THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EMBODIED SPIRIT

TRANSCENDENCE IN THE GLOBAL AGE

 Is in our contemporary world dictated by technology? Are our self- taken pictures or selfies any
indication that we are not zombies? Are we pushing the responsibility for our existence on to
society, instead of facing the questions of who we are?

In the past, most high school students have no chance to read or encounter philosophical tests. While
college students who were asked regarding the concept of transcendence will usually answer: I
cannot believe in invisible existence

To see is to believe. However, there are still majority of college students who have strong convictions
concerning faith, that which transcend what is seen or touched by bodily senses.

In philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey the basic ground
concept from the word`s literal meaning of climbing or going beyond.

BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
Self-hood – the quality that makes a person or thing different from others

At the heart of Hinduism lies the idea of human beings` 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 it continues to hold
everything together.

According to Hinduism, human beings have a dual nature: one Is the spiritual and immortal essence
(soul); the other is empirical life and character. Between the two natures, however, it is maintained
that it is the soul that is ultimately real.

The existence of the body, in fact, is considered as nothing more than an illusion and even an obstacle
to an individual`s realization of one`s real self.

Hindus generally believe that soul is eternal but is bound by the 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. Similar to a prison
enclosed within the wall of his prison, a human being`s soul can be said to be temporarily encased in
his body. For this reason, humanity`s basic goal in life is the liberation (moksha) of the spirit (jiva).

Hinduism holds that humanity`s life is a continuous cycle (samsara). While it is the spirit is either born
nor does it die. The body, on the other hand, goes through a trans migratory series of birth and death.

Transmigration metempsychosis is a doctrine that adheres to the belief that a person`s soul passes
into some other creature, human or animal. If the 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.

There will be no end on the cycle unless the individual exerts real efforts to break away or liberate
one`s spirit from the monotonous cycle. Different Hindu schools and sects have different views about
the method of release (moksha) from this transmigration.

The ultimate liberation, that is, freedom from rebirth, is achieved the moment the individual attains
that stage of life emancipation. (to free from someone else`s control or power)

BRAHMA The creator god of the Hindu sacred triad. (Merriam)

This Hindu view of humanity`s reality place a lot of emphasis on the attainment of self-knowledge.
The goal of human life as conceived by the different Upanishads is to overcome congenital ignorance.

UPANISHADS – (YU-PA-NI-SHAD) one of the class of Vedic treatises dealing with broad philosophical
problems.
VEDIC – relating to Vedas, the language in which they are written.

The concepts of Brahman and Atman (soul, self) are central ideas in all the Upanishads, with “know
your atman” as their thematic focus.

True knowledge (vidya) consists an understanding and realization of the individual`s real self (Atman).

In sum, Hinduism is one of the oldest Eastern traditions, practiced by hundreds of millions of people
for about 5,000 years. To know more about this topic, students are encouraged to read Bhagavad-
Gita, the song of the Lord, which is a part of the great epic Mahabharata.

One concept common to all expressions of Hinduism is the oneness of reality.

Also common to all Hindu thought are the four primary values. In order of increasing importance, they
may be roughly translated as wealth, pleasure, duty, and enlightenment

Wealth and pleasure are worldly values, but when we kept in perspective they are good and
desirable. The spiritual value of duty, or righteousness, refers to patience, sincerity, fairness, love,
honesty, and similar virtues.

The spiritual value, though, is enlightenment, by which one is illuminated and liberated and most
importantly, finds release from the wheel of existence. Repeated existence is the destiny of those
who do not achieve enlightenment.

To understand enlightenment, one must understand the law of karma, the law of sowing and reaping.
All of us, through what we do or not do, supposedly determine our destiny. The wheel of existence
turns until we achieve enlightenment, after which we are released from this series of rebirth.

After understanding Hinduism, the next section proceeds with another major Eastern tradition that is
not based strictly on the Upanishads and in some cases, even ran counter to its teachings.

The tenets of Buddhism are definitely one of the most widespread dharsanas (school of thought).
Buddhism is Universalist in character. It preached to everybody

In its spread over Asia, India itself largely absorbed it into Hinduism. It exists side by side with Taoism
of China and Shintoism of Japan.

BUDDHISM
 Another major Eastern tradition is Buddhism, contained in the teachings of its founder,
Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha. Out of the life experience and teaching of highborn Prince
Gautama of the Sakya clan in the kingdom of Magandha.

Who lived from 560 to 477 B.C ,. Sprang the religious philosophy we know as Buddhism. 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.

He explored Brahminic philosophies, then tried the rigors of asceticism, but all to avail. Finally, while
resting and meditating in a grove of trees, he came to a clear realization that the solution lays in his
own mind.

Ascetic – relating to or having a strict and simple way of living that avoids physical pleasure.
Gautama`s life was devoted to sharing his “Dharma” or law of salvation – a simple presentation of the
gospel of inner cultivation or right spiritual attitudes, coupled with a self imposed discipline whereby
bodily desires would be channeled in the right directions.

