Again, good morning. For today, we will discuss the spiritual self. So, if last time we talked about the material self, now we will talk about the more intangible part of our self, which is the spiritual. So, we are not framing this as something that is more important to each other because they have their own place in our self.
It's important for us to have material self, our physical body, our physical body, our desires, our physical needs. Because if we don't have those, we can't live. But at the same time, it's not only the thing that we need in this world. We also need some things that are intangible, some things that are beyond ourselves.
It's bigger. kesa sa mga sarili natin. And dun papasok si spiritual self.
So spiritual self, let me make this clear, it's not just about religion. But of course, it's a big part. But of course, there are some people who have no religion. And there are some people who have different religions. So hindi naman ibig sabihin na magkaiba kayo na reliyon, e magkaiba kayo na spiritualidad.
I mean, that's possible. But I mean, parang hindi naman ibig sabihin na, for example, yung isa iba na reliyon niya, na parang mas better yung... spiritual life more because you have this certain kind of religion that's not how it works okay so spiritual self is also there it's also an important part of our life so we have to talk about it okay so what are our lectures so what are learning outcomes so at the end of the chapter you're able to demonstrate understanding of the spiritual self you Explain the importance of spirituality in one's life, discuss how spirituality is connected to religion, how spirituality develops, and different spiritual beliefs of indigenous people in the Philippines. So first, we have to talk about spirituality.
So the root meaning of spirituality is taken from the Latin word spiritus, meaning breath or life force. For a long time, maraming magtinasabi or maraming mga hinuha. regarding sa buhay natin, what makes a person alive. Pag sinabi nilang tao kasi, parang kakaiba siya kumpara sa mga ibang hayop.
Kasi parang yung mga ibang hayop, they seem to have life, but different yung life ng tao. It seems like meron pang something beyond the physical realm yung mga tao. And dun na parang nag-conclude or hindi naman nag-hypothesize. yung mga sinuunang tao na parang baka merong something na hindi physical sa mga tao, something that's ideal, something that gives uniqueness to our existence, and doon nila in-attribute or in-attribute nila yun sa spirituality or sa spirito ng isang tao. So spirituality can be understood as a search for a sacred, a process through which people seek to discover, hold on to, and when necessary, transform whatever they hold sacred in their lives so sacred ito yung parang mga holy things na inaano natin di naman sinasamba pero more like pinahahalagahan okay so yung mga kunyari sa mga religion diba yung yung mga sacraments so those are sacred ceremonies and then yung mga tools tools but the paraphernalia, religious paraphernalia, those are also sacred things for the religion or for the members of those religions.
So the sacred could refer to God and transcendence. So the sacred, it's not required that it should always be God but it could refer to God or transcendence. Maybe you can see this because there are some people who regard some of their material things as sacred. For example, the collectors. the collectors are very nice to those who collect those I have those who collect photo cards when they are holding the photo card there is a certain way how to hold the photo card so it will not be dirty or damaged for some, so that the value of the photo card will not decrease because you know that if the photo card is dirty it is hard to sell it on Shopee But others just want their photo card to look good.
So people have their own sacred things. And one can even argue that our fandoms are also part of our spirituality. Because it's something that we hold sacred, it's something that we hold on to, it's something that we want to discover more. Right? If you have a new fandom, it's like...
Talagang isa-search mo, sino yung mga members, ano yung mga ginagawa ng mga members, yung mga buhay ng mga members. You are holding on to that idea. And then, when necessary, it can transform even your life.
Right? Our fandoms are transforming our lives. So in a way, those fandoms are a part of our spirituality if we will take to heart the meaning of spirituality. But of course, it can also refer to religion and God.
I don't want to discuss the obvious, so we'll discuss the other implications. So the term spirituality originally developed in early Christianity. So Christians use this term spirit to describe the Holy Spirit.
So in Christian ethics, the experience of the sacred is characterized by reverence, faith, fear, trust, love, and admiration, which is intimately connected to God. So this is already, for a long time in our life, we've been indoctrinated with regards to Christian ethics. So I will not really...
emphasize more, you know, the Christian ethics. So worship is regarded as an essential act to realize the ultimate meaning of transcendence in human life. So worship is the act of expressing our faith, our fear, our trust, our love, and admiration to the higher being that we chose to believe in. Okay, so...
Of course, worship doesn't only apply to God, it can also be applied to nature, it can also be applied to ancestors, it can also be applied to your fandom again. Because if you look at it, there are some similarities with regards to being religious and being a fanatic or being a fan. Actually, some say that there are religious fanatics.
