IPHP- Human Person as an embodied spirit- The main spiritual Philosophies summary of

Terminologies and Concepts.

Term Concept
Thomas Merton (1948) A Trappist Monk who says that there’s no other way for us
to find who we are than finding in ourselves the divine
image.
Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity The three main spiritual philosophies.
HINDUISM Hinduism is one of the oldest Eastern traditions practiced by
hundreds of millions of people for about 5,000 years. For
Hindus, Human beings are in quest of the absolute truth so
that one's soul and the Brahman or Atman (Absolute Soul)
might become one.
Objective of Hinduism to achieve self-knowledge to achieve self-annihilation and
absorption into the Great Self. The aim of human life is to
overcome congenital ignorance.
True Knowledge (vidya) 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.
Aum (Om) is the root of the universe and everything that exists, and it
continues to hold everything together. The most sacred
sound.
Human Beings Consist of dual nature:
-spiritual and immortal essence (soul)
-empirical life and character
Karma the force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism
and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its
ethical consequences to determine the nature of the
person's next existence
The Law of Karma the law of sowing and reaping. Humanity's goal in life is the
liberation (moksha) of spirit (jiva)
Samsara Humanity's life is a continuous cycle or monotonous cycle
of life and death.
It is the beginning-less cycle of repeated birth, mundane
existence and dying again that all beings pass through.
Samsara is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and
painful, perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and
the resulting karma.
Transmigration (Metempsychosis) is a doctrine that adheres to the belief that a person's soul
passes in some other creature, human, or animal. Hindus
believe the atman repeatedly takes on a body until moksha.
If a person has led a good life, the soul goes upward the
scale. The soul of an evil person, on the other hand, may
pass into the body of an animal.
Moksha (liberation or method of release) is an enlightened state where one attains one's true
selfhood and finds oneself one with the One, Brahman. It is
the transcendent state attained as a result of being released
from the cycle of rebirth. A goal of the humanity.
Soul Immortal Essence
Atman is a Hindu word that means 'soul or spirit'. Essentially, it
refers to the real person inside an individual. It is made of
part of the spirit of Brahman, who Hindus believe is the one
 IPHP- Human Person as an embodied spirit- The main spiritual Philosophies summary of
Terminologies and Concepts.

true ultimate God. Therefore, it is not something that can be

seen or touched, but it is eternal and everlasting.
Brahman The Ultimate reality, all comprehensive reality. Most Hindus
believe that Brahman is present in every person as the
eternal spirit or soul called the atman. It contains
everything: creation, destruction, male and female, good
and evil, movement and stillness.
The Hindu Trimurti Brahma, the creator
Vishnu, the preserver
Shiva, the destroyer
Vishnu is considered as the most important God in Hinduism.
Vishnu has come to earth as Rama and Krishna to save the
world. Vishnu is married to Lakshmi. Vishnu has four arms,
which together hold a conch, a lotus flower, a discus, and a
club. Vishnu has come down to earth many times sometimes
as animal or human beings.
Upanishads are collection of texts that contain some of the central
philosophical concepts of Hinduism; and is also considered
by Hindus to contain utterances concerning the nature of
ultimate reality and describing the character of and path to
human salvation.
Vedas are a large body of Hindu texts originating in Vedic period in
northern India, the oldest Indian sacred texts.
Dharma the Law of Salvation, a principle of cosmic order. It is an
important term in Indian religions. In Hinduism it means
"duty", "virtue", "morality", even "religion" and it refers to
the power which upholds the universe.
Hinduism's Primary Values Wealth, Pleasure, Duty, and Enlightenment
Wealth and Pleasure Are worldly values, but when kept in perspective they’re
good and desirable.
Value of duty or righteousness Refers to patience, sincerity, fairness, love, honesty, and
similar virtues.
Enlightenment Who is illuminated and liberated and most importantly,
finds release from the wheel of existence. Enlightenment for
the Hindu is recognizing that all things are united.
Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) He turned away from Hinduism to seek for answers to the
riddle of life's sufferings, disease, old age, and death. The
founder of Buddhism.
Polytheism is the belief or doctrine that there are multiple gods or
deities.
Transcendence (n) conveys the basic ground concept from the world's
literal meaning (from Latin), of climbing or going beyond,
with varying connotations in its different historical and
cultural stages.
Trans and scandare Latin prefix trans means “beyond’ and the word scandare
means to “climb”. It makes the word Transcendence.
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 eradication of desire may be accomplished only by
following the Eightfold Path of earnest endeavor.
 IPHP- Human Person as an embodied spirit- The main spiritual Philosophies summary of
Terminologies and Concepts.

Eightfold Path 1. Right belief in and acceptance of the "Fourfold Truth";

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 toward
wise ends;
7. Right mindfulness in choosing topics for thought; and
8. Right meditation, or concentration to the point of
complete absorption in mystic ecstasy.
Sangha the Buddhist community of monks, nuns, novices, and laity.
Buddhism’s Axioms 1. Cease to do evil
2. Learn to do good
3. Purify your own mind
Nirvana The highest state that someone can attain, a state of
enlightenment, meaning a person's individual desires and
suffering go away.
In the state of Nirvana, the effects of Karma can be
overcame; the Cycle of Rebirth is broken; and one may rest
in the calm assurance of having attained a heavenly bliss
that will stretch into all eternity.
Buddhism’s States of Sublime Condition 1. Love
2. Sorrow of others
3. Joy in the joy of others
4. Equanimity as regards one's own joy and sorrows.
Transformation of one’s mind The way of escape from pain and misery and that liberation
could come only with a sloughing off of all vain clinging to
the things of this life.
Arhatship denotes for Buddhism a being who has reached a state of
perfection and enlightenment which in turn give assurance
of entrance into Nirvana at death.
The Buddhist Five Precepts are the Buddhist version of a code of conduct or rules to
help people behave in a moral and ethical way.

