INTRODUCTION
“Greece would not have fallen had it obeyed Polybius in everything, and when Greece did meet disaster, its only help came from him.” Pausanias, 8.37.2, Inscription on the Temple of Despoina near Arakesion.
This was the intricate political structure that existed when Polybius wrote his Universal. Polybius the Greek-born practical politician, demonstrated the virtues of the Roman system, and explained its success.
This success was the result of mixed constitution, drawing on aspects of the monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic systems. Governmental structures could take more forms than Aristotle had suggested. Polybius explained not only the nature of these structures, but also the inevitability of their degeneration, unless precautions were taken. His theory of constitutional change and of the cyclical recurrence, progress and fall of all governmental systems, was the basis for his advocacy of a mixed constitution, which would produce stability.
The Roman system was one in which several groups possessed power, each connected with and limited by the power of others. The consuls, the executive monarchical element, depended on the Senate and the whole people for support. The powerful Senate, the aristocratic element, had to take the masses into account. The Tribunes, the democratic element, carried out the decisions of the people. Each group could be checked by the others. But all combined against the common enemy, both internal and external; all co-operated to obtain execution of policy.[1]
LIFE
Polybius was a Greek historian of the Mediterranean world famous for his book called The Histories or The Rise of the Roman Empire, covering the period of 220 BC to 146 BC.
Polybius had fared better than most of the leaders and intellectuals that Rome had taken from Achaea. While a prisoner, he met the head of one of Rome’s great families, Scipio Aemilianus. Scipio found Polybius good company and exchanged books with him. He took Polybius with him on military campaigns, and he introduced Polybius to Rome’s high society. Polybius remained in Rome after the other captives returned to Greece, and Scipio became his patron while he attempted to write the history of Rome to 146 BCE—a work that happened to be compatible with the views of his patron. Polybius accompanied Scipio to Carthage and witnessed its destruction in the third Punic War. Polybius covers the history of the Second Punic War as well, relying on information available to him in Roman records. Polybius is one of the most important early historians.[2]
Polybius sought to explain how Rome was able to become master over the Greeks. He described the Romans as having moderation, integrity, valor, boldness, discipline and frugality in greater amounts than have other peoples. This, he wrote, enabled Rome to unite and to close ranks when faced with danger. His fellows Greeks, he wrote, were more literate and educated by the Romans but when faced with adversity they have weakened themselves by division and argument. Polybius described the superiority of Romans as belonging mainly to the aristocrats. Common people, Roman and otherwise, he saw as lightheaded, filled with lawless appetites and inclined towards burst of anger and fits of temper. He described the recent rebellion of Greece’s common people against Rome as insane folly, and he believed that despite this abuses Rome was bestowing upon the Greeks great benefits.[3]
Polybius saw Rome’s patriarchal tradition and its religion as serving the cohesion that made Rome successful. Awe of the supernatural, he wrote, helps to pacify the common man’s anarchic temper. And he describes Rome’s elite and other ruling elites as using religion with this in mind. Polybius saw Rome’s success as partly the result of it’s willingness to enforce discipline by such punishments as executing a sentry for neglecting his duty or beating a soldier with a cudgel for throwing away his weapon, or beating a soldier for boasting in order to get a decoration, or for homosexuality. He saw strength in Rome’s willingness to punish by decimation—the killing of every tenth man—in any military unit that had displayed cowardice.
Polybius believed that societies went through cycles of growth, decay, and fall. And believing that low birth rates contributed to decline, he warned Rome’s aristocracy about their declining numbers. He rote of the incorruptibility of the Romans but warned them about their new hedonism and the lack of discipline that was creeping into their army. He warned them about the spread of indifference and a growing influence of the mob.
Polybius wrote that Rome’s success was in part the result of its superior institutions and in part the result of its superior people, and at least a few historians in modern times would describe the Romans as having had a genius at making law. [4]
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
Polybius born about 200 BC in Arcadia, the son of a prominent statesman and an important statesman and soldier in his own right, had been taken as a prisoner from Greece to Rome, where he became a friend of Scipio. Polybius the Greek-born practical politician, demonstrated the virtues of the Roman system, and explained its success. This success was the result of a mixed constitution, drawing on aspects on the monarchial, aristocratic and democratic systems.
As the former tutor of ScipioAemilianus, the famous adopted grandson of the famous general Scipio Africanus, Polybius remained on terms of the most cordial friendship and remained a counselor to the man who defeated the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War. The younger Scipio eventually invaded Carthage and forced them to surrender unconditionally.
Polybius was a member of the governing class, with first-hand opportunities to gain deep insight into military and political affairs. His political career was devoted largely towards maintaining the independence of the Achaean League. As the chief representative of the policy of neutrality during the war of the Romans against Perseus of Macedonia, he attracted the suspicion of the Romans, and was one of the 1,000 noble Achaeans who in166 BC were transported to Rome as hostages, and detained there for seventeen years. In Rome by virtue of his high culture, he was admitted to the most distinguished houses, in particular to that of Aemilius Paulus, the conqueror in the First Macedonian War, who entrusted him with the education of his sons Fabius, and the younger Scipio. Through Scipio’s intercession in 150 BC, Polybius obtained leave to return home, but in the very next year he went with his friend to Africa, and was present at the capture of Carthage that he described.
After the destruction of Corinth in the same year, he returned to Greece and made use of his Roman connections to lighten the conditions there; Polybius was entrusted with the difficult task of organizing the new form of government in the Greek cities, and in this office gained for himself the highest recognition.
The succeeding years he seems to have spent in Rome, engaged in the completion of his historical work, and occasionally undertaking long journeys through the Mediterranean countries in the interest of his history, more particularly with a view to obtaining first-hand knowledge of historical sites. It also appears that he sought out and interviewed war veterans in order to clarify details of the events he was writing about, and was given access to archival material for the same purpose. After the death of Scipio he returned once again to Greece, where he died at the age of 82, from a fall from his horse.
AS A HISTORIAN
Livy used him as a reference and Polybius had excellent sources. Polybius narrated events, which came within his own experience. He is one of the first historians to attempt to present history as a sequence of causes and effects, based upon a careful examination of tradition, conducted with keen criticism; partly upon also what he had himself seen, and upon the communications of eyewitnesses and actors in the events. In a classic story of human behavior, Polybius captures it all: nationalism, racism, duplicitous politics, horrible battles, brutality, etc.: along with loyalty, valor, bravery, intelligence, reason, and resourcefulness. With his eye for detail and characteristic critically reasoned style, Polybius provided a unified view of history rather than a chronology.
Considered by some to be the successor of Thucydides as far as objectivity and critical reasoning, and the forefather of scholarly, painstaking historical research in the modern scientific sense. According to this view, his work sets forth the course of occurrences with clearness, penetration, sound judgment and, among the circumstances affecting the result, lays special stress on the geographical conditions. It belongs, therefore, to the greatest productions of ancient historical writing. The writer of the Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (1973) praises him for his “earnest devotion to truth” and for his systematic seeking for the cause of events.
Recently Polybius writing has come under more critical assessment. In Peter Green’s view (Alexander to Actium) he is often partisan, aiming to justify his and his father’s careers. He goes out of his way to portray the Achaean politician Callicrates in a bad light, leading the reader to suspect that this is due to Callicrates being responsible for him being sent to Rome as hostage. More fundamentally he, as first hostage in Rome, then client to the Scipios, and then finally as collaborator with Roman rule after 146 BC, is not free to express his true opinions. Green suggests that we should always keep in mind that he was explaining Rome to a Greek audience and that further of the need to convince his fellow countrymen of the necessity of accepting Roman rule which he believed as inevitable. Nonetheless, for Green, Polybius’s histories remain invaluable and the best source for the era he covers.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT
Rome with the end of the Punic War, 146 BC, had completely conquered the last of the civilized world. The best authority for this period of her history is Polybius. He was born in Arcadia, in 204 BC and died in 122 BC. Polybius is the most reliable, but not the most brilliant, of ancient historians.
The three kinds of government, monarchy, aristocracy and democracy, were all found united in the commonwealth of Rome. And so even was the balance between them all, and so regular the administration that resulted from their union, that it was no easy thing to determine with assurance, whether the entire state was to be estimated an aristocracy, a democracy, or a monarchy. If they turned their view upon the power of the consuls, the government appeared to be purely monarchical and regal. If, again, the authority of the state was considered, it then seems to wear the form of aristocracy. And, lastly, if regard was to be had to the share, which the people possessed in the administration of affairs, it could then scarcely fail to be denominated a popular state. The several powers that were appropriated to each of these distinct branches of the constitution at the time of which we are speaking, and which with very little variation, are even still preserved, are these, which follow.
The consuls when they remain in Rome, before they lead out the armies into the field, are the masters of all public affairs.
[1] Michael Curtis, The Great Political Theories: from Plato and Aristotle to Locke and Montesquie (New York: The Hearst Corporation, 1961), 114, 115.
[2] Arnold J. Toynbee, Greek Historical Thought: A Mentor Book (New York: The New American Library of World Literature, Inc., 1952), 25
[3] Chester G. Starr, A History of the Ancient World (Oxford Univ. Press, Inc., 1965), 59
[4] John Morrow, History of Political Thought (New York: Grove, 1963), 14
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
INTRODUCTION
The concept of reincarnation seems to offer one of the most attractive explanations of humanity’s origin and destiny. Not only adherents of Eastern religions or New Age spirituality accept it, but also by many who don’t share such esoteric interests and convictions. To know that you lived many lives before this one and that there are many more to come is a very attractive perspective from which to judge the meaning of life. On the one hand, reincarnation is a source of great comfort, especially for those who seek liberation on the exclusive basis of their inner resources. It gives assurance for continuing one’s existence in further lives and thus having a renewed chance to attain liberation. On the other hand, reincarnation is a way of rejecting the monotheistic teaching of the final judgment by a holy God, with the possible result of being eternally condemned to suffer in hell. Another major reason for accepting reincarnation by so many people today is that it seems to explain the differences that exist among people. Some are healthy, others are tormented their whole life by physical handicaps. Some are rich, others at the brink of starvation. Some have success without being religious; others are constant losers, despite their religious dedication. Eastern religions explain these differences as a result of previous lives, good or bad, which bear their fruits in the present one through the action of karma. Therefore reincarnation seems to be a perfect way of punishing or rewarding one’s deeds, without the need of accepting a personal God as Ultimate Reality.
REINCARNATION
It is known that the Egyptians believed in reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul. They thought the soul transmigrated from body to body and this was a reason why they embalmed the body in order to preserve it so that it could journey along with ka, an animating force that was believed to be counterpart of the body, which would accompany it in the next world or life. Ka might be considered equivalent to the term of soul. This establishes the dating of the concept of reincarnation back to the ancient Egyptian religion but many think it dates beyond antiquity.
The belief is thought to have been an necessity among primitive peoples. Certainly long before ancient Egypt peoples believed in transmigration of the soul. If they were not sophisticated enough to understand the concept of a soul, then they may have simply called it life. An individual or object, which moved, had life, and the one, which did not, did not have life. This is analogous to the belief of animism.
Gradually the concept of a soul developed with a further realization that the soul departed the body at death and entered the body at birth. Soon it was thought the soul leaving a dead body would seek another body to enter, or enter an animal of a lower life form. It was also thought the soul left the body during sleep. This soul was pictured as vapors that entered and left through the nostrils and mouth.
Later grew the notion the soul transmigrated to an infant of one of dead person's kin. This helped to explain family resemblances.
The terms reincarnation and transformation of the soul, especially when applied to humans, are about synonymous. However reincarnation is not accurately synonymous with either metamorphosis or resurrection. Metamorphosis is roughly the changing of one life form into another life form. Resurrection, in the Christian sense, means the rising again of the body after death.
About the first definition of soul transmigration came from Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, who taught that the soul was immortal and merely resides in the body; therefore, it survived bodily death. His further teachings held the soul goes through a series of rebirths. Between death and rebirth the soul rests and is purified in the Underworld. After the soul has completed this series of rebirths is becomes so purified that it can leave the transmigration or reincarnation cycle.
Plato, another Greek philosopher, shared similar views as Pythagoras in that the soul of man was eternal, pre-existence, and wholly spiritual. In Plato's view of the transmigration of the soul from body to body, however, there is a difference. Plato claimed the soul tends to become impure during these bodily inhabitations although minimal former life knowledge remains. However, if through its transmigrations the soul continues doing well and eliminates the bodily impurities it will eventually return to its pre-existence state. But, if the soul continually deteriorates through its bodily inhabitations it will end up in Tartarus, a place of eternal damnation. This appears to be an origination of both the concept of karma and the Christian concept of hell.
It was around the first century AD that both the Greek and Roman writers were surprised by the fact that the Druids, a priestly caste of the Celts, believed in reincarnation. The Greek writer Diordus Siculus (c. 60 BC - 30 AD) noted that the Druids believed "the souls of men are immortal, and that after a definite number of years they live a second life when the soul passes to another body." The Greek philosopher Strabo (c. 63 BC - 21 AD) observed the Druids believed that "men's souls and the universe are indestructible, although at times fire and water may prevail."
Even Julius Caesar wrote of the Celts "They wish to inculcate this as one of their leading tenets, that souls do not become extinct, but pass after death from one body to another, and they think that men by this tenet are in a great degree stimulated to valor, the fear of death being disregarded." Elsewhere Caesar complained the Druids were a troublesome people. They were difficult to destroy.
There is little evidence of reincarnation among the early Hebrew people but it later became a part of the Kabbalistic teaching. The teaching occurred among the early Christians, especially the Gnostics, Manichaeans, and the Carthari, but was later repudiated by orthodox Christian theologians. When asked by college students why Christianity does not teach reincarnation Patricia Crowther, a witch, answered, "...The early Christians taught it (reincarnation), and this can be proved by the words of Saint Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa: 'It is absolutely necessary that the soul shall be healed and purified, and if it doesn't take place in one life on earth, it must be accomplished in future earthly lives.'"
Later, in AD 533, the Council of Constantinople declared reincarnation a heresy.
The reason reincarnation was repudiated was because of the eschatological teachings of death and judgment which were established as orthodox Christian doctrine. In simplicity this doctrine states man has just one life in which to merit his eternal reward or damnation. Such a doctrine also strengthened the Church. However, many Christians still believe in reincarnation because they think Christ taught it.
In an interview the author Jess Stern asked a lady who had previously seen the late American mystic Edgar Cayce "Why do you now find it so important to believe in reincarnation -- wouldn't just being a good Christian, believing in the message of God through Christ be sufficient to get you into Heaven?"
She answered plainly, "Don't you know that Christianity embraced reincarnation for three hundred years, until the Roman influence expunged it after the Emperor Constantine recognized the Church? What do you think the early Christians were thinking when they asked Christ whether he was Elijah, who had come before? They were think reincarnation, that's what."
She continued, "If you thought of reincarnation as rebirth, I think you could understand it better. Just as the earth has a constant rebirth, so does the spirit. Don't you remember Christ saying, 'Unless man is reborn, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven?'"
Stern told her he thought the was a reference to baptism. She replied, "Christ was not interested in show, but substance, that was at the heart of everything he said or did."
Most occultists and witches would certainly agree with their Christian friend. Reincarnation is rebirth. Just as the earth is renewed so is the spirit or soul, which knows no death. To many, reincarnation is taught by nature herself. Some would say by the Mother Goddess. In the spring the trees give birth to new leaves, flowers bloom, new foliage springs up. In summer and fall the crops are harvested. In winter the earth rests, everything is dormant. This is the earth's life cycle, which many believe symbolizes the spirits.
The Christian lady speaking with Stern referred to reincarnation as a learning experience. Each reincarnation not only purifies the soul more, but this purification comes through opportunities to learn more in life if the soul is willing. Here is a division of thought concerning reincarnation. Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism teach each reincarnation may be different, that is, man may return as a lower life form such as a plant, tree, or animal.
Certain sects of Gnosticism held this belief too. The rationale of such a belief is that the soul has to experience all aspects of life. Western thought of reincarnation is that man just reincarnates to higher spiritual levels of life, but never returns as a lower life form. In Western philosophy it is also held if man does not reach a higher spiritual level he must repeat the cycle until he does.
Most occultists and witches believe reincarnation is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. As to the exact cyclical process there are divergent views. Some hold a view similar to the Buddhists the individual personality disintegrates at death with its characteristics forming in a pool with other traits which come together in new reincarnations. Others believe reincarnations only occur within a tribe, race, or family. This is Odinism. Another view is that there is a resting period between reincarnations, where the soul rests in a state of bliss in the astral plane called Summerland before it passes into the next reincarnation.
Many occultists have attempted to retrace their past lives or reincarnations by dream analysis, meditation, or occasionally hypnotic regression. The witch Sybil Leek thought she had been Madame Helena P. Blavatsky, the co-founder of the Theosophical Society. Aleister Crowley believed he traced his reincarnations from Pope Alexander VI, renowned for his love of physical pleasures; to Edward Kelly, the assistant of the Elizabethan occultist and magician John Dee; to Cagliostro; to Eliphas Levi who died on the same day as Crowley was born. Continuing back further Crowley believed he had been Ankh-fn-Khonsu, an Egyptian priest of the XXVIth dynasty. A.G.H.
Christianity
Almost all present official Christian denominations reject reincarnation mainly because they consider the theory to challenge a basic tenet of Christianity. Most philosophies associated with the theory of reincarnation focus on "working" or "learning" through various lifetimes to achieve some sort of higher understanding or state of "goodness" before salvation is granted or acquired. Basic to Christianity is the doctrine that humans can never achieve the perfection God requires and the only "way out" is total and complete forgiveness accomplished through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross wherein He took the sins of mankind.
A number of Evangelical and (in the USA) Fundamentalist Christian groups have denounced any belief in reincarnation as heretical, and explained any phenomena suggestive of it as deceptions of the devil. Although the Bible never mentions the word reincarnation, there are several passages through New Testament that Orthodox Christians interpret as openly rejecting reincarnation or the possibility of any return or contact with this world for the souls in Heaven or Hell (see Hb 9:27 and Luke 16:20-31)
The Bible contains passages in the New Testament that seem to refer to reincarnation. In Matthew 11:10-14 and 17:10-13, Jesus says that John the Baptist is the prophet Elijah who had lived centuries before, and he does not appear to be speaking metaphorically (Tucker, 2005, p.202).
There are various contemporary attempts to entwine Christianity and reincarnation. Geddes Macgregor, wrote a book called Reincarnation in Christianity : A New Vision of Rebirth in Christian Thought. And Rudolf Steiner wrote Christianity and Mystical Fact.
Several Christian denominations which support reincarnation include the Liberal Catholic Church, Unity Church, and the Rosicrucian Fellowship.
Did the clergy rewrite the Bible, so that the passages teaching reincarnation were removed?
Another hypothesis is that the Bible contained many passages teaching reincarnation in an alleged initial form, but they were suppressed by the clergy at the fifth ecumenical council, held in Constantinople in the year AD 553. The reason for this would have been the spiritual immaturity of the Christians, who could not grasp the doctrine at that time, or the desire of the clergy to manipulate the masses. However, there is no proof that such "purification" of the Biblical text has ever occurred. The existing manuscripts, many of them older than AD 553, do not show differences from the text we use today.
That the Christian Church teaches that we live only once is beyond doubt, as surely as it teaches that Jesus had to die only once for our sins. In other words, the unique historical act of Jesus’ crucifixion and the teaching that we live only once are equally affirmed and cannot be separated. The judgment that follows death is obviously not the judgment of the impersonal karma, but that of the personal almighty God, after which man either enters an eternal personal relation with him in heaven, or an eternal separation from him in hell.
Did the early Church fathers believe in reincarnation?
Early Christianity spread in a world dominated by Greek philosophy. Many important figures of the early church had this spiritual background when they became Christians. Could they have been influenced by the doctrine of reincarnation? In order to answer this, we first have to understand the actual teaching on reincarnation at that time in the Greek world.
Reincarnation according to Platonism
The dominant form of reincarnation known by Greek philosophy during the first three Christian centuries belongs to Platonism. Unlike the Eastern spiritual masters, Plato taught that human souls existed since eternity in a perfect celestial world as intelligent and personal beings. They were not manifested out of a primordial impersonal essence (such as Brahman) or created by a personal god. Although the souls lived there in a pure state, somehow the divine love grew cold in them and, as a result, they fell in physical bodies to this earthly, imperfect world. Plato writes in Phaedrus about this:
But when she (the celestial soul) is unable to follow, and fails to behold the truth, and through some ill-hap sinks beneath the double load of forgetfulness and vice, and her wings fall from her and she drops to the ground, then the law ordains that this soul shall at her first birth pass, not into any other animal, but only into man; and the soul which has seen most of truth shall come to the birth as a philosopher, or artist, or some musical and loving nature.
In the same work, Plato states that "ten thousand years must elapse before the soul of each one can return to the place from whence she came." Only the soul of the philosopher or of the lover can get back to its original state in less time (i.e., in three thousand years). The souls that fail to aspire to perfection and live in ignorance are judged after their earthly life and then punished in "the houses of correction, which are under the earth." One lifetime is not enough to return to the original celestial state of purity. For this reason "the soul of a man may pass into the life of a beast, or from the beast return again into the man." This is the Platonist idea of reincarnation. It does not represent a voyage of an impersonal essence (as atman) toward an impersonal union with the Absolute (Brahman), but only a temporary punishment on the way back towards a purified personal existence (the state of pure being). Between Platonism and Eastern religions there is a big difference concerning man’s identity in general and reincarnation in particular.
CONCLUSION
The idea of reincarnation has never been accepted by Christianity because it undermines its basic tenets. First, it compromises God’s sovereignty over creation, transforming him into a helpless spectator of the human tragedy. But since he is sovereign and omnipotent over creation, God can punish evil and will do it perfectly well at the end of history (see Matthew 25,31-46; Revelation 20,10-15). There is no need for the impersonal law of karma and for reincarnation to play this role.Second, belief in reincarnation may affect one’s understanding of morality and motivation for moral living. An extreme application of reincarnationist convictions could lead to adopting a detached stand to crime, theft and other social plagues. They could be considered nothing else but normal debts to be paid by their victims, which originated in previous lives.Third, reincarnation represents a threat to the very essence of Christianity: the need for Christ’s redemptive sacrifice for our sins. If we are to pay for the consequences of our sins ourselves in further lives and attain salvation through our own efforts, the sacrifice of Christ becomes useless and absurd. It wouldn’t be the only way back to God, but only a stupid accident of history. In this case Christianity would be a mere form of Hindu Bhakti-Yoga.As a result, no matter how many attempts are made today to find texts in the Bible or in the history of the Church that would allegedly teach reincarnation, they are all doomed to remain flawed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Semkiw, Walter. Return of the Revolutionaries: The Case for Reincarnation and Soul Groups Reunited. 2003.
Shroder, Tom. Old Souls: The Scientific Evidence for Past Lives. 1999.
Steiner, Rudolf. Reincarnation and Immortality.
Steiner, Rudolf. Reincarnation and Karma: Two fundamental truths of existence.
Steiner, Rudolf. A Western Approach to Reincarnation and Karma : selected lectures and writings; ed. and intr. by René Querido. Hudson, NY : Anthroposophic Press, c1997.
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
College of Arts
Department of Humanities
In partial fulfillment of the Requirements in
PH 330: Philosophy of Religion
Reincarnation and Christianity
Rikka Joy K. Decella
ABP IV-1
Prof. Baygan
The concept of reincarnation seems to offer one of the most attractive explanations of humanity’s origin and destiny. Not only adherents of Eastern religions or New Age spirituality accept it, but also by many who don’t share such esoteric interests and convictions. To know that you lived many lives before this one and that there are many more to come is a very attractive perspective from which to judge the meaning of life. On the one hand, reincarnation is a source of great comfort, especially for those who seek liberation on the exclusive basis of their inner resources. It gives assurance for continuing one’s existence in further lives and thus having a renewed chance to attain liberation. On the other hand, reincarnation is a way of rejecting the monotheistic teaching of the final judgment by a holy God, with the possible result of being eternally condemned to suffer in hell. Another major reason for accepting reincarnation by so many people today is that it seems to explain the differences that exist among people. Some are healthy, others are tormented their whole life by physical handicaps. Some are rich, others at the brink of starvation. Some have success without being religious; others are constant losers, despite their religious dedication. Eastern religions explain these differences as a result of previous lives, good or bad, which bear their fruits in the present one through the action of karma. Therefore reincarnation seems to be a perfect way of punishing or rewarding one’s deeds, without the need of accepting a personal God as Ultimate Reality.
REINCARNATION
It is known that the Egyptians believed in reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul. They thought the soul transmigrated from body to body and this was a reason why they embalmed the body in order to preserve it so that it could journey along with ka, an animating force that was believed to be counterpart of the body, which would accompany it in the next world or life. Ka might be considered equivalent to the term of soul. This establishes the dating of the concept of reincarnation back to the ancient Egyptian religion but many think it dates beyond antiquity.
The belief is thought to have been an necessity among primitive peoples. Certainly long before ancient Egypt peoples believed in transmigration of the soul. If they were not sophisticated enough to understand the concept of a soul, then they may have simply called it life. An individual or object, which moved, had life, and the one, which did not, did not have life. This is analogous to the belief of animism.
Gradually the concept of a soul developed with a further realization that the soul departed the body at death and entered the body at birth. Soon it was thought the soul leaving a dead body would seek another body to enter, or enter an animal of a lower life form. It was also thought the soul left the body during sleep. This soul was pictured as vapors that entered and left through the nostrils and mouth.
Later grew the notion the soul transmigrated to an infant of one of dead person's kin. This helped to explain family resemblances.
The terms reincarnation and transformation of the soul, especially when applied to humans, are about synonymous. However reincarnation is not accurately synonymous with either metamorphosis or resurrection. Metamorphosis is roughly the changing of one life form into another life form. Resurrection, in the Christian sense, means the rising again of the body after death.
About the first definition of soul transmigration came from Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, who taught that the soul was immortal and merely resides in the body; therefore, it survived bodily death. His further teachings held the soul goes through a series of rebirths. Between death and rebirth the soul rests and is purified in the Underworld. After the soul has completed this series of rebirths is becomes so purified that it can leave the transmigration or reincarnation cycle.
Plato, another Greek philosopher, shared similar views as Pythagoras in that the soul of man was eternal, pre-existence, and wholly spiritual. In Plato's view of the transmigration of the soul from body to body, however, there is a difference. Plato claimed the soul tends to become impure during these bodily inhabitations although minimal former life knowledge remains. However, if through its transmigrations the soul continues doing well and eliminates the bodily impurities it will eventually return to its pre-existence state. But, if the soul continually deteriorates through its bodily inhabitations it will end up in Tartarus, a place of eternal damnation. This appears to be an origination of both the concept of karma and the Christian concept of hell.
It was around the first century AD that both the Greek and Roman writers were surprised by the fact that the Druids, a priestly caste of the Celts, believed in reincarnation. The Greek writer Diordus Siculus (c. 60 BC - 30 AD) noted that the Druids believed "the souls of men are immortal, and that after a definite number of years they live a second life when the soul passes to another body." The Greek philosopher Strabo (c. 63 BC - 21 AD) observed the Druids believed that "men's souls and the universe are indestructible, although at times fire and water may prevail."
Even Julius Caesar wrote of the Celts "They wish to inculcate this as one of their leading tenets, that souls do not become extinct, but pass after death from one body to another, and they think that men by this tenet are in a great degree stimulated to valor, the fear of death being disregarded." Elsewhere Caesar complained the Druids were a troublesome people. They were difficult to destroy.
There is little evidence of reincarnation among the early Hebrew people but it later became a part of the Kabbalistic teaching. The teaching occurred among the early Christians, especially the Gnostics, Manichaeans, and the Carthari, but was later repudiated by orthodox Christian theologians. When asked by college students why Christianity does not teach reincarnation Patricia Crowther, a witch, answered, "...The early Christians taught it (reincarnation), and this can be proved by the words of Saint Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa: 'It is absolutely necessary that the soul shall be healed and purified, and if it doesn't take place in one life on earth, it must be accomplished in future earthly lives.'"
Later, in AD 533, the Council of Constantinople declared reincarnation a heresy.
The reason reincarnation was repudiated was because of the eschatological teachings of death and judgment which were established as orthodox Christian doctrine. In simplicity this doctrine states man has just one life in which to merit his eternal reward or damnation. Such a doctrine also strengthened the Church. However, many Christians still believe in reincarnation because they think Christ taught it.
In an interview the author Jess Stern asked a lady who had previously seen the late American mystic Edgar Cayce "Why do you now find it so important to believe in reincarnation -- wouldn't just being a good Christian, believing in the message of God through Christ be sufficient to get you into Heaven?"
She answered plainly, "Don't you know that Christianity embraced reincarnation for three hundred years, until the Roman influence expunged it after the Emperor Constantine recognized the Church? What do you think the early Christians were thinking when they asked Christ whether he was Elijah, who had come before? They were think reincarnation, that's what."
She continued, "If you thought of reincarnation as rebirth, I think you could understand it better. Just as the earth has a constant rebirth, so does the spirit. Don't you remember Christ saying, 'Unless man is reborn, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven?'"
Stern told her he thought the was a reference to baptism. She replied, "Christ was not interested in show, but substance, that was at the heart of everything he said or did."
Most occultists and witches would certainly agree with their Christian friend. Reincarnation is rebirth. Just as the earth is renewed so is the spirit or soul, which knows no death. To many, reincarnation is taught by nature herself. Some would say by the Mother Goddess. In the spring the trees give birth to new leaves, flowers bloom, new foliage springs up. In summer and fall the crops are harvested. In winter the earth rests, everything is dormant. This is the earth's life cycle, which many believe symbolizes the spirits.
The Christian lady speaking with Stern referred to reincarnation as a learning experience. Each reincarnation not only purifies the soul more, but this purification comes through opportunities to learn more in life if the soul is willing. Here is a division of thought concerning reincarnation. Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism teach each reincarnation may be different, that is, man may return as a lower life form such as a plant, tree, or animal.
Certain sects of Gnosticism held this belief too. The rationale of such a belief is that the soul has to experience all aspects of life. Western thought of reincarnation is that man just reincarnates to higher spiritual levels of life, but never returns as a lower life form. In Western philosophy it is also held if man does not reach a higher spiritual level he must repeat the cycle until he does.
Most occultists and witches believe reincarnation is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. As to the exact cyclical process there are divergent views. Some hold a view similar to the Buddhists the individual personality disintegrates at death with its characteristics forming in a pool with other traits which come together in new reincarnations. Others believe reincarnations only occur within a tribe, race, or family. This is Odinism. Another view is that there is a resting period between reincarnations, where the soul rests in a state of bliss in the astral plane called Summerland before it passes into the next reincarnation.
Many occultists have attempted to retrace their past lives or reincarnations by dream analysis, meditation, or occasionally hypnotic regression. The witch Sybil Leek thought she had been Madame Helena P. Blavatsky, the co-founder of the Theosophical Society. Aleister Crowley believed he traced his reincarnations from Pope Alexander VI, renowned for his love of physical pleasures; to Edward Kelly, the assistant of the Elizabethan occultist and magician John Dee; to Cagliostro; to Eliphas Levi who died on the same day as Crowley was born. Continuing back further Crowley believed he had been Ankh-fn-Khonsu, an Egyptian priest of the XXVIth dynasty. A.G.H.
Christianity
Almost all present official Christian denominations reject reincarnation mainly because they consider the theory to challenge a basic tenet of Christianity. Most philosophies associated with the theory of reincarnation focus on "working" or "learning" through various lifetimes to achieve some sort of higher understanding or state of "goodness" before salvation is granted or acquired. Basic to Christianity is the doctrine that humans can never achieve the perfection God requires and the only "way out" is total and complete forgiveness accomplished through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross wherein He took the sins of mankind.
A number of Evangelical and (in the USA) Fundamentalist Christian groups have denounced any belief in reincarnation as heretical, and explained any phenomena suggestive of it as deceptions of the devil. Although the Bible never mentions the word reincarnation, there are several passages through New Testament that Orthodox Christians interpret as openly rejecting reincarnation or the possibility of any return or contact with this world for the souls in Heaven or Hell (see Hb 9:27 and Luke 16:20-31)
The Bible contains passages in the New Testament that seem to refer to reincarnation. In Matthew 11:10-14 and 17:10-13, Jesus says that John the Baptist is the prophet Elijah who had lived centuries before, and he does not appear to be speaking metaphorically (Tucker, 2005, p.202).
There are various contemporary attempts to entwine Christianity and reincarnation. Geddes Macgregor, wrote a book called Reincarnation in Christianity : A New Vision of Rebirth in Christian Thought. And Rudolf Steiner wrote Christianity and Mystical Fact.
Several Christian denominations which support reincarnation include the Liberal Catholic Church, Unity Church, and the Rosicrucian Fellowship.
Did the clergy rewrite the Bible, so that the passages teaching reincarnation were removed?
Another hypothesis is that the Bible contained many passages teaching reincarnation in an alleged initial form, but they were suppressed by the clergy at the fifth ecumenical council, held in Constantinople in the year AD 553. The reason for this would have been the spiritual immaturity of the Christians, who could not grasp the doctrine at that time, or the desire of the clergy to manipulate the masses. However, there is no proof that such "purification" of the Biblical text has ever occurred. The existing manuscripts, many of them older than AD 553, do not show differences from the text we use today.
That the Christian Church teaches that we live only once is beyond doubt, as surely as it teaches that Jesus had to die only once for our sins. In other words, the unique historical act of Jesus’ crucifixion and the teaching that we live only once are equally affirmed and cannot be separated. The judgment that follows death is obviously not the judgment of the impersonal karma, but that of the personal almighty God, after which man either enters an eternal personal relation with him in heaven, or an eternal separation from him in hell.
Did the early Church fathers believe in reincarnation?
Early Christianity spread in a world dominated by Greek philosophy. Many important figures of the early church had this spiritual background when they became Christians. Could they have been influenced by the doctrine of reincarnation? In order to answer this, we first have to understand the actual teaching on reincarnation at that time in the Greek world.
Reincarnation according to Platonism
The dominant form of reincarnation known by Greek philosophy during the first three Christian centuries belongs to Platonism. Unlike the Eastern spiritual masters, Plato taught that human souls existed since eternity in a perfect celestial world as intelligent and personal beings. They were not manifested out of a primordial impersonal essence (such as Brahman) or created by a personal god. Although the souls lived there in a pure state, somehow the divine love grew cold in them and, as a result, they fell in physical bodies to this earthly, imperfect world. Plato writes in Phaedrus about this:
But when she (the celestial soul) is unable to follow, and fails to behold the truth, and through some ill-hap sinks beneath the double load of forgetfulness and vice, and her wings fall from her and she drops to the ground, then the law ordains that this soul shall at her first birth pass, not into any other animal, but only into man; and the soul which has seen most of truth shall come to the birth as a philosopher, or artist, or some musical and loving nature.
In the same work, Plato states that "ten thousand years must elapse before the soul of each one can return to the place from whence she came." Only the soul of the philosopher or of the lover can get back to its original state in less time (i.e., in three thousand years). The souls that fail to aspire to perfection and live in ignorance are judged after their earthly life and then punished in "the houses of correction, which are under the earth." One lifetime is not enough to return to the original celestial state of purity. For this reason "the soul of a man may pass into the life of a beast, or from the beast return again into the man." This is the Platonist idea of reincarnation. It does not represent a voyage of an impersonal essence (as atman) toward an impersonal union with the Absolute (Brahman), but only a temporary punishment on the way back towards a purified personal existence (the state of pure being). Between Platonism and Eastern religions there is a big difference concerning man’s identity in general and reincarnation in particular.
CONCLUSION
The idea of reincarnation has never been accepted by Christianity because it undermines its basic tenets. First, it compromises God’s sovereignty over creation, transforming him into a helpless spectator of the human tragedy. But since he is sovereign and omnipotent over creation, God can punish evil and will do it perfectly well at the end of history (see Matthew 25,31-46; Revelation 20,10-15). There is no need for the impersonal law of karma and for reincarnation to play this role.Second, belief in reincarnation may affect one’s understanding of morality and motivation for moral living. An extreme application of reincarnationist convictions could lead to adopting a detached stand to crime, theft and other social plagues. They could be considered nothing else but normal debts to be paid by their victims, which originated in previous lives.Third, reincarnation represents a threat to the very essence of Christianity: the need for Christ’s redemptive sacrifice for our sins. If we are to pay for the consequences of our sins ourselves in further lives and attain salvation through our own efforts, the sacrifice of Christ becomes useless and absurd. It wouldn’t be the only way back to God, but only a stupid accident of history. In this case Christianity would be a mere form of Hindu Bhakti-Yoga.As a result, no matter how many attempts are made today to find texts in the Bible or in the history of the Church that would allegedly teach reincarnation, they are all doomed to remain flawed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Semkiw, Walter. Return of the Revolutionaries: The Case for Reincarnation and Soul Groups Reunited. 2003.
Shroder, Tom. Old Souls: The Scientific Evidence for Past Lives. 1999.
Steiner, Rudolf. Reincarnation and Immortality.
Steiner, Rudolf. Reincarnation and Karma: Two fundamental truths of existence.
Steiner, Rudolf. A Western Approach to Reincarnation and Karma : selected lectures and writings; ed. and intr. by René Querido. Hudson, NY : Anthroposophic Press, c1997.
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
College of Arts
Department of Humanities
In partial fulfillment of the Requirements in
PH 330: Philosophy of Religion
Reincarnation and Christianity
Rikka Joy K. Decella
ABP IV-1
Prof. Baygan
individual differences
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
J “No two persons are born exactly alike; but each differs from the other in natural endowments, one being suited for one occupation and the other for another.”
J That people differ from each other is obvious. How and why they differ is less clear and is the subject of study of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES.
J Individual Difference is a cornerstone subject area in modern psychology. It examines how people are similar and how they differ in their thinking, feeling, and behavior. No two people are alike, yet no two people are unlike. It understands ways in which people are psychologically similar and particularly what psychological character vary between people.
J Human beings have been aware of individual differences throughout history, ex.:
GENDER DIFFERENCE: hunters=men, forgers=women
INTELLIGENCE DIFFERENCE: caste, class, education
PERSONALITY DIFFERENCE: job specialization
J Franz Gall- invented phrenology in the early 1800’s
J Phrenology- is the study of an individual bump on the skull, which supposedly reveals character traits and mental abilities. Idea that various brain regions have particular functions.
PERSONALITY
J Can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of character possessed by a person that uniquely influences his/her cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations.
J Personality comes from the Greek word “persona” which means mask.
J Gordon Allport (1937) - described two major ways to study personality: nomothetic and idiographic.
Nomothetic Psychology- seeks general laws that can be applied to many different people, such as the principle of self-actualization, or the trait of extraversion.
Idiographic Psychology- is an attempt to understand the unique aspects of a particular individual.
J Psychoanalytic Theory- explain human behavior in terms of the interaction of various components of personality
Ø Sigmund Freud broke the human personality down to three significant components: the ego, superego, and id.
Ø The id is the source of sexual energy that builds up and needs to be released or expressed in some ways. Motivated by the pleasure principle.
Ø The ego is the structure that helps the id expresses itself. It emerges in order to realistically meet the wishes and demands of id in accordance with the outside world. Reality principle.
Ø The superego exercises moral judgment and societal rules in keeping the ego and id in check. Last function of the personality to develop and may be seen as an outcome of interactions with one’s parents during childhood. Dependency.
Ø Freud believed that humans are sexual (all kinds of pleasure feelings) throughout childhood.
Ø Freud’s 5 Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development
1. Oral Stage- birth to approximately age one
2. Anal Stage- 2 years of age.
3. Phallic Stage- between 3 and 6.
4. Latency Period- 7 years old to puberty.
5. Genital Stage- occurs during adolescence.
Ø Freud believed that adult personality is determined by early childhood experiences. Events in the past could influence the present.
Ø ALFRED ADLER: early childhood experiences are important to development and birth order may influence personality development.
Ø Oldest was the one who set high goals to achieve to get attentions back that they lost when the younger siblings were born.
Ø The middle children were competitive and ambitious, so they are able to surpass the first born achievement.
Ø Last born would be more dependent and sociable but be the baby.
Ø Only children love being the center of attention and mature quickly. Fail to become independent.
Ø KAREN HORNEY is credited with the development of the “real self” and the “ideal self”.
Ø “Real self” is what you really are with regards to personality, values, and morals.
Ø “Ideal self” is a construct you apply to yourself to conform to social and personal norms and goals.
J Behaviorist Theory- explains personality in terms of reactions to external stimuli. Developed by B.F. Skinner.
Ø Skinner believed that children do bad things in order to get the attention that they crave.
Ø People’s behavior is formed by processes such as operant conditioning.
Ø “Stimulus-Response-Consequence-Model”
Ø John B. Watson, The Father of American Behaviorism, made 4 major assumptions about Radical Behaviorism:
1. Evolutionary Continuity- laws of behavior are applied equally to all living organisms.
2. Reductionism- all behaviors are linked to physiology.
3. Determinism- animals do not respond freely. Biological organisms respond to outside influences.
4. Empiricism- only our actions are observable evidence of our personality.
Ø All behaviorist focus on observable behaviors.
Ø There is no emphasis on unconscious motives, internal traits, introspection or self-analysis.
J “No two persons are born exactly alike; but each differs from the other in natural endowments, one being suited for one occupation and the other for another.”
J That people differ from each other is obvious. How and why they differ is less clear and is the subject of study of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES.
J Individual Difference is a cornerstone subject area in modern psychology. It examines how people are similar and how they differ in their thinking, feeling, and behavior. No two people are alike, yet no two people are unlike. It understands ways in which people are psychologically similar and particularly what psychological character vary between people.
J Human beings have been aware of individual differences throughout history, ex.:
GENDER DIFFERENCE: hunters=men, forgers=women
INTELLIGENCE DIFFERENCE: caste, class, education
PERSONALITY DIFFERENCE: job specialization
J Franz Gall- invented phrenology in the early 1800’s
J Phrenology- is the study of an individual bump on the skull, which supposedly reveals character traits and mental abilities. Idea that various brain regions have particular functions.
PERSONALITY
J Can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of character possessed by a person that uniquely influences his/her cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations.
J Personality comes from the Greek word “persona” which means mask.
J Gordon Allport (1937) - described two major ways to study personality: nomothetic and idiographic.