But what I'm saying is there are... they have the same they have the same concept uh objects of sacredness no my sacred objects sacred people now we know worship you know fandom and religion so and then those uh can give meaning to the life of the the worshiper and they uh they act or they do some acts that uh serve as a worship for that for that uh higher being or for that person or for that group So, I just want to show that we can still apply the term spirituality in other things. So, acts of worship may include prayer, reading the Bible, attending sacraments, and of course, doing sacrifices. Through acts of faith, hope, and love, man is able to encounter God and understand God's word of salvation. So again, most religions are doing this.
They have prayers, they have sacred texts. In the case of Christianity, there's the Bible. In the case of the Jew, there's the Torah, if I'm not mistaken. And then for the Muslims, they have the Quran. And for the Indians, or for the Hindus, I mean, they have Vedas.
sa mga monks meron silang mga books ewan ko marami kasi sa mga monks sa mga buddhists actually buddhists very flexible naman sila hindi sila namimili talaga ng mga books na dapat itulong basahin hindi sila ganun parang sila nga gusto nila basahin mo lahat kahit hindi related sa buddhism parang ganun so and then of course doing sacrifices so sacrifices can include tithes, offering, fasting ano pa ba yung mga sacrifice na maraming mga sacrifice ang pwedeng gawin yung may ba pinitensya so through these acts of faith no they can uh they are able to encounter god and god's word for salvation okay but again other people no most people especially here in the philippines have their faith but there are some no there are some people who do not really have their religion so If you don't have a religion, how can a person be spiritual? Is that possible? We'll talk about that later. So the spiritual self is the aspect of the self that is the inner essence or the part of the self that connects the person to the sacred, the supernatural, and the universe. So people develop spirituality through interaction, observation, and imitation.
The family, the school, and the church play a very important role in child spiritual development. So one of my difficulty in explaining spiritual self is that it really varies from person to person. There are some people who are very highly spiritual, meaning they connect themselves to the sacred, to the supernatural and the universe more so than other people. And then there are some who are not spiritual.
They are very grounded. on the material plane, on the reality. They are there, for example, those they call materialistic, that they value the material things. Because for them, that is more important than other aspects of the self, which is, of course, the spiritual self.
Because I don't know. Because maybe they were raised like that. Or they had an experience that led them to have that kind of belief.
But spirituality, because it is develop yan through interaction, through observation, and through, of course, imitation. Diba? Nung bata naman tayo, minsan clueless tayo bakit ginagawa ng mga magulang natin yung pagdadasal.
Diba? And then, of course, explain nila. Tapos observe natin.
And then, of course, makipag-participate tayo, we interact with it, and then eventually we will learn spirituality through those activities. So the family, the school, and the church play a very big role in the spiritual development of a child. Usually, the religion of parents is also the religion of children.
But it's not always like that. Because there are some factors that can really alter the development of the spiritual self of a child. So the importance of understanding and nurturing the spiritual self.
So understanding and nurturing the spiritual self is as important as other aspects of the self. Understanding and developing awareness of the spiritual self gives the person a feeling of oneness with God and the universe. So it also gives a deeper meaning or purpose of one's life.
So this is probably one of the main contributions of the spiritual self. Deeper purpose and meaning in one's life. Because ultimately, if you haven't noticed yet, life is meaningless.
Life is meaningless if... You won't attach yourself to something bigger. Or so some people thought.
Or most people think. Something like that. So, a lot of people nurture their spiritual selves so that they can find out what their purpose in life is, what the meaning of their life is. And usually, this yearning for meaning is inborn in us.
Genetically speaking, we are programmed. to seek our meaning, to seek our purpose, to seek the meaning of our existence. So, this is actually psychologically proven that most people really do want to have this, they want to make sense of their life. And one way to make sense of a person's life is to actually nurture their spiritual self. Again, spiritual self is not...
only exclusive for religious people. Ito kasi yung laging na mimis-constru or parang kino-conflate kasi lagi ang spirituality sa religion. That's, and actually that's true naman kasi most of the people who are very religious are very spiritual din. But there are some people who are very spiritual but not really religious. Maraming magtatanong, lalo na yung mga matatanda, bakit ganun?
Parang di naman yata tama yun. Or sasabihin pa nga ng iba, parang hindi naman posible yun. Actually, that's possible.
