UTS-ML5: Supernaturals: Believe it or not!

2) Dependence upon a belief system that is usually

expressed in the language of myth.
INTRODUCTION 3) Is symbolic in relation to its reference.

 Spiritual self is one of the four constituents of the “self”  The self can be described as a ritual being who exhibits a
according to William James in his book, “THE PRINCIPLES striking parallel between their ritual and verbal behavior.
OF PSYCHOLOGY” in 1890. The spiritual self is the most  Just as language is a system of symbols that is based
intimate, inner subjective part of self. upon arbitrary rules.
 It is the most intimate version of the self because of the  Participation to rituals is expressions of religious beliefs.
satisfaction experienced when thinking of one’s ability to
argue and discriminate, of one’s moral sensibility and There are different religions with different beliefs and practices.
conscience, and of our unconquerable will is purer than Some of the major world religions are:
all other sentiments of satisfaction.
 The ability to use moral sensibility and conscience may  Buddhism,
be seen through the expressions of religion, its beliefs  Christianity,
and practices.  Hinduism,
 In the same manner, cultural rituals and ceremonies are  Islam, and Judaism
some manifestations what people believe in. Moreover,
seeking the meaning of life is a journey that the spiritual  BUDDHISM
self is on.
 Believes that life is not a bed of roses, instead there are
 RELIGION sufferings, pain, and frustrations.
 When people suffer, they want to experience the
 Rebecca Stein – works on the definition of religion “as a goodness of life and avoid disappointments.
set of cultural beliefs and practices that usually includes  It becomes a habit known as the reactive cycle of
some or all of basic characteristics. wanting and hating, like and dislike, and craving and
aversion.
These characteristics are:  This cycle can be broken through the practice of
1) A belief in anthropomorphic supernatural being, such as meditation, acquiring more wisdom and a deeper
spirit and gods understanding, and acceptance of things as they are.
2) A focus on the sacred supernatural, where sacred refers
to a feeling of reverence and awe. CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES
3) The presence of supernatural power or energy that is
found on supernatural beings as well as physical beings
and objects.
4) The performance of ritual activities that involves the
manipulation of sacred object to communicate to
supernatural beings and/or to influence or control
events.
5) The articulation of worldview and moral codes through
narratives and other means. There are 2 types of meditation practices, samatha and vipassana.
6) Provide the creation and maintenance of social bonds
and mechanism of social control within a community,  Samatha is practiced as mindfulness of breathing and
provide explanation for unknown and a sense of control development of loving kindness. (Metta Bhavana)
for individuals.  Vipassana practices aim at developing insight into
reality. Acquiring wisdom is by studying Buddha’s
 An individual lives in a society where there are many teaching, the Dharma.
practices of religion.  Through the reflection of Dharma, Buddhists can achieve
 The choice of religious belief lies within the spiritual self. a deeper understanding of life.
Although the choice may be influenced by the society  Buddhists believe in non-violence principle.
and its culture.

 RITUAL

 Ritual is the performance of ceremonial acts prescribed

by a tradition or sacred law.
 Ritual is a specific; observable mode of behavior
exhibited by all known societies.
 It is thus possible to view ritual as a way of defining or
describing humans.
There are 3 fundamental characteristics of rituals according to
Penner.

1) A feeling or emotion of respect, awe, fascination, or

dread in relation to the sacred.
  HINDUISM
BELIEFS
 Hinduism covers a wide range of traditional beliefs and
religious groups; thus, there is no single founder or
leader. Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of birth,
death, and rebirth, governed by KARMA.
 KARMA is a concept where the reincarnated life will
depend on how the past life was spent.
 Hindus believe that the soul passes through a cycle of
successive lives and its next incarnation is always
dependent on how the previous life was lived.
 Vedas are sacred scriptures of Hindus.
 Mahabharata and Ramayana are two other important
Some of texts of the Hindus.
the major Buddhist celebrations are:  Muslims believe in Allah, who is their “One God.”
 They believe in the unity and universality of God.
 Parinirvana Day in February.
 Muslims also have a strong sense of community or
 Buddha Day (Wesak) in May;
“ummah” and an awareness of their solidarity with all
 Dharma Day in July;
Muslims worldlide.
 Padmasambhava Day in October; and
 Islam means “willing submission to God.”
 Sangha Day in November.
 Muslims believe that Mohammed is the last and final
prophet sent by God.
 CHRISTIANITY  Mohammed was born in Mecca in 570 CE and received
revelations from God through Angel Gabriel over a
period of 23 years.
 The Holy Book Of Islam is called the QURAN, which was
taught to be recited in Arabic because any translation is
seen as inadequate.

CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES

 Diwali, and Navrati are the most celebrated festivals of

BELIEFS
the Hindus.
 Christians believe in Trinitarian God.  Diwali is the Festival of Lights while
 One God in 3 personas.  Navrati is the Festival of nine nights, which celebrate the
 God the father (Creator) triumph of good over evil.
 God the Son (Savior)  Hindus have set dates to honor particular manifestations
 God the Holy Spirit (Sustainer) of God.
 Eternal life after death will be achieved through faith in Muslims believe in the five pillars of Islam, which are the
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God the Son, who came into foundation of Muslim life:
flesh, to spread the Good News of Salvation. 1) Shahadah – Statement of faith: “There is no God but
the one true God and Mohammed is his messenger.”
 He died on the Cross for the sin of humanity but 2) Salat – the prayer that is practiced five times a day.
resurrected from the death. Anyone who believes in Him 3) Zakat – the monetary offering for the benefit of the
will be saved and have eternal life. poor. It comprises the 2.5% of a Muslim’s assets.
 The Holy Bible is a selection of books, w/c is divided 4) Hajj – The yearly pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims who can
into two, the OLD and NEW testaments. afford are asked to do the pilgrimage at least once in
their lifetime.
CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES
5) Sawm – the fasting. Muslims do fasting, from food,
 Sacrament of Baptism and Sacrament of Communion are drink, and sexual act, during the celebration of
practiced by Christian churches. Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic
 The Sacrament of Baptism symbolizes the birth in the Lunar Calendar.
Christian World, while the Sacrament of Communion is
an act of remembrance of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial love.  The fast starts from dawn to sunset.
 Jesus Christ teaching in unconditional love that is  Two of the major festivals in Islam are Eidul-Fitr and
expressed in loving the poor, oppressed, and outcast of Eidul-Adha.
the society.  Eidul-Fitr is the celebration at the end of Ramadan,
 Christmas and Resurrection (Easter) are the 2 major  Eidul-Adha is celebrated within the completion of the
celebrations in Christianity. Pilgrimage, the Hajj.
 Christmas – Dec 25 commemorates the birth of Jesus
Christ  JUDAISM
 Resurrection Sunday (Depends on the lunar calendar,
sometimes in March or April) Celebrates the  Beliefs the Jews believe in the God of Abraham, the
resurrection of Christ from the death. same God that liberated the Hebrew slaves from Egypt
 to Canaan, the promised Land through the leadership of
Moses and later, Joshua. LOGOTHERAPY
 The Jews believe in the coming of Messiah, the Savior.  A psychotherepay introduced by Dr. Frankl, who is
 The sacred scripture of the Jews is called the Torah or considered the father of Logotherapy.
the Law.  The main belief of logotherapy is that “man’s
 The Torah is the guide of the Jewish living. unavoidable suffering.
 The study and interpretation of Torah is part of the  It uses the philosophy of optimism in the face of tragedy,
Jewish culture. where people are capable of “turning suffering into
human achievement and accomplishment deriving from
CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES guilt the opportunity to change oneself for the better;
and deriving from life’s transitoriness an incentive to
There are 5 major festivals observed by the Jews: take responsible action.”
1) Rosh Hashanah – the New Year
2) Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement BASIC CONCEPTS
3) Pesach – Passover 3 Basic concepts:
4) Shavuot – Pentecost 1) LIFE HAS MEANING UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.
5) Sukkot – Tabernacles. The Jewish Sabbath begins on (become aware of spiritual resources)
Friday evening at sunset and is an important time when 2) MAIN MOTIVATION FOR LIVING IS OUR WILL TO FIND
families gather for the Shabbat meal. MEANING IN LIFE. (make conscious spiritual resources)
3) FREEDOM TO FIND MEANING. (use defiant power of the
 Religious beliefs, rituals, practices, and customs are all human spirit and stand up against adversity)
part of the expression of the spiritual self.
 What to believe and how to manifest the belief is LOGOTHERAPY ASSUMPTIONS
entirely dependent on the individual, to the self.  All psychotherapies make philosophical assumptions
 A person might believe that there is a higher being, a about the human persons that cannot be proved with
supernatural being, usually termed as God, but not certainty.
necessarily wants to be affiliated or identified with a 1) The human being is an entity consisting of body, mind,