Nomothetic Psychology- seeks general laws that can be applied to many different people, such as the principle of self-actualization, or the trait of extraversion.
Idiographic Psychology- is an attempt to understand the unique aspects of a particular individual.
J Psychoanalytic Theory- explain human behavior in terms of the interaction of various components of personality
Ø Sigmund Freud broke the human personality down to three significant components: the ego, superego, and id.
Ø The id is the source of sexual energy that builds up and needs to be released or expressed in some ways. Motivated by the pleasure principle.
Ø The ego is the structure that helps the id expresses itself. It emerges in order to realistically meet the wishes and demands of id in accordance with the outside world. Reality principle.
Ø The superego exercises moral judgment and societal rules in keeping the ego and id in check. Last function of the personality to develop and may be seen as an outcome of interactions with one’s parents during childhood. Dependency.
Ø Freud believed that humans are sexual (all kinds of pleasure feelings) throughout childhood.
Ø Freud’s 5 Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development
1. Oral Stage- birth to approximately age one
2. Anal Stage- 2 years of age.
3. Phallic Stage- between 3 and 6.
4. Latency Period- 7 years old to puberty.
5. Genital Stage- occurs during adolescence.
Ø Freud believed that adult personality is determined by early childhood experiences. Events in the past could influence the present.
Ø ALFRED ADLER: early childhood experiences are important to development and birth order may influence personality development.
Ø Oldest was the one who set high goals to achieve to get attentions back that they lost when the younger siblings were born.
Ø The middle children were competitive and ambitious, so they are able to surpass the first born achievement.
Ø Last born would be more dependent and sociable but be the baby.
Ø Only children love being the center of attention and mature quickly. Fail to become independent.
Ø KAREN HORNEY is credited with the development of the “real self” and the “ideal self”.
Ø “Real self” is what you really are with regards to personality, values, and morals.
Ø “Ideal self” is a construct you apply to yourself to conform to social and personal norms and goals.
J Behaviorist Theory- explains personality in terms of reactions to external stimuli. Developed by B.F. Skinner.
Ø Skinner believed that children do bad things in order to get the attention that they crave.
Ø People’s behavior is formed by processes such as operant conditioning.
Ø “Stimulus-Response-Consequence-Model”
Ø John B. Watson, The Father of American Behaviorism, made 4 major assumptions about Radical Behaviorism:
1. Evolutionary Continuity- laws of behavior are applied equally to all living organisms.
2. Reductionism- all behaviors are linked to physiology.
3. Determinism- animals do not respond freely. Biological organisms respond to outside influences.
4. Empiricism- only our actions are observable evidence of our personality.
Ø All behaviorist focus on observable behaviors.
Ø There is no emphasis on unconscious motives, internal traits, introspection or self-analysis.
dialectical historical materialism
Philippine History
Austronesian-speaking peoples initially populated Philippine islands. These peoples arrived by boat, and set up separate communities known as barangay, each of which was led by a chieftain or datu. Initially, the religious beliefs and practices were animistic, as was true throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Economically, some of these communities were still engaged in hunting and fishing; others, in slash and burn agriculture; and still others developed the intricate rice terraces which are a hydraulic engineering marvel. These communities traded among themselves as well as with the people of neighboring and far-flung countries of what we now call China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and the Arab world – to whom the peoples of the Philippines exported, among other things, betel nuts, pearls, tortoise shells and from whom the peoples in the Philippines developed its written scripts and from whom it imported porcelain, silk, bronze gongs, and semi-precious stones.
There were four social classes in ancient Filipino society: the chiefs, nobles, freemen and the slaves. The datu or the chief headed a barangay or community. His family, relatives and elders belonged to the maharlika group of nobles. The freemen or middle class belonged to the timawa group. Men who were born free or freed from slavery composed the lowest social class because they had no property and were under the control of their master.[1]
The unit of government was the barangay. The barangay varied in population from 30 to 100 families. The early barangays were independent of each other. The head was called datu and was the chief executive, legislator, judge, and military commander.[2]
When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, the indios (natives) had reached different levels of political development, including simple communal groups, debt peonage (often erroneously described as slavery) and proto-feudal confederations.
The Spaniards imposed a feudal system, concentrating populations under their control into towns and estates. During the first two centuries of their occupation, the Spaniards used the Philippines mainly as a connecting point for their China-Acapulco (Mexico) trade. The country's economic backwardness was reinforced by Roman Catholicism, which was practiced in a form that retained many pre-colonial elements such as animism while incorporating feudal aspects of the colonizers' religion such as dogmatism, authoritarianism and patriarchal oppression. The Spaniards were never able to consolidate political control over the entire archipelago, with Muslims and indigenous resisting the colonizers most effectively. Among the groups that were subjugated, there were numerous localized revolts throughout the Spanish occupation.
In the 19th century, the Philippines was opened to world trade, allowing the limited entry of liberal ideas. By the late 19th century, there was a distinct Filipino nationalist movement, which erupted into a revolution in 1896, culminating with the establishment of Asia's first republican government in 1898.
Spain laid the foundation for a feudal health care system. The religious orders built charity hospitals, often next to churches, dispensing services to the indio. Medical education was not extended to the indio until late in the 19th century, through the University of Santo Tomas. This feudal system of the rich extending charity to the poor persists to this day among many church-run as well as non-sectarian institutions.
Despite the 333 years of Spanish colonization and political rule,the Spaniards have not really conquered the Filipinos. Throughout the islands there were Filipinos who opposed Spanish sovereignty.
The Filipinos fought in no les than a hundred revolts. These revolts failed ,for gallantry and courage alone were not enough to crush superior Spanish arms. Militarily, the Filipinos were not prepared to fight. Lacking training in warfare and without superior arms to fight with.
The ideas of liberalism, a product of French revolution, spread throughout Europe and other parts of the world. The motto, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity became the battlecry especially of people who were under foreign rule. The political theories of social philosophers like Jean Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, and John Locke became very popular because these theories criticized absolutism. These social philosophers believe that people had the right to change and establish a new government if the existing government no longer meet their needs.[3]
These ideas spread to the Philippines and helped erase from the minds of certain Filipinos, notably the intelligentsia, false ideas about human rights.[4]
A new group in Philippine society emerged as a result of the economic prosperity. The middle class was composed of businessmen, farmers, teachers and other professionals who were greatly benefited by the improved economy of the colony. They soon occupied a high position in the society. When they became influential they criticized the unequal treatment of the Spanish authorities towards the Filipinos. They echoed the sentiments of Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau and others on the art of humane management of the government.[5]
The first Philippine Republic was short-lived. Spain had lost a war with the United States. The Philippines was illegally ceded to the United States at the Treaty of Paris for US$20 million, together with Cuba and Puerto Rico.
A Filipino-American War broke out as the United States attempted to establish control over the islands. The war lasted for more than 10 years, resulting in the death of more than 600,000 Filipinos. Historians have described the little-known war as the "first Vietnam", where US troops first used tactics such as strategic hamleting and scorched-earth policy to "pacify" the natives.
The United States established an economic system giving the colonizers full rights to the country's resources. The Spanish feudal system was not dismantled; in fact, through the system of land registration that favored the upper Filipino classes, tenancy became more widespread during the US occupation. A native elite, including physicians trained in the United States, was groomed to manage the economic and political system of the country. The U.S. also introduced western models of educational and health-care systems, which reinforced elitism, and a colonial mentality that persists to this day, mixed with the Spanish feudal patron-client relationship.
Militant peasant and workers' groups were formed during the U.S. occupation despite the repressive situation. A movement for Philippine independence, involving diverse groups, continued throughout the occupation. A Commonwealth government was established in 1935 to allow limited self-rule but the Second World War and the Japanese occupation interrupted this. Mainly socialists and communists, known by their acronym, HUKS, led the guerilla movement against Japanese fascism.
The road to self-rule and independence was a thorny one. It began with attempts for reforms under Spain. When this does not materialize, the Filipinos rose up in arms, first against Spain and then against the United States, until finally succeeding in securing autonomy and a promise of independence from the Americans. However, this dream was unfortunately shattered when the Japanese invaded and occupied the Philippines for four years. The Japanese tried to win the Filipinos with their promise of Asia for the Asians, but to no avail. The Japanese ruled with an iron hand and the Filipinos, although subjected to untold sufferings and hardships, were able to endure because of the will to live. The Filipinos were finally liberated from the Japanese when the latter surrendered to the Americans on August 15, 1945. The Commonwealth government returned to the Philippines from the US to complete the ten-year transition for independence. The Filipinos quest for independence finally ended with the proclamation of Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946.[6]
Philippine Society
Politics
The political system of the Philippines was basically pattered after the U.S., with a bicameral legislature and a president elected every four years, limited to one re-election. Philippine democracy remained elitist with two political parties taking turns at the leadership. In 1972, Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, as his second term was about to end, amid a resurgence of a nationalist movement that was questioning treaties on the US military bases and the U.S. economic "parity" rights.[7]
Political repression reached its height under Marcos. His preferential treatment for foreign investors further contributed to the deterioration of the Philippine economy, particularly with the use of government funds and foreign loans for the Marcos family and their cronies. Until the 1960s, the Philippines were economically among the most developed countries in Southeast Asia.
In the early years after the declaration of martial law, opposition against Marcos was spearheaded by the Left. A new Communist Party was established in 1968, followed by the New People's Army (NPA) in 1969. After Marcos's declaration of martial law in 19782, a broader political grouping called the National Democratic Front (NDF) was established with an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal and anti-fascist line. In the southern Philippines, the Muslim fought for secession through the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).[8]
The assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983 precipitated an economic and political crisis that further broadened the ranks of those opposed to Marcos. Strapped for funds, the Marcos regime agreed to a "stabilization plan" from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that plunged the economy back to 1975 levels. In February 1986, after holding blatantly fraudulent presidential elections, a civilian uprising supported by the military overthrew Marcos. Marcos's rival in the election, Corazon Aquino, became the new president.[9]
The economic and political crisis in the country continues even the restoration of formal democratic processes including the ratification of a new Constitution and the election of a Congress. The new Congress remains dominated by the elite, including former officials during the Marcos dictatorship. Economic policies remain essentially conservative with an Omnibus Investments Code that favors foreign investors and a limited land reform law. The new government has pledged to pay the entire foreign debt of US$28 billion, much of which had been incurred by Marcos under anomalous conditions. In 1990, the government agreed to another IMF stabilization plan that includes cutbacks on government budgets; reduction or elimination of subsidies and increased taxes. Graft and corruption remains endemic and has eroded support from the middle class.
