CHAPTER 7

The Spiritual Self

Prepared by:
 Beliefs and practices in
Supernatural Being and Power
In general, many people exercise different beliefs and practices in
various aspects. Some were the example of practices of a common
religion here in the Philippines - Iglesia ni Cristo, Islam and Roman
Catholic.

Iglesia ni Cristo - The preacher of INC is what they called

“Minister”. A minister is needed in order to explain the Bible. They are
needed because the INC teaches that man cannot understand the
saving gospel of Jesus Christ without one of their ministers explaining
the Bible. INC believe, that there is no trinity of persons in God. Though
the Bible speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, never does
it refer to all of them as gods nor as three persons in one God; rather, it
points to the Father alone as the true God. Also, INC members are
prohibited to eat blood or any food mixed with blood because all
doctrines and practices of Iglesia Ni Cristo are written in the Bible.

Islam - The preacher of Islam is what they called “Imam”. Imam

is an Arabic word meaning "Leader". It is commonly used to refer to the
official that leads the prayers at the mosques. "Allah" is simply the
Arabic word for God. He is the same universal God worshipped by
people of all faiths. The word "Allah" is sometimes preferred over God
because it is neither masculine nor feminine. Muslims believe that the
last revealed scripture sent by God is the Qur'an or Koran. It is the
speech of God revealed in the Arabic language to Muhammad during
his mission of twenty-three years.

Muslims have six major beliefs:

- Belief in one God (Allah)

- Belief in the Angels
 - Belief in the holy books sent to all the prophets including Torah
that was revealed to the prophet Moses, Bible that was
revealed to the prophet Jesus, and Qur'an (Koran) that was
revealed to the prophet Muhammad
- Belief in all the prophets sent by God including Noah, Abraham,
Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Although
Muslims believe in Isa or Jesus they don't think of Jesus as the
Son of God the way Christians do.
- Belief in the Day of Judgment and life after death. The best
reward for performing good deeds is getting closer to God.
- Belief in divine decree. This means that God is all-powerful and
nothing can happen without His permission, however, he has
given human beings freedom to choose whether to be good or
bad. In the end, everyone will be questioned about how they
lived in this life.

These are guides for daily life for putting the beliefs of Muslims
into practice:

- Shahadah (declaration of faith)—to bear witness or testify that

there is no god except one God (Allah) and Muhammad is His
prophet or messenger.
- Salat (ritual prayer)—the five daily prayers are performed at
dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and night. The prayers are
offered in Arabic language and facing the direction of Mecca.
- Zakah (alms tax) –Giving 2.5% of one's wealth to the poor and
needy.
- Sawm (fasting)—Muslims fast during the daylight hours in the
ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar called Ramadan. The
purpose is to remind people of the goodness of what they have
 and to show equality with the poor. Ramadan is a time for
study and self-discipline.
- Hajj (pilgrimage): Muslims believe in making a pilgrimage to
Mecca to the Ka'bah at least once in their lifetime. The kA'bah
is believed to have been built by Ibrahim (Abraham) and one of
his sons. Muhammad restored it to worship Allah. For this
reason it is a very sacred place to Muslims.

Roman Catholic - The Preacher of Roman Catholic is what they

called “Priest”. A parish priest is a priest appointed by the bishop to
represent him to the local parish, which is a collection of
neighborhoods in one small region of a county within a given state. A
given city may support a number of parishes, depending on the Catholic
population. One is the belief that the Roman Catholic Church is the one
true church. This connects with the view that the Pope occupies the
episcopal seat of Peter and is the sole vicar of Christ upon earth. Roman
Catholic theologians have defended the universality of their church’s
doctrine by several means. One approach is to hold to an ancient oral
tradition that existed alongside the written tradition of Holy Scripture.
RELIGION

