An Enigmatic Soul

Ako si Superman!

2007-05-26T19:32:00.000+08:00

Your results:
You are Superman

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Batman		70%
Robin		70%
Spider-Man		65%
Supergirl		65%
Wonder Woman		60%
The Flash		60%
Green Lantern		55%
Hulk		55%
Catwoman		40%
Iron Man		35%

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Preliminary Guidelines for the Present Situation of “National Emergency”

2006-02-28T10:04:00.000+08:00

A. The Situation:

There seem to be groups in the military who have seriously been engaged in attempts to seize state power. Part of the impetus for these coup plots appears to be legitimate grievances concerning the present state of the military under the present administration. But it does not seem that the ventilation of these grievances is the only agenda of the present movements among these groups. There also appears to be a genuine intent to take political control of the country. Transitional juntas, with civilians participating, appear to be envisioned. Some civilians, chiefly politicians and organized political groups, seem to know about these plans. Some, convinced that all constitutional means to oust the present administration have been exhausted, support these attempts.

There appears to be a crucial difference between the events of EDSA 1986 and the present. EDSA was a civilian-led initiative against dictatorship that received support from the military. What we are witnessing these days is quite different: a military-led effort seeking civilian support and legitimation.

The response of the government is the declaration of a state of National Emergency, through Proclamation No. 1017. The column of Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J., in today’s Philippines Daily Inquirer, explains the constitutional basis for and scope of emergency powers in the Proclamation. But Fr. Bernas also points to the disturbing inclusion of what seem to be martial law powers in the President’s declaration, particularly in its appeal to Article XII, Section 17 of the Constitution, concerning the temporary takeover of privately owned businesses and utilities, a move that seems aimed at government control of the press and media.

B. Some Guidelines:

1. The crisis of political legitimacy and the crying need for reform of the military are real. Nonetheless, any attempt by factions in the military to seize state power, however well motivated, cannot be supported. Such attempts overstep the noble task of the military in a democracy. The consequences of such actions that threaten civilian supremacy over the military will be extremely difficult to reverse and would be seriously harmful for the country’s future. The experience of countries in which a politicized military has taken state power—what we often refer to as “banana republics”—gives sobering illustrations of these consequences. Once having captured the state, military forces have not given up power easily. A cycle of constant struggles for state control among military elements begins, to the detriment of political stability, democratic freedoms and national development.

Democracy demands the rule of civilians who are legitimately chosen from and by the people, and not simply kept in power by military might. It is important to recall the principle articulated by the CBCP in its pastoral statement of January 2006: actions that “condone violence or counter-constitutional means in resolving our present crisis” are not acceptable, especially since they “would only bring about new forms of injustice, hardships, and greater harm in the future.”

2. The serious threat to democratic freedoms involved in Proclamation No. 1017 should be exposed, questioned, and resisted. Even constitutionally mandated emergency powers can be abused if they are exercised disproportionately, to the point of undermining basic rights. It is alarming that, even now, there seem to be indications of this abuse, such as the arrest of civilians without clear bases and charges. This is a serious and unacceptable violation of civil and political rights.

Furthermore, the present administration’s actions towards controlling the media must be resisted. Not only are these moves of questionable constitutionality, but state takeover of media seems morally unjustified, as such a measure would violate the freedom of expression which is a fundamental tenet of democracy.

We must not be naïve and uncritical. Many groups have taken and will continue to take advantage of the present confusion. We, especially religious and Church groups, must be wary about which groups we identify with, lest we indirectly legitimate and support antidemocratic groups with vested interests. The question of the future governance of the country, should the present administration collapse, is not a matter of indifference, but a serious moral consideration. Who assumes power, with what mandate and what agenda, are questions that we must seek answers to from those who would solicit our support.

The present administration’s actions to frustrate legitimate constitutional means of reform and accountability must be held largely responsible for the present crisis. Government’s constant attempts to evade accountability and true reform have made the military solution seem attractive and inevitable to some.

Thus, it is necessary that the following be addressed with greater urgency: the search for truth on the many controversies of the recent past; the revamp of COMELEC and other necessary electoral reforms; reforms in the military; and the continuing search for solutions to the problems of poverty and inequality that beset most of our people.

C. Some Immediate Courses of Action:

In this situation, the following are appropriate immediate courses of action:

· Gatherings of prayer for peace and a non-violent resolution of the crisis;

· Gatherings to exchange reliable information, and to discern collectively in the light of emerging developments;

· Expressions and actions of protest against the curtailments of democratic freedoms in Proclamation No. 1017.

A Call to Commit to the Spirit of EDSA 1

2006-02-27T00:37:00.000+08:00

As we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of EDSA 1, we recall how we, as one nation, held our heads up high before the rest of the world with the clear message that a revolution need not be violent. And proud we were when many nations followed suit, guided by the principles and values upheld at the very first EDSA Revolution.

Ironically, in these times of socio-political unrest and uncertainty, the spirit of EDSA 1 is threatened by dark forces demanding a swift resolution to the national crisis. It is this context that we at SIMBAHANG LINGKOD NG BAYAN, call on the Filipino people to renew their commitment to the spirit of active non-violence that guided the very first EDSA Revolution.

We particularly uphold the following:

1.. That we go through this crisis within the parameters set by our constitution. We reject the unconstitutional acts of military adventurist and other parties seeking to overthrow the government through violence.

2.. That we vigorously and conscientiously pursue the call of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines to search for the truth. We call on the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to lead the nation in this search by exhausting all constitutional alternatives in an impartial and expeditious manner. We entreat our leaders to open more avenues for the peaceful resolution of the national crisis instead of shutting off all constitutional options we can take.

The spirit of the times denies us the peace and unity we have always yearned for. There are no easy solutions to our predicament. But we are not about to give up as a nation. We continue to pursue the elusive truth because we believe that the Spirit of EDSA 1 can be and should be the spirit of the times.

As we re-live the spirit of EDSA 1, let us rekindle our commitment to social change and renewal through active non-violence.

Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan

Maki-alam. Manalangin. Manindigan.

Giant Davids

2006-01-18T09:24:00.000+08:00

We shall steer safely through every storm,
so long as our heart is right,
our intention fervent,
our courage steadfast,
and our trust fixed firmly on God.

St. Francis de Sales

We are humbled that we may be exalted. When faced with a Goliath, our weeness is highlighted, the sling and stone we possess melt before the iron shield and sword, our humble protection fade before the grand armory of the giants we face. Yet, we are not discouraged. We continue the battle we have started. We do so because we intiated the challenge. We fight on knowing that in our awareness of our lack, the Lord will fill us with the grace we need to win the battle. Just think about the many battles in life you have won and you will be convinced that in our humility we are exalted.

The Spiral Ascent to the Truth

2006-01-13T22:14:00.000+08:00

Once we have come to terms with the truth, we come full circle and are restored to wholeness. We must expect though that the cycle takes place once again. The journey from lies to truth is a never-ending journey for there is much our minds need to know about being. And each ontological truth discovered prods us to continue to uncover more lies so that we can discover more truths. This process is like an ascent to the top of a mountain along a spiral path. Every step we take brings us further round and up the mountain. Thus, the roundabout road reveals new horizons for we get to see the valley not from one side of the mountain alone but from all sides. Each step too takes us a degree higher thus stretching the reach of our vision.

One wonders then what waits for us at the top of the mountain. Why go through the grueling experience of being called into question by the Other? On hindsight, after having taken each step, we realize that the act reveals a truth about that which actually exists and relates to us. And each step further along the path brings us closer to the Truth of Being – the gathering of all the truths of beings to be known.

In this exposition of the journey from lies to truth, we have encountered many Others who, in their own way, put into question our attitudes and beliefs about lies and truth. We have met David and his grandfather Tevyalike, the catcher in the rye named Holden, the prisoner in the Platonic cave, and the family of the dead salesman Willy. Our openness to the truth of their being as revealed in their own attitudes and beliefs about man and his world has afforded us the opportunity to learn a few lessons invaluable to our ascent towards the Truth of Being. What then are these lessons?