The new government is essentially a fractious coalition of conservative forces representing traditional interests as exemplified by their policies on land reform, labor, foreign investments and their antagonism toward progressive groups. The perennial attempted coups by right-wing elements in the military are manifestations of power struggles among the members of the conservative elites, who ride on continuing discontent among the people brought about by the slow pace of economic and political change. Independent and progressive groups that work with peasants, workers, students and other sectors have sustained the struggle for more substantial social changes but face increasing repression, particularly from paramilitary (vigilante) groups formed with the tacit support of the government.
Politics has a major influence in the life of the Filipino. It is the major topic in conversation, especially in the provinces. A main issue in the government today is corruption.
Economy
Since the end of the Second World War, the Philippine economy has had a mixed history of growth and development. Over the years, the Philippines has gone from being one of the richest countries in Asia (following Japan) to being one of the poorest. Growth immediately after the war was rapid, but slowed over time. A severe recession in 1984-85 saw the economy shrink by more than 10%, and perceptions of political instability during the Aquino administration further dampened economic activity. During his administration, President Ramos introduced a broad range of economic reforms and initiatives designed to spur business growth and foreign investment. As a result, the Philippines saw a period of higher growth, but the Asian financial crisis triggered in 1997 slowed economic development in the Philippines once again. President Estrada managed to continue some of the reforms begun by the Ramos administration. Important laws to strengthen regulation and supervision of the banking system (General Banking Act) and securities markets (Securities Regulation Code), to liberalize foreign participation in the retail trade sector, and to promote and regulate electronic commerce were enacted during his abbreviated term. Despite occasional challenges to her presidency and resistance to pro-liberalization reforms by vested interests, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has made considerable progress in restoring macroeconomic stability with the help of a well-regarded economic team. However, despite recent progress, fiscal problems remain one of the economy's weakest points and its biggest vulnerability.
Important sectors of the Philippine economy include agriculture and industry, particularly food processing, textiles and garments, and electronics and automobile parts. Most industries are concentrated in the urban areas around metropolitan Manila. Mining also has great potential in the Philippines, which possesses significant reserves of chromite, nickel, and copper. Significant natural-gas finds off the islands of Palawan have added to the country's substantial geothermal, hydro, and coal energy reserves.
Social Classes
There are three social classes in the country based on income of the national wealth. They are: 1) the rich-members of the rich class, representing 10% of the population. They own or earn about 90% of the wealth of the country. They are the wealthy industrialists, with big corporations, the owners of large haciendas or plantations, and the "new rich" who are honest, enterprising and hard-working people who invested their money wisely. The latter, however, include also the dishonest politicians and businessmen and others who acquire their fabulous fortune in government contracting, smuggling and other fraudulent means. 2)the middle class about 20% of the population, who are the professionals (doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants, etc.) skilled or semi-skilled workers in offices, factories or farms. They are the backbone of the nation. 3) the lower or poor class - who comprise about 70% of the population, but who earn only enough income to provide for their basic needs (food, rented homes, simple clothing). Often they cannot earn enough to provide for emergencies of future needs. The problem of every Philippine administration is to narrow the gap between the very rich and the very poor and to broaden the middle class.
Descendants of the Spanish colonizers and the Chinese immigrants are often perceived to be the elite. Many Filipinos of Spanish descent still own major national companies and haciendas, and hold key positions in multi-national companies. Those of Chinese descent have remained conspicuous due to widespread kidnapping. Chinese culture has been maintained by putting up Chinatowns in numerous key cities, such as Metro Manila, Davao, Cebu, Vigan, and Bacolod. Culture is also maintained by attendance of children to Chinese schools, where the medium of instruction is in Mandarin Chinese. However, most Chinese speak the Lan-nang (Philippine) variant of the Min Nan Language, which is similar to Taiwanese as their mother language. Among the subjects in Chinese schools are Chinese history, and Chinese literature, as well as the course requirements of the Philippine Department of Education. Thus, they have a greater load of study, which gives the impression that Chinese are good in Math. Although there are many Filipinos of mixed Chinese descent, and also those who have contributed to Philippine independence, based on a nationwide survey, they are one of the least accepted ethnic groups. This is probably due to the perception that the Chinese tend to stamp out competition in business. During the Marcos era, it was estimated that 40% of all banking transactions in the Philippines are done by the Chinese.[10]
Critique
The stereotypical Filipino commutes by jeep to work, goes to mass on Sunday, send messages by text in cell phones, is an aficionado of Basketball and is shocked that his cousin/brother is a born-again or attends a Protestant gathering. Filipinos love to put leaders on trial and turn up late in appointments. In typical homes whole clans, which include second cousins not to mention siblings,. all live under one roof. English is used in formal context such as school, government, media etc. but not used in the mainstream and is perceived as elitist. Rice is the staple diet. Jeepneys are ubiquitous. In semi-urban areas, tricycles are frequently found. In urban areas such as Manila and Quezon city, traffic can be horrible during rush hour.
Philippine society is always changing. Changes takes place when there have been a mass revolution. Revolution occurs when the people are not contented with the way the government runs the country. It so happened that every time the masses revolt is always the same time when they are experiencing poverty. This proves that economy, the people’s ideology and politics are interrelated to each other that when one breaks down the other two will follow. This is how Althusser’s historical materialism also goes.
Althusser believed that both the base and the superstructure were dependent on the whole. The advantage of practices over individuals as a starting point is that although each practice is only a part of a complex whole of society, a practice is a whole in itself in that it consists of various different kinds of parts; economic practice, for example, contains raw materials, tools, individual persons, etc. all united in a process of production. Althusser conceives of society as an interconnected collection of these wholes – economic practice, ideological practice and politico-legal practice – which together make up one complex whole. In his view all practices are dependent on each other. For example, amongst the relations of production are the buying and selling of labour power by capitalists and workers. These relations are part of economic practice, but can only exist within the context of a legal system which establishes individual agents as buyers and sellers; furthermore, the arrangement must be maintained by political and ideological means. From this it can be seen that aspects of economic practice depend on the superstructure and vice versa.
However, other characteristics of individuals, such as their beliefs about the good life or their metaphysical reflections on the nature of the self, do not easily fit into these categories. In Althusser’s view, our values, desires and preferences are inculcated in us by ideological practice, the sphere which has the defining property of constituting individuals as subjects through the process of interpellation. Ideological practice consists of an assortment of institutions called Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs), which include the family, the media, religious organisations and the education system, as well as the received ideas they propagate. There is, however, no one ISA that produces in us the belief that we are self-conscious agents.
Filipinos are easily affected by Althusser’s ISA. The media: one of Filipinos pastime is watching telivision or for the provinces listening to radios. Media plays an important role in developing Filipino ideologies. Filipinos believes the news or informations given by the mass media andas long as they believe that themedia is correct they will always try to follow the things that it says.
Education is a part of every human being who wishes to lift himself from the poverty that he is into. Students always think that their teachers or professors are always correct because they are superior to them. This will lead to such misinformation on the part of the student if what they learned is wrong.
Fipinos are religious people. Philippines is the only catholic country in Asia. This being the case Filipinos always believe in the things that their religion will tell them. They will always try to follow the instructions given by the highest official of the church. For example is El Shaddai and Iglesia ni Cristo, when election is nearing politicians will always, without any doubt, try to pursue or court the religious leaders so that they will be endorse as a candidate to be elected and if that will always be the case the Philippine government will always be in the hands of the wrong leader. The Philippines will not gain development instead it will be as stagnant as a water in a bowl and the search for development of the poor class will continue forever.
Filipinos are very close to their family. The family plays a very important role in developing a man’s kind of thinking. The father is the superior image in a family. Whatever he says will always be followed. Whatever he or the mother teaches to their children will be in their minds forever.
Introduction
It may be said that the Filipinos are intelligent, with retentive memory, quick perception, and talents for art and science. They also are gentle, friend]y, and cheerful people, noted for their courtesy and hospitality.
Filipinos are famous not only for their warm hospitality, but also for their close family ties. The parents work hard and sacrifice much for their children; in return, the children love and respect them and take good care of them in their old age.
Filipinos owing to their beautiful country, are passionately romantic. They are ardent in love as they are fierce in battle. They are born poets, musicians and artists.
Filipinos are a liberty-loving and brave people. They valiantly resisted the Spanish, American and Japanese invaders of their native land. They rank among the bravest people of the world. Filipino courage has been proven in the Battle of Mactan (1521), in the Battle of Tirad Pass (1899), in the battle of Bataan, Corregidor, Bessang Pass during World War II, and in many other battlefields.
Gratitude is another sterling trait of the Filipinos. They are grateful to those who have granted them favors or who are good to them. Their high sense of gratitude is expressed in the phrase Utang na loob (debt of honor).
Filipinos are cooperative. They value the virtue of helping each other and other people. They cherish the ancestral trait of bayanihan, which means cooperation. In rural areas, when a man is building, repairing or transferring a house to another place, the neighbors come to help him.
Foreign writers assert that the Filipinos are indolent. In reality they work hard in the face of very adverse conditions. They work on the farms from sunrise to sunset, though not from noon to 3 p.m. due to the scorching heat. They work hard in the sugarcane and pineapple plantations in Hawaii, the fruit orchards of California, the fish canneries of Alaska, and in the oil wells of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Arab countries of the Middle East.
Finally, the Filipinos are noted for their durability and resiliency. Through the ages they have met all kinds of calamities--revolts, revolutions, wars, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and epidemics. Unlike the Polynesians of Oceania and the Indians of North Central and South Americas, they did not vanish by contact with the white race. They can assimilate any civilization and thrive in any climate. Against the adversities of life or nature, they merely bend, but never break. They possess the formidable durability of the narra tree and the resiliency of the bamboo.
Bibliography
Ang-See, Teresita, et.al. Ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. Oxford Books, 1999.
Brewster, Ben. Lenin and Philosophy and other Essays. New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1970.
King, Jenny. Philippines: Know Your Homeland. Manila: Wordlink Books, 2004.
Trager, James. The People’s Chronology. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1992.
Vivar, Teofista, Evelina Viloria, et.al. Philippines: History and Government. Cebu:Vibal Publishing House Inc., 1999.
Health Alert Special Issue. The Philippine Republic. Quezon City: Health Action Information Network.
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
College of Arts
Department of Humanities
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in
PH 310: Dialectical Historical Materialism
Critique on Philippine Society
Rikka Joy K. Decella
ABP IV-1
Prof. Pinalas
[1] Teofista Vivar, Philippines: History and Government (Vibal Publishing House, 1999), 33.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., p. 125.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid., p.170.
[7] Health Alert Special Issue: The Philippine Republic (Health Action Information Network), 116.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid., 117
[10] Teresita Ang-See et.al., Ethnic Chinese in South-East Asia (Oxford Books, 1999), 84.