- Human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred,

absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence. It is also
commonly regarded as consisting of the way people deal with ultimate
concerns about their lives and their fate after death. In many traditions,
this relation and these concerns are expressed in terms of one’s
relationship with or attitude toward gods or spirits; in more humanistic
or naturalistic forms of religion, they are expressed in terms of one’s
relationship with or attitudes toward the broader human community or
the natural world. In many religions, texts are deemed to have scriptural
status, and people are esteemed to be invested with spiritual or moral
authority. Believers and worshippers participate in and are often
enjoined to perform devotional or contemplative practices such as
prayer, meditation, or particular rituals. Worship, moral conduct, right
belief, and participation in religious institutions are among the
constituent elements of the religious life.
The Philippines is one of two predominantly Roman Catholic nations in
Asia-Pacific. Their habit of going to church and often praying reflect that
Filipinos have a deep faith and belief when it comes to religion. They
are very devoted to religions that sometimes many take the risk of their
lives just to touch the Black Nazarene (in Quiapo, Manila). For many, it is
just a choice between their faith and fears. Filipinos believe that having
a strong devotion may lead to a better life and their guidance to face
everyday life.

Also, during Holy Week, many Catholic households follow several

traditions to honor Jesus Christ's sacrifice. It has become a tradition
that during these times, Filipino Catholics should remember Christ's
passion, suffering and death. Catholics have their own ways of
observing the Holy Week.

10 traditional Holy Week practices

1. Fasting

Fasting is a simple reminder of what it means to suffer and to

understand the sacrifice Jesus did for humanity. As a form of penitence,
many people fast or voluntarily give up certain types of luxuries during
the Lent season. The most common form of fasting during Lent is
fasting from food.
2. Participating in Pabasa

For those who grew up in provinces, Pabasa might be familiar. This is a

ritual where your lolos and lolas chant the texts in the book of the
passion of Christ in many different ways. For the young ones who have
participated in the pabasa this year, and have endured the whole
session, you should give credit to yourself.

3. Visita Iglesia

One of the most important traditions during Holy Week is the Visita
Iglesia, a practice in which the faithful visit seven churches on Maundy
Thursday leading to the Good Friday to commemorate Christ's passion
and to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
4. Procession

Processions are usually held on Good Friday, including The Way of the
Cross. People led by the priest walk from station to station
contemplating the Passion of Christ. There are a total of 14 stations.

5. Senakulo

"Senakulo" is some sort of a play about the last days of Christ. They are
often organized by and participated in by locals.
6. Moriones Festival

Moriones refers to the masked and costumed penitents who march

around the towns in Marinduque for seven days searching for Longinus.
They roam around the streets from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday as a
tradition.

7. Cutud Crucifixions

Yearly activities in San Pedro, Pampanga during Holy Week include

crucifixions. Participants in the local crucifixions usually play Biblical
characters in full costume. They would reenact events during the Siete
Palabras. This is done during Good Friday.
8. Flagellants

Flagellants in Pampanga during Holy Week are called "Magdarame."

These practitioners do an extreme form of mortification of their own
flesh by whipping it with various instruments. Flagellants roam the
streets on Good Friday while either carrying wooden crosses or
whipping their backs with bamboo lashes called “burilyos."

9. Night Vigil

Black Saturday is when Christ is entombed. Filipinos spend the day

preparing for the night vigil leading up to Easter Sunday.
10. Salubong

Easter Sunday is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. At four

o'clock in the morning, Filipinos do a salubong ceremony
commemorating how the Virgin Mary met her risen son Jesus.

These belief permeates a person being that it can direct a person and
serves as the guide for moral decisions and actions. - Ones identity of
spiritual self is deeply tied to the center of their religion and worship.
Different Kind of Religion

 Christians - Believed that man was created in the image of God

(genesis 1:27).

● Buddhism and Hinduism - Mans goal is to reach Nirvana, - the

removal of desires and sufferings.

● Muslim- name muslim itself means one who surrenders and submits
to allah and his laws. - Every different community in a given region will a
different set of belief and objects of beliefs.

● Christians God-for christians, everything else is immaterial for as long

as we follow god. He is also god the father, god the son and the holy
spirit.

● Islam- God is allah, he was the one who showed mohammed, the
founding prophet.

