Just a little thought
So which of the two came first? Is it the chicken or the egg? This was a silly question asked to me when I was still in elementary. And yesterday, I suddenly remembered it while looking for my FOOD magazine. The answer can be either chicken or egg. It can be chicken for without chicken, there would be no egg. It can be egg for without egg, there would also be no chicken. This cycle has a never ending process. The chicken comes from an egg and the egg comes from a chicken. If it has no ending, does that mean to say that it has also no beginning? [Picture on left from MTV].Created at the same timeParmenides once said that there could be no beginning without an ending. Therefore, there might really be no such thing that came first between the egg and the chicken. They could have been created at the same time!
"Tatanggalin ko na itong mga masking tape para hindi ko na kayo maalala pa..."
Iyan ang isinabi ng aming taga-asikaso na nangangangalang Ricardo Fajardo. Hindi ko maitatangging nakakasakit ang kanyang mga isinabi dahil kami'y natalo sa isang palaruan na tinawag niyang "Game of life". Ang laro ay may napakaraming patakaran na dapat sundin at hindi namin nasundan ang lahat ng iyon. Bigo ang naging resulta. Lahat ay nagulat sa nakasimangot na mukha ni Sir Fajardo. Kailangan ba talagang manalo? Gaano ba kahalaga ang isang larong tulad niyan?
Game of Life
Balikan natin muna ang nangyari sa nakaraan. Kami ay nasa kabilang dulo ng kwarto. Ayon sa patakaran, bawal humawak sa pader, at mag-ingay. May mga parisukat na makikita sa sahig na siyang magiging pantawid ng mga tao. Ang mga parisukat na ito ay may presyon kaya sa bawat pagtapak na nagawa ay dapat may mabilis na kapalit. Ang layunin ay makatawid sa kabilang dulo ng silid. Ang sinumang hindi nakatapak ng mabuti ay magiging mga patay na tao. Sila ay pupunta sa libingan at bubuhatin ng mga buhay sa pagtatawid. May oras na nakatakda at maaring sumabog ang kinatatayuan namin. Marami ang hindi nakasunod kaya paulit-ulit ang pagtawid. May nag-ingay at naubos ang oras. Natalo nga kami.
Huminto ang paggalaw ng lahat ng tao. Sinimulan ni Sir Fajardo ang pagtatalakay kung bakit nga ba hindi kami nagtagumpay. Kung siya ay makumbinse man sa mga dahilan na aming ibabanggit, bibigyan daw niya kami ng isa pang pagkakataon na maglaro muli. Kaya nagsilabasan ang lahat ng mga butas- mga pagkakamali na nagawa. Walang kooperasyon na nakita sa mga tao; walang nakinig sa iba na siya na ngang may solusyon para magtagumpay.
Nakumbinse nga si Sir Fajardo. Nakalaro kami ulit. Ibinago ang lahat ng plano at nakinig na ang mga tao. Ngunit bigo pa rin ang naging resulta. Hindi nakayanan ng iba na tumawa ng malakas sapagkat kung ako ang nasa lagay nila ay matatawa rin ako. Napakahirap ikarga ang mga tao para itawid sa kabilang dulo ng kwarto. Ang mga taong ito ay kinakarga dahil ayon sa laro, hindi sila pwedeng maglakad. Sila raw ay mga patay na at ikakaraga lang sila ng mga buhay pa para maitawid sa ligtas na lugar. Paulit-ulit ang pagkahulog ng ilan at pagkarga. Naubos ang oras at natalo ulit kami.
Ang Sampung Papel
Iyan nga ang naging resulta. Napaupo na lang kami at nakinig kay Sir Fajardo na ngayo'y nawalan na ng gana magturo. Ayaw na raw niya sana magturo ngunit kawawa raw kami dahil nagbayad kami sa paaralan. May pinasagutan sa amin. Maya-maya ay binigyan din kami ng sampung pirasong papel bawat tao. Ang sampung papel na ito ay aming ibibigay sa kahit sinong tao sa loob ng silid. Matapos ang bigayan, lahat ay nakatanggap ng papel pati na si Sir Fajardo. Ngunit ikinalulungkot ni Sir ang nangyari. Isa lamang ang kanyang natanggap. Naisip ko na lamang na kung gusto niya pala ng mga papel na ito, bakit hindi niya sinabi ng mas maaga pa? Ibinigay ko lamang ang sampung papel sa kahit sinong tao na makasalubong ko sa silid. Hindi na iyon umabot pa sa kanya at malay ba ng nakararami kung kasali pala siya?
