Review Notes 4

Human Person as an Embodied Spirit

Contents
Competencies Covered 1

Key Points 1
Embodied Spirit 1
Transcendence 2
Hinduism 2
Buddhism 3
Christianity 3
Limitations and Possibilities for Transcendence 4

Synthesis 5

Practice 5

Tips 8

Bibliography 8

Answer Key 9
 Review Notes 4
Human Person as an Embodied
Spirit

Competencies Covered
In this note, we will discuss the important concepts about the
following competencies:

● Recognize own limitations and possibilities;

● Recognize how the human body imposes limits and
possibilities for transcendence, and
● Distinguish the limitations and possibilities for
transcendence.

Key Points
Embodied Spirit
● A human being is a biosocial being and represents the
highest level of development of all living organisms on earth.
● An embodied spirit is the living animating core within each
of us, the driving force behind all that we think, say, and do.
● According to Aristotle, a human person is a personal being
possessing its intellectual nature as joined in a natural unity
with a material body. This unity is called man as a rational
animal.
● According to St. Thomas Aquinas, his total vision of man
would be an embodied spirit.

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 Transcendence
● It conveys the basic ground concept from the word’s literal meaning from Latin, of
climbing or going beyond, with varying connotations in its different historical and
cultural stages.
● According to Thomas Merton, there is no other way 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.
● The three main spiritual philosophies on transcendence are Hinduism, Buddhism,
and Christianity.
Hinduism
■ It is one of the oldest Eastern traditions practiced by hundreds of
millions of people for about 5000 years.
■ At the heart of Hinduism lies the idea of man’s quest for absolute truth
so that one’s soul and the Brahman or Atman (absolute soul) might
become one.
■ Human beings have a dual nature: the spiritual and immortal
essence (soul), which is considered real, and the empirical life and
character.
■ Hinduism’s primary values are wealth, pleasure, duty, and
enlightenment.
■ Humanity’s basic goal in life is the liberation (moksha) of spirit (jiva).
Moksha is the transcendent state attained as a result of being released
from the cycle of rebirth.
■ Hindus believe that the soul is eternal but is bound by the law of
karma, which refers to intentional actions that affect one’s fortunes in
this life and the next.
■ Hinduism holds that humanity’s life is a continuous cycle (samsara)
where the body goes through a transmigratory series of birth and
death, even though the spirit is neither born nor dies.
■ Nirvana is the highest state that someone can attain, a state of
enlightenment, meaning a person’s individual desires and suffering go
away.

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 Buddhism
■ It sprang from the life experience and teaching of Siddhartha
Gautama or the Buddha.
■ Gautama’s life was devoted to sharing his dharma or law of salvation.
It is a simple presentation of the gospel of inner cultivation of right
spiritual attitudes, coupled with a self-imposed discipline whereby
bodily desires would be channeled in the right direction.
■ The teaching of Buddha has been set forth in the Four Noble Truths,
leading to the Eightfold Path to perfect character, which in turn gave
assurance of entrance into nirvana at death.
■ Buddhists practice the four sublime states: (1) love, (2) sorrow in the
sorrow of others, (3) joy in the joy of others, and (4) equanimity as
regards one’s own joys and sorrows.
Christianity
■ In the beginning, Christians did not see the need to prove God’s
existence. Later, Christian missionaries felt the need to argue
philosophically for the existence of God when they were confronted by
various naturalistic philosophies.
■ For St. Augustine of Hippo, wisdom is not just an abstract logical
construction; it is substantially existent as the Divine Logos. Hence,
philosophy is the love of God.
● Christianity, as presenting the full revelation of the true God, is
the only full and true philosophy. Knowledge of God begins with
faith and is made perfect by understanding. Faith supplements
and enlightens reason that it may proceed to ever richer and
fuller understanding.
● For him, man is a rational substance constituted of soul and
body.
■ For St. Thomas Aquinas, human beings have the unique power to
change themselves and things for the better. He considers a human
being as a moral agent who is both spiritual and body element. The
unity between both elements helps man to understand his complexity
as human beings.