● Prostentantism- Salvation through Christ jesus was deeply

emphasized and one must be born again and accept jesus christ as the
lord and savior. ●Iglesia ni Cristo- Believes that god is not the holy
trinity but a singular being.

● Buddhism- believed to have found its way here during the 6th , 7th
Century there is no personal god but one should follow the path of
buddha. The enlightened one.

● Indigenous belief- characterized as animism, Inanimate objects may

be worshipped, like trees, plants, sun, sea or it could also be all of them
at the same time. -beliefs in different kinds of spirits and practices are
also pervasive
The Practice Of Religion

The practice of religion is restricted more than the beliefs as this will
affect other people it my include worship, rites, rituals, sacrifices,
fiestas, trances, etc. There will also be dances, meditation ,
celebrations, matrimonial, funeral ,baptismal services or other more
practices as provided by the human culture.
The Concept of Dungan -Spirit or Soul

•Socrates and Plato (Greek philosophers) said that the position of soul
elevated by saying that man is soul only.

•The idea of soul is central in most religions.

•St. Thomas Aquinas - said that each living things has a soul and that
soul enjoy more eternal life or as it calls General Resurrection.
HINDUISM

•Atman ("breath" or "soul") - a hinduism word is the universal,

eternal self of which each individual soul (jiva or jiva-atman) partakes.

•Jiva-atman - also eternal self but imprisoned in ab earthly body at

birth and death.

•Judgement of Karma - liberates new existence

•Samsara - cycle of death and rebirth

•Brahman - when soul has attained karmic perfection

BUDDHISM

They negates the concept not only the individual self and believes on
reincarnation.

MUSLIM

-Believes that souls existed at the same time as the body but it will
survive bodily death and have a life on it's won.

SOME ETHNIC GROUP IN OUR COUNTRY (PHILIPPINES) HAVE A

DIFFERENT CONCEPT ALSO OF SPIRITS. Animism- ancestors believe that
souls are wuasi -physical and can exist in dreams and vision "Multo" or
ghost- soul that come from the dead person. -it can br reincarnated as
a human, an animal or plant
RITUALS AND CEREMONIES: Why do we do them?

Ancestors believed in the spiritual beings in the environment, deceased

ancestral sounds, and to forces in nature (wind, moon, starts) which
involved as a help.

•"Babaylan" - believes inside the body of a living person dwells the

"dungan"

•"Dungan" -companion that co exist -gives life, animation and

sensibilities to a person -leaves the body when person is awake
(dangerous dungan). It will became a robot that's without battery
(Magos, 1986)
Magic is not part of religion as there is no spirit involved.
- EDWARD TYLOR (1871)

Magic is the initial step before it becomes religion, which will evolve
to science.
- JAMES FRAZER (1890)

On the other hand, says that religious rituals involve the community
whereas, magic gravitates on the needs and wants of an individual
only.
- EMILE DURKHEIM (1912)

RELIGION - the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling

power, especially a personal God or gods.

MAGIC - A method that somehow interface with the supernatural and

by which people can bring about particular outcomes. (Stein and Stein
2011).

WITCHCRAFT - Generally refers to individuals who have an innate

ability to do evil. It is generally associated with immoral and antisocial
behavior such as greed, vengeance and envy.

SORCERY- involves rituals and magic which are not a requirement in

whichcraft (Most of the time being differentiate from witchcraf).
FINDING AND CREATING MEANING:

Why should I continue to live? What can I give life?

THREE WAYS OF DISCOVERING THE MEANING OF LIFE.

VIKTOR FRANKL

"Man's search for meaning“, a book by Viktor Emil Frankl.

We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways:

1. By creating a work or doing a deed.

2. By experiencing something or encountering someone.

3. By the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.

 NICK VUJICIC

Nicholas James Vujicic is an Australian Christian evangelist and

motivational speaker born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder
characterized by the absence of arms and legs.

Vujicic's first book, Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously

Good Life, was published by Random House in 2010 and has been
translated into over 30 languages