Unit 2: Unpacking The Self: Supernaturals: Believe It or Not!
Unit 2: Unpacking The Self: Supernaturals: Believe It or Not!
UNIT 2: UNPACKING THE SELF My family as well believe that there are other entities in this world such as engkanto that may
be envious of the love that God gave to us, that is why they tend to destroy our faith by giving us a hard
time. Let me put it this way, whenever something strange happen in our house like a strange knock on
the door even when there is no one, we get sick when we play in our backyard under a mango tree and
MODULE 3 the list go on. It is one of my experiences with those celestial beings other than God. Up until this
moment I still believe that there is good and bad in this world and that there are angels and fallen
angels but above all I believe in the Triune God, Mary and Saints in Heaven and that God created
SUPERNATURALS: BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
everything and provided us with all our needs.
Objectives: DRAW:
o Identify various religious practices and beliefs.
o Understand the self in relation with religious beliefs. Make a poster about the instance or situation that made you believe in the existence of higher being.
o Explain ways of finding the meaning of life.
▪ Spiritual self is one of the four constituents of the self “self” according to William James in his
book, The Principles of Psychology in 1890. The spiritual self is the most intimate, inner
subjective part of the self.
▪ The ability to use moral sensibility and conscience may been seen through the expressions of
religion, its beliefs and practices.
RECALL:
When was the first time you realized that there is a higher being than yourself? How old were you then?
What made you believe that there is a higher being?
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▪ Samatha – is practice as mindfulness of breathing and development of loving
kindness (Metta Bhavana)
ABSTRACTION: ▪ Vipassana – practices aim at developing insight into reality.
▪ Buddhists can achieve a deeper understanding of life.
Rebecca Stein (Stein 2011) works on the definition of a religion “as a ste of cultural beliefs and ▪ Buddhists believe in non-violence principle.
practices that usually includes some or all of basic characteristics. These characteristics are: ▪ Major Buddhists celebrations are Parinirvana Day in February; Buddha Day (Wesak)
in May; Dharma Day in July; Padmasambhava Day in October; and Sangha Day in
1. A belief in anthropