The document discusses several key topics: 1. It provides an overview of Buddhism, founded by Siddhartha Gautama, including the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path that lead to the cessation of suffering through enlightenment or Nirvana. 2. It examines perspectives on the biblical God and humanity from Augustine and Aquinas, emphasizing that faith supplements reason and humans need God to avoid failure or going astray. 3. It clarifies common misconceptions about Nirvana in Buddhism, stating it is a state of perfect insight and freedom from attachment, not inactivity or indifference to the world.

1. THE HUMAN PERSON AS
AN EMBODIED SPIRIT
MR. KWEK KWEK

2. TRANSCENDENCE IN THE GLOBAL AGE
Is in our contemporary world
dictated by technology? Are our self-
taken pictures or selfies any
indication that we are not zombies?
Are we pushing the responsibility for
our existence on to society, instead
of facing the questions of who we
are?

3. TRANSCENDENCE IN THE GLOBAL AGE
According to Thomas Merton (1948),
a Trappist monk, there is no other
way for us to find who we are than
by finding in ourselves the divine
image. We have to struggle to
regain spontaneous and vital
awareness of our own spirituality.

4. TRANSCENDENCE IN THE GLOBAL AGE
In the past, most high school
students have no chance to read or
encounter philosophical tests. While
college students who were asked
regarding the concept of
transcendence will usually answer: I
cannot believe in invisible existence

5. TRANSCENDENCE IN THE GLOBAL AGE
To see is to believe. However, there
are still majority of college students
who have strong convictions
concerning faith, that which
transcend what is seen or touched
by bodily senses.

6. TRANSCENDENCE IN THE GLOBAL AGE
In philosophy, the adjective
transcendental and the noun
transcendence convey the basic
ground concept from the word`s
literal meaning of climbing or going
beyond.

7. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
Self-hood – the quality that makes a
person or thing different from others

8. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
At the heart of Hinduism lies the
idea of human beings` quest for
absolute truth, so that one`s soul
and the Brahman or Atman (Absolute
Soul) might become one. For the
Indians, God first created sound and
the universe arose from it. As the
most sacred sound.

9. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
The Aum (Om) is the root of the
universe and everything that exists
and it continues to hold everything
together.

10. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
According to Hinduism, human
beings have a dual nature: one Is
the spiritual and immortal essence
(soul); the other is empirical life
and character. Between the two
natures, however, it is maintained
that it is the soul that is ultimately
real.

11. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
The existence of the body, in fact, is
considered as nothing more than an
illusion and even an obstacle to an
individual`s realization of one`s real
self.

12. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
Hindus generally believe that soul is
eternal but is bound by the law of
Karma (action) to the world of
matter, which it can escape only
after spiritual progress through an
endless series of births.

13. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
God allots rewards and punishments to
all beings according to their karma.
Similar to a prison enclosed within the
wall of his prison, a human being`s soul
can be said to be temporarily encased
in his body. For this reason, humanity`s
basic goal in life is the liberation
(moksha) of the spirit (jiva).

14. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
Hinduism holds that humanity`s life
is a continuous cycle (samsara).
While it is the spirit is either born
nor does it die. The body, on the
other hand, goes through a trans
migratory series of birth and death.

15. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
Transmigration metempsychosis is a
doctrine that adheres to the belief that
a person`s soul passes into some other
creature, human or animal. If the
person has led a good life, the soul goes
upward the scale. The soul of an evil
person, on the other hand, may pass
into the body of an animal.

16. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
There will be no end on the cycle
unless the individual exerts real
efforts to break away or liberate
one`s spirit from the monotonous
cycle. Different Hindu schools and
sects have different views about the
method of release (moksha) from
this transmigration.

17. BRAHMAN IS SELF-HOOD
The ultimate liberation, that is,
freedom from rebirth, is achieved
the moment the individual attains
that stage of life emancipation. (to
free from someone else`s control or
power)

18. BRAHMA
The creator god of the Hindu sacred
triad. (Merriam)

19. BRAHMA
This Hindu view of humanity`s
reality place a lot of emphasis on
the attainment of self-knowledge.
The goal of human life as conceived
by the different Upanishads is to
overcome congenital ignorance.

20. BRAHMA
UPANISHADS – (YU-PA-NI-SHAD) one
of the class of Vedic treatises
dealing with broad philosophical
problems.
VEDIC – relating to Vedas, the
language in which they are written.

21. BRAHMA
The concepts of Brahman and Atman
(soul, self) are central ideas in all
the Upanishads, with “know your
atman” as their thematic focus.

22. BRAHMA
True knowledge (vidya) consists an
understanding and realization of the
individual`s real self (Atman).

23. BRAHMA
In sum, Hinduism is one of the
oldest Eastern traditions, practiced
by hundreds of millions of people
for about 5,000 years. To know more
about this topic, students are
encouraged to read Bhagavad-Gita,
the song of the Lord, which is a part
of the great epic Mahabharata.

