Understanding the Self

SPIRITUAL

SELF
16 DECEMBER 2022

BSA 1-6,
Jonh Carlo A. Manalansan
 Activity IX
PK
Aamir Khan
Reflection Paper
People are always under the impression that religion is what
connects us to God. Religion is about a personal relationship with
Him and becoming a better person; however, when it is used to
oppress others, it does religion a great deal of harm, or as PK
would say, "you have the wrong number." To give you ideas about
the story, I will tell you how the movie started, and how I reflected
to it.

PK, an alien who came from the universe landed to the planet
earth for research purposes, happened to live in a world where
religions are what make people live in diversity. He got robbed by
a stranger guy and his remote control had taken away from him,
which supposedly his tool to make his way back home. And in
order for him to find the culprit, he must understand how the
planet earth and its people work. He had to learn people's
language and how those words shall be spoken in a good way -
which led him to a confusion. "One word can have four different
meanings," as he said. He got to learn that he has the ability to
read minds by touching a person's hands as he was trying to learn
how to communicate with people. It was first happened as he
touched the girl's hands that has been recommended by his a
man he had just met.
 There are so much realizations that really makes sense in this
movie as PK starts to wander the place. He asked a lot of people
about his remote control's whereabout and all of them replied,
"God is the answer". PK, who's desperately wants to find his lost
item, have had met a vendor who sells a miniature of a god who
answers prayers. He bought it and asked for a food. Seconds
after, a food came to his palm. He was shocked and happy that
that miniature truly answers prayers. And so he asked once again
and this time, he asked to bring his remote control back to him. It
did not happened, and so he thought that it ran out of battery. He
went back to the vendor and asked why it did not answer his
prayer and the vendor replied that there's a way to answer his
prayer and it is by entering that building near to them and find his
answer by donating a money. The inspirational lessons start to
open my mind as the story continues.

I got goosebumps on PK's story in this planet as he started to

tell that to a girl named Jaggu who helped him out of trouble in a
temple. He was so driven and enthusiastic to learn what he needed
to learn in order to regain possession of his property. First, Jaggu
did not believe him because he sounded extremely drunk. And to
prove to her that he is not lying, he proved that he can discern a
person's true desires by simply touching their hand. Jaggu
trusted PK at the time and questioned why he did not reveal that
he is an alien. PK stated that he would likely be examined in a
laboratory if he did.

Is it too much if we doubted religions? Is it against to anyone if

we asked God if he is real? Because if He is real, where is He?
That's the biggest question that circling in PK's mind. Where is
God, indeed.
 I was so overwhelmed on Aamir Khan's scene where he asked
God about what he need to do just to get home. "Where are you,
God? Show me the way, please tell me. I've ring the bell for you.
I've read the book of Gita, Quran, and verses of Bible. Your
different managers is saying different thing from each others. One
says to sacrifices on Monday, another says to says to sacrifices on
Tuesday, one says to pray before the sunrise, another says to
pray after the sunset, one says to worship cattle and another says
to sacrifice it, one says go to temples without any shoes, another
says go to church wearing boots. These, who's right and who's
wrong. I do not understand anything. I want to go home.
Everything you say I will do, just send me home." These lines are
so powerful and very impactful in reality because, it is truly that
we have different beliefs because of believing in different religions
which make us diverse. Is this what our God wants? To distant
ourselves from one another? I guess not.

We can communicate with Him everywhere we are. PK wanted

to prove that religions are just an identification of people by their
looks and appearances. Those are not real trust and beliefs, those
are the act of fearfulness. What makes us connect to Him is by
having faith and a pure heart who believe that He is the only one
who can answer our prayers, not those miniatures made by His
creations. To relate, the movie also stated that, "You have many
names, You have many faces. There's so many ways to find you. I
walked all the ways, but You could not be found." These are what
makes me realized that it is about having a strong faith that
creates a strong bond between us and God, not by having
different beliefs which depart us from one another. This movie
want us to realize that religion, if not used in a good way, can
oppress us to danger and is what PK called, "wrong number."
 It makes sense when the debate scene of Tapasvi Maharaj and
PK where PK left heartfelt lines and an inevitable question that
said, "I don't have a home to stay, I cried a lot, I don't even have
friends. I only had one thing - God. Everyday, I thought tomorrow
will be better. God will show me some way out. I agree that putting
faith in God, one can find hope. The difficulties will go away,
courage will come, and will get strength. But I have one question,
Which God should I believe in?" At the end, it is just us who's
making a barrier from one another without thinking that it is not
the way, the truth, and the good acts that our only God wants us to
do.