Ang Taga-asikaso
Nakakainis ang lahat ng kanyang mga isinabi. Nalungkot din ako dahil hindi naman ibig sabihin niyon ay wala na akong pakialam sa ibang tao. Kulang ang mga papel para mabigyan ang lahat ng tao at siguro totoo nga na ang unang maiisip ng tao ay ang mga naging malapit na sa kanya. Sino nga ba si Sir? Totoo ba ang lahat ng ito? Ganito ba talaga?
Laking gulat ko na lamang nang ituloy ni Sir ang kanyang isinabi kanina: "Tatanggalin ko na itong mga masking tape para hindi ko na kayo maalala pa na naging talunan." Ayaw niyang maalala na natalo kami at hindi iyon dahil sa galit siya sa amin. Hindi nga siya galit at napakagaling lang niya siguro magpanggap. Hindi ko na tuloy alam kung paniniwalaan ko pa siya.
Hindi ko talaga napansin iyon. Nakakainis na pero joke lang pala ang lahat. -_- Paminsan iba talaga ang ipinapakita sa kung ano ang nasa loob. Naalala ko na lamang ang isinabi ng mga pilosopo sa nakaraan. Ang nakikita natin ay hindi nangangahulugang totoo. Hai...Tama nga sina Descartes at Plato.
November 20, 2005- one of the days that I'll never forget for the rest of my life. It was a day that I had to wake up as early as 4:30 in the morning but was not able to do so. I got up 30 minutes late and skipped breakfast just to catch up with the bus in the school. I was in a very bad mood. Luckily, I can still handle myself and not let anyone be affected by what I had felt at that moment.I arrived at exactly 5:30. Call it be a lucky one for I had been able to sit inside the bus and take a nap for a while. It irritated me the fact that I was rushing to go to school but the bus had actually left an hour later which is 6:30. Hai...Filipino time nga naman!The bus stopped at the Shell gasoline station, South Superhighway. I was so sleepy that I didn't try to know who were the guys that we were waiting for in the station. It was as if the only important thing to me is to take a nap. I don't care about anything else aside from it.After two hours in the bus, I woke up again and found out that we have already arrived at the PHILVOCS center. I went down from the bus, leaving behind my loaf of bread and papers. Many of us went to the bathroom which happens to be unisex. I stood outside the PHILVOCS center and helped my blockmates in taking pictures. As minutes have passed, everyone's attention was called and we went inside the center as a block. The UP Professors named Jun O. and Victor Paz gave us an orientation about Taal Volcano. I looked around and saw different rocks, models, and charts about the volcano. There, I saw that the land had indeed changed from 1960's to 1970's. Parts of it were only formed about 40 years ago. The orientation had ended and we were about to depart for Taal Volcano via boat. One boat had to have eight people before it would leave. I got myself some people to ride with me and together, I had fun riding the boat. The boat stopped at the island of Taal and I went down to meet up with the others. Mountain climbing started and excited was my first expression. I was so eager to go up and see what is really inside the crater. I travelled along with the others who took the lead. It was very hot on the surface of the volcano. That was because of the sun's heat which has made a lot of us sweat like pigs. I was not so happy anymore. I felt so dirty and I had wounds all over my arms. I wanted to go back to the foot of it but at a second thought, I changed my mind and had the determination to finish what I have started. Adventures are as always exciting. For me, there was no going back anymore. This was a challenge and I had to find a way to overcome it. I had to climb up to see the crater and go down. So I have done it. I accomplished my mission of climbing on top of Taal Volcano. Hooray! I survived! I rode a boat and went back to the other island. Something happened to the bus and I had no choice but to transfer to a van. I ate my lunch which is a loaf of bread (though I wasn't able to eat everything). The van then started moving and I was in an archeological site at San Nicholas later on.There used to be a church near Taal in San Nicholas. But because of the eruption of the volcano, this church was deteriorated. The only thing that was left is the walls of the altar, which can hardly be recognized right now. Trees had been planted all over the place. In a few years from now, the remains of the church will probably be totally gone.