Austronesian-speaking peoples initially populated Philippine islands. These peoples arrived by boat, and set up separate communities known as barangay, each of which was led by a chieftain or datu. Initially, the religious beliefs and practices were animistic, as was true throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Economically, some of these communities were still engaged in hunting and fishing; others, in slash and burn agriculture; and still others developed the intricate rice terraces which are a hydraulic engineering marvel. These communities traded among themselves as well as with the people of neighboring and far-flung countries of what we now call China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and the Arab world – to whom the peoples of the Philippines exported, among other things, betel nuts, pearls, tortoise shells and from whom the peoples in the Philippines developed its written scripts and from whom it imported porcelain, silk, bronze gongs, and semi-precious stones.
There were four social classes in ancient Filipino society: the chiefs, nobles, freemen and the slaves. The datu or the chief headed a barangay or community. His family, relatives and elders belonged to the maharlika group of nobles. The freemen or middle class belonged to the timawa group. Men who were born free or freed from slavery composed the lowest social class because they had no property and were under the control of their master.[1]
The unit of government was the barangay. The barangay varied in population from 30 to 100 families. The early barangays were independent of each other. The head was called datu and was the chief executive, legislator, judge, and military commander.[2]
When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, the indios (natives) had reached different levels of political development, including simple communal groups, debt peonage (often erroneously described as slavery) and proto-feudal confederations.
The Spaniards imposed a feudal system, concentrating populations under their control into towns and estates. During the first two centuries of their occupation, the Spaniards used the Philippines mainly as a connecting point for their China-Acapulco (Mexico) trade. The country's economic backwardness was reinforced by Roman Catholicism, which was practiced in a form that retained many pre-colonial elements such as animism while incorporating feudal aspects of the colonizers' religion such as dogmatism, authoritarianism and patriarchal oppression. The Spaniards were never able to consolidate political control over the entire archipelago, with Muslims and indigenous resisting the colonizers most effectively. Among the groups that were subjugated, there were numerous localized revolts throughout the Spanish occupation.
In the 19th century, the Philippines was opened to world trade, allowing the limited entry of liberal ideas. By the late 19th century, there was a distinct Filipino nationalist movement, which erupted into a revolution in 1896, culminating with the establishment of Asia's first republican government in 1898.
Spain laid the foundation for a feudal health care system. The religious orders built charity hospitals, often next to churches, dispensing services to the indio. Medical education was not extended to the indio until late in the 19th century, through the University of Santo Tomas. This feudal system of the rich extending charity to the poor persists to this day among many church-run as well as non-sectarian institutions.
Despite the 333 years of Spanish colonization and political rule,the Spaniards have not really conquered the Filipinos. Throughout the islands there were Filipinos who opposed Spanish sovereignty.
The Filipinos fought in no les than a hundred revolts. These revolts failed ,for gallantry and courage alone were not enough to crush superior Spanish arms. Militarily, the Filipinos were not prepared to fight. Lacking training in warfare and without superior arms to fight with.
The ideas of liberalism, a product of French revolution, spread throughout Europe and other parts of the world. The motto, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity became the battlecry especially of people who were under foreign rule. The political theories of social philosophers like Jean Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, and John Locke became very popular because these theories criticized absolutism. These social philosophers believe that people had the right to change and establish a new government if the existing government no longer meet their needs.[3]
These ideas spread to the Philippines and helped erase from the minds of certain Filipinos, notably the intelligentsia, false ideas about human rights.[4]
A new group in Philippine society emerged as a result of the economic prosperity. The middle class was composed of businessmen, farmers, teachers and other professionals who were greatly benefited by the improved economy of the colony. They soon occupied a high position in the society. When they became influential they criticized the unequal treatment of the Spanish authorities towards the Filipinos. They echoed the sentiments of Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau and others on the art of humane management of the government.[5]
The first Philippine Republic was short-lived. Spain had lost a war with the United States. The Philippines was illegally ceded to the United States at the Treaty of Paris for US$20 million, together with Cuba and Puerto Rico.
A Filipino-American War broke out as the United States attempted to establish control over the islands. The war lasted for more than 10 years, resulting in the death of more than 600,000 Filipinos. Historians have described the little-known war as the "first Vietnam", where US troops first used tactics such as strategic hamleting and scorched-earth policy to "pacify" the natives.
The United States established an economic system giving the colonizers full rights to the country's resources. The Spanish feudal system was not dismantled; in fact, through the system of land registration that favored the upper Filipino classes, tenancy became more widespread during the US occupation. A native elite, including physicians trained in the United States, was groomed to manage the economic and political system of the country. The U.S. also introduced western models of educational and health-care systems, which reinforced elitism, and a colonial mentality that persists to this day, mixed with the Spanish feudal patron-client relationship.
Militant peasant and workers' groups were formed during the U.S. occupation despite the repressive situation. A movement for Philippine independence, involving diverse groups, continued throughout the occupation. A Commonwealth government was established in 1935 to allow limited self-rule but the Second World War and the Japanese occupation interrupted this. Mainly socialists and communists, known by their acronym, HUKS, led the guerilla movement against Japanese fascism.
The road to self-rule and independence was a thorny one. It began with attempts for reforms under Spain. When this does not materialize, the Filipinos rose up in arms, first against Spain and then against the United States, until finally succeeding in securing autonomy and a promise of independence from the Americans. However, this dream was unfortunately shattered when the Japanese invaded and occupied the Philippines for four years. The Japanese tried to win the Filipinos with their promise of Asia for the Asians, but to no avail. The Japanese ruled with an iron hand and the Filipinos, although subjected to untold sufferings and hardships, were able to endure because of the will to live. The Filipinos were finally liberated from the Japanese when the latter surrendered to the Americans on August 15, 1945. The Commonwealth government returned to the Philippines from the US to complete the ten-year transition for independence. The Filipinos quest for independence finally ended with the proclamation of Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946.[6]
Philippine Society
Politics
The political system of the Philippines was basically pattered after the U.S., with a bicameral legislature and a president elected every four years, limited to one re-election. Philippine democracy remained elitist with two political parties taking turns at the leadership. In 1972, Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, as his second term was about to end, amid a resurgence of a nationalist movement that was questioning treaties on the US military bases and the U.S. economic "parity" rights.[7]
Political repression reached its height under Marcos. His preferential treatment for foreign investors further contributed to the deterioration of the Philippine economy, particularly with the use of government funds and foreign loans for the Marcos family and their cronies. Until the 1960s, the Philippines were economically among the most developed countries in Southeast Asia.
In the early years after the declaration of martial law, opposition against Marcos was spearheaded by the Left. A new Communist Party was established in 1968, followed by the New People's Army (NPA) in 1969. After Marcos's declaration of martial law in 19782, a broader political grouping called the National Democratic Front (NDF) was established with an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal and anti-fascist line. In the southern Philippines, the Muslim fought for secession through the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).[8]
The assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983 precipitated an economic and political crisis that further broadened the ranks of those opposed to Marcos. Strapped for funds, the Marcos regime agreed to a "stabilization plan" from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that plunged the economy back to 1975 levels. In February 1986, after holding blatantly fraudulent presidential elections, a civilian uprising supported by the military overthrew Marcos. Marcos's rival in the election, Corazon Aquino, became the new president.[9]
The economic and political crisis in the country continues even the restoration of formal democratic processes including the ratification of a new Constitution and the election of a Congress. The new Congress remains dominated by the elite, including former officials during the Marcos dictatorship. Economic policies remain essentially conservative with an Omnibus Investments Code that favors foreign investors and a limited land reform law. The new government has pledged to pay the entire foreign debt of US$28 billion, much of which had been incurred by Marcos under anomalous conditions. In 1990, the government agreed to another IMF stabilization plan that includes cutbacks on government budgets; reduction or elimination of subsidies and increased taxes. Graft and corruption remains endemic and has eroded support from the middle class.
The new government is essentially a fractious coalition of conservative forces representing traditional interests as exemplified by their policies on land reform, labor, foreign investments and their antagonism toward progressive groups. The perennial attempted coups by right-wing elements in the military are manifestations of power struggles among the members of the conservative elites, who ride on continuing discontent among the people brought about by the slow pace of economic and political change. Independent and progressive groups that work with peasants, workers, students and other sectors have sustained the struggle for more substantial social changes but face increasing repression, particularly from paramilitary (vigilante) groups formed with the tacit support of the government.
Politics has a major influence in the life of the Filipino. It is the major topic in conversation, especially in the provinces. A main issue in the government today is corruption.
Economy
Since the end of the Second World War, the Philippine economy has had a mixed history of growth and development. Over the years, the Philippines has gone from being one of the richest countries in Asia (following Japan) to being one of the poorest. Growth immediately after the war was rapid, but slowed over time. A severe recession in 1984-85 saw the economy shrink by more than 10%, and perceptions of political instability during the Aquino administration further dampened economic activity. During his administration, President Ramos introduced a broad range of economic reforms and initiatives designed to spur business growth and foreign investment. As a result, the Philippines saw a period of higher growth, but the Asian financial crisis triggered in 1997 slowed economic development in the Philippines once again. President Estrada managed to continue some of the reforms begun by the Ramos administration. Important laws to strengthen regulation and supervision of the banking system (General Banking Act) and securities markets (Securities Regulation Code), to liberalize foreign participation in the retail trade sector, and to promote and regulate electronic commerce were enacted during his abbreviated term. Despite occasional challenges to her presidency and resistance to pro-liberalization reforms by vested interests, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has made considerable progress in restoring macroeconomic stability with the help of a well-regarded economic team. However, despite recent progress, fiscal problems remain one of the economy's weakest points and its biggest vulnerability.
Important sectors of the Philippine economy include agriculture and industry, particularly food processing, textiles and garments, and electronics and automobile parts. Most industries are concentrated in the urban areas around metropolitan Manila. Mining also has great potential in the Philippines, which possesses significant reserves of chromite, nickel, and copper. Significant natural-gas finds off the islands of Palawan have added to the country's substantial geothermal, hydro, and coal energy reserves.
Social Classes
There are three social classes in the country based on income of the national wealth. They are: 1) the rich-members of the rich class, representing 10% of the population. They own or earn about 90% of the wealth of the country. They are the wealthy industrialists, with big corporations, the owners of large haciendas or plantations, and the "new rich" who are honest, enterprising and hard-working people who invested their money wisely. The latter, however, include also the dishonest politicians and businessmen and others who acquire their fabulous fortune in government contracting, smuggling and other fraudulent means. 2)the middle class about 20% of the population, who are the professionals (doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants, etc.) skilled or semi-skilled workers in offices, factories or farms. They are the backbone of the nation. 3) the lower or poor class - who comprise about 70% of the population, but who earn only enough income to provide for their basic needs (food, rented homes, simple clothing). Often they cannot earn enough to provide for emergencies of future needs. The problem of every Philippine administration is to narrow the gap between the very rich and the very poor and to broaden the middle class.