RN4. Human Person as an Embodied Spirit 3

 Limitations and Possibilities for Transcendence
● Forgiveness
○ It frees us from our anger and bitterness caused by the actions and/or words
of another.
○ The hardness of our hearts is reinforced by the whole series of rational
arguments.
● Beauty and Nature
○ There is perfection in every single flower.
○ A hug, the sunrise or sunset, and eating together as a family are experiences
of miracles, which can be true moments of grace that touch us deeply and
spontaneously lift our hearts.
● Vulnerability
○ To be vulnerable is to be human.
○ We need to acknowledge the help of other people in our own lives if we want
to be true to ourselves and live with meaning and direction.
● Failure
○ It forces us to confront our weaknesses and limitations and to surrender to a
mystery or look upon a bigger world.
○ Acceptance of our failures makes us hope and trust that all can be brought
into good.
● Loneliness
○ It is our choice to live in an impossible world where we are always happy or to
accept a life where solitude and companionship have a part.
○ Our experience of loneliness can help us 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.
○ It can open in us something that takes us beyond ourselves.

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 Synthesis
● The body (material) and the soul (spiritual) are the fundamental and integral parts of
the human person. Man cannot exist without these two components.
● The opportunity to become embodied and whole begins at birth and continues
throughout life.
● There is one supreme end for man. There are many ends in life, but man’s final end is
to be happy. His happiness lies in the activity of reason, that is, to be able to
contemplate the highest good of man.

Practice
Shade the circle beside the correct answer for each question.

1. What spiritual philosophy sprang from the life experience and teaching of Siddhartha
Gautama?
◯ Buddhism
◯ Christianity
◯ Hinduism
◯ Islam

RN4. Human Person as an Embodied Spirit 5

 2. Who pointed out the idea that philosophy is the love of God?
◯ Aristotle
◯ Buddha
◯ St. Augustine of Hippo
◯ St. Thomas Aquinas

3. Which of the following limitations or possibilities makes us experience richness,

positivity, and transcendence?
◯ failure
◯ forgiveness
◯ loneliness
◯ love

4. Which of the following is not part of the main spiritual philosophies on

transcendence?
◯ Buddhism
◯ Christianity
◯ Hinduism
◯ Islam

5. Which of the following limitations or possibilities frees us from our anger and
bitterness caused by the actions and/or words of another?
◯ failure
◯ forgiveness
◯ loneliness
◯ love

6. What conveys the meaning of climbing or going beyond with varying connotations in
its different historical and cultural stages?
◯ soul
◯ human being
◯ transcendence
◯ embodied spirit

RN4. Human Person as an Embodied Spirit 6

 7. What refers to intentional actions that affect one’s fortunes in this life and the next?
◯ karma
◯ moksha
◯ nirvana
◯ samsara

8. Which of the following can help us realize that our dependence on other people or
gadgets is a possessiveness that we can be free from?
◯ experience of love
◯ experience of failure
◯ experience of loneliness
◯ experience of vulnerability

9. Which of the following are Hinduism’s primary values?

◯ wealth, pleasure, duty, and love
◯ wealth, love, duty, and enlightenment
◯ wealth, pleasure, love, and enlightenment
◯ wealth, pleasure, duty, and enlightenment

10. Which of the following explains the concept of embodied spirit?

◯ A man can exist without the soul.
◯ A man can exist without the body.
◯ A man’s body and soul are the same.
◯ A man cannot exist without the body and soul.

How can we attain the highest end of man?

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 Tips
● To gain full knowledge of the topics, it is best to search and read more articles and
studies about embodied spirits, teachings, and values religion.
● Scan through questions to identify questions that are easier to answer, and answer
them first.
● Study a little bit every day and you will be continually reviewing things in your mind.
● In answering multiple-choice tests, use the process of elimination.

Bibliography

Arambala, Gerry, Ryan Calica, & et al. Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person.
Marilao, Bulacan: Subverso Publishing House, 2017.

Ramos, Christine Carmela R. Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person. Quezon City:
Rex Book Store, 2016.

The School of Life. “Philosophy - Augustine,” YouTube. Accessed from

[Link] January 2, 2019.

The School of Life. “Philosophy - Aristotle,” YouTube. Accessed from

[Link] January 2, 2019.

The School of Life. “Philosophy - Thomas Aquinas,” YouTube. Accessed from

[Link] January 2, 2019.

RN4. Human Person as an Embodied Spirit 8

 Answer Key
Answers to the Multiple-Choice Test
1. Buddhism
2. St. Augustine of Hippo
3. love
4. Islam
5. forgiveness
6. transcendence
7. karma
8. experience of loneliness
9. wealth, pleasure, duty, and enlightenment
10. A man cannot exist without the body and soul.

Possible Answer and Explanation to the HOTS Question

A person can attain the highest end of man through happiness and by following the
teachings and values in life.

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