Spirituality Guide

The particular and the concrete are not the ultimate real forms in Plato’s intellectual world which is represented by the general and the abstract. The particular and the concrete then are just mere representations of the general and the abstract. They bore only a striking resemblance of the ultimate reality found in the intellectual world.

The metaphor for particular and the concrete is shadows of cut-out shapes found on the walls of the cave which are mere symbols of the truth outside the cave lighted up by the sun.

In the “divided line”, “allegory of the cave” and the “image of the sun”, Plato discusses the metaphysics that divides the world into two separate aspects: the intellectual world of “forms”, and the visible or perceptual world we see around us. The visible world comprises of imperfect copies of the intellectual world of forms or ideas. These forms are unalterable and perfect. These can only be understood by the use of the intellect or understanding such as using that part of the mind that does not include sense-perception or imagination.

Plato’s account of reality affirms the need to recognize the fact that reality is not what we see alone. Reality is much more than that. Reason, imagination and spiritual values form another part of reality that is as real and undeniable as those we see or perceive through our senses.

At the top this intellectual world is the Good, which shines down on all. Next is the form, the perfect versions of earthly objects which we remember when we see the objects. The forms provide us with our understanding, knowledge, and intelligence. We understand or know a horse because of the memory of the form horse. Next lowest is reason or thought based on axioms.
Then we cross the divider in the line, the visible things to which the other side of the line is applied. At the top of this lower section is belief, or perception based ideation. Next is the imagination.

One of the aspects in the intellectual world is reason. At the top of the ladder is the Good, followed by Form then Reason. The reason or thought is based on axioms. The reality statis of mathematical entities for Plato is that mathematical principles fall under Reason because they are too perfect to be considered part of the visible world.

Take for instance the mathematical advances of the Pythagoreans. Mathematics has a definitiveness that goes beyond the finest knowledge derived from experience. The construction of the Pythagorean Theorem, for example, cannot be found in the crude dimensions of space and time alone. At the same time it exhibits an amazing insight and certainty. The Pythagorean Theorem can only be explained by assuming that it is a concept formed brought about by the impact of a perfect world of geometrical forms. It is the association of our soul to some extent in that world of Forms that explains the fact that we are capable of grasping something that is exact and amazing even though we cannot realize the construction except by the use of crude methods in the sensible world.

In geometry and arithmetic, we make use of specific figures to show our ideas and make examples clear. In these sciences, certain postulates are made and conclusions are drawn from the postulates. The intelligible, on the other hand, is “that which the reason itself,” rather than image-assisted imagination,

lays hold of by the power of dialectic, treating its assumptions not as absolute beginnings but literally as hypotheses, underpinnings, footings, and springboards so to speak, to enable it to rise to that which requires no assumption and is the starting point of all, and after attaining to that again taking hold of the first dependencies from it, so to proceed downward to the conclusion, making no use whatever of any object of sense but only of pure ideas moving on through ideas to ideas and ending with ideas. (511b-c)

Part of developing a deeper spirituality is developing a heathy lifestyle. Being physically fit allows one to focus on attaining deeper spiritually. Imagine how difficult it would be to aim for inner health when you are physically ill.

Much of the physical problems today revolves around being overweight. Luckily, I was able to watch Oprah and I just want to with you what I learn from the show:

1. Lose weight slowly. Don’t try to make drastic changes to your weight. This is not healthy. It will cause more problems later. Better take it slowly but surely.

2. Lose weight by brisk walking daily. The goal should be to walk 10,000 steps daily. I timed the number of steps I take a minute and it was 80 steps a minute. 10,000 divided by 80 steps that would mean 125 minutes or 2.083 hours daily.

Of course you dont try to reach 10,000 steps in one swoop. No the first rule still applies and that is take brisk walking everyday. Then gradually build up the number of steps until you reach 10,000.

You don’t need to walk 10,000 steps in one setting. You can walk for like 30 minutes in the morning, then another 30 minutes in the afternoon, 30 minutes in evening and 30 minutes before sleeping. Whatever works for you. Also count the number of minutes you walk at work. When you are at the office, make it a point to do some walking while working like going to the copier machine, walking to the pantry for coffee or juice, walking to the canteen or taking the stairs instead of using elevators. Or, even going to the comfort room.

3. Don’t eat 3 hours before you sleep. If you do this, you will automatically lose weight. If you make it a habit and do this everyday, you will lose more weight.