1. Refrain from taking life.

Example Not killing any living being. For Buddhists, this
includes animals, so many Buddhists choose to be
vegetarian.
2. Refrain from taking what is not given.
Example: Not stealing from anyone.
3. Refrain from the misuse of the senses.
Example: Not having too much sensual pleasure. For
example, not looking at people in a lustful way or
committing adultery.
4. Refrain from wrong speech
Example: Not lying or gossiping about other people.
5. Refrain from intoxicants that cloud the mind.
Example: Not drinking alcohol or taking drugs, as these do
not help you to think clearly.
 IPHP- Human Person as an embodied spirit- The main spiritual Philosophies summary of
Terminologies and Concepts.

Lotus The flower that is commonly associated with Buddhism.

To become enlightened and reach nirvana The goal of Buddhism. Nirvana is believed to be attainable
only with the elimination of all greed, hatred, and ignorance
within a person. Nirvana signifies the end of the cycle of
death and rebirth.
Buddha an enlightened being. In ancient India the title buddha
referred to an enlightened being who has awakened from
the sleep of ignorance and achieved freedom from suffering
Theistic hypothesis that it is a hypothesis about all there is and seeks to explain
the nature and existence of God, the best explanation of the
existence of the world, as we know it.
The religious problem reflected in the Old The problem addressed in the Old Testament isn't atheism,
Testament. but polytheism: not the denial of God but the worship of
more than one God.
The New Testament The reality of God is unquestioned in the New Testament
due to the conviction that in Jesus of Nazareth the eternal
God became flesh and dwelt among human beings.
Faith in one sense, is often discussed in terms of believing God's
promises, trusting in his faithfulness, and relying on God's
character and faithfulness to act.
"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this
faith is to see what you believe"
- Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine of Hippo His philosophy is amor sapiental- love of wisdom.
(354-430 CE) Also known as the Doctor of Grace, was an early Christian
theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the
development of Western Christianity and Western
philosophy.
Saint Augustine of Hippo- true and only The full revelation of God.
Philosophy
Saint Thomas Aquinas He was an immensely influential philosopher, theologian,
and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, within which he
is also known as the Doctor Angelicus and the Doctor
Communis.
His contribution and great works are Summa Contra
Gentiles and Summa Theologica.
Summa Contra Gentiles It was probably written to aid missionaries in explaining the
Christian religion to and defending it against dissenting
points of doctrine in Islam and Judaism or those unbelievers.
Summa Theologica as its title indicates, is a “theological summary.” It seeks to
describe the relationship between God and man and to
explain how man's reconciliation with the Divine is made
possible at all through Christ.
The three grades of existence Mere being living being and rational being.
Sensation Is the lowest from of knowledge.
Will Directs the mind’s eye to truth, first invading to the mind
itself, then upward to the eternal Truth.
Moral Agent Aquinas considers human being as a Moral Agent. Humans
are both spiritual and material. The unity of both elements
indeed helps as to understand our complexity as a human
 IPHP- Human Person as an embodied spirit- The main spiritual Philosophies summary of
Terminologies and Concepts.

being. As a moral agent, we have a capacity to discern what

is right and wrong and be held accountable of one’s action.
Conscience Is the product of our spirituality. It is an inner feeling viewed
as acting guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s
behavior. Through this, our spirituality separates from the
animals.
Eternal Law God himself is the eternal law. It is God’s plan to lead all
creation towards God’s eternal salvific plan to be holy and
blameless before Him. According to this law, humanity must
do well and avoid evil, hence the existence of moral
obligation in every human being.
God’s grace God’s life power and righteousness given to us by
unmerited favor. It is through grace that God works effective
change in our hearts and lives. Innocence of heart and purity
can only be gained through God’s grace.
Yoga A Hindu spiritual exercise and ascetic discipline. A part of
which, including breath control, simple meditation, and
adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for
health relaxation.
Si comprehendis, non est Deus A philosophy of St. Augustine which means “Whatever you
understand cannot be God” – simply because you
understand it.
Natural evil Refers to natural disasters, diseases, or genetic defects that
results in pain and suffering. It is generally considered to be
the result of natural processes. For Christianity, God is
considered as the ultimate creator and perpetrator of
natural evil since all natural objects or phenomena are
ascribed by God.
Moral Evil Refers to the willful evil acts of human beings such as
murder and theft. It arises with virtual inevitability from the
inherent human imperfections. Moral evil always has a
human as a perpetrator and a victim or victims who suffer.
It can be carried out intentionally or in negligence. Both
cases cause suffering and pain to victims.
Metaphysical evil The root cause of both natural and moral evil. It pertains to
certain imperfections that are inevitable in a created and
dependent universe, thus these imperfections are the
source of many or all the other evils that occur in it.
Ludwig Feuerbach German 19th century philosopher who thinks that Indian’s
concept of Brahman as a similarity to Christianity which says
that “a person is God and God is in the person”. There is no
distinction between God and Human beings.
Suffering Is close to the heart of biblical faith. Buddha who saw life in
suffering tried to control it instead of cursing it. For
Christianity, suffering leads to the Cross. A symbol of God’s
saving love for the human being.
Compassion Is the heart of religion. Jesus condemned religion without
compassion and constructed, thus, the parable of the Good
Samaritan.