Magister

by Mateo Escueta

A reflection inspired by the epiphany of the face by Emmanuel Levinas


We’ve learned much about the epiphany of the face by Emmanuel Levinas. Looking at face of the other is not merely a stare, but more of a gaze of awe and wonder, acknowledging that the person is an Other, a human being who has a life teeming with infinite possibilities just like you.

Sir Eddieboy Calasanz wrote that when we look at the other’s face, we don’t just see the eyes or that wonderful smile, but the loob or kalooban of the other. What’s more striking is that Calasanz later on says that when we are moved by the other after gazing at their face, the call to service is heard. Ikaw muna or kayo muna, Calasanz described it as. Thus is the call to responsibility to the other and we are called to sacrifice.

And thus we have the teacher. My high school Latin recalls the word “magister”, a word that to me sounds as powerful and glorious as the Latin word “dominus”, which is master or lord. We owe much to our teachers. No, let me rephrase that – we are indebted to our teachers. Isn’t it funny how perhaps the most influential and selfless profession is undervalued and seen as thankless?But take a moment and think on Levinas’s epiphany of the face and tie that to how a teacher painstakingly, lovingly and passionately gives of himself for the learning and growth of the naïve student. What we have here is a true example of selfless love and service to the other.

The teacher is the best example of an infinite human person who takes it upon himself or herself to reach out and mold the young human person into the best he or she could ever be. Theirs is a story of a beautiful sacrifice, an obligation they willingly put upon themselves. Nobody asked them to teach students for a living and give their comprehensive yes and commitment to such profession. But I guess the fulfillment and sense of wonder in teaching the other is one that is unparalleled. As romantic as it sounds, I believe a good teacher can make a definitive impact on the lives of their students and leave them with lessons and experiences that they will take with them beyond the walls of the classroom.

While not all teachers are the inspiring characters we’d prefer to have the privilege of being students of all the time, they are in a position where they experience the epiphany of the face on a deeper degree as they guide, teach and mentor their dear students. Let’s be honest, teachers don’t get paid much, but I believe the fulfillment and sense of accomplishment is priceless and that is what keeps them at it.

I fondly remember my beloved teachers from PAREF Southridge School, where I had the blessing to have such passionate, inspiring and committed teachers. I remember the greats and my beloved teachers: Manny Escasa, who taught me third year world history, Ed Valmorida, my fourth year class adviser and economics teacher, Buboy Sumulong, who taught me Philippine history and Latin, brilliant minds in English and literature Dino Peralta, Benjie Torralba and Eugene Salazar, my chemistry and physics professor Raymond Ganar, the wise Juanito Sese and Chito Flores, my ever patient math teachers PJ Gonzales, Francis Ong and Ariel Marcera, my biology teacher Botchok Del Rosario and my beloved grade school teachers George Carandang, Luis Barrientos, Dennis Holgado, Norman Charvet and Joseph Espejo. Of course there is my mentor, Rutch Regencia and my varsity basketball coach Ricky Sales. All these teacherstaught me what it meant to be a man of integrity, to work hard, to have faith, to be honest, compassionate and humble.
Thinking about how different I’d be if not for my teachers makes me even more thankful for everything they’ve done for me. I wonder how different the epiphany of my face would be now to an Other had I not been under such committed and great teachers.

No one asked them to, but these men became teachers and committed themselves to the service of forming and teaching the youth, thus not only experience the epiphany of the face, but see the young faces of their students grow to hopefully become better persons in the future. As old as we become, however, it’s touching to hear them say that their memory of us will always be how we were as their young students. Teachers love their students like their own, I’d like to think.

And the least we could do is say thank you to our dear teachers. They are the unsung heroes in our lives. And maybe, just maybe, their example moves us to consider giving back. Who knows? Maybe some of us are inspired to pay it forward and consider teaching. I know I’d like to teach one day and experience the epiphany of the face on a deeper degree as I guide, teach and mentor my dear students.

Maybe if I do teach, even just part time, I will see the face of my student and hear a command and a plea, “teach me, teacher”. It’s a command since it is one’s profession, but it’s a plea because no teacher is required by a school to go beyond teaching the subject matter and making such a big impact on the lives of the students and be responsible for them. That is a choice or a vocation they choose to take.

We may not realize it, but the most our teachers would love to hear is a simple “thank you” or to show that we’ve truly grown under their care. It’s a little thanks for an Other who has given his or her all for us students.

Who Am I?

by Bambi San Pedro

Reflection on the first Ph 101 Plenary

By now, each one of us must already be able to define what Philosophy really is. In my own understanding, Philosophy helps someone in dealing with the questions that he encounter as he tries to discover who he really is as a person. However, another important question to pour our thoughts into is “What are we trying to do when we do Philosophy?”