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

Convinced that the way of escape from pain and misery lay in the transformation of one`s mind.
Buddha set about sharing his discovery with anyone who would listen to him.

The Four noble truth, Gautama taught 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.

42. EIGHT FOLD 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.
43. BUDDHISM 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
44. BUDDHISM 8. Right meditation, or concentration to the point of complete absorption in mystic
ecstasy.
45. BUDDHISM Items 1 & 2 enjoin or to do something us to develop wisdom. Items 3-5 urge us to
practice virtue and avoid vice or bad. Items 6-8 tell us to practice meditation.

We do this essentially by following three short axioms or accepted as true: 1. Cease to do evil 2. Learn
to do good 3. Purify your own mind

The way to salvation, in other words, 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 in

Entering the Nirvana (enlightened wisdom) of complete selflessness. The effects of the law of Cause
and effect (karma) are overcome; 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.

These were later organized into the Sangha, or Order of the Monks and later of nuns also, with single-
hearted purpose, this brotherhood of believers dedicated itself to a life of self-purification, in total
loyalty to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY

 In the 5th century, Augustine`s writing is considered to be the most influential in the early
medieval period. This section looks at the reasonableness of belief in God`s existence, in doing
so, we shall treat the statement “God exists” as a hypothesis.
 Religious people definitely do not treat God`s existence as a hypothesis, for God is a constant
presence, rather than being whose existence is accepted as the best explanation of available
evidence.

For the Biblical writers, proving God`s existence would be as pointless as trying to prove the existence
of the air we breathe. The religious problem reflected in the Old Testament narratives is not atheism
but polytheism:
Atheism – lack of believe or strong disbelief in the existence of god or any gods. Polytheism – the
belief that there is more than one god.

In the New Testament, the reality of God is unquestioned due to the conviction that Jesus of Nazareth
the eternal God became flesh and dwelt among human beings.

In its earliest missionary endeavors, Christians directed their preaching to Jews who accepted the
reality of God.

For Augustine, philosophy is amor sapiential, the love of wisdom; its aim is to produce happiness.
However, for Augustine, wisdom is not just an abstract logical construction; but it is substantially
existent as the Divine logos.

Teachings of Christianity are based on the love of God, which Augustine`s, Aquinas, and Anselm`s
arguments are basically rooted.

For Augustine, Christianity, as presenting the full revelation of the true God, is the only full and true
philosophy. However, we can love only that which we know. When 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, it will go astray.

It should be taken as a humble acceptance of the fact that human beings alone, without God, are
bound to fail.

John 15:5, I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much
fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.

The thoughts are very deep! The dull man cannot know. The stupid cannot understand this. Psalm 4

We have established with certainty three grades or levels of existence: mere being, living being, and
rational being.

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
moral agent.

Our spirituality separates us from animals; it differentiates moral dimension of or fulfillment in action.
Through our spirituality, we have a conscience. Thus, whether we choose to be good or evil because
our responsibility.

NIRVANA
 Nirvana means the state in which one is absolutely free from all forms of bandage and
attachment. It means to overcome and remove the cause of suffering.

It is also the state of perfect insight into the nature of existence. The Buddhists see one who has
attained nirvana as one who is unencumbered from all the fetters that bind a human being to
existence.

He has perfect knowledge, perfect peace, and perfect wisdom.

1. The Buddha did not want his disciples to concern themselves with purely speculative problems.
2. Another false conception regarding nirvana is that one who attains it, cuts himself off from the
world of toil, tears, and turmoil and spends his life in a state of total inactivity and indifference to the
world around him.
Far from living a passive life, the Buddha from the day of his enlightenment until death is always
surrounded by people.

One who attained enlightenment is a non-attachment. This means that as one attains wisdom, one
desires nothing for himself but always works for the well-being and liberation of his fellow humans.

ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: WILL & LOVE

 For St. Augustine, physically we are free, yet morally bound to obey the law. The eternal law is
God Himself. According to this law , humanity must do well and avoid evil.

Hence, the existence of moral obligation in every human being. Christian life is not easy. No human
being should become an end to himself. We are responsible to our neighbors as we are to our own
actions.

Definitely to live a chaste life is difficult. For to be pure is also to be holy. Though all are called to
different lifestyles. All are called to be holy, pure and chaste within that lifestyle.

Any lifestyles that does not include these virtues, even with consenting individuals, is not pleasing to
God; for it does not lead to holiness, selflessness and full honesty.

For St. Augustine though we are physically free, one does not have the right to do anything if it is not
morally right or if one will hurt another.

Rightness means pleasing God, God has given us a choice to discern between right and wrong though
we are often ignorant in this manner unless we are wholly (complete or fully) sincere, honest, and
pure.