by-side with Taoism in China and Shintoism in Japan. In Tibet, Buddhism was greatly altered
into a faith called Lamaism. Buddhism is practiced in its purest form in Burma and Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

 Out of the life experience and teaching of high-born Prince Gautama (56BC-477BC) of the Sakya
clan in the kingdom of Magadha sprang the religious philosophy we know as Buddhism

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 Turning away from Hindu polytheism and palace pleasures, Gautama began searching for
answers to the riddle of life’s sufferings, disease, old age and death.

 Gautama explored Brahminic philosophies, tried the rigors of asceticism but all to no avail.

 Finally while resting and meditating in a grove of trees he came to a clear realization that the
solution lay in his own mind

 From here, Gautama’s life was devoted to sharing his Law of Salvation (Dharma)

 Gautama’s Law of Salvation (Dharma) is a simple presentation of the gospel of inner cultivation
of right spiritual attitudes coupled with a self-imposed discipline where bodily desires would be
channeled in the right directions

 He omitted any appeal to the gods as currently conceived, rejected philosophical speculation, and
spurned all recourse to ancient scriptures, outmoded rituals, or priestly incantations

 Reduced to its simplest form, the teaching of Buddha has been set forth traditionally in the “Four
Noble Truths” leading to the “Eightfold Path” which in turn gave assurance of entrance into Nirvana at
death

 The Four Noble Truths:

1. Life is full of suffering
2. Suffering is caused by passionate desires, lusts, cravings
3. Only as these are obliterated will suffering cease
4. Such an eradication of desire may be accomplished only by following the Eightfold Path
of earnest endeavor

 The Eightfold Path:

1. Right belief in and acceptance of the Four Noble Truths
2. Right aspiration for one’s self and for others
3. Right speech that harms no one
4. Right conduct motivated by goodwill toward all human beings
5. Right means of livelihood or earning one’s living by honorable means
6. Right endeavor or effort to direct one’s energies towards wise ends
7. Right mindfulness in choosing topics for thought
8. Right meditation or concentration to the point of complete absorption into mystic ecstasy

 The way to salvation lies through self-abnegation, rigid discipline of mind and body, a consuming
love for all living creatures, and the final achievement of that state of consciousness which marks an
individual’s full preparation for entering the Nirvana (enlightened wisdom) of complete selflessness

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 In this state, the law of Karma is overcome, the cycle of rebirth is broken; and one may rest in the
calm assurance of having attained a heavenly bliss that will last all eternity

 Before long, Buddha found himself surrounded by an increasing number of adherents, men like
himself willing to leave the comforts of home, don the robe of a monk with staff in one hand and
begging bowl in the other to follow their leader as wandering mendicants

 They were later organized into orders of monks (Sangha) and later nuns; and with single-hearted
purpose the brotherhood of believers dedicated itself to a life of self-purification and total loyalty to the
Buddha

 At first, the Order lived under the following simple rules but as time went on, many more rules
were embodied in the Buddhist book of monastic discipline

 However, it is important not to view these precepts as a set of rules because Buddhism stresses
the cultivation of wisdom and discernment; blind obedience to the precepts is not encouraged

 Some of the rules are:

 Refrain from destroying life
 Refrain from not taking what is not given
 Refrain from the misuse of the senses
 Refrain from wrong speech (do not lie or deceive)
 Refrain from taking drugs or drinks that tend to cloud the mind (abstain from intoxicants;
eat moderately and not afternoon; do not look on at dancing, singing, or dramatic spectacles; do
not affect the use of garlands, scents, or ornaments; do not use high or broad beds; do not accept
gold or silver)

Christianity

 Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ,
who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the world's largest religion, with over 2.4 billion
claimed followers, or 33% of the global population, known as Christians.

