1. The Person as Embodied Spirit

2. Lesson Objectives
Recognize own limitations or possibilities for one’s transcendence
Evaluate own limitations and the possibilities for one’s transcendence

3. Key Questions
What spiritual philosophies deal with the topic of transcendence?
How can human beings attain transcendence?

4. Transcendence
According to Thomas Merton (1948), there is no other way to find who we are than by finding in ourselves the divine image.
We have to struggle to regain spontaneous and vital awareness of our own spirituality.
Transcendental and transcendence convey the basic ground concept from the words’ literal meaning (from Latin), of climbing or going beyond, with varying connotations in its different historical and cultural stages.

5. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
Hinduism
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.
Human beings have dual nature: the spiritual and immortal essence (soul) which is considered real; and the empirical life and character.
Hindus generally believe that the 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.

6. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
Humanity’s basic goal in life is the liberation (moksha) of spirit (jiva).
Hinduism holds that humanity’s life is a continuous cycle (samsara) where the body goes through a transmigratory series of birth and death, even though the spirit is neither born nor dies.
Unless the individual exerts real efforts to break away or liberate one’s spirit from the monotonous cycle, there will be no end to the cycle.
Ultimate liberation, that is, freedom from rebirth, is achieved the moment the individual attains the stage of life emancipation.

7. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
Hindu’s view of reality places 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.
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.
One concept common to all expressions of Hinduism is the oneness of reality.

8. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
When we realize this unity with the absolute, we realize our true destiny.
Also common to all Hindu thought are the four primary values: wealth, pleasure, duty, and enlightenment.
To understand enlightenment, one must understand the law of karma, the law of sowing and reaping.
The wheel of existence turns until we achieve enlightenment.

9. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
Buddhism
Another major Eastern tradition which sprang from the life experience and teaching of Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha, the highborn Prince of the Sakya clan in the kingdom of Magadha, who lived from 560 to 477 B.C.
Gautama’s life was devoted to sharing his “Dharma” or Law of Salvation – a simple presentation of the gospel of inner cultivation of right spiritual attitudes, coupled with a self-imposed discipline whereby bodily desires would be channelled in the right directions.

10. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
The teaching of Buddha has been set forth traditionally in the “Four Noble Truths” leading to the “Eightfold Path” to perfect character or arhatship, which in turn gave assurance of entrance into Nirvana at death.
Four Noble Truths
Life is full of suffering.
Suffering is caused by passionate desires, lusts, cravings.
Only when the causes of suffering are obliterated will suffering cease.

11. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
Eradication of desire may be accomplished only by following the Eightfold Path of earnest endeavor.
right belief in and acceptance of the “Fourfold Truth”;
right aspiration for one’s self and for others;
right speech that harms no one;
right conduct, motivated by goodwill toward all human beings;
right means of livelihood, or earning one’s living by honorable means;

12. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
right endeavor, or effort to direct one’s energies toward wise ends;
right mindfulness in choosing topics for thought; and
right meditation, or concentration to the point of complete absorption in mystic ecstasy
The eightfold path enjoins us to develop wisdom, urges us to practice virtue and avoid vice, and tells us to practice meditation.

13. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
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.
First steps that one can take after reading, hearing, and pondering Buddhist teaching and establishing some confidence in it:
Refrain from destroying life;
Refrain from taking what is not given;
Refrain from a misuse of the senses;

14. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
Refrain from wrong speech (do not lie or deceive); and
Refrain from taking drugs or drinks that tend to cloud the mind
Buddhist practice the four states of sublime condition: love, sorrow of others, joy in the joy of others and equanimity as regards one’s own joy and sorrows.
After Buddha’s death, a need was felt for putting the sayings of Buddha into writing, or at least for getting them fixed in the oral tradition.

15. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
First Council at Rajagaha (ca. 477 B.C.) – about 500 disciples gathered and together recited and chanted the precepts now found in the Tripitaka.
Second Council at Vesali (ca. 383 or 377 B.C.) – it was found desirable to make changes to ease the burden of Buddhist discipline.
Third Council (245 B.C.) – serious effort was made to reform and reorganize the Order and embarked upon a program of expansion.
Buddha insisted on freedom of thought and intellectual independence in following his teaching.

16. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
Christianity
In the beginning, Christians do not see the need to prove God’s existence.
Looks at the reasonableness of belief in God’s existence.
Asks whether or not the existence of God provides the best explanation of the existence of the world, as we know it.
Later, Christian missionaries felt the need to argue philosophically for the existence of God when they were confronted by various naturalistic philosophy.

17. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
For Augustine (354–430 CE), philosophy is amor sapiential (the love of wisdom) whose aim is to produce happiness.
Wisdom is substantially existent as the Divine Logos, hence, philosophy is the love of God.
For Augustine, Christianity, as presenting the full revelation of the true God, is the only full and true philosophy.
Knowledge of God begins with faith and is made perfect by understanding.
Faith supplements and enlightens reason that it may proceed to ever richer and fuller understanding.

18. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
There are three levels of existence which has been established, not by turning outward through sensation to the external world, but by turning inward to the soul itself:
mere being;
living being; and
rational being.
The lowest form of knowledge is that of sensation yet as we ascend higher to knowledge of rational principles, it is the will which directs the mind’s eye to truth, first invading to the mind itself, then upward to the eternal Truth.

19. Three Main Spiritual Philosophies on Transcendence
For Augustine, “man is a rational substance constituted of soul and body.”
The progress in knowledge and wisdom is not only speculative, it is more fundamentally practical and moral.
For St. Thomas Aquinas, human beings have the unique power to change themselves and things for the better.
Aquinas considers the human being as moral agent who is both spiritual and body elements.
The unity between both elements indeed helps man to understand his complexity as human beings.

20. Limitations and Possibilities for Transcendence
Forgiveness
It frees us from our anger and bitterness caused by the actions and/or words of another.
On the other hand, the hardness of our heart is reinforced by whole series of rational arguments.
Beauty and Nature
There is perfection in every single flower.
A hug, sunrise and sunset, eating together as a family are experiences of miracles which can be truly moments of grace that touch us deeply and spontaneously lift our hearts.

21. Limitations and Possibilities for Transcendence
Vulnerability
To be vulnerable is to be human.
We need to acknowledge the help of other people in our lives if we want to be true with ourselves and live with meaning and direction.
Failure
Failures force us to confront our weaknesses and limitations and to surrender to a mystery or look upon a bigger world.
Acceptance of our failures makes us hope and trust that all can be brought into good.

22. Limitations and Possibilities for Transcendence
Loneliness
It is our choice to live in an impossible world where we are always “happy” or to accept a life where solitude and companionship have a part.
Our experience of loneliness can help us realize that our dependence on other people or gadgets is a possessiveness that we can be free from.
Love
To love is to experience richness, positivity, and transcendence.
Love can open in us something which takes us beyond ourselves.

23. Activities
Compare the Hindu’s concept of Karma to the Filipino’s concept of Karma.
Based on the eightfold path, which is the most important for you to cultivate in your life at present?
Relate to the class an experience that you were able to go beyond your limitation.
Share with your classmate a moment in your life that you faced failures.
Guide Questions:
How do you view suffering (as a blessing or a curse)?
How do you acknowledge the help of others?
How can forgiveness free us from anger?