In every single day of our lives, day-in day-out, we follow a specific pattern. But in this certain rhythm, we don’t bother to reflect that much, until something happens. This “something” is called a “Break Situation”, or when the normal run of things come to a halt. It is during these times when we question ourselves about the what’s and why’s of this life. What should be my next move? Why this instead of that one? Why me and not her? And sometimes, these break situations might catch us off-guard when they happen in extremes – bankruptcy, failure, death. These are the moments when what we’re holding onto slips from our lives. As for students like us, it might be getting kicked out from the Ateneo with only just 0.5 lacking in the retention QPI. It is this kind of instances that our self-esteem gets affected. The ground of our notion of something gets broken, and we, in turn, break down.

An Extreme Break Situation may be classified as either a Painful Wonder or a Joyful Wonder. In either situation, we look at life as a whole. Right now, we already know that the world is charged with the wonder of God. But, knowing is different from experiencing. When we experience, we are gifted with that “Aaahhh!!” moment, usually the breath-taking ones.

As a science, Philosophy is not one of those that study the human person. Biology deals with the study of the living organism. Sociology deals with the study of the development, structure and functioning of the human society. Psychology deals with the study of the human minds and its function. As for Philosophy, it particularly studies the human phenomenon in the whole of reality. It doesn’t deal with what it means to be human, but what it means to be.

In discovering one’s self, a lot of questions have to be cleared up before he figures out what kind of person he really is. What does it mean to be a human being? What does it mean to be? What does it mean to be me? And finally, Who am I? Then, ask yourself this question, “What does it mean to be myself in the face of others?”

During the talk, Mr. Calasanz retold two different stories about two famous names. He mentioned an instance in St. Augustine’s life when his bestfriend died. The worse part is that their friendship ended in a quarrel, meaning they were not in good terms even before. So when it dawned to him that he has really lost his bestfriend, he goes out in search for his soul and later realized that without his bestfriend, life has no meaning. Here, St. Augustine was dealing with the death of the one he loved, when he came into the question, Who am I? The second story he shared was about Descartes life. He was a man who had a lot of questions about certainty, since a lot of scientific facts are criticized by enumerable brilliant minds. The questions that he usually had to deal with were, How can I be sure? Can I be sure of anything? Can I hold my ground somewhere? And these are also our questions and problems in this time. One common experience among teenagers like ourselves is when we doubt our dad’s words, like when he tells us that he’s going to a conference for a couple days (but the idea of him meeting up with his mistress, crosses our minds).
Reflection might seem easy because the thought flows freely. However, the difficulty comes in when things are so simple that there’s nothing there to breakdown. Thus, Dualism comes in.

Dualism means that this “thinking” is simply thinking. It has no body; it simply thinks. All these things can be doubted. BUT on the other hand, the “act of thinking” is that one thing you can be sure of. One cannot doubt that he’s doubtingbecause it is an act of doubting in itself. Also, one cannotdoubt that he is thinking, because it is an act of thinking in itself. That’s why there is a saying, “I think therefore I am.” And this cliché leads back to the question, Who is this “I”?

In order to fully understand the answer, one must experience HIS body – his own proper body. It’s his. The experience of the “I”, or the self, can only be done by him. No one else can be in his place. This is the only radical solitude that every human being has. One cannot be distinguished from his own body. This self is not a disembodied self rather this self is a body. It cannot go unnoticed. He IS his body. Where his body is, there he is. Just as when his body gets hurt, he also gets hurt. And in the same way, one cannot be identified with the body. There is a separation and ambiguity. He HAS his body. Therefore, he cannot be reduced into his body.

And for Mr. Calasanz’s last point, he explained the thread of facticity and transcendence. Because he IS his body, he is facticity. Facticity came from the word “facturate”, meaning something that is given, or “yari na”. Therefore, it is not something you can decide upon or choose, sort of like one’s genetic makeup. It is not the person’s fault if he is stingy, bipolar or unattractive. All these constitute the spark of who he really is. As for transcendence, it refers to crossing over or going beyond. It provides the answer to the question, What do I do with the given’s, once I realize it? In other words, it shows that what one does with the given’s, is not a given. This leaves a space for choice, a space for creating meaning, a space for reorienting facticities. This facticity is the original source of pain, burden, limitation and woundedness. Transcendence gives that person the act of ownership. This means that he has the capacity to turn this Painful Wonder into a Joyful Wonder. On that account, Philosophy then is trying to see things in the perspective of the totality as a whole.

Discovering who “I” am is seeing that this body is an embodied self and not an abstract one.