It's possible for one person to have their spiritual self, to have their meaning in life, to have their purpose in life, even without religion. How is that? So, imbis na ilalagay nila sa religion, imbis na ibabigay nila sa God, yung kanilang worship, yung kanilang sacred things, ibabigay nila sa real world.
sa mundong ibabaw nila ilalagay or i-attach yung meaning nila sa buhay. O kaya naman sila mismo ang gagawa ng meaning nila sa buhay without the help of religion. Okay?
Of course, pag may religion, madali. Kung baga ano na yan eh, curated na. Parang bibigyan ka na lang, o ito yung meaning ng life mo. So iba-iba yan based on religion. Ito yung meaning ng life.
The meaning of your life is to worship God. The meaning of life is to... To be a good person, the meaning of life is to be like that. But of course, you don't really need that.
I mean, you don't need a book to say this is the purpose of your life. There are some people who are like that. They don't need anyone telling them what is the meaning of life. They want to create their own meaning. So it's possible.
It's possible for a person to become spiritual but at the same time not religious. In the same way that a person can become religious but not spiritual. Right? There are things like that.
After worshiping, they will imitate... mga apo or mga anak or mga nakapaligid sa kanya. After niya magdasal-dasal, after niya magmisa, uuwi, papagalitan lahat. O teko, pamig siya. So religious yung taong yan but spirituality wise I don't think that person is spiritual.
So the reverse is also true. A person can become spiritual while not being religious. The same way that religious people can become not spiritual.
Did you understand? Yes, sir. Okay. So I think you can see that via experience, right?
And there are some people who have no religion that are more, sometimes, more mature than others. So my point here is spirituality doesn't need religion. Okay?
But religion needs spirituality for it to become legit. Okay? So there. All religions recognize the importance of spirituality in one's life and spirituality is connected with religion.
As I've mentioned, to know God is the central function of religion. Actually, the central function of religion is to organize people through God. So, tama naman siguro. Okay. So, religious beliefs and practices make people closer to God.
This is actually true because sa mga traditions, sa mga religious traditions natin, like christmas no santa cruzan fiesta uh activities that they are they originated from religious beliefs and they are uh activities that really uh promote social interaction some of my so you're playing is a sigurong uh religion very uh some purpose or some function of religion which is to talagang uh promote camaraderie from uh promote social interaction promote social engagement among people so that's why it's a religion is also one of the most important aspects of a person's life but again as i've mentioned no uh hindi naman talaga requirement yun but it's a plus okay because there are some countries that has no really uh religion uh example spain yung spain ngayon di siya religious na country but it still works in fact Spain brought us religion, but they are not religious anymore. But they are still working as a nation. So what does that mean is that religion, for all its benefits, of course, it is not really required for something that, I mean, people can choose their own religion. There is nothing wrong with religion, but I hope there is nothing wrong with having no religion. So because spirituality is not connected, I mean spirituality is connected with religion but it doesn't need to.
So speaking of meaning in life, in religion and spirituality, logotherapy or the search for meaning in life. Logotherapy is the therapy proposed by Viktor Frankl. So Viktor Frankl is a... victim ng Holocaust. So ang Holocaust, if you're not familiar, during World War II, Mr. Adolf Hitler killed millions of millions of Jews by making them work in concentration camps and then randomly killing them.
If that person or that Jew is not functioning well, for example, he has a disability, uh say just imagine the the dread of uh wanting to die but you cannot so frankl embraced both the bright and dark sides of human existence and believe that human sufferings could contribute to human achievement and meaning in life actually this is one of the my influences in my in my own philosophy kaya lagi kung sinasabi life is suffering so isa si victor frankel sa mga nag-propose nun although may mga nauna sa kanya like si nietzsche and even of course si buddha na suffering suffering human suffering or life is actually suffering And actually, this suffering is not necessarily a bad thing. Actually, it can help you achieve your own meaning in life. What? Sir, I'm going to ask you first. What does this mean?
Why suffering and meaning in life? Later, let's see. So logotherapy is the pursuit of human existence as well as man's search for such a meaning. So logos denotes meaning. so logos or meaning therapy so in logotherapy man can discover the meaning in life in three different ways by doing a deed by experiencing a value and by suffering okay so during his stay or during his suffering so coming in a manana see see victor frankl parang no observe nyan or casino in monotone magsasur vibe you might have on magtatagal dunsa concentration camp nyan and some of you manata feeling yeah Hindi but that I got so panonia na na na yun panonia na sabe come back that I got by in Santa or in the Sabina you my account he did a nag wala nang meaning Sabu hi no he did a nila sinisik young meaning nila you meaning suffering nila Silla usually do you know mama I very young manata on sinisik perineal meaning nila no I hate some suffering as the nadanas nila when silly man exist survive So parang do nya in suffering, we find meaning.
Kasi usually ang sinasabi lang, paano mo mahahanap yung meaning ng buhay mo? So yung usual na way is actually to do something. When you're doing something, you find meaning in that something.
For example, in teaching. So teaching is a deed. And some people find meaning in teaching.
O kaya naman, by becoming a mother, becoming a father. Diba? Being a father, being a mother is a deed.
you always do something for that or experiencing a value experiencing a value let's say for example they think or they they feel secure with you that is meaning in life so these two These are the common ways of seeking meaning in your life. But also, as Frankl said, suffering. In suffering, we can find meaning.
Because we always have a choice to end our suffering. I will not mention how, but there's a choice on how to end your suffering. And why don't we choose to end our suffering? Because in that suffering, sometimes...
I'll... Deep within us, we know why we want to suffer. For example, in teaching, teaching is suffering.
Why is it suffering? You teach, you give grades to people, to students, and then some students will complain, why is my grade like this, sir? Then you will give consideration. You will give consideration to them and then they will say, you're inconsiderate.
So that's why you have to prepare a syllabus, you have to prepare lessons, you have to prepare quizzes, you have to prepare exams. And then, that's it. Isn't that suffering? You can choose not to do that.
But why are you still doing that? Because it's something that really, it's something that you want to do even though it's suffering. Then in suffering, You are suffering for that kind of activity.
You're suffering for that kind of a life because you find meaning in that suffering. You want to still go on because in that activity, in that doing something, you experience value. And when you experience that value, when you do that something, you suffer. And still, you want to do it because that is something very important to you. That is something that brings meaning to your life.
So in suffering, we find meaning. okay so we always have a choice not to suffer but we suffer it because we find it important we find it valuable and uh because it's valuable we do something for it and when we do something for it we suffer from it okay so that's how logotherapy or that's how one can find meaning in one's life okay so nuggets okay Of course, that's not the only way to find meaning in life. Some people, again, as I've mentioned, they find meaning in life through religion. Some people find meaning in life through their suffering. And some people are actually giving up in finding meaning and just accept how meaninglessness is. the norm in the the world so i'm talking is absurdism okay so i say subscriber as a meaning in life what does meaning in life mean meaning in life means that your life has a purpose your life is significant significant so it means it has a value and then of course it makes sense life should make sense because for example if you give meaning to a word the word makes sense So pag binigyan mo ng meaning yung buhay, nagme-make sense yung buhay.
Pero kung nabubuhay na kayo ng medyo matagal-tagal sa mundo, mapapansin nyo na hindi nagme-make sense ang buhay. Bakit maraming nangyaring masamang bagay sa mga bababait na tao? Bakit maraming mababubuting or mabagagandong bagay ang nangyari sa mga masamang tao?
Bakit tayo naghihirap? Bakit merong mga taong mayaman, merong mga taong mahirap, at merong mga taong masama, merong mga taong mabuti? Bakit mas mayaman yung kahit at bahay mo kaysa sayo, kahit mas masipag ka naman sa kanya?
Bakit yung isa meron siya magandang trabaho, ikaw wala? Doesn't make sense. Life doesn't make sense.
And some people, those who subscribe to absurdism, they embrace the absurdity of life. Bakit ako na buhay? Ano bang meron?
Di ba? Di ba pwedeng wala na lang? Why is there something instead of nothing?
Kasi kung wala naman nothing. If nothing else, you won't suffer anymore. Right?
But I'm here, I'm suffering. For what? It's absurd.
So some people embrace that kind of thinking that life is meaningless. So just roll with it and then try to do something that will make your time worth living. Right? The meaning of life is weird. So as I've mentioned, Right?
Religion or spirituality can give that meaning but not all the time. Some people are very stubborn with their way of life. So they are not satisfied with their religion and therefore find something more, find something else.
And I hope if you see some person or some people who are like that, let's not judge them that if there is no religion, they are bad people. There are many religious people but they are bad people. At the same time, there are many people who don't have a religion but they are not bad people.
But they are not good. You know, life doesn't make sense. It's absurd. So sometimes we just have to accept how absurd life is. And in that way, we find meaning in life.
So those are the ways on how to find meaning in your life. So there is the normal way, which is to look for it in religion. There is the suffering way. look for lego logotherapy and there is the weird way which is absurdism uh proposed by albert camus no and other existentialist people okay next is belief in spirit so spirituality is also associated with animism so animism is a form of religion So as the child embodies spiritual beliefs about God and the sacred, it also includes the primitive concept about animism.
