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1. Limits and Possibilities for Transcendence

2. The Human Person as an Embodied Spirit According to St. Thomas of Aquinas in his Summa Theologia , “the body is not of the essence of the soul; but the soul by the nature of its essence can be united to the body, so that, properly speaking, not the soul alone, but the “composite,” is the species.

3. The Union of Body and Soul The soul is said to be essentially the form of the body, but for Aristotle , it is not because the soul is merged with the body. The soul has the power of communicating its existence to the body not just through movement (locomotion) but also through understanding or thinking (knowledge). Hence, the existence of man is viewed as a whole body and soul are distinct from each other.

4. St. Thomas of Aquinas addressed the mind-body problem by characterizing human nature as body and soul: “Man is composed of spiritual and corporeal substance.” In Summa Theologica, he also addressed the following concerns about the nature of the soul as a body: (1) it is the body’s moving principle; (2) knowledge of corporeal things is caused by likeness; hence to know of the body is to be like it in nature; and (3) the soul moves the body, and movement happens through contact; hence the soul must be a body because contact happens between bodies.

5. 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 must struggle to regain spontaneous and vital awareness of our own spirituality. Merton talks about a continual movement away from inner and outer idols and toward union with the desert God of his Christian faith.

6. Human Nature as Freedom freedom is not about wanting to do things but the being-for-itself acting upon autonomous choices. Hinduism Hindus believe that the 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. God allots rewards and punishments to all beings according to their karma ( Puligandia 1997).

7. humanity’s basic goal in life is the liberation ( moksha ) of spirit ( jiva ). Hinduism holds that humanity’s life is a continuous cycle (samsara). While it is the spirit is neither born nor does it die, the body, on the other hand, goes through a transmigratory series of birth and death. Transmigration or 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 .

8. Buddhism: From Tears to Enlightenment Gautama’s life was devoted to sharing his “Dharma” or Law of Salvation- a simple presentation of the gospel of inner cultivation of right spiritual attitudes, coupled with self-imposed discipline whereby bodily desires would be channeled in the right directions.

9. In the Four Noble Truths, 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. (4) such eradication of desire may be accomplished only by following the Eightfold Path of earnest endeavor.

10. These steps are: 1.right belief in acceptance of the “Fourfold Truth”. 2. right aspiration for oneself and for others. 3. right speech that harms no one. 4. right conduct, motivated by goodwill toward all human beings. 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; and 8. right meditation, or concentration to the point of complete absorption in mystic ecstasy.

11. Own Limitations and the Possibilities for Transcendence

12. St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Thomas of Aquinas “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”

13. The Biblical God and Humanity For St. Augustine (354-430 CE), philosophy is amor sapiential , the love of wisdom ; it aims to produce happiness . For Augustine, wisdom is not just an abstract logical construction; but it is substantially existent as the Divine Logos. All knowledge leads to God, so that faith supplements and enlightens reason that it may proceed to ever richer and fuller understanding. Indeed, without this enlightenment of faith, reason invariably sooner or later, goes astray.

14. It should be taken as a humble acceptance of the fact that human beings alone, without God, are bound to fail. As stated in John 5:5, 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.

15. For St. Thomas of Aquinas a medieval philosopher , of all creatures, human beings have the unique power to change themselves and things for the better. His philosophy is best grasped in his treatises Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica human being as moral agent . We are both spiritual and body elements, the spiritual and material.

16. Forgiveness- When we forgive, we are freed from our anger and bitterness because of the actions and/or words of another. On the other hand, the hardness of our heart is reinforced by whole series of rational arguments . The Beauty of Nature- There is perfection in every single flower; this is what the three philosophies believed. For a hug, for every sunrise and sunset, to eat together as a family, are our miracles.

17. Vulnerability- To be vulnerable is to be human. To be invulnerable is somehow inhuman. We need to acknowledge the help of other people in our lives. Such moments of poverty and dependence on others are not a sign of weakness but being true with ourselves. Failure- – Our failures force us to confront our weaknesses and limitations. Such acceptance of our failures makes us hope and trust that all can be brought into good.

18. Loneliness- Our loneliness can be rooted from our sense of vulnerability and fear of death. With our loneliness, we can realize that our dependence on other people or gadgets is a possessiveness that we can be free from. Love- To love is to experience richness, positivity, and transcendence. Whether in times of ecstatic moments, the love for a friend, between family members or a significant person, can open in us something in the other which takes us beyond ourselves.