by J.O. Pangilinan
In today’s lecture on Philosophy as a critique of conviction, Sir Garcia raised a point, the superabundance of meaning over the abundance of meaninglessness as explained by Paul Ricoeur. And what came to me was that advice of Ms. Jen Orlina, for every negativity you could think of that would affect your work in your organization, think of 3 positive reasons to counter the negativity. After this class, the advice finally made more sense, rather than simply digesting it literally.
The negativity, which normally seems to be meaningless to me, is over-ruled by the numerous positive reasons, as reasons full of meaning, to counter this negativity that would make me want to quit and give up. But then, this feeling of giving up, if in any case I do give in, prohibits me from encountering and participating in this world-with-others. How then am I to find myself if I do indeed deprive myself of such experiences? And eventually, if the mentality of simply giving up continues further, becoming some sort of natural behavior, wouldn’t I “cease” to exist? Wouldn’t life be pointless if so, and from a rational being becoming some form of object?
Yet despite this temptation of giving up, I must negate the negation and continue to exist – to participate, encounter and engage in this world-with-others. I, therefore, must experience the beauty this world manifests, and take part of the inter-subjective truth.
I then come into a realization, failures or any form of negativity, come our way to make us see that there are more opportunities out there, where we will find our worth. We must go on experience the beauty of life, as cliché it may get, rather than dwell on our short-comings, preventing us from experiencing life in search for our inner selves; then how are we supposed to get closer to that lighted place Marcel speaks of?
Showing posts with label being human. Show all posts
Showing posts with label being human. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Just Being
by Bits Penaranda
There are often times when I find myself spacing out because my mind decides on its own to go on auto-pilot and wander off by itself. It gets lost between the dimensions of what to do vs. what do I want to be in life. What I want to do concerns itself with my daily activities and decisions, or what I would be doing for the next couple of months. On the other hand, what I want to be is on a bigger scale that actually determines what will become of me in the future. What becomes of me will be the stories I share with my kids and it will dictate whether or not I find myself feeling fulfilled and content or regretting most parts of my life.
Most of our minds become preoccupied with the future that we act carefully as early as now to make sure we play it safe and achieve that desired goal in the end. I'm not saying that it is wrong to think this way, but aside from stopping to reflect on what we should do for our future, why not stop to appreciate our mere existence? Just like the first lessons we had in class about the silly philosopher who fell in the well because he was so busy with exploring the beyond that he failed to see what was right in front of him. It's like how we deal with life. It would be nice to think that we have plenty more years to live, but there is no certifying that. We need to appreciate the fact that we are here now. We are breathing, we are thinking, but most especially, we can experience. Also just like the lesson we learned this past week about being beings. We all exist together as beings and what we become of ourselves is what truly sets us apart and is what highlights our special differences.
We should celebrate this collective existence. Not just be selfishly grateful for our own existence, but as well as for the existence of other beings. It is beautiful that we are alive and each day should be a celebration for living.
I would also like to share this excerpt I found in my planner that inspired me to write this in the first place. It is entitled the "Just Because Philosophy".
We often forget that thinking is a tool used to make us better, and not to burden us with justification for every little thing. We are here for a reason, but we do not understand completely and we accept that. Sometimes, our inner spirit knows that being is just as important and as complete as all the other more active pursuits in the world. Right here and now, we should celebrate our perfection, even though it may not be apparent even to ourselves. We just know it to be true, in our hearts, we are here, and that is great - it is enough.
There are often times when I find myself spacing out because my mind decides on its own to go on auto-pilot and wander off by itself. It gets lost between the dimensions of what to do vs. what do I want to be in life. What I want to do concerns itself with my daily activities and decisions, or what I would be doing for the next couple of months. On the other hand, what I want to be is on a bigger scale that actually determines what will become of me in the future. What becomes of me will be the stories I share with my kids and it will dictate whether or not I find myself feeling fulfilled and content or regretting most parts of my life.
Most of our minds become preoccupied with the future that we act carefully as early as now to make sure we play it safe and achieve that desired goal in the end. I'm not saying that it is wrong to think this way, but aside from stopping to reflect on what we should do for our future, why not stop to appreciate our mere existence? Just like the first lessons we had in class about the silly philosopher who fell in the well because he was so busy with exploring the beyond that he failed to see what was right in front of him. It's like how we deal with life. It would be nice to think that we have plenty more years to live, but there is no certifying that. We need to appreciate the fact that we are here now. We are breathing, we are thinking, but most especially, we can experience. Also just like the lesson we learned this past week about being beings. We all exist together as beings and what we become of ourselves is what truly sets us apart and is what highlights our special differences.
We should celebrate this collective existence. Not just be selfishly grateful for our own existence, but as well as for the existence of other beings. It is beautiful that we are alive and each day should be a celebration for living.
I would also like to share this excerpt I found in my planner that inspired me to write this in the first place. It is entitled the "Just Because Philosophy".
