The Phenomenology of "Taong Grasa"

We’ve been talking about love. Though its been experienced than talked about, we have come up with definition of love to one’s encounter of it. Love comes in different forms,  in different faces and in different ways. It is not merely an emotion. All these years since the evolution of the world, we have given love a different meanings. Robert  Sternberg has even come up with his eight kinds of love. But what then does love truly mean?

During weekends, I used to go home to the province where I am staying here in Luzon. I never failed to notice this one man in our waiting shed. One time, on my way back to Baguio, I saw this same man the again with all the dirt in his body and soiled clothes. He doesn’t seem harmful. He’s just there as if waiting for someone. He often looks at his watch though he doesn’t have one. I could trace the sorrow amidst his greasy face. I also could tell the anticipation for that something beyond those looks.

In my curiosity, I began to ask him his name, where is he from and how old is he. I also get to know his family and I found out he is not crazy at all as most would easily judge him to be. He told me he is waiting for his girlfriend. He decided to run away from home with her because his parent is not in favor of the relationship. They agreed to meet that night set at exactly 12 midnight. It was already dawn but his girlfriend has not yet arrive. People started to come for early trips but she hadn’t  shown up.  He overheard them talking a young girl who met an accident that night around 12 midnight. A witness had said the girl carries a bag with her and in a hurry failing to notice the fast approaching car. He doesn’t believe what he just heard, his hours of waiting had turned to days, days become weeks, weeks to months and months to years.  He patiently waits for the arrival of his beloved that long. Long enough that endures the anxiety of her coming.

I had asked my auntie about how true was the story related to me by the “taong grasa”. She told me that it had been five years since that event took place. It had become the talk of the town since then. He was the center of mockery. His family renounced him. He had turned into what he is now simply to keep his promise to his beloved.

At first we could indeed say this man had grown mad out of love. He is out of his mind for the fact that he insisted on his belief that his girlfriend is coming. He might be so blinded by love making him cling on it falsely. His love was merely madness. He was unable to rise in that love.

But if we look beyond what he did, we could see the genuineness of love. To transcend that very sight of the “taong grasa”, man is once again reminded of the power of love. Love that is not merely based on emotion alone. A love so true that it is strong enough to endure the pain and more willing to go through its tests. He was indeed standing in love proving to everyone how true and genuine was it.

The presence of this “taong grasa” would always be there to remind me of what love can do for the sake of its beloved. It was indeed love that transcends the conventions and conditions set by our historicity. It is love that went through fire to be purified. A journey most of us would not dare to go through. It is never easy to be in love. As long as grow and able to actualize our potentialities and realize our very own subjectivity in it, dare to go through it.

We may fail along the way, what matters most is that we had tried. For better are those who tried but failed than those who have never tried.

Who is the true "I"?

Who am I?

It seems that this question is so simple and doesn’t require a serious attention. In fact, I don’t have to squeeze my mind for me to be able to answer this question. All I have to do is to know and be familiar with all my personal informations, such as my name, birth date, accomplishment or achievement and the like. I also must know what are my skills and talents as these add more to my personal description.

However, diagnosing those informations which supposedly would tell something about me, I found myself in question. Am I really those descriptions? Are those informations really refer to me or to the “I” in question. In other words, am I the same or referred to as my name, skills, personal traits, etc.?

It is very tempting to say yes to all those informations and descriptions about me and leave it intact. Anyway, why bother so much on this question. There is more business to do than just letting my precious time used by keeping myself busy figuring the answers to this simple question.

Unfortunately, I am always bothered by the fact that there is something wrong. Those informations doesn’t really reflect the real me. The voice within keeps on shouting that the “I” is not what is being described and more so identified. “I” am not those informations. “I” am not the name. “I” am not the descriptions.

Names and descriptions then are there not for identification of the real “I” but for the practical purpose of singling out entities. It must not therefore be construed as the real “I”. This is to give justice and let the “I” be known in terms of its realness. The great danger about descriptions is when we take them to be the real “I”. As a result, identity crisis emerged. The image formulated and taken to be real alienates the “I”. It is then just but proper to take personal informations only as a pragmatic signs of the real “I”. It is then important to note that when it comes to the identification of the real “I”, the appropriate action should always be to keep silent.

Truly, the “I” is not what is described. In fact the “I” is indescribable. The “I” is more than the names, qualities and personal informations. The “I” is more than words. The moment it is identified thru words, it becomes what is now and therefore limited. The “I” is not what is now. On the contrary, it is unlimited and absolute.