These are simple easy-to-do-steps which anybody can do anytime, anywhere. You don’t need to buy anything. I hope you will do these steps to be able to attain a healthier lifestyle.

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794) was written at a time of turbulent period in English and American history when the United States was still in its infancy stage.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience show the two contrary states of the Human Soul (1789-94). The poems set the world of pastoral innocence and childhood against the world of adult corruption and repression; they contrast the meek virtue of “The Lamb” with the darker forces of energy in “The Tyger.”

Blake often employs rhetorical techniques such as personification and Biblical symbolism. Blake features a number of symbols in Songs of Innocence and of Experience which remind us of antiquarian literature particularly during Christ’s times. Chariots and Spears are poetical devices which had Biblical basis and so are his Satanic Mills. He featured the gloomy Victorian cotton mills into an ironic intimacy with Christ and the regenerated Jerusalem in his Songs.

These poems are related to folk traditions in a way because Blake often utilizes the traditional meters of ballads, nursery rhymes, and hymns in expressing his thoughts. The poems provided a vivid contrast on innocence and experience. The Lamb represents innocence which we also could relate to Jesus, the Lamb of God. Tyger represents experience that comes with age which Blake sets a contrasting sinister image to make the Lamb appear more holy.

Blake’s preoccupation with Good and Evil is the gist of the poems in Songs of Innocence and of Experience. The poet attempts to paint a clear picture on how the experiences of adult life corrupt and later destroy innocence. The poems reflect the ideals, lives and truth in the antiquarian movement and more so, today.

It is not unusual to come across stories that feature the lives of eccentric people. The following stories show the different levels of eccentricity and their relevance to the theme and plot. Strange, even to the point of being offensive, behaviors show extreme sides of human nature.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek
Peyton Farquhar is a Southern planter who was imprisoned by the Union Army because he attempted to destroy the railroad bridge at Owl Creek. The punishment of the crime is hanging. Farquhar is considered strange because he seems too nationalistic or too loyal for his own good. His loyalty to the South which led him to attempt to destroy the bridge had resulted to his death. Some people see Farquhar as sympathetic and brave while a number thinks he acts without thinking, foolhardy and too fixated on attaining honor which, in the end, cost him his dear life.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Huckleberry Finn is the main character of the story. He runs away and passes the Mississippi River on a raft together with a slave named Jim. Huck is strange due to the fact that despite finding a treasure and having money, he prefers to live a simple life which prompts him to run away. This of course led to a series of adventures and/or misadventures for Huck.
Huck is strange in the sense that he loves to wander and lead a free life instead of living in the comforts and safety of a home complete with foster parents looking after him. His adventurous spirit does not allow him to settle in one place for a long time.

Bartleby the Scrivener
Bartleby is considered by the narrator, a lawyer, as the strangest man he has ever known.
He works as a scrivener or legal copyist. Bartleby is extremely passive, quiet, never gets mad. His most annoying trait though is obstinacy. He sees life as an aimless exercise and he could not feel enthusiastic for it. His favorite phrase “I would prefer not to” is his way of disconnecting himself from the world, which of course, is not possible for “no man is an island unto himself”. His refusal extends not only to tasks in particular but to life in general. In the end, Bartleby decides that “he prefers not to eat” which eventually kills him.
The Great Gatsby
Jay Gatsby, formerly James Gats, is quite a strange man although he embodies a number of ideals such as hard work, his ability to turn his dreams to reality, great love, great drive and ambition, kindness and loyalty. These very traits propelled Gatsby to greatness hence the moniker, The Great Gatsby. On the other end, we see Gatsby embodying contrasting traits that negate his ideals and ironically also exemplify the era of American Dream. These traits which lead to his demise are: pursuit of worldly pleasures, cynicism, greed for money, unbridled passion and moral degradation.

The Minster’s black veil
Reverend Hooper wears a black veil on his face wherever he goes. This makes him look like an eccentric, to the point of being considered an outcast. But he points out that each of us is wearing a veil although not seen. We cover our sins before man but we know that God is aware of every fault we commit.
The Reverend Hooper’s decision to wear a veil for the rest of his life invites a number of speculations on the reason why he want this kind of eccentric lifestyle. One of the reasons cited was that the Minister wore the black veil to hide his own shame and guilt brought about by an affair in the past.
By choosing to wear the black veil, the Reverend’s life becomes characterized by scandal and ostracism. When he was dying, it was then that people around him finally realized and appreciate his efforts in wearing the veil. The black veil symbolizes hypocrisy in the midst of life of sin.