I've learned a lot; questions that are starting to create in my head

about the movie. It was so good and relatable. The movie is so
controversial but critical. It was fun but is an open book. It is a
lesson that has the power to wake people up. Now, to end this
paper, I want to leave critical lines and a powerful answer from PK
to the question, "If I make wrong numbers, tell me, PK, what is the
right number?"

"You all say that, it's only one God. I say, "no". There are two Gods.
One is the one who created us all. The other one is the one created
by people like you. We know nothing about the God who made us
all, but the God people like you made is exactly like you - liar,
pretend to act, giving false promises, meeting rich people sooner
and letting poor neglected, happy when get praised, and people
are afraid to even say word. My right number is very simple, The
God who created us all, put faith in Him. And the God people like
you created, the duplicate God, destroy it."
 Assessment IX
Do You Have Your Umbrella?
A short story

Many people arrived at the church to pray for the

needed rain. The pastor greeted most of them as they
filed in. As he walked to the front of the church to
officially begin the meeting, he noticed most people were
chatting across the aisles and socializing with friends.
When he reached the front, his thoughts were on
quieting the attendees and starting the meeting. His
eyes scanned the crowd as he asked for quiet. He
noticed an eleven-year-old girl sitting quietly in the front
row. Her face was beaming with excitement. Next to her,
open and ready for use, was a very colorful and
extremely large umbrella, much bigger than her in fact.
The little girl's beauty and innocence made the pastor
smile as he realized how much faith she possessed. No
one else in the congregation had brought an umbrella.
All came to pray for rain. But the little girl had come
expecting God.
 Assessment IX
What are your learnings and realization
from the discussion?
Having faith in God means that you have a trust in Him, and if
you trust God, therefore you Believe in Him. These are the
takeaways that I was able to get from reading the short story. When
you have faith in yourself, it proves that you are able to accomplish
anything. When you give yourself over to Him, it shows that you
have faith in God and that you trust that He will be the light that
leads you to a dream world, and that He will make all of your hopes,
wishes, and dreams come true. And in order for that to arise, you
need to have trust in God and be grateful to Him because if you do
those things, you will be prepared for the blessings that are yet to
come. You have to have faith in what you are capable of doing, and
if there is something you desire, you have to have faith in God's
grace and be ready for it; expect as if it will happen.

The young girl's beauty and the faith that she possessed caused
the father to beaming smile as he watched her quietly become
excited. She walked into the church carrying an umbrella, which is a
sign that she wishes for it to rain but that she is ready to face what
she has wished for because she came prepared. As I studied and
reflected, I came to the conclusion that we should direct ourselves
as if the answers to your prayers are going to be provided.
 Feel the spirit of God. He who shall proclaim our destination will
be the way for our own success. Faith is what make strong
foundation between ourselves and Him. Trust is what makes our
connections to Him indestructible. And Believing is what makes our
prayers do come true. These are my learnings and realizations
from the short story entitled, "Do You Have Your Umbrella?"
 Assessment IX
What is the lesson of the story “Do you have your Umbrella?”
and how are you going to apply it in your daily life?

The importance of having faith in God is the lesson to be learned

from this story. Anyone, regardless of their religious or
philosophical leanings, is capable of having faith in something or
someone. Because we have faith and trust in one another, it came
from us with all of our heart. This simplistic passage elucidates
what it means to have genuine faith by putting an emphasis on the
fact that what we truly believe is more important than what we
claim to believe. If we continue to have faith in and trust in God,
then He will fulfill all of our hopes and desires for us. When we have
faith in our own capabilities, there is no limit to what we can
accomplish. The core principles that underlie optimism need to be
emphasized more. Belief in God's power is the basis for all effective
prayer. It gives God the ability to hear the desires, prayers, and
dreams of people. To the great extent that one's faith is strong, it is
possible for them to achieve a profound level of understanding.

I have never questioned God about the circumstances of my life,

as He has stated that everything happens for a reason. My faith
grows as if nothing could prevent me from trusting and believing in
Him. In addition, the lesson serves as a reminder that I must act to
achieve my goals and be prepared for it.
 I will always choose to have faith, regardless of how difficult my
problems are or how catastrophic the world's problems have
become. Like the girl in the story, I will always keep having faith,
trust, and belief in my heart and mind because, like the father, I
know that my actions can inspire and bring joy to others.

The end