First, it is important for us to maintain an attitude of openness to being. In his rounds with his grandfather Tevyalike in search of junk – tattered rags, used clothes, and empty bottles – David stumbles on nuggets of wisdom, invaluable lessons in life. So too with us, despite the despair we go through when faced with questions put forth by the Other, we must maintain an attitude of openness to the truth we may uncover about them. Clarke reminds us that

… all created beings conceal deep within them a certain inexhaustible depth of intelligibility that exceeds the grasp of our concepts. Hence, they always remain for us in this life somehow touched with mystery, as known-unknown.[1]

We must therefore never get tired of uncovering the truth of being that wants to be known. We should always aim at uncovering whatever there is to know in the mystery of being with the end of allowing what is known to get the bigger share of the pie.

One wonders what would have happened to Willy had he been more open to the truth of Biff’s being. Biff had attempted many times to reveal this to Willy. Sadly, Willy was too adamant that he knew Biff more than Biff knew himself. Thus, Biff’s inability to meet his expectations leads to his further frustration with his elusive dream. Rather than abandon his construct and be open to Biff’s self-revelation, Willy chose to search for reasons that will fit Biff into his mold of a successful person. We must remember that we cannot make being conform with our minds.

Second, whatever truth we uncover is meant to be shared with our fellow prisoners in darkness. At the end of the Allegory of the Cave, the prisoner realizes that it may not be worth it to go back to the cave and tell his story to his fellow prisoners. He thinks that the prisoners, in making out the shadows on the wall, will always outdo him thus losing their respect. Even if he has the truth on his side, his fellow prisoners will simply mock him for he no longer has the capacity to recognize the shadows for to them, this is the only thing that is real. When enlightened by the truth, one can no longer live in a lie. Does this mean that he should be content with staying outside the cave, basking in the glory of the Truth?

We must remember that it is the Other who vests us with our freedom. It is in the Hegelian dialectic between the self and the non-self that one discovers his freedom. And with this freedom comes a responsibility. We become responsible to the one who gives us our freedom. In his essay entitled Existentialism and Human Emotion, Sartre says that man is condemned to be free. He is condemned because he is not his creator and yet, he is free to determine who he will be for, to Sartre, existence precedes essence. Sartrean anguish reminds us that in our exercise of our freedom, the person we fashion ourselves to be will be the definition of man we present to the rest of humanity. Hence, whenever, we exercise our freedom, we must remember that the man we define should be true to his being. And we ought to share these truths with the rest of humanity.

Linda also teaches us this lesson. She knew that Willy was good with his hands. However, she was too afraid to let Willy know what she knew Willy to be for this may devastate him. Had she verbalized this truth of self that Willy was blind to, she could have shattered his dream of being number one and at the same time save him from this lie. We are always invited to go back to the cave and share the truth of being that we have uncovered with those who remain in the dark. We must remember though that we can only offer the truth but never impose them on others. After all, our fathers might have had good intentions in sharing with us their lies. The plot thickens when these lies are imposed and nurtured against the will of the Other. In our exercise of our responsibility for the Other, we must learn to respect the Other’s alterity and freedom.

Finally, we should always remember that the more we get to know Being, the more confident we should be of the fact that she takes care of her own. Being reveals her secrets when we are ready to face them. In Plato’s allegory, the prisoner, although forced to face the blinding light of the fire and the sun, always has a choice to look away from it. He may first choose to look at the shadows once more, and then move to the reflections on the pond, or at the heavenly bodies at night. Once he has grown accustomed to the light, the time will come that he will be able to face the sun and realize it to be the thing that illumines all being. And so it is with the truth. Our fathers will necessarily have to lie to us about the truth of being because the movement from darkness to light must be gradual in order to avoid permanent blindness. This however does not mean that we will never be blinded by the truth. In fact, we have to suffer temporary blindness when we face the light before we can know what is real. One of the movements towards the truth is suffering temporary blindness by its glare that we would always want to cover our eyes. However, Being will not force her truth on us. She patently waits on us while we look at shadows and reflections until the time comes when we are ready to face her truth. We may lose our bearings when faced with the truth; however, once we come to terms with it, our vision is restored.