24. BRAHMA
One concept common to all
expressions of Hinduism is the
oneness of reality.

25. BRAHMA
Also common to all Hindu thought
are the four primary values. In order
of increasing importance, they may
be roughly translated as wealth,
pleasure, duty, and enlightenment

26. BRAHMA
Wealth and pleasure are worldly
values, but when we kept in
perspective they are good and
desirable.
The spiritual value of duty, or
righteousness, refers to patience,
sincerity, fairness, love, honesty,
and similar virtues.

27. BRAHMA
The spiritual value, though, is
enlightenment, by which one is
illuminated and liberated and most
importantly, finds release from the
wheel of existence. Repeated
existence is the destiny of those
who do not achieve
enlightenment.

28. BRAHMA
To understand enlightenment, one
must understand the law of karma, the
law of sowing and reaping. All of us,
through what we do or not do,
supposedly determine our destiny. The
wheel of existence turns until we
achieve enlightenment, after which we
are released from this series of rebirth.

29. BRAHMA
After understanding Hinduism, the
next section proceeds with another
major Eastern tradition that is not
based strictly on the Upanishads and
in some cases, even ran counter to
its teachings.

30. BRAHMA
The tenets of Buddhism are
definitely one of the most
widespread dharsanas (school of
thought).
Buddhism is Universalist in
character. It preached to everybody

31. BRAHMA
In its spread over Asia, India itself
largely absorbed it into Hinduism. It
exists side by side with Taoism of
China and Shintoism of Japan.

32. INTRODUCTION TO
BUDDHISM
MR. KWEK KWEK

33. BUDDHISM
Another major Eastern tradition is
Buddhism, contained in the
teachings of its founder, Siddhartha
Gautama or the Buddha. Out of the
life experience and teaching of
highborn Prince Gautama of the
Sakya clan in the kingdom of
Magandha.

34. BUDDHISM
Who lived from 560 to 477 B.C ,.
Sprang the religious philosophy we
know as Buddhism. Turning away
from Hindu polytheism and palace
pleasures, Gautama began searching
for answers to the riddle of life`s
sufferings, disease, old age, and
death.

35. BUDDHISM
He explored Brahminic philosophies,
then tried the rigors of asceticism,
but all to avail. Finally, while resting
and meditating in a grove of trees,
he came to a clear realization that
the solution lays in his own mind.

36. BUDDHISM
Ascetic – relating to or having a
strict and simple way of living that
avoids physical pleasure.

37. BUDDHISM
Gautama`s life was devoted to
sharing his “Dharma” or law of
salvation – a simple presentation of
the gospel of inner cultivation or
right spiritual attitudes, coupled
with a self imposed discipline
whereby bodily desires would be
channeled in the right directions.

38. BUDDHISM
He omitted any appeal to the gods
as currently conceived; definitely
rejected philosophical speculations;
and spurned all recourse to ancient
scriptures, outmoded rituals, or
priestly incantations.

39. BUDDHISM
Convinced that the way of escape
from pain and misery lay in the
transformation of one`s mind.
Buddha set about sharing his
discovery with anyone who would
listen to him.

40. BUDDHISM
The Four noble truth, Gautama
taught
1. Life is full of suffering
2. Suffering is caused by passionate
desires, lusts, cravings,
3. Only as these are obliterated,
will suffering cease.

41. BUDDHISM
4. Such eradication of desire may
be accomplished only by following
the Eightfold path of earnest
endeavor.

42. EIGHT FOLD PATH
1. Right belief in and acceptance of
the Fourfold truth.
2. Right aspiration for one`s self
and for others.
3. Right speech that harms no one.
4. Right conduct, motivated by
goodwill toward all human
beings.

43. BUDDHISM
5. Right means of livelihood, or
earning one`s living by honorable
means.
6. Right endeavor, or effort to direct
one`s energies toward wise ends.
7. Right mindfulness in choosing
topics for thought

44. BUDDHISM
8. Right meditation, or
concentration to the point of
complete absorption in mystic
ecstasy.

45. BUDDHISM
Items 1 & 2 enjoin or to do
something us to develop wisdom.
Items 3-5 urge us to practice
virtue and avoid vice or bad.
Items 6-8 tell us to practice
meditation.

46. BUDDHISM
We do this essentially by following
three short axioms or accepted as
true:
1. Cease to do evil
2. Learn to do good
3. Purify your own mind

47. BUDDHISM
The way to salvation, in other
words, lies through self-abnegation,
rigid discipline of mind and body, a
consuming love for all living
creatures, and the final
achievement of that state of
consciousness which marks an
individual`s full preparation in

48. BUDDHISM
Entering the Nirvana (enlightened
wisdom) of complete selflessness.
The effects of the law of Cause and
effect (karma) are overcome; the
cycle of rebirth is broken; and one
may rest in the calm assurance of
having attained a heavenly bliss that
will stretch into all eternity.

49. BUDDHISM
These were later organized into the
Sangha, or Order of the Monks and
later of nuns also, with single-
hearted purpose, this brotherhood
of believers dedicated itself to a life
of self-purification, in total loyalty
to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the
Sangha.

50. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND
HUMANITY
MR. KWEK KWEK

51. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
In the 5th century, Augustine`s
writing is considered to be the most
influential in the early medieval
period. This section looks at the
reasonableness of belief in God`s
existence, in doing so, we shall
treat the statement “God exists” as
a hypothesis.

52. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
Religious people definitely do not
treat God`s existence as a
hypothesis, for God is a constant
presence, rather than being whose
existence is accepted as the best
explanation of available evidence.

53. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
For the Biblical writers, proving
God`s existence would be as
pointless as trying to prove the
existence of the air we breathe.
The religious problem reflected in
the Old Testament narratives is not
atheism but polytheism:

54. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
Atheism – lack of believe or strong
disbelief in the existence of god or
any gods.
Polytheism – the belief that there is
more than one god.

55. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
In the New Testament, the reality of
God is unquestioned due to the
conviction that Jesus of Nazareth
the eternal God became flesh and
dwelt among human beings.

56. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
In its earliest missionary endeavors,
Christians directed their preaching
to Jews who accepted the reality of
God.

57. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
For Augustine, philosophy is amor
sapiential, the love of wisdom; its
aim is to produce happiness.
However, for Augustine, wisdom is
not just an abstract logical
construction; but it is substantially
existent as the Divine logos.

58. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
Teachings of Christianity are based
on the love of God, which
Augustine`s, Aquinas, and Anselm`s
arguments are basically rooted.

59. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
For Augustine, Christianity, as
presenting the full revelation of the
true God, is the only full and true
philosophy. However, we can love
only that which we know. When
comes this knowledge of God?

60. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
It begins with faith and is made
perfect by understanding. All
knowledge leads to God, so that
faith supplements and enlightens
reason that it may proceed to ever
richer and fuller understanding.
Without this enlightenment of faith,
it will go astray.

61. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
It should be taken as a humble
acceptance of the fact that human
beings alone, without God, are
bound to fail.

62. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
John 15:5, I am the vine; you are
the branches. If you remain in me
and I in you, you will bear much
fruit; apart from me, you can do
nothing.

63. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
The thoughts are very deep! The
dull man cannot know. The stupid
cannot understand this.
Psalm 4

64. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
We have established with certainty
three grades or levels of existence:
mere being, living being, and
rational being.

65. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
For St. Thomas Aquinas, another
medieval philosopher, of all
creatures, human beings have the
unique power to change themselves
and things for the better.
Aquinas considers the human being
as moral agent.

66. THE BIBLICAL GOD AND HUMANITY
Our spirituality separates us from
animals; it differentiates moral
dimension of or fulfillment in
action. Through our spirituality, we
have a conscience. Thus, whether
we choose to be good or evil
because our responsibility.

67. BUDDHISM: NIRVANA
Nirvana means the state in which
one is absolutely free from all
forms of bandage and
attachment. It means to
overcome and remove the cause
of suffering.

68. BUDDHISM: NIRVANA
It is also the state of perfect
insight into the nature of
existence. The Buddhists see one
who has attained nirvana as one
who is unencumbered from all
the fetters that bind a human
being to existence.

69. BUDDHISM: NIRVANA
He has perfect knowledge,
perfect peace, and perfect
wisdom.

70. BUDDHISM: NIRVANA
1. The Buddha did not want his
disciples to concern
themselves with purely
speculative problems.

71. BUDDHISM: NIRVANA
2. Another false conception
regarding nirvana is that one who
attains it, cuts himself off from
the world of toil, tears, and
turmoil and spends his life in a
state of total inactivity and
indifference to the world around
him.

72. BUDDHISM: NIRVANA
Far from living a passive life, the
Buddha from the day of his
enlightenment until death is
always surrounded by people.

73. BUDDHISM: NIRVANA
One who attained enlightenment
is a non-attachment. This means
that as one attains wisdom, one
desires nothing for himself but
always works for the well-being
and liberation of his fellow
humans.

74. ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST.
THOMAS AQUINAS: WILL &
LOVE
MR. KWEK KWEK

75. ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS: WILL & LOVE
For St. Augustine, physically we
are free, yet morally bound to
obey the law. The eternal law is
God Himself. According to this
law , humanity must do well and
avoid evil.

76. ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS: WILL & LOVE
Hence, the existence of moral
obligation in every human being.
Christian life is not easy.
No human being should become
an end to himself. We are
responsible to our neighbors as
we are to our own actions.

77. ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS: WILL & LOVE
Definitely to live a chaste life is
difficult. For to be pure is also
to be holy. Though all are
called to different lifestyles. All
are called to be holy, pure and
chaste within that lifestyle.

78. ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS: WILL & LOVE
Any lifestyles that does not
include these virtues, even with
consenting individuals, is not
pleasing to God; for it does not
lead to holiness, selflessness and
full honesty.

79. ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS: WILL & LOVE
For St. Augustine though we are
physically free, one does not
have the right to do anything if it
is not morally right or if one will
hurt another.

80. ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS: WILL & LOVE
Rightness means pleasing God,
God has given us a choice to
discern between right and wrong
though we are often ignorant in
this manner unless we are wholly
(complete or fully) sincere,
honest, and pure.

81. Did you learn something????????