Conclusion

The eccentric characters in the stories provide the main plot. As their lives unfold, so do the stories.

Being eccentric has its meaning. People choose to be eccentric for some reasons. And for that, we should respect them even if they appear weird to us or not. Eccentricity is only one way of showing our uniqueness although some carry it to extreme levels such as the examples cited above.

Admittedly, spirituality is one of the essential aspects of a person. Without paying attention to one’s spiritual needs, it is impossible for a person to become whole. That is why it is very difficult to solve a problem without considering its spiritual dimension. To do so, would mean offering only partial solution to the problem.

Aspects of spirituality in social work include prayer, providing a sense of meaning in life, reading and contemplation, a sense of proximity to a Higher Being, relations with others, and other experiences that show spiritual interaction or awareness.

Recent studies by researchers revealed a striking connection between good spiritual health and good physical health. Also, being spiritual leads to low fear of death, low discomfort, reduced loneliness and emotional adjustment particularly in cancer patients (Cancer Treatment Centers of America, 2005).
Social work and religion provide an added dimension to the usual tasks involved. Social workers do not merely look into the emotional implications of the problems but also ita impact on the person’s spiritual life. The two combined address a deeper need of a person, something that scratches beyond the surface.

Injecting religion with social work could strengthen the person’s faith. And give him additional resource to turn to and draw strength from in times of trouble. After all, in the immortal words of Tiellhard de Chardin and I quote ,”We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Admittedly, spirituality is one of the essential aspects of a person. Without paying attention to one’s spiritual needs, it is impossible for a person to become whole. That is why it is very difficult to solve a problem without considering its spiritual dimension. To do so, would mean offering only partial solution to the problem.

Aspects of spirituality in social work include prayer, providing a sense of meaning in life, reading and contemplation, a sense of proximity to a Higher Being, relations with others, and other experiences that show spiritual interaction or awareness.

Recent studies by researchers revealed a striking connection between good spiritual health and good physical health. Also, being spiritual leads to low fear of death, low discomfort, reduced loneliness and emotional adjustment particularly in cancer patients (Cancer Treatment Centers of America, 2005).
Social work and religion provide an added dimension to the usual tasks involved. Social workers do not merely look into the emotional implications of the problems but also ita impact on the person’s spiritual life. The two combined address a deeper need of a person, something that scratches beyond the surface.
Injecting religion with social work could strengthen the person’s faith. And give him additional resource to turn to and draw strength from in times of trouble. After all, in the immortal words of Tiellhard de Chardin and I quote ,”We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

It is of no secret that the health of the body starts with the health of mind. And the health of mind is strongly related to the emotional state of the person. For instance, happy people seem to view life positively and better able to cope with problems. Hence, they manifest fewer physical ailments. Sad people, on the other hand, seem to be easily discouraged or to view things negatively, creating confusion to their psyche. As a result, their physical health deteriorates and manifests in various body aches and pains. This is particularly apparent in psychosomatic illnesses.

Psychosomatic illnesses manifest because the mind influences the body. This is sometimes referred to as the power of suggestion. Due to this, it is sometimes possible for a person to feel physically ill without any actual physical reason. Worrying on possible physical symptoms aggravates them. The patient then goes to the doctor for reassurance that there isn’t anything seriously wrong with them. A psychosomatic illness will sometimes disappear once the patient hears the reassurance. Others though may require treatment. Psychotherapy can also be cure pychsomatic symptoms (Wikipedia, 2005).

In social work, it is necessary to reach out to people who deserve help like the less privileged. In extreme cases such as poverty, homelessness, abuse and others, the main problem of these people who require social work is not the absence of opportunities to succeed in life. Rather, they are presented with opportunities but could not recognize them as such because they train their mind and develop the habit of expecting to fail.
Due to this, it can be gleaned that people who need the services of social workers are those whose greatest drawback is the way they think. Social work is for people who require encouragement because they lost confidence in themselves. In the most severe cases, some people give up on the struggle and lost in the battle of life. Their self-esteem has plunged to the lowest and they find no reason to go on.

Personally, I believe that there is a close correlation between social work and religion. Spirituality is an essential aspect of life. The person’s belief in a power outside oneself acts as a coping mechanism to stressful events. It gives him hope and strength to tackle whatever is facing him. The person is assured of a ‘power’ ever ready to help him should the need arise. This belief is the core of religion. Religion translated into a way of life such as guiding principles and kind deeds is the essence of spirituality. It is important for a person to practice his/her religious beliefs in day-to-day living in order to achieve harmony between beliefs and practices.