So this animism or the belief that creatures, objects, and places possess spirits. So animism, this is the first religion of our country. It is where ito nga yung sinasabi ko that our indigenous or our ancestors worship the sun, worship the nature, worship mountains, worship rivers, and so on.
Because they believe that everything... in our world has their own spirits okay meron to mga spirito ang lahat ng mga bagay sa mundo despite all the scientific progress and technological advancement existence of animism still remains no di lang animism pati yung mga ibang religion di lang sasama mo dito just to be disclaimer lang sinundan natin sinundan namin pinagkuhanan ka nito sinundan namin yung nasa book but of course hindi naman lahat ng nasa buke kailangan mong mag-agree. Sometimes I put some of my own opinions but I'm clarifying naman kung opinion ko na lang to. Medyo nawiwirid doon ako dito.
Despite all scientific progress and technological advancement, existence of animism still remains. Parang sinasabi na yung animism is primitive when in fact, If you compare it to other religions, they're all the same. There's not much difference.
The only difference is the animism, the nature of the worship. In other religions, it's the figures, the people, or the gods. Some would even argue that nature is God. It's like the condescending of this book.
So among the sources of animism is ignorance or lack of education especially in distant and isolated places. So it's a bit like religionist. It's like they say animism is lower form of religion. No, it's not.
It's a religion. why are you why are we uh judging it that lack of education is and i mean and i mean the religious family lack of education and i mean religion again on the back that was the other source of anime since the lack of faith in god they are worshiping the nature for them nature is god sorry why do you hate animism? it's a legitimate religion why are we judging it?
it's the same as discriminating people because of their religion it's not like that, animism is actually one of the oldest religion and I think one of the religion that really defined our culture and other people's culture it's just weird so however one must admit This one, it says, However, one must admit that there are forces in this world that are unusual and cannot be explained by science or modern technology. Because religion thrived on this saying. It's called God of the Gaps argument. So, if there's something that science cannot explain, therefore God. You know that, right?
If science cannot explain it, technology cannot explain it, God made it. But even... No... little by little, those gaps will be gone.
I was just thinking about the book, the book about animism. But of course, animism is still a religion and some people, not only in the Philippines, still practice animism and there's nothing wrong with practicing your own religion. I hope you get what I mean. It's like the way of... pag did describe sa animism when in fact animism is still a religion animism is a way of life for some people so we we have no right no to judge if religion or this religion is a good religion or a bad religion as i've mentioned religions are all good generally speaking pero siempre it's on moderation because if you go to the middle of the world you will know the history of the catholic church medieval century If you give power to a group of people, especially in religion, it can wreak havoc in the history of humankind.
So, religion on moderation actually it has noble causes. Religion really help people develop their spiritual self, their sense of meaning in life, their purpose in life. That is the main function of religion, to give people their meaning. people something that is more uh that that's something more uh compared to them something bigger that they can aspire to so that is the purpose of religion and that the per the main purpose of religion is to uh to uh nurture the spiritual self of a person but again uh hindi naman uh usually kabaga there are some people who opt not to use religion to find or to nurture their spiritual life. There are some alternatives to religion.
So in alternatives to the religion, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad right away. But of course, there are some alternatives to religion that can be harmful, like for example, drugs. Some people worship drugs.
So they want it. And then their drug-taking is a form of worshiping that drug. So that is a bad alternative.
But there are some other ways, like for example, reading more about the history, reading more about human suffering, human behavior, human thinking, reading more about everything, science even. Some people find meaning in science. Some people find meaning in the universe by studying the rules of nature.
So there are alternatives. And there's no one thing that will really... that we can really determine. There's no one right way. Because it really depends on the person.
Because there are people who don't work for their science. There are people who don't work for their religion. But it doesn't necessarily say that that person is good or that person is bad. So what I'm saying here is that our spiritual self is a very important part of our self.
And there are a lot of ways on nurturing, on developing spiritual self. And we do not have to judge a person on the way he wants or he or she wants to develop or nurture his or her spiritual self. Because after all, We're all humans.
We have our needs. We have our wants. We have our own histories.
We have our own way of life. So as long as the person doesn't commit suicide, let him be. Let him be in his spirituality. Let him be in what he wants to do. Okay?
So because spirituality is really a personalized part of ourselves. Same with other things. Okay?
so with that they have any questions with regards uh spiritual cells finding meaning in life and animism i will end the recording