Similar to this refection is the idea of Brahman and Atman in the Indian culture. The Atman which is the individual self is one with Brahman which is the “true self”. However, the self now or the individual self (with all those qualities and contingent description) is not the true self. The true self is that which no words could define it. The idea is that the language which we used to describe is very limiting. But real self is not limited. It is actually full of possibilities. In this regard, it is the neti, neti (not this, not that). It is therefore implied that I must tell nothing about Brahman in order to avoid misidentification.

SILENCE SPEAKS: Houses: the Gawad Kalinga's Apostolate

SILENCE SPEAKS: Houses: the Gawad Kalinga's Apostolate: "A house is just a house. Whatever materials utilized to build it, whether it may be concrete or just pieces of woods put together or whateve..."

SILENCE SPEAKS: Waiting Moments

SILENCE SPEAKS: Waiting Moments: "If there is one thing that really tests my patience is that of waiting. Added to the annoyance is the fact that you feel so helpless while w..."

Waiting Moments

If there is one thing that really tests my patience is that of waiting. Added to the annoyance is the fact that you feel so helpless while waiting. You can’t do anything but wait. I’m experiencing it every time I am invited for an interview. Imagine you will be scheduled for a job interview at 9am, but you will be entertain an hour after the supposed schedule. So bad is it not? While I do my best to be ahead of the scheduled time, seems to be worthless when the effort is not rewarded if after all of waiting you go home still jobless.

They would say patience is virtue but, what about time? Time is gold and it is not that easy for those who consider it as such to just throw it away. It can’t be this way. Time must not be wasted. What we have to do then with waiting?

My experiences on waiting had pushed me to the limits of my patience where the light of wisdom illuminates my mind. And yes, there is such a thing as wisdom of waiting. Waiting provides a venue for thinking. While waiting, I can’t do anything but wait…and think as well. While being idle, thinking is the only best and rewarding activity I can do. It is where those brilliant ideas pop up. More than that, what is worth rewarding is it sometimes serves as the venue for the unconcealment of “being”. It is where I would find myself confronted with the fundamental question of “being”. Most especially when I am fully aware that I am in the state of “waiting” for something which I only am certain that it is uncertain---as to whether I will go home with a job or not.

Perhaps the wisdom why life allows modes of waiting lies in the fact that we need also to pause for a while, think and reflect. Due to so much engrossed with the everydayness, too preoccupied with material needs we tend to neglect that we are beings with “being”.

Daily routines push us away from our true vocation. The segment of waiting, whether they are human interventions or natural interventions, is a mode or I would say chances by which “being” could arrest us and bring us back to our true nature. The many waiting moments of my job hunting was not actually a waste of time, as this had made me realized many things.

Few people today think. And if ever they think, they don’t know that and what they are thinking. Thus if you ask some what s/he is thinking. The most common answer you would get is “nothing”. Is this not worth pondering?

Well, to all of those who made me wait, thank you. With you I learn one thing which is worth sharing. Waiting is thinking and thinking is waiting.

Houses: the Gawad Kalinga's Apostolate

A house is just a house. Whatever materials utilized to build it, whether it may be concrete or just pieces of woods put together or whatever its design, it remains the same. It is still identified as a house that serves as a dwelling place. Well, for an artist he/she may defines it as a hollow sculpture. Beyond that, house remains to be house. It remains to be a physical structure. No more no less.

However if we take a second look on every house and reflect on it, we find more on what appeals to our senses. Well, it requires some levels of transcendence and a little semiological analysis to realize this stuff. Yet, it can’t be ignored that there is more to a house than just a sort of physical structure. Houses are signs pregnant with meanings.

Globally, poverty and richness are identified with houses. Not only that, we also identify individuals according to his/her house. Slums, shanties and squat represent the abode of petty crimes and small time criminals. While subdivisions, villages, mansions and the like signify prosperity and vanity. At the same time, those houses represent the abode of big time criminals, such as corrupt individuals, gambler and drug lords. This semiological analysis is very true in the Philippines. It is not just a mere hearsay but also a fact. Hence, are ability to delineate types of houses brought the emergence of meanings that could be deduced. In this score, houses signify the dichotomy of the rich and the poor.

Houses are also womb of values. In every house built, it gives meaning to unity and love. Houses symbolize the two souls unified in the name of love. However surrounding circumstances affects the pregnancy of values. Thus, an instance such as a broken family leads to the metaphoric destruction of the house and to some extent even literally, due to the aborted values which are primordial foundation of the house.

