support from buddhist philosophy

just found this quote from one of my notes:

SUFFERING = "clinging to that which changes" -- Buddhism

(source: de bekcer, g. 1997. the gift of fear. ny: dell, p. 217.)

>application: abusive men

"CONTROLLING may work for a while, even a long while, but then it begins not to work, and so he ESCALATES. he will do anything to stay in control, but his wife is CHANGING, and that causes him to SUFFER.... when men in these situations do not find out what is going on INSIDE them, when they do not get COUNSELING or therapy, it is a CHOICE to continue using violence...."

action is the final arbiter: my educational philosophy

it started with my educational philosophy, triggered by this beautiful edtech lecturer (sorry, forgot her name :-, poor auditory, better visual memory, esp with names) at dlsu who quoted confucius (+ 479 BC) saying:
http://www.quotehd.com/quotes/confucius-philosopher-i-hear-and-i-forget-i-see-and-i-remember-i-do-and-i

then, as i was looking at the pictures on google images, i found out about edgar dale's (1969) cone of learning which lends scientific evidence to confucius' philosophical view!

https://pandawhale.com/post/9248/i-see-and-i-forget-i-hear-and-i-remember-i-do-and-i-understand-confucius

the reason why i finally decided to write it here is that this morning, the homily of fr. edu apuyan, cfm was: "you will only understand if you do it!"

gospel (15th sunday in ordinary time, year C = luke 10:25-37):

scribe asks jesus about the 1st and 2nd commandments to TEST him. jesus, said, (my rephrase:) "i give you a 100% for your (cognitive, intellectual) answers, BUT you have to do (behavioral) it to UNDERSTAND the teaching / principle!"

Luke 10:28 " 'You have answered right,' said Jesus, 'DO this and LIFE is yours.'" (Jerusalem Bible) [in answer to the scribe's correct rendering of the two most important commandments]

and

Luke 10:37 "... Jesus said to him, 'Go, and DO the same yourself!'" [in answer to "Who is my neighbor?" and Jesus rendering of the Good Samaritan]

Fr Edu said (my paraphrase): "We will only UNDERSTAND love if we love the unlovable" and goes on to narrate what the Hospitaler Brothers are doing, i.e., feeding the mentally ill even if they are slapped by them in the process! Yes, i testify to this testimony of the Hospitaler Brother in Bocaue, Bulacan near St. Paul's (bro raymund? i think is his name) when i brought my psychology grad students of PWU there about 3 years ago and sent a practicumer there.

Then, i remembered the story of the guru and the scorpion. the former kept on trying to save the latter in the ganges river because he said his nature was to LOVE and the nature of the animal was to bite!

my thoughts: 

i only understood philosophy (my major!!!) when i realized it was limited and that THEOLOGY was needed to continue it. thus, the seminary academic preparation sequence of these two courses!

i am also actually living the CHALLENGE of loving beyond human capacity, i.e., accessing DIVINE LOVE!!! divine mercy! hesed yeshua!

ps: fr magling fabiosa, svd recalls the palestenian (samaritan) vs israeli (jew) conflict starting with the partition in 1947 up to the present! so, christ's saying of DO it has apparently not been heeded up to now!!!

pearl of great price in r.s. thomas' poem

Re: “The Bright Field” (poem)

Fr: R. S. Thomas (Welsh Anglican priest-poet, 1913-2000)

“I have seen the sun break through

to illuminate a small field

for a while, and gone my way

and forgotten it. But that was the

pearl of great price, the one filed that had

treasure in it. I realize now

that I must give all that I have

to possess it. Life is not hurrying

“on to a receding future, nor hankering after

an imagined past. It is the turning

aside like Moses to the miracle

of the lit bush, to a brightness

that seemed as transitory as your youth

once, but is the eternity that awaits you.”

=====================================

Commentary by Emily Ardagh 

(emilypoetmyblog.com/2013/10/23/the-bright-field-by-r-s-

thomas/)

Bright field = “shining moments in life – moments of grace, 

beauty, inspiration, epiphany – where we fleetingly 

encounter the divine or feel a deep connection to the 

universe”

Examples:

-- “the moment you see your child’s face for the first time

-- the moment you realize you’ve fallen in love

-- when you read and understand some complicated

scientific theory about the universe,

-- become transfixed by Shakespeare or an incredible piece 

of music,

-- when you pray or meditate, and feel a connection to the

divine.”