We often forget that thinking is a tool used to make us better, and not to burden us with justification for every little thing. We are here for a reason, but we do not understand completely and we accept that. Sometimes, our inner spirit knows that being is just as important and as complete as all the other more active pursuits in the world. Right here and now, we should celebrate our perfection, even though it may not be apparent even to ourselves. We just know it to be true, in our hearts, we are here, and that is great - it is enough.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Reading
by James Patrick Cruz
18 June 2013
Discussed Text: David Foster Wallace, "This Is Water"
“You’re reading.” I’m glad that now you are aware.
Most of the time, it’s so easy to get lost with the personal matters in our lives, may they be trivial or not, that we tend to forget that we are humans. We forget how to feel like human, how to act like human, how to live like human and how to be like human. Just to add, a philosopher once mentioned, “The unexamined life is not worth-living.” This is why in spite of many things that constantly push us to go with the demands of time, it is still essential for us to make time, not just to find time, in inspecting our own being.
In the first discussion we had with Dr. Garcia, I actually find two significant points regarding humans that are really fascinating, or at least, worth-discussing. One is that humans must be aware of their own awareness and this was basically the purpose of the first line. The underlying reason here is that by one’s being aware of his awareness, by one’s being conscious of his own consciousness, it takes that person to a perspective of understanding not of what he deals with, but a greater leap from there, of what he really is. It enables one to see himself in a stranger-like point of view wherein he can evaluate his own thinking, actions and emotions for better judgment, but more importantly, experience himself as a human, as a being united to his own. At a particular encounter, it may be a feeling that one’s soul departs from his own physical body, but once the soul gets back to that body, he will realize that he is, indeed.
Second is that humans are capable both of knowing and not knowing. Obviously, the “known” and “not known” form two different sets and the two together constitutes a bigger set of knowledge, or the universal set. If that universal set exists, then, we can define a particular complement set “not known” to the identified set “known.” This supports the idea of the intricate relationship between knowing and not knowing, one being the complement of the other. This allows a person to differentiate or identify the things he knows from the things he doesn’t know, which frequently, he’s not aware of. By knowing that there are things he does not know, he must not simply remain in that stage. He must keep on striving and yearning to learn more, for that will sustain his life.
Let me end this with an attempt to understand human itself. Being human is not an attribute or a truth implied right at the start of our birth. It’s not even a state that one must reach or at least, attempt to reach. Rather, being human is a process that one constantly experiences. One keeps on doing more, one keeps on being more while experiencing his sense of being and I guess that is what it means to be human. One dreams, one hopes and one lives—up to eternity.
18 June 2013
Discussed Text: David Foster Wallace, "This Is Water"
“You’re reading.” I’m glad that now you are aware.
Most of the time, it’s so easy to get lost with the personal matters in our lives, may they be trivial or not, that we tend to forget that we are humans. We forget how to feel like human, how to act like human, how to live like human and how to be like human. Just to add, a philosopher once mentioned, “The unexamined life is not worth-living.” This is why in spite of many things that constantly push us to go with the demands of time, it is still essential for us to make time, not just to find time, in inspecting our own being.
In the first discussion we had with Dr. Garcia, I actually find two significant points regarding humans that are really fascinating, or at least, worth-discussing. One is that humans must be aware of their own awareness and this was basically the purpose of the first line. The underlying reason here is that by one’s being aware of his awareness, by one’s being conscious of his own consciousness, it takes that person to a perspective of understanding not of what he deals with, but a greater leap from there, of what he really is. It enables one to see himself in a stranger-like point of view wherein he can evaluate his own thinking, actions and emotions for better judgment, but more importantly, experience himself as a human, as a being united to his own. At a particular encounter, it may be a feeling that one’s soul departs from his own physical body, but once the soul gets back to that body, he will realize that he is, indeed.
Second is that humans are capable both of knowing and not knowing. Obviously, the “known” and “not known” form two different sets and the two together constitutes a bigger set of knowledge, or the universal set. If that universal set exists, then, we can define a particular complement set “not known” to the identified set “known.” This supports the idea of the intricate relationship between knowing and not knowing, one being the complement of the other. This allows a person to differentiate or identify the things he knows from the things he doesn’t know, which frequently, he’s not aware of. By knowing that there are things he does not know, he must not simply remain in that stage. He must keep on striving and yearning to learn more, for that will sustain his life.
Let me end this with an attempt to understand human itself. Being human is not an attribute or a truth implied right at the start of our birth. It’s not even a state that one must reach or at least, attempt to reach. Rather, being human is a process that one constantly experiences. One keeps on doing more, one keeps on being more while experiencing his sense of being and I guess that is what it means to be human. One dreams, one hopes and one lives—up to eternity.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Estudyante Lamang
by Miguel Calayag
Pagka’t ako’y tao lamang. As Dr. Leo argued in class, it is such a poor conception and use of the tao, of the person. It is as if humanity is something to be ashamed of. I have problematized a permutation of this lamentation; this is a short piece on student activism.