Descendants of the Spanish colonizers and the Chinese immigrants are often perceived to be the elite. Many Filipinos of Spanish descent still own major national companies and haciendas, and hold key positions in multi-national companies. Those of Chinese descent have remained conspicuous due to widespread kidnapping. Chinese culture has been maintained by putting up Chinatowns in numerous key cities, such as Metro Manila, Davao, Cebu, Vigan, and Bacolod. Culture is also maintained by attendance of children to Chinese schools, where the medium of instruction is in Mandarin Chinese. However, most Chinese speak the Lan-nang (Philippine) variant of the Min Nan Language, which is similar to Taiwanese as their mother language. Among the subjects in Chinese schools are Chinese history, and Chinese literature, as well as the course requirements of the Philippine Department of Education. Thus, they have a greater load of study, which gives the impression that Chinese are good in Math. Although there are many Filipinos of mixed Chinese descent, and also those who have contributed to Philippine independence, based on a nationwide survey, they are one of the least accepted ethnic groups. This is probably due to the perception that the Chinese tend to stamp out competition in business. During the Marcos era, it was estimated that 40% of all banking transactions in the Philippines are done by the Chinese.[10]
Critique
The stereotypical Filipino commutes by jeep to work, goes to mass on Sunday, send messages by text in cell phones, is an aficionado of Basketball and is shocked that his cousin/brother is a born-again or attends a Protestant gathering. Filipinos love to put leaders on trial and turn up late in appointments. In typical homes whole clans, which include second cousins not to mention siblings,. all live under one roof. English is used in formal context such as school, government, media etc. but not used in the mainstream and is perceived as elitist. Rice is the staple diet. Jeepneys are ubiquitous. In semi-urban areas, tricycles are frequently found. In urban areas such as Manila and Quezon city, traffic can be horrible during rush hour.
Philippine society is always changing. Changes takes place when there have been a mass revolution. Revolution occurs when the people are not contented with the way the government runs the country. It so happened that every time the masses revolt is always the same time when they are experiencing poverty. This proves that economy, the people’s ideology and politics are interrelated to each other that when one breaks down the other two will follow. This is how Althusser’s historical materialism also goes.
Althusser believed that both the base and the superstructure were dependent on the whole. The advantage of practices over individuals as a starting point is that although each practice is only a part of a complex whole of society, a practice is a whole in itself in that it consists of various different kinds of parts; economic practice, for example, contains raw materials, tools, individual persons, etc. all united in a process of production. Althusser conceives of society as an interconnected collection of these wholes – economic practice, ideological practice and politico-legal practice – which together make up one complex whole. In his view all practices are dependent on each other. For example, amongst the relations of production are the buying and selling of labour power by capitalists and workers. These relations are part of economic practice, but can only exist within the context of a legal system which establishes individual agents as buyers and sellers; furthermore, the arrangement must be maintained by political and ideological means. From this it can be seen that aspects of economic practice depend on the superstructure and vice versa.
However, other characteristics of individuals, such as their beliefs about the good life or their metaphysical reflections on the nature of the self, do not easily fit into these categories. In Althusser’s view, our values, desires and preferences are inculcated in us by ideological practice, the sphere which has the defining property of constituting individuals as subjects through the process of interpellation. Ideological practice consists of an assortment of institutions called Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs), which include the family, the media, religious organisations and the education system, as well as the received ideas they propagate. There is, however, no one ISA that produces in us the belief that we are self-conscious agents.
Filipinos are easily affected by Althusser’s ISA. The media: one of Filipinos pastime is watching telivision or for the provinces listening to radios. Media plays an important role in developing Filipino ideologies. Filipinos believes the news or informations given by the mass media andas long as they believe that themedia is correct they will always try to follow the things that it says.
Education is a part of every human being who wishes to lift himself from the poverty that he is into. Students always think that their teachers or professors are always correct because they are superior to them. This will lead to such misinformation on the part of the student if what they learned is wrong.
Fipinos are religious people. Philippines is the only catholic country in Asia. This being the case Filipinos always believe in the things that their religion will tell them. They will always try to follow the instructions given by the highest official of the church. For example is El Shaddai and Iglesia ni Cristo, when election is nearing politicians will always, without any doubt, try to pursue or court the religious leaders so that they will be endorse as a candidate to be elected and if that will always be the case the Philippine government will always be in the hands of the wrong leader. The Philippines will not gain development instead it will be as stagnant as a water in a bowl and the search for development of the poor class will continue forever.
Filipinos are very close to their family. The family plays a very important role in developing a man’s kind of thinking. The father is the superior image in a family. Whatever he says will always be followed. Whatever he or the mother teaches to their children will be in their minds forever.
Introduction
It may be said that the Filipinos are intelligent, with retentive memory, quick perception, and talents for art and science. They also are gentle, friend]y, and cheerful people, noted for their courtesy and hospitality.
Filipinos are famous not only for their warm hospitality, but also for their close family ties. The parents work hard and sacrifice much for their children; in return, the children love and respect them and take good care of them in their old age.
Filipinos owing to their beautiful country, are passionately romantic. They are ardent in love as they are fierce in battle. They are born poets, musicians and artists.
Filipinos are a liberty-loving and brave people. They valiantly resisted the Spanish, American and Japanese invaders of their native land. They rank among the bravest people of the world. Filipino courage has been proven in the Battle of Mactan (1521), in the Battle of Tirad Pass (1899), in the battle of Bataan, Corregidor, Bessang Pass during World War II, and in many other battlefields.
Gratitude is another sterling trait of the Filipinos. They are grateful to those who have granted them favors or who are good to them. Their high sense of gratitude is expressed in the phrase Utang na loob (debt of honor).
Filipinos are cooperative. They value the virtue of helping each other and other people. They cherish the ancestral trait of bayanihan, which means cooperation. In rural areas, when a man is building, repairing or transferring a house to another place, the neighbors come to help him.
Foreign writers assert that the Filipinos are indolent. In reality they work hard in the face of very adverse conditions. They work on the farms from sunrise to sunset, though not from noon to 3 p.m. due to the scorching heat. They work hard in the sugarcane and pineapple plantations in Hawaii, the fruit orchards of California, the fish canneries of Alaska, and in the oil wells of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Arab countries of the Middle East.
Finally, the Filipinos are noted for their durability and resiliency. Through the ages they have met all kinds of calamities--revolts, revolutions, wars, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and epidemics. Unlike the Polynesians of Oceania and the Indians of North Central and South Americas, they did not vanish by contact with the white race. They can assimilate any civilization and thrive in any climate. Against the adversities of life or nature, they merely bend, but never break. They possess the formidable durability of the narra tree and the resiliency of the bamboo.
Bibliography
Ang-See, Teresita, et.al. Ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. Oxford Books, 1999.
Brewster, Ben. Lenin and Philosophy and other Essays. New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1970.
King, Jenny. Philippines: Know Your Homeland. Manila: Wordlink Books, 2004.
Trager, James. The People’s Chronology. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1992.
Vivar, Teofista, Evelina Viloria, et.al. Philippines: History and Government. Cebu:Vibal Publishing House Inc., 1999.
Health Alert Special Issue. The Philippine Republic. Quezon City: Health Action Information Network.
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
College of Arts
Department of Humanities
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in
PH 310: Dialectical Historical Materialism
Critique on Philippine Society
Rikka Joy K. Decella
ABP IV-1
Prof. Pinalas
[1] Teofista Vivar, Philippines: History and Government (Vibal Publishing House, 1999), 33.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., p. 125.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid., p.170.
[7] Health Alert Special Issue: The Philippine Republic (Health Action Information Network), 116.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid., 117
[10] Teresita Ang-See et.al., Ethnic Chinese in South-East Asia (Oxford Books, 1999), 84.
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
1. Life means suffering.
To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, and ardor, pursue of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a "self" which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call "self" is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that attaining dispassion can end suffering. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
There is a path to the end of suffering - a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eight-fold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely "wandering on the wheel of becoming", because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as Siddhartha Gautama laid it out. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.
1. Right View
Right view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realise the Four Noble Truth. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.
2. Right Intention
Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.
3. Right Speech
Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.
4. Right Action
The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others.
5. Right Livelihood
Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided.
6. Right Effort
Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. The same type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of endeavors that rank in ascending order of perfection: 1. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states, 2. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.
7. Right Mindfulness
Right mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualize sense impressions and thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to other thoughts and experiences, which naturally go beyond the facticity of the original impression. The mind then posits concepts, joins concepts into constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex interpretative schemes. All this happens only half consciously, and as a result we often see things obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in clear perception and it penetrates impressions without getting carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualization in a way that we actively observe and control the way our thoughts go. Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of mindfulness: 1. contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral), 3. contemplation of the state of mind, and 4. contemplation of the phenomena.
8. Right Concentration
The eighth principle of the path, right concentration, refers to the development of a mental force that occurs in natural consciousness, although at a relatively low level of intensity, namely concentration. Concentration in this context is described as one-pointed ness of mind, meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular object. Right concentration for the purpose of the eightfold path means wholesome concentration. The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is through the practice of meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels concentration also in everyday situations.
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
College of Arts
Department of Humanities
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in
Oriental Philosophy I
Buddhism’s Four Noble Truth and Eightfold Path
Rikka Joy K. Decella
ABP IV-1
Prof. Divino
1. Life means suffering.
To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, and ardor, pursue of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a "self" which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call "self" is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that attaining dispassion can end suffering. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
There is a path to the end of suffering - a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eight-fold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely "wandering on the wheel of becoming", because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as Siddhartha Gautama laid it out. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.
1. Right View
Right view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realise the Four Noble Truth. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.
2. Right Intention
Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.
3. Right Speech
Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.
4. Right Action
The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others.
5. Right Livelihood
Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided.
6. Right Effort
Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. The same type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of endeavors that rank in ascending order of perfection: 1. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states, 2. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.
7. Right Mindfulness
Right mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualize sense impressions and thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to other thoughts and experiences, which naturally go beyond the facticity of the original impression. The mind then posits concepts, joins concepts into constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex interpretative schemes. All this happens only half consciously, and as a result we often see things obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in clear perception and it penetrates impressions without getting carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualization in a way that we actively observe and control the way our thoughts go. Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of mindfulness: 1. contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral), 3. contemplation of the state of mind, and 4. contemplation of the phenomena.
8. Right Concentration
The eighth principle of the path, right concentration, refers to the development of a mental force that occurs in natural consciousness, although at a relatively low level of intensity, namely concentration. Concentration in this context is described as one-pointed ness of mind, meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular object. Right concentration for the purpose of the eightfold path means wholesome concentration. The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is through the practice of meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels concentration also in everyday situations.
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
College of Arts
Department of Humanities
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in
Oriental Philosophy I
Buddhism’s Four Noble Truth and Eightfold Path
Rikka Joy K. Decella
ABP IV-1
Prof. Divino
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