certain religious group. and spirit. This first assumption deals with the body
 Others may have religious practices which are perceived (soma), mind (psyche), and spirit (noos). Accdg to Frankl,
to be contrary to the practices of other groups. the body and mind are what we have and the spirit is
 Religious beliefs and practices, therefore, are formed what we are.
relative to its context and culture. 2) Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the
most miserable. Assumption two is “ultimate meaning.”
FINDINGS AND CREATING MEANING OF LIFE This is difficult to grasp but it is something everyone
 Another extensive study of the self can be found in the experiences and it represents an order in a world with
works of Dr. Viktor E. Frankl. laws that go beyond human laws.
3) People have a will to meaning. The third assumption is
seen as our main motivation for living and acting. When
we see meaning, we are ready for any type of suffering.
This is considered to be different than our will to achieve
power and pleasure.
4) People have freedom under all circumstances to
activate the will to find meaning. Assumption four is
that we are free to activate our will to find meaning, and
this can be done under any circumstances. This deals
with change of attitudes about unavoidable fate. Frankl
was able to test the first four assumptions when he was
confined in the concentration camps.
THE PSYCHIATRIST
5) Life has a demand quality to which people must
 Dr. Frankl was born on March 26, 1905 in Vienna,
respond if decisions are to be meaningful. The fifth
Austria, where famous psychiatrists Sigmund Freud and
assumption, the meaning of the moment, is more
Alfred Adler lived.
practical in daily living than ultimate meaning. Unlike
 At a young age, he wrote a short paper to Freud which
ultimate meaning this meaning can be found and
was published after 3 years.
fulfilled. This can be done by following the values of
 Graduated with a medical degree from the University of
society or by following the voice of our conscience.
Vienna in 1930.
6) The individual is unique. The sixth assumption deals
 He was assigned in Vienna Hospital suicidal ward and
with one’s sense of meaning. This is enhanced by the
headed the Rothschild Hospital, eight years later.
realization that we are irreplaceable.
 A survivor of the Holocaust, Dr. Frankl published a book
about logotherapy in 1959, the book was translated to
 In essence, all humans are unique with an entity of body,
English and was revised in 1963 as The Doctor and the
mind, and spirit. We all go through unique situations and
Soul: An Introduction to Logotherapy.
are constantly looking to find meaning. We are free to
 His book, Man’s Search For Meaning, has been used as a
do these at all times in response to certain demands.
textbook in high school and college courses.
 Dr. Frankl died in 1997.
FRANKL’S SOURCES OF MEANING
1) Purposeful Work. To find meaning of life starts with
holding a future goal. Each individual has each own
future goal to achieve or a task to perform. That task or
goal to fulfill becomes the meaning of their life.
Therefore, meaning of life is unique to every individual.
2) Courage in the Face of Difficulty. A meaningful life is a
life with suffering. Suffering is inevitable part of life. To
find meaning of life is to recognize suffering, pain, and
death as part of life and to have the courage to face
these life difficulties.
3) Love. Popova quoted Dr. Frankl’s notes about his
experience in the Nazi Camp: “For hours I stood hacking
at the icy ground. The guard passed by, insulting me, and
once again I communed with my beloved. More and
more.

 I felt that she was present, that she was with me; I had
the feeling that I was able to touch her, able to stretch
out my hand and grasp hers. The feeling was very strong:
she was there. Then, at that very moment, a bird flew
down silently and perched just in front of me, on the
heap of soil which I had dug up from the ditch, and
looked steadily at me.”
 Dr. Frankl’s wife, parents, and some relatives were
victims of gas chambers. His love of his wife kept him
fight for his life. Popova also quoted “Love is the only
way to grasp another human being in the innermost core
of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the
very essence of another human being unless he loves
him.
 By his love, he is enabled to see the essential traits and
features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees
that which is potential in him.
 Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the
beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By
making him aware of what he can be and of what he
should become, he makes these potentialities come
true.