Many people had died during that eruption. As what the UP professor had said, the destroyed church was again built but in another place. The next stop was in the City Proper of Taal. There, a church with ionic and corinthian pillars can be seen. The tour guide provided some information about it as well as time to explore the whole place. I met up with the others at 5pm and rode the van back to La Salle. [Picture on right is the church taken by one of my blockmates...]The time it took to return was unexpectedly long. It was strange because eventhough there was no traffic and the speed of the van was fast, it still took at least two hours to leave Tagaytay. The road seemed endless and my blockmates started telling ghost stories. I was listening and when one of them tried to act out what she was telling, it got really very scary. Ghosts indeed exist. I was afraid that they might show up on the window of the van. The talk regarding them soon ended and there was a complete silence. I arrived at La Salle around 8pm and went home with my dad.A very (3x) tired day. There was no more energy left for me to do other things aside from eating dinner, taking a bath, and sleeping on the bed. My arms were in pain due to the wounds and sunburn. However one thing that I have realized from this trip is that being tired can also make one happy. Happiness is a matter of achievement of one's desire. Regardless of all the physical pains that I have experienced, my goal of climbing on top of the volcano was achieved. My day can be said to be a complete one. I am satisfied with the things that I have done. :)
Meat-looking Veggie- Mi jia
Sometimes in our lives, veggies may look like meat. Quite deceiving right? People have been able to figure out on how to make food more interesting by simply using vegetables. That was the thing that caught my attention in the Tsu Chi bazaar that I attended last Sunday. Some can't even believe that they are only veggies that are cooked to taste like our favorite meat. When I tried to share these with my friend yesterday, she was so amazed by them. She said that if she had only known that there are veggies such as that, she would have been a vegetarian already.
How did some people enjoyed eating without meat all these years? What is the technique behind the meat-looking veggie? Because veggies can now taste like meat, vegetarians no longer need to be jealous of meat-lovers. Thanks to the creative cooks who had invented them. I'm starting to like vegetables too! Yumyum!
Tsu Chi Buddhist Compassion Relief Foundation
The number of vegetarians is becoming bigger. The members of the Tsu Chi Foundation that I've met by chance is an example. What is the Tsu Chi Foundation? Tsu Chi from the meaning itself means kind and loving people. These people, as what had been said, believed that lack of love is the main cause of the problems that are present in the society. So they made an organization with the goal to share their love by helping other people. [Picture on right "Tsu Chi Logo" from Dentistry]
Last Sunday, the organization held a bazaar at the Le Pavillion beside a Toyota branch. Each store inside agreed to donate a part of their profit (if not all) to the organization. It was a successful one for many went and voluntarily helped. Everyone was selfless. Discipline can also be seen- everyone knows the fact that cooperation is important in achieving goals. This brings me back to Plato's ideal state. Part of his ideal state can be seen on the Tsu Chi Foundation. The monks are considered to be the masters. They are highly respected and they share their wisdom to the others. People usually get advices from them about peace and joy. Their teachings really have some points. I agree with them that love is indeed essential for a man to find happiness.
Misunderstandings
"Natanggap mo ba?" (Did you get it?)
That was what my friend asked me during our ENGLONE class yesterday. My immediate response was "oo" (yes), though I wasn't so sure on which thing she was referring to. She tried to call me on the phone for five times that day. Unfortunately, I turned off my phone so I wasn't able to answer any of them. There was no message left that morning and I really didn't know why she called. Then I just thought that she wanted to remind me of her reply to my text the other night when I asked her about something. Maybe that was why she called. [Picture on right from Wirehub]
I didn't ask her anymore. She behaved as usual which made me more convinced that I was correct with my assumption. She even smiled after she had learned that we had no Earth Science LAB that day. I got back to my own business and felt nothing so important about the question.
That day passed. Today, I woke up from bed and checked my e-mail~ Yikes! She had sent me two files the other day. I was shocked to see them and to learn by what she really meant= PAPRINT. No doubt, that was the thing that she had been asking me yesterday. I failed to read it during that time. I was wrong to think that there was nothing really so important for I misunderstood her question. Too bad. This has led me to another thought- maybe because I was online the other day so she'd assume that I would also check my e-mail. [Image on left from Kadreg]
Well, is it because of that? Maybe...
Interpretations
I thought it to be this way but you thought it to be the other way. That is the problem with our minds. I have realized that they do not always interpret things in the same way. In my case, I thought that what my friend was referring to was her reply on my text the other night. My friend on the other hand thought that I knew the thing she was talking about- the two files that she had sent. This just tells me that we cannot really know everything. It makes me remember about the two great philosophers Hume and Kant- that it is not only through sense experiences that we can be certain of knowledge. A strict empiricist like David Hume might say that there must be a necessary connection for an idea to be meaningful. This necessary connection is missing which is why metaphysics itself is nonsense.
However, there are what we call as the a priori concept and the sensed perceived impressions. Immanuel Kant believed that reason must agree with experience. Knowledge can be derived even without the sense impression. Moreover, sense impressions differ and Noumena, as what he had called, is the thing which we cannot know. We can never be sure of how a person thinks of himself and other things. What the senses can tell us is limited. Phenomena is the thing which we can know. It is how each of our minds perceives reality.