I am a member of the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement, also (perhaps infamously) known as CRUSADA. It is a political party within the Ateneo working to foster a campus culture conducive to political discourse. The Party is guided by Christian Social Democracy. We have forged partnerships with organizations such as the Ateneo Employees’ and Workers’ Union (AEWU), PALEA, and the marchers of Casiguran. We have held forums on the horrors of Martial Law and supported the commemoration of the victims of the brutal massacre in Maguindanao. And yet we are ridiculed. Some argue all our efforts are for naught.
One of the statements that made me ponder the most was this: Minsan mukhang nakakalimutan ng CRUSADA na estudyante lang tayo. Hindi ba estdyante lang naman tayo? Honestly, at first, there were lingering doubts. Was I forgetting that I was a student? Estudyante nga naman ako. Mag-aaral na lang ako kaysa mag rally o kaysa sa makinig sa kung anong speech ng kung anong labor union. I realized this question was asked to me before, what is Christian Social Democracy to a student?
I am not inclined to give a lecture. I only intend to share my thoughts on the matter. Perhaps, we are not just students. Hindi tayo estudyante lamang. We are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, we are citizens of a democratic Republic, we are neighbours, and we are strangers. Even granting the category of the student, to limit ourselves to this category violates the very purpose of the student: to learn. And learning is more than reading books and listening to lectures. It is also about learning to ask the right questions. Instead of asking “Hindi ba estudyante lang naman tayo?” perhaps we should ask “Hindi ba, hindi lamang tayo estudyante?”
Student activism in the form of establishing a partnership with the Ateneo labor union, for instance, as others may argue, is just a statement. But perhaps sometimes that is all that is needed and is a good start for further engagement. To tell the Other that we are here beside them. We are here to talk with or listen to them. Perhaps sometimes, that is enough (at least at the moment); that the student is friends with the worker, the librarian, photocopier operator, or the security guard and talks to him/her once in a while. After all, these people constitute the University as much as its students and teachers. They should not be merely relegated at the background, they are equals.
For those students who resonate with this idea, never think that student activism is useless. It is not. Moreover, student activism is not about picking up a gun or simply going through rallies, shouting at the top of one’s lungs. It is about engaging social, economic, and political issues as a student, however, ostensibly limited it may be. More importantly, hindi tayo estudyante lamang. Because one day, students (as if children) will be men and women, and when will they be for Others, if they do not begin – as simple and sincere as they can – now?
Pagka’t ako’y tao lamang. As Dr. Leo argued in class, it is such a poor conception and use of the tao, of the person. It is as if humanity is something to be ashamed of. I have problematized a permutation of this lamentation; this is a short piece on student activism.
I am a member of the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement, also (perhaps infamously) known as CRUSADA. It is a political party within the Ateneo working to foster a campus culture conducive to political discourse. The Party is guided by Christian Social Democracy. We have forged partnerships with organizations such as the Ateneo Employees’ and Workers’ Union (AEWU), PALEA, and the marchers of Casiguran. We have held forums on the horrors of Martial Law and supported the commemoration of the victims of the brutal massacre in Maguindanao. And yet we are ridiculed. Some argue all our efforts are for naught.
One of the statements that made me ponder the most was this: Minsan mukhang nakakalimutan ng CRUSADA na estudyante lang tayo. Hindi ba estdyante lang naman tayo? Honestly, at first, there were lingering doubts. Was I forgetting that I was a student? Estudyante nga naman ako. Mag-aaral na lang ako kaysa mag rally o kaysa sa makinig sa kung anong speech ng kung anong labor union. I realized this question was asked to me before, what is Christian Social Democracy to a student?
I am not inclined to give a lecture. I only intend to share my thoughts on the matter. Perhaps, we are not just students. Hindi tayo estudyante lamang. We are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, we are citizens of a democratic Republic, we are neighbours, and we are strangers. Even granting the category of the student, to limit ourselves to this category violates the very purpose of the student: to learn. And learning is more than reading books and listening to lectures. It is also about learning to ask the right questions. Instead of asking “Hindi ba estudyante lang naman tayo?” perhaps we should ask “Hindi ba, hindi lamang tayo estudyante?”
Student activism in the form of establishing a partnership with the Ateneo labor union, for instance, as others may argue, is just a statement. But perhaps sometimes that is all that is needed and is a good start for further engagement. To tell the Other that we are here beside them. We are here to talk with or listen to them. Perhaps sometimes, that is enough (at least at the moment); that the student is friends with the worker, the librarian, photocopier operator, or the security guard and talks to him/her once in a while. After all, these people constitute the University as much as its students and teachers. They should not be merely relegated at the background, they are equals.
For those students who resonate with this idea, never think that student activism is useless. It is not. Moreover, student activism is not about picking up a gun or simply going through rallies, shouting at the top of one’s lungs. It is about engaging social, economic, and political issues as a student, however, ostensibly limited it may be. More importantly, hindi tayo estudyante lamang. Because one day, students (as if children) will be men and women, and when will they be for Others, if they do not begin – as simple and sincere as they can – now?
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