 In the 5th Century, St. Augustine (13 Nov 354 – 28 Aug 430) is considered to be the most
influential in the early Medieval period

 For Augustine:
 philosophy is amor sapiential, the love of wisdom; its aim is to produce happiness
 wisdom is not just an abstract logical construct, it is substantially existent as the Divine
Logos

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 hence, philosophy is the love of God; it is then religious

 Christianity is the only full and true philosophy

 However, we can only love that which we know

 So from where comes this knowledge of God?

 It begins with faith and is made perfect by understanding

 All knowledge leads to God, so that faith supplements and enlightens reason that it may proceed
to ever richer and fuller understanding

 Without this enlightenment of faith, reason invariably sooner or later goes astray

 We must first of all prove that truth is attainable by reason

 All knowledge comes from sensation, and sensation is constantly deceiving us

 Even if senses yield no certainty in themselves that we always doubt their reports, one thing we
cannot doubt and that is the fact that we doubt

 If we doubt, we must be living and rational beings

St. Augustine (13 Nov 354 – 28 Aug 430)

 For St. Thomas Aquinas, another Medieval philosopher, of all creatures human beings have the
unique power to change themselves and things for the better

 Aquinas considers the human being as a moral agent

 We are both spiritual and body (material) elements

 Our spirituality separates us from animals, it differentiates moral dimension of our fulfillment in
action

 Through our spirituality, we have a conscience

 Whether we choose to be good or evil becomes our responsibility

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St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 7 Mar 1274)

Evaluate Own Limitations and the Possibilities for Their Transcendence

 Let us evaluate our human limitations and how we can transcend them

 Many of us would experience any of the following:

 Forgiveness
 Beauty of nature
 Vulnerability
 Failure
 Loneliness
 Love

 Forgiveness
 When we forgive, we are freed from our anger and bitterness caused by the actions
and/or words of another. On the other hand, when we don’t forgive, hardness of heart is
reinforced by a whole series of rational arguments
 “Anger makes you smaller while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you are.”

 Beauty of nature
 There is perfection in every single flower. For a hug, for every sunset and sunrise, to eat
together as a family, are our miracles
 “There is no better designer than nature” – Alexander McQueen

 Vulnerability
 To be invulnerable is to be inhuman. To be vulnerable is to be human. Moments of
poverty and dependence are not a sign of weakness but being true to ourselves
 “Vulnerability is at the core, the center, of meaningful human experiences” – Brene Brown

 Failure
 Our failures force us to confront our weakness and limitations. Acceptance of failures
makes us hope and trust that all can be brought into good
 “Failure is not the opposite of success. It is part of success.”

 Loneliness
 We can realize that our dependence on other people is a possessiveness we can be free
from
 “The time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself.”

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 Love
 To love is to experience richness, positivity, and transcendence
 “Where there is love there is life” – Mahatma Gandhi

Recognize How the Human Body Imposes Limits and the Possibilities for Transcendence

 Hinduism: Reincarnation and Karma

 Everything in this life, say the Hindus, is a consequence of actions performed in a
previous existence
 Only by building up a fine record or karma can final salvation be achieved

 Buddhism: Nirvana
 Nirvana is the state in which one is absolutely free from all forms of bondage and
attachments
 It means to overcome and remove the cause of suffering
 It is also the state of perfect insight into the nature of existence
 One who has attained nirvana has perfect knowledge, perfect peace, and perfect wisdom
 St. Augustine and St. Thomas: Will and Love
 For St. Augustine, physically we are free, yet morally bound to obey the law
 Eternal law is God Himself
 According to this law, humanity must do well and avoid evil, hence, the existence of
moral obligation on every human being
 Rightness means pleasing God
 God has given us choice to discern between right and wrong though we are often
ignorant in this manner unless we are wholly sincere, honest and pure

Distinguish the Limitations and the Possibilities for Transcendence

 Evil and suffering

 Suffering is close to the heart of biblical faith
 In Christianity, suffering leads to the Cross, the symbol of reality of God’s saving love for
the human being
 Compassion is the heart of religion, but it can disappear from it
 Religion without compassion becomes law and a burden imposed on its adherents

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