The paperback version of my book “Change of Plans, Change of Hearts” is now out. Please check it out at www.double-dragon-ebooks.com or at Lulu books.
Please check it out. Thanks!

Last December, a huge lightning struck our place. We were praying the Holy Rosary that time around 9 pm when I heard the chandelier in our living room shook!

I felt frightened of course. So in the middle of our rosary, I muttered a short prayer asking God to protect us from the wrath of lightning.

The next day, early in the morning, my uncle who lived close to us knocked on our door. He asked if our house got struck by lightning. Confused, we said “no”. Then he explained that the houses of our neighbors surrounding us got hit by lightning including his house. One neighbor’s clothesline with wet clothes hanging on it burned to a crisp. Another’s living room had burnt marks on the sofa. And my uncle’s tv was on fire right in the middle of the living room. All of them suffered from electricty blackout because the electric volts exploded. We were the only house who had electricity. We were the only one spared from lightning!!!

I don’t know how we got away from the destruction wrought by ightning that night. The only reason I can think of is that we just experienced a miracle. And for me that reason suffices.

I realized that FAILURE IS NEVER FINAL -
just as SUCCESS IS NEVER ULTIMATE!

This was part of the presentation we made last Jan.6, 2007 during my grandpa’s 90th Birthday (yes 90th!!). I just would like to share this with you.

Once upon a time, in the great stillness of the night, a child’s cry broke the holy silence. It was in a humble manger in Bethlehem 2000 years ago that the Savior, Christ the King was born.

Joseph and Mary spent days even weeks to look for a suitable place to stay, to give birth to their son. They traveled far and wide on a donkey as they knocked on doors to seek help. Their tired, aching bones craved for the familiar comfort of a place to sleep on. But nobody would let them in. Every door closed on them.

Such was the desperate plight our Lord found himself in the time he first saw light. The unwelcoming world had no place for him except for a manger. Clothe with the barest garment, Jesus was laid unresistingly on a lowly, unbecoming manger. Joseph and Mary could only look on helplessly and with great pain and pity at their holy son.

That first Christmas, there was no room for him in the entire Bethlehem except in a lowly stable. Are we going to let it happen again?

May we finally open the doors to our hearts and let Jesus in not only during Christmas but everyday of our lives!

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794) was written at a time of turbulent period in English and American history when the United States was still in its infancy stage.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience show the two contrary states of the Human Soul (1789-94). The poems set the world of pastoral innocence and childhood against the world of adult corruption and repression; they contrast the meek virtue of “The Lamb” with the darker forces of energy in “The Tyger.”

Blake often employs rhetorical techniques such as personification and Biblical symbolism. Blake features a number of symbols in Songs of Innocence and of Experience which remind us of antiquarian literature particularly during Christ’s times. Chariots and Spears are poetical devices which had Biblical basis and so are his Satanic Mills. He featured the gloomy Victorian cotton mills into an ironic intimacy with Christ and the regenerated Jerusalem in his Songs.

These poems are related to folk traditions in a way because Blake often utilizes the traditional meters of ballads, nursery rhymes, and hymns in expressing his thoughts. The poems provided a vivid contrast on innocence and experience. The Lamb represents innocence which we also could relate to Jesus, the Lamb of God. Tyger represents experience that comes with age which Blake sets a contrasting sinister image to make the Lamb appear more holy.

Blake’s preoccupation with Good and Evil is the gist of the poems in Songs of Innocence and of Experience. The poet attempts to paint a clear picture on how the experiences of adult life corrupt and later destroy innocence. The poems reflect the ideals, lives and truth in the antiquarian movement and more so, today.

In our lifetime, parting ways with someone is always a certainty. Letting go is such a difficult thing to do. I had my share of letting go of some very important people in my life in the not-so-distant past. And it wasn’t easy. I die a little each time. It’s worse than death because though you are still alive you have no idea what to do orwhere to go next (must be how the zombie feels).

The only consolation I had during those times was the thought that for once I had the opportunity to know such a person. That God has been so good to bless me with the person’s presence even for just a fraction of eternity. That for that infinitesimal moment our lives touched or the paths crossed, my life has never been the same again.

The person may LEAVE forever, but the memory lingers on. To me, that alone will suffice.