Holden also teaches us this lesson when he shares with us his experience of watching his younger sister Phoebe in a carousel.

All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the old ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.[2]

Here we see Holden surrendering to the fact that, as much as he would want to save the innocent from corruption, there is nothing that he could do to go against the nature of Being. Being will take care of the young and ensure their smooth entry into the world of adults just like it does take care of the fish and the ducks in the pond in winter. We just have to learn to trust in the wisdom and intelligibility of Being.

The journey towards the Truth of Being is asymptotic, that is, we can only approach it but never arrive at it. The confluence of the truths we have uncovered leads us closer to the Truth. However, our finitude and facticity tells us that we are bound by space and time. Hence, we can only dream to uncover all the truths of beings that exist because our very existence is limited; thus, our encounter with Being will be limited in scope by the parameters set by space and time.

However, we still continue the journey for two reasons. First, we have that insatiable drive to know whatever there is to be known. We have great faith in the ability of our minds to know and in the ability of being to allow itself to be known. Each step we take along the winding path up the mountain confirms this.

Second, we continue our trek because we hope that at the end of the road lays not only the Truth of Being but the Absolute Truth of Being – the mind that has conceived all Being. Our finitude tells us that we will never get to meet this Absolute Truth of Being at least in our lifetime. For how can this be when we cannot even reach the Truth of Being. But the aching desire to know the Absolute Truth of Being will not give us rest. Perhaps this was what Augustine meant when he wrote, “our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.”

[1] Clarke, 296.

[2] J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991), 211.

Discovering the Lie

2006-01-06T23:46:00.000+08:00

As he continues his allegory, Plato poses a hypothesis: what if one of the prisoners is freed? What would he do? Plato says that if he is forced to look at the objects that cast off the shadows, the prisoner will consider them less pleasing to his eyes than the shadows he is accustomed to see. He will have to strain his eyes to be able to see the brightness of the objects illumined by the fire. How much more would his eyes hurt if he were required to directly look at the fire that creates the shadows? Plato says that surely, the prisoner would rather go back to his seat and be chained to it once again because he prefers to see the shadows that appear clearer to him. By doing so, he passes up on his chance to know the truth.
As one attempts to get the most out of life, one eventually experiences alterity – otherness. In these experiences, one becomes conscious of the difference between the self and the non-self. Such an experience is important for in the Hegelian dialectic between the self and non-self, one gets to know himself better. One must remember though that what is other than himself cannot be totally reconciled to the self. There are experiences with an other where the self is able to exercise control over it. There are encounters however where what is other puts into question the supremacy and freedom of the self. Levinas particularizes such an experience through the encounter with the Other. The Other is not simply the other in the sense that the self (which Levinas also calls the Same) cannot subsume the Other for it resists such violence. The Other resists being absorbed into the egotistical world of the self by putting into question the very foundation of his jouissance – his supremacy and freedom.

Levinas further theorizes that there is an ethical bond between the Same and the Other because the latter reminds him that what is other than himself is not wholly his and can never be totally his. The Other reminds the Same that he shares the world, which he has claimed as his home, with many Others. Thus, he is not supremely and totally free to partake of the world according to his whims. The individual therefore realizes that he is not on top of the world after all, as he originally thought.

The encounter with this Other may take different forms. It may take the form of a loved one that refuses to be treated as a mere trophy or an object of his interest. The Other may be a quadriplegic that lay motionless in bed, yet unwilling to be looked upon as a mere body for he too is an embodied soul. The poor can also be an Other that refuses to be considered as an unproductive and therefore useless member of a highly materialistic society. And yes, the laborers in a factory can be an Other too when they reject being valued as a mere cog in a wheel that can be disposed of anytime when they do not meet the demands of efficiency and effectivity. Indeed, many Others can put the Same’s desire to lord it over the world on hold. It may not be a palatable experience for one who has been conditioned to control the world and use it according to his desires. At this point, his worldview is put into question and is shaken by the threat of collapse. He therefore starts to wonder if the maxims his father told him are mere lies.

This is where philosophy steps in. We discover a lie when we uncover a truth. The truth however does not lie in the mind alone or in being alone. Truth lies in the conformity between the mind and being, when epistemological truth matches ontological truth. W. Norris Clarke says that “[t]he first great conclusion of our metaphysical inquiry [is that] mind and being are correlative to each other, made for each other, open by nature to each other … .”[i] Being (small “b”) cannot be straightjacketed into the constructs of our minds because it was not conceived in our minds. Thus, if we are to aim at the acquiescence between mind and being, our minds will have to know being in itself as it reveals itself through its action on us.

Clarke also claims that man possesses the drive to know and the drive to will. The mind, though not consciously, aims to know being through and through. Thus, in the quest for the intelligibility of being, metaphysics plays a key role in that it helps bring the process of searching for the truth of being (which is assumed to be intelligible) into our consciousness. Epistemology is indispensable as well since it calls our attention to the process of knowing needed to arrive at a true justified belief. It helps us know what is true and how we are to arrive at it.

The conscious being who allows metaphysics and epistemology to guide his thoughts and reflection will arrive at what is true about being. The heart of the matter though is how he chooses to address the truth he uncovers.

[i] W. Norris Clarke, SJ, The One and the Many, A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics, (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001), 17.

Living in the Lie

2006-01-04T13:32:00.000+08:00

Plato’s story continues with the prisoners mistaking the shadows for the objects themselves. They do not get to see the people and the dummies and are familiar only with the shadows. If they hear a voice or a noise in the cave, they think that these emanated from the shadows because these are the only things that are real to them. This is how we live in the lie.
Fathers wish their sons to sail into the world with their backpacks filled with all they need to survive the tests of the sea. The individual is sent away from the port of home with a confidence that he has been prepared enough to face the world, no matter what it may bring. Such an attitude is very much like the attitude of the Nietzschean Übermensch. Nietzsche says that the will to power is an intrinsic and driving force of man to overcome his environment. Hence, he saw this will to power as also the will to life. Indeed, there is much more than simply wanting to survive life. One has to conquer it if he were to be the best person he could be. The underlying attitudes of this Superhuman are his love for life and his desire to assert his lordship over it. Such attitudes allow him to assert his powers and therefore affirm himself.

The Übermensch however is not a totalitarian bully claims Stumpf and Fieser.[i] He does not assert himself by imposing himself on his environment. Rather, the Superhuman affirms himself by not allowing his environment to control him. We must remember that the Übermensch loves what is of the earth and sees it as the means for him to realize his best self, thus desiring to draw the most out of what his world has to offer. After all, Nietzsche says, “everything rare is meant for the rare.”[ii] For the Superhuman to do this, reason must guide him. The Superhuman is a man of passion guided by reason. As Nietzsche himself posits, reason must serve life and not the other way around as the Greeks believed.[iii]

The kind of life such a novice to the world lives may also be characterized by Levinasian jouissance – enjoyment. Such is possible because he is confident of his sovereignty over beings other than himself and of his freedom to dispose of them as he wishes. He brings with him a metaphysics of servitude where being – that which actually exists with its own act of existence outside of the self – does not question his supremacy; instead, it simply waits on him to allow it to meet his needs and fulfill his desires. Hence, as Davis says, “[j]ouissance names the process by which the subject makes itself at home in an environment where otherness is not a threat to be overcome, but a pleasure to be experienced.”[iv]

And so, the individual immerses himself in the world outside himself with only one aim: to enjoy it. Unknowingly however, his enjoyment is bound to end when he experiences alterity.
----------------------

[i] Samuel Enoch Stumpf and James Fieser, Socrates to Sartre and Beyond, A History of Philosophy, International Edition 2005 (Manila: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia), 2005), 388.
[ii] as quoted by Stumpf and Fieser, 387.
[iii] Ibid, 388.
[iv] Collin Davis, Levinas, An Introduction (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996), 43.

Initiation to the Lie

2005-12-31T10:28:00.000+08:00

It is clear from the allegory that the prisoners are initiated into the lie because they are exposed to the shadows on the wall without the benefit of seeing the things themselves “under broad daylight.” Because of this, they take the shadows as truth. Mere shadows of what is real therefore inhabit their worldview. But what is the nature of this worldview we speak of?

The worldview or constructs we bring with us are the attitudes, concepts, and beliefs that “[mediate] between the subject knowing something and what it is that he knows.”[i] We adopt such worldview through a particular cognitional act that aims at arriving at justified true belief. According to Potter, such act goes through the following incremental and cumulative stages: presentation through perception, understanding through conceptualization, and judgment through affirmation or denial of the proposition.[ii]

It is my belief that one develops his aptitude for each of the three processes through time. That is, one sharpens his ability to perceive, understand, and judge through constant practice. The crux of the matter is that, because man is an embodied spirit, he continuously assimilates stimuli through his senses that are eventually translated to loosely connected concepts without the benefit of understanding and judging. That is, a child may adopt constructs from authority figures without much understanding and judgment since his ability to conceptualize and judge may not be as developed as his sense perception. Such is unfortunate since Potter further asserts, “there can be no reasonable affirmation unless there has been intelligent inquiry into what immanent intelligibility a sensuous presentation may have or is likely to have.”[iii] Thus, it is inevitable that one will discover that some parts of his superfluous worldview will be untenable in the context of his experiences.

At the beginning, our minds are conditioned and our acts habituated according to the worldview of our gurus. As to whether this captures reality as it truly is needs verification since these were absorbed without the benefit of judgment. Hence, armed with this common sense, we march into the world with only one message in mind: “I have been prepared by both school and home to face this world without fear. I am in charge of my life and of my world. I can chart my own destiny.” The individual plunges into the world with a Nietzschean Will to Power and the Levinasian jouissance believing that he is an invincible actor in the world and is determined to “suck the marrow out of life.”

[i] Vincent G. Potter, On Understanding Understanding, A Philosophy of Knowledge (New York: Fordham University Press, 1994), 76-77.

[ii] Ibid, 38-40.

[iii] Ibid, 39.

Lies My Father Told Me

2005-12-30T22:15:00.000+08:00

I remember watching the film entitled Lies My Father Told Me by the Canadian director Ted Allan. It is the story of David Herman, a seven-year old boy growing up in a Canadian neighborhood in the 1920s. His father is ill-tempered due to his many failed attempts at inventing odd products like creaseless pants. Because of the poor return on investment of his experiments, he had to depend on almost interest-free and pay-when-able loan schemes from his father-in-law Tevyalike. To protect David from such harsh realities, he tells him “lies”, believing that his son is not yet ready for the truth. Meanwhile, Tevyalike takes David on his junk shopping spree every Sunday. During these trips, the grandfather shares his deep faith and belief in timeless religious tenets through tall tales and fables in which the young David takes intense interest.

We all have significant experiences with authority figures like that of David with Tevyalike. Because we look up to them as authority, we assimilate their views of man, life, and the world almost without judgment. We then go through life with these constructs not knowing that there will be experiences that will put these beliefs and constructs into question. We sometimes even discover these to be lies for they fail to provide a reasonable explanation for our experiences.

This series of essays is an attempt to explore the rationality of such experiences in the hope of understanding how we move to the truth from the lies we unwittingly live by. The thesis of this paper is that each conscious being struggles to build and protect a worldview that is inevitably shaken by his universe to bring him closer to the truth.

Before we actually delve into the matter, I would first like to define the concepts involved here. A young child needs handles that will help him differentiate reality from illusion. Hence, he has to adopt some form of worldview, imperfect as it may be, through which he will examine and involve himself in his world. The worldview adopted comes from a pool of possibilities presented to him by his “fathers” – parents and other parental figures at home, teachers in school, and other significant figures in his environment.

The lies referred to are not simple false statements that an exact science can easily rectify. We once must have heard, for example, that the moon is made of cheese or that our parents would trade us with an old woman for fish paste if we do not behave. These are easily verifiable by science or sociology. Neither do I refer to erroneous statements involving statistics, formulas nor some other measurable quantities that mathematics can correct. What I do refer to are views about what the world and life is all about and who man really is which normally come in the form of parental advice very much like what Polonius shares with his son Laertes before he “sails off into the world.” At the port, Polonius reminds his son about precepts on personal conduct and relations with others by which he wants his son to live.[i]

And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Such maxims may not be outright lies but they are definitely untested and unconfirmed by Laertes’s personal experience.

Lies may also take the form of misleading statements. In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, the leading character, Holden, is very much concerned with protecting the young and the innocent from the corrupting influence of phony adults. His heart goes out to the helpless that he even wonders about what happens to the ducks and fish that dwell in the Central Park pond during winter. Most adults dismiss his question as trivial for they are not able to respond to it. One cab driver hazards an explanation and tells him that they freeze underwater and are preserved until spring comes around. Such un-reflected responses do enter into the pool of lies that flows through our minds.

Second, I would like to use Plato’s Allegory of the Cave to describe the journey from lies to truth. The story is about a group of men who are chained to their seats with their faces fixed to the wall in front of them. Behind them is an elevated fire in front of which people walk with dummies made of rocks and other materials. The fire projects the shadows of these dummies on the wall. Because the prisoners are exposed to nothing but these shadows, they “remain in the dark” as to what the world really is like for the world of shadows is the only thing real to them. The journey from truth to lies thus begins.

[i] Cf. William Shakespeare, Hamlet, The Folger Library General Reader’s Shakespeare, ed. Louis B. Wright (New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1958), 1.3.62-84.

The Elusive Self

2005-11-17T10:26:00.000+08:00

Inside us there is something that has no name, that something is what we are.

Jose Saramago

At one point in our lives, we ask ourselves who we really are. We wonder about what makes us and breaks us. We delve into the deepest recesses of our hearts to take a peek at what drives us, what keeps us afloat, what makes us want to continue this sojourn called life. And the more we question, the more answers we get, answers which do not necessarily form one coherent response.

I often tell people that to know me, one has to gather all my friends and ask them how they have known me. Each one knows a different story. Not that I tell them different conflicting stories. It's just that the stories I tell them is a function of how we relate to each other. Some will know more of my bigger story. Some know the same amount of my story but of different facets. And in relating with them, they reflect back to me things about myself that I have never seen. Why even my dog sees something different in me which other people, including myself, have not seen.

Indeed the real whole self is elusive. He is a mystery even to my very self. But not knowing the entire self does not mean it does not exist. I believe the whole of me exists even if I only know a fraction of me. And this tells me that there is a higher Being, a God, who knows me better that I truly or all my friends for that matter, truly know me.

Said with Rage

2005-11-08T22:17:00.000+08:00

Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry.
-- Henry Ward Beecher

When we are angry, we do not have much hold of ourselves. Hence, we end up saying or doing things that we soon regret. We are often advised to count to ten before we speak or act whenever we are angry. Often though it has been told to us, we always seem to forget to heed this.

What Beecher says makes sense. When someone blurts out something in anger, oftentimes, it is something he has been wanting to tell you but has stopped himself from doing so. I can say that this is true in my own experience.

What is more important though is what we tell ourselves when we are angry at ourselves. Let us face it, there is always something in us that we are angry about. And if this angry self is not listened to, its anger intensifies to rage. And anger and rage turned to one's self leads to depression.

Painful as it is, it is very important to listen to the anger turned within. Listen to that angry self. Acknowledge what it feels and address its concerns. It may be a fearful and exhausting experience, but well worth it because beneath the anger is something revealed about ourselves.

What Famous Leader Are You?

2005-10-30T15:25:00.000+08:00

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Oh no! I have just been compared to Che Guevara - the leader that pot smokers emulate. I hope that this comparison does not give you much of an idea of how I led my past life! hehehe On second thought, I guess that I am much like Che Guevarra, the rebel who fought the Peron government for its abuses amongst the Argentinians. In a sense, I like it. I like fighting the injustices done not only to me but to others as well. But with this comes an equal challenge: that I not be the source of any injustice to my self or my neighbor. This is indeed a tall order but definitely well worth the effort.

Being Morpheus

2005-10-22T10:30:00.000+08:00

During one of my lull moments, I surfed through the net and stumbled on this site about greek gods. It had a quiz that allowed you to identify with one of those gods. Curious as to which god I would have been, I took the quiz and the result read:

You're like the Greek God Morpheus, of dreams. Believing there is something bigger out there and often lost in thought. You're imaginative, and smart - not always a leader, but usually the one who comes up with the plan. You often ask, "What if ... ?" and long to get out of the darkness and through the window.
I derive great satisfaction whenever I dream and wonder about how this world can be a better place. Often, I am quick to notice when something is not right in a person, a place, or a situation. And when I witness such, I wonder what could be done to help make things right for that person, place, or event. And when things turn out for the better, then I feel good about myself and this world.

There is one problem though. I often wonder how I can make my world and my life a lot better than it is. I get stuck with my thoughts, not knowing what to do, where to go, or who can help me out of this quagmire. Many people offer help but the help they offer oftentimes do not grab me.

Isn't that ironic? Well, I guess life is one big irony!

Someone is Indeed Greater

2005-10-03T19:17:00.000+08:00

I could not say I believe � I know! I have had the experience of being gripped by something that is stronger than myself, something that people call God.

Have you ever had such an experience of being gripped by something stronger and greater than yourself? Such an experience has led Carl Jung to assert God's existence. For my part, I really wouldn't claim to have had an earth-shaking experience of God. But as the theologian Johnson says, a religious experience need not be accompanied by fireworks. It could be in a gentle and silent breeze as what the priest Zadok experienced.

Prayer has privileged me with such an experience. No, not all my prayers are characterized with the qualities of a religious experience. But one thing that I always thank the Lord for is the experience of helplessness and powerlessness whenever I place myself in His presence. Such experience makes me realize that I do not have my life in the palm of my hand. Such experience impresses on me that I have come to this world with nothing and will surely leave this world with nothing. Being powerless and helpless makes me realize is that everything is indeed gift from the Provident and Loving God I choose to believe in.

POP - Prisoners of the Past

2005-10-02T12:03:00.000+08:00

Last night, I had a very unusual and deep conversation with a friend. I not one to engage in very personal conversations. I am a happy-go-lucky-person and very laid back at that. But after three bottles of beer and two glasses of vodka, I was kinda tipsy enough to "spill the beans."

I really dunno but I just talked about how I don't feel so loved at all - especially by my dad and my family. I also talked about how this has affected my relationship with authority figures. You see, I go to a shrink and she told me that I will always have difficulties with people in authority because I never had a good example of authority.

And true enough, I always get into trouble with people in authority. I guess they just bring out the rebellious streak in me. Or should I say that I just bring out the punitive streak in them?

I then narrated to him a litany of complaints - how I am always judged to be the source of a problem, how I am too much of an underachiever, how it is difficult to deal with me because of hurt feelings, and so on. My friend ended our conversation with thus: "You are a prisoner of your past."

Yes, I know I am a prisoner of my past. And I do not wish to be damned in this place. I desire to get out, to escape. But no matter what I do I cannot seem to squeeze myself through the bars. I really dunno how much longer I will be entrapped in this place. But heaven forbid the day when I just might get too comfortable trapped within the cage of my past!