If this was just a dream, then please let me wake up right now. I want to know what is real and what is not. Like what Descartes had said, everything can be doubted. I hope that I am not one who is trapped inside this illusion. [Image on left from Dreamsleep]
Remembering the movie "Beautiful Mind", the question about reality and appearance popped out of my mind. What if I were like the person in the film- John Nash- who had the disease? Life seems to be normal out here and nobody thinks that I'm crazy. But what if these were all just a part of my illusion? It might be that I'm still inside a dream, being deceived by an evil genius according to Descartes. I wake up from the bed yet I'm still asleep in the real world. This is just another dream. I cannot trust my senses- what I see, hear, feel, smell and taste. Even if my brother told me that the best way to know reality is through hurting the self (for when one
feels pain he would wake up from the dream), all of these, including the pain, might only be created by my mind..my imagination. As what the Allegory of the Cave said, people such as me can be ignorant of reality and knowledge. I may still be trapped inside the cave, seeing the shadows that I thought were the only things in this world. A person could have escaped from the cave, but that might not be me. How then can I see reality? How can I ever be sure that I don't have the disease that the person in the movie had? Am I still dreaming? [Image on right from Crazyaboutmovies]
Maybe I won't be able to answer that problem. I'm not as great as the philosophers in the past. When my prof in philosophy raised the topic about Descartes' methodic doubt, I suddenly thought that I might be unconscious right now.. perhaps a sick person in a mental hospital who is trying to type on an imaginary laptop. But there's one thing that I can be sure of. There is something that makes the doubting possible. I agree with what Descartes had said. This subject matter which enables one to doubt is no other than the mind itself. It is an indubitable fact. If the mind exists, it follows then that I exist. I just hope that I would soon escape from this illusion..this state of ignorance (if I ever was). To those who know that they are not dreaming right now, please wake me up..bring me to the state of consciousness..if it were true..
Taking out the word Love
Just a while ago during the LEAP (Lasallian Enrichment Alternative Program), I attended my very first and (as far as I think would also be the) last German class. I sat inside the room with my blockmate for three hours, listening to the foreign exchange student and a woman as they teach the class how to speak the basic German words. The words seemed really hard to pronounce, however they are worth the practice.
Das ist es. The teachers indeed forgot to mention their names even after the class. They immediately started by asking us why we chose the German subject over all the others for our LEAP. *No offense to them, but the real reason why I chose German was because I was left with 0 slots in baking and I don’t like afternoon classes.* And so the classes began. I sang the German alphabet together with them like an innocent nursery kid. The song goes like this:
A (a), B (be), C (se), D (de)…Wunderbar! 
Too much for the song, I also learned that the smiley face that I used to make when texting was a special letter in the German language. Hmm…so that’s why we have these characters in our cellphone. Then, phrases on how to introduce yourself to someone were taught~ Mein Name ist Abby. Ich komme aus Philippinen. Und du? (My name is Abby. I came from the Philippines. And you? / What about you?) [Picture on left from Smiley but currently unavailable]
The class consumed only two hours, giving us an earlier dismissal. I was somehow disappointed for I didn’t learn how to say the word “love” in German. Thinking about that, why love? What is love?
Love in Different Points of View
Love. I gave away many of this to the people around me. Indeed, it is a complicated thing to define. We can only feel it but not see it with our naked eye. Some might say that it is all about feelings- the passion that one has to another. For in love, emotions are involved. More than that, love is a thing that can be said to be about God Himself. Reading the book of John in the Bible, it says that “God is love” in the sense that all the characteristics that we find in love are the characteristics that we can also find in God. Therefore, through God alone can a person get love. [Picture on right from Old Time Candy]
According to the famous philosopher named Plato, love is a desire to own something good. And in this case, it is a desire to get wisdom. Love is not about the physical; love is more than that. It is BEYOND the physical (also called as Platonic love). Through it, a person can learn and improve. The love between men or the “uranian” love, as he had called, is the highest form of love. His teacher, Socrates, in fact had students who are also his lovers at the same time (which really sounds disgusting if we base it in an erotic love...-_-).
What is erotic love? As I could remember back in highschool, there are actually different kinds and levels of love. The love that we have for our friends, the love we have for eating, the love that we give to our partners...they are all not the same. Love can be classified into three groups and these are the Agape, Phileo and Eros. Agape is about God’s love which is unconditional and sacrificial. It is considered to be perfect and is the “extension” of the other two kinds of love. Phileo then is about the brotherly or sisterly love. It is the love that we give to our friends and family. Eros is the physical love. It is the kind of love that is said to be selfish with sexual desires for each other.