Furthermore, a house signifies relationship. The complexity of the web of relationships starts when a house is built. Likewise, whether we like it or not, we become neighbors and they become our neighbors. Then expand that relationship, houses create a community. Notice the relationship built by a single house. It starts in a microsphere and eventually expanded to the macrosphere. This fact is very true and could be verified if you may by analyzing it through deduction. Say from the world we deduce nations. Then from nation to communities. Then eventually goes back to the heart of every relationship, which is the house. You may even complicate more this simple paradigm of relationship if you want it to, and still it would lead you back to the house.

The GAWAD KALINGA (GK) is known for building houses. However, its activity is symbolic of a greater cause. It made use of a house because the house is not just a physical structure. There is more on building houses and these things must be taken in a greater scheme of things. Originally, GK dreamed of making our nation become one of the first world countries through transforming squatter and slums areas into descent middle class villages, but unaware of the undeniable chain of reactions, the simple dream of transforming slums branched out to transformation of hearts, restoration of old values and peace. Today guided by their slogan “build a nation by building a house” GK continually realized its dreams. But let me add to their philosophy because I see more in Gawad Kalinga’s apostolate. I perceived that the activity is not just building a nation, but more so “building house is building humanity” as well.

Let’s then build humanity. Let’s build a house. It may sound utopian to some but I would say the shovel, hammer, and saw remains to be an idea if we will not utilize them to build the abode of meaning—HOUSE.

The Role of Education towards Individual and Society

If we were to follow Plato, education plays a fundamental role in the construction of a good society. Education helps individual to discover one’s self, one’s nature and identity that is necessary to be able for one to appropriately participate and do his part properly to maintain harmony in a society.

Every individual is born unique. This uniqueness is his/her identity. It is his/her nature. However this nature needs to be discovered. It needs to be known. This is where education plays its key role. Education is a process by which an individual discover his/her own self. The knowledge of oneself is the knowledge of one’s gifts, skills and nature that are very much significant in his/her relation towards others and eventually to society. Education is a process of self-knowing.

The nature of man is supposed to be what one is doing. Thus, if by nature one is an artist, then he is expected to be doing what artist do and not anything else. However, what we see today is not the case; we have seen people in places where they should not be there. We have seen people who are doing things that they should not supposed to do because by nature they are not supposed to do those things.

The wisdom behind the education’s role is when everyone knows himself, his nature, and gift; one is expected to do his nature or his part. When one is doing what he is supposed to do, there would be a complete harmony in society. Just like saying that when everything is in its proper place and performs its respective task, then the whole work is accomplish smoothly and effectively.

Diagnosing present situation, it seems that others want to be beyond their nature. A lot wants to be a nurse not because it is there nature but because of monetary consideration. As a consequence, the welfare of the society is sacrificed. More than that, the self ends up unsatisfied and unfulfilled. For self- fulfillment is beyond material accumulation. It is actually the realization of one’s self after the discovery and identification.

Let everybody admit that we are not the same. This means that one could not be somebody else. If you feel that you are very much detach from what you are learning, then change your course even if it would cause some disagreement from the people around you. What matters in education is the fact that it would let you know thyself. And there could be no greater happiness, no greater achievement than knowing thyself. Give justice to yourself, so that you could offer justice and eventually reap justice.

It is then a crucial task for every educational institution to see to it that individuals attain self knowledge or self excellence. The attainment of such determines one’s place and role as well as his identity in a society. If this is the case, everything needed in building a good society will follow accordingly.

It is therefore prudent for educational institutions to refrain from any marketing that would encourage individuals to be what s/he is not supposed to be on the basis of potential material accumulation. The balance of demand and supply of labor is determine and is maintain naturally if the inherent role of education is satisfied. Otherwise, there would be imbalance that would result to chaos, struggle and war.

As a concluding remarks let this be an analogy to recapitulate the core points about education. In a military training every individual is taught accordingly. The process of training helps the trainee uncover his or her skills and expertise through series of evaluation and assessment. The area where the trainee excels gives him the idea and proper discernment on what particular branch of armed forces he or she will part of after the training. Thus if one excels in aerial intelligence and aerial war craft operation, it is expected that this one would be part of air force and the like. In the end, success of the armed forces in providing potent security depends on the effective performance shared by the three branches namely marine, navy and air force. Everybody has respective role and place in the realization of goals and dreams.