3.3.

Recognize how the

human body imposes
limits and possibilities of
transcendence
 HAPPY
“BER”
MONTHS 
THREE SPIRITUAL
PHILOSOPHIES OF
TRANSCENDENCE
 Hinduism
• Quest for absolute truth so that the Brahman
or Atman (absolute soul) might become one
• Believes that a human being’s soul can be
said to be temporarily encased in his body
• Believes in the duality of a human person:
(1) spiritual immortal essence (soul) and (2)
empirical life and character
Karma (कर्म)
• It refers to intentional
actions that affect one's
fortunes in this life and
the next.
• Humanity's basic goal
in life is the liberation
(moksha) of spirit (jiva).
 Transmigration/Metempsychosis
Hindus believe the atman repeatedly takes
on a body until moksha. If a 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.
Moksha
It is the transcendent state attained as a result of
being released from the cycle of rebirth.
Brahman
-Places a lot of emphasis on the
attainment of self-knowledge
-Most Hindus believe that Brahman is
present in every person as the eternal
spirit or soul, called the atman.
-Brahman contains everything: creation
and destruction, male and female, good
and evil, movement and stillness
Dharma
is an important term in
Indian religions. In
Hinduism it means 'duty',
'virtue', 'morality', even
'religion' and it refers to
the power which upholds
the universe and society.
The Upanishads are a
collection of texts that contain
some of the central philosophical
concepts of Hinduism; and is
also considered by Hindus to
contain utterances concerning
the nature of ultimate reality and
describing the character of and
path to human salvation.
Nirvana
The highest state that
someone can attain, a
state of enlightenment,
meaning a person's
individual desires and
suffering go away
Buddhism
• Shares ‘dharma’ or law of salvation
• ‘Four Noble Truths’
1.Life is full of suffering
2. Suffering is caused by passionate
desires, lusts, and cravings
3.Only has this been obliterated
4.Eradication of desires may be
achieved by following the Eight-fold
Path of earnest endeavor
Christianity
•Three Aspects of A Personal Unity:
1.Body
2.Mind
3.Soul
“The body serves as the host
and in return the soul moves it
with the assistance of the mind”
 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 Gods existence.
-Theistic Hypothesis treating the statement "God exists" as a
hypothesis
-Religious people do not treat Gods existence as a hypothesis.
-The religious problem in the Old Testament narratives is not Atheism
the denial of God but Polytheism the worship of too many gods.
-in the new testament the reality of God is unquestioned because the
Jesus of Nazareth the eternal God became flesh and dwelt among
human beings.
For Augustine(354-430 CE)
-Teachings of Christianity are
based on the love of God which
Augustine's, Aquinas', and
Anselm's arguments rooted.
-Christianity as presenting the full
revelation of the true God, is the
only full and true philosophy.
-When comes the knowledge of
God? It starts with faith and
made perfect by understanding.
All knowledge leads to God
so that faith supplement and
enlightens reason that may
proceed to ever richer and
fuller understanding.
 "Human beings
alone, without God,
are bound to fail"
TRANSCENDENCE IN
THE PERSPECTIVE OF
THE EXISTENTIALIST
Martin Heidegger
•Emphasized that people
who do not exercise his
reality of being free, by way
of transcendence, have a
“fallen life” (inauthentic
existence) – out of touch
of his or her own reality
Jean-Paul Sartre
“Ignoring one’s own
values just to have a
more comfortable
existence is
inauthentic existence”
Friedrich Nietzsche
• Emphasized the ‘will to power’ (will to command
or to prevail over a situation or an environment)
• The human person is a walking contradiction
(warring states)
• Abhorred the following:
1.Animal man (passion)
2.Herd man (a person who just follows the crowd)
3.You, Me, and Everyone
“Man should
be something
that should
be overcome”
 Stressed that the
goal of the human
person is to become
the Übermensch
(overman, otherwise
known as superman)
Übermensch
(tragic optimism)
•Strength in accepting life
•Wills to live not because of
being bound with laws and rules
•Power to do what is right and
what needs to be done
 3.4. Evaluate own
limitations and the
possibilities for their
transcendence
How?
 Evaluate Limitations
(Eastern Philosophy Perspective)
VULNERABILITY- to be
invulnerable is
somehow inhuman. To
be vulnerable is to be
human. -without
acknowledging the help
of others is to live
without meaning and
direction. –Dependence
on others are not a sign
of weakness but being
true with ourselves
FAILURE -
LONELINESS-
 LOVE- to love is to
experience richness,
positivity, and
transcendence. -Life is full of
risks, fears and commitment,
pain and sacrificing and
giving up things we want for
the sake of the one we love. -
in a Buddhist view "the more
we love, the more we risks
and fears there are in life"