We, being humans, are under the Eros and Phileo kinds of love. For we are unlike God, we can only love conditionally. I somewhat agree with these for only God has the greatest love. Being able to die in the cross to save us all is enough to prove that. So why can we only love conditionally? Why can we not love in the same way as God did? Can we really love unconditionally?
Love in its simplest form is not simple at all. The reason why we cannot love unconditionally is because we always expect the person we love to also love us in return. Although not all the love that we give returns to us, the fact that we expected it from the person makes our love to be conditional. We can never be like God. The love that we give to others cannot be compared to the love that He gives to all of us. By the way, God's love cannot be measured.
Love and Fire
Just like some people, I usually compare love with the fire that lights up by the time that someone find his other half. When will one find his other half is still unknown. Sometimes on a person's way to find love, accidents might happen. The person can bump into other people and think that he/she is the right one for him. He may get hurt if he is wrong, leaving some scars of love (like the burns we can get from the fire). Who is the right one? No one can tell. Only God knows the answer. [Picture below from RedFish]
Experiencing God
Talking about God, the first time that I've heard things about Him was when I was seven years old. That time, all I knew was that He is the one who gave me my parents and siblings. He is so great that He was able to make the world full of life. Whether He is real or not, I didn't bother to know the answer. I just admired Him for what He had done to me and to everyone. Until one day when I felt His presence, I started to believe and fully understand who He really is.
God. The One that we pray to every morning and ask for forgiveness and guidance. The truth is HE EXISTED IN THE VERY BEGINNING. I myself believe so. I came to know about Him when I was once lost in the darkness. Indeed, I was a problematic child. I had a lot of fears inside me that I couldn't explain. I would cry around the corner of the classroom most of the time during my first grade. I really hated school and everything related to it. The teacher herself couldn't solve my problem. All I have wanted was the feeling of being secure from something and that includes my mom and dad back there, always watching at me. (Picture on the left from God Focus)
The news spread out (it became some sort of an issue- quite embarrassing*) and the principal soon came and called my mom. Nobody in fact (even my parents) could understand the thing that I 
was afraid of. The hope of being able to encourage me to study again was getting smaller and smaller. Come to think about it, nobody would really eat me so what was I afraid of at that time? Well, I was afraid of being left alone. Everytime that my parents would drop me at school, there's always a part of me that would think of being abandoned or thrown away by them (yeah I know this looks a bit silly). I was desperately looking for someone to cling on. My parents then decided to bring me to a “faith healer”. I was too young to know what is real and what is not so I believed in the “faith healer”. She gave me a tiny stone and told me to put it inside the classroom. She said that the stone will soon sublimate and my fears will be gone. (Picture on the right from serpent hand sample)
The stone indeed disappeared. I was so amused by it and I felt a lot happier. However, what made me have the courage to enter school again was not that. It was actually God who gave me hope and courage. I was given much more like a second chance. I was able to continue studying. I accepted God and learned many things from Him. A strong faith to Him was built inside me and my life eventually changed.
Proofs of His existence
Admit it or not, it's really hard to convince a person to believe in God. If it was just an easy task, then there would be no atheists, skeptics and agnostics today. As true Christians, it was usually said that we don't really need to look for proofs of God's existence. But without proofs, how then will we able to make someone believe in His existence?
One might say that the best way to know if God really exists or not is through having experiences with Him personally. I would love to agree that. I myself was changed after I’ve met God. I met Him not in the sense that I saw Him before my very own eyes, but I’ve felt Him. He opened His arms to me. He gave me hope, courage and love. Realizing this, the strong faith that I have was the result of it. However, before He changed my life, I was in fact the first one who made a move to accept Him and believe in Him. If it were not for that, I would not be what I am right now.
So to be open-minded and to believe should be made first. 
As St. Anselm of Canterbury had once said, we must believe in something in order to understand it. Faith is important to achieve Wisdom who is no other than God Himself and with faith comes the reasons. Therefore, each one of us needs to have faith in God. Through faith, we will be able to answer the questions we have about God. This thread of faith, as I believe, must not depend on what we see (the appearance), but rather on what God wants us to see (the reality). We being true Christians must look at a different point of view in order to see things more clearly. For God wants us to believe in Him without letting us know if He really exists, we must prove to him that we really have complete faith in Him. (Picture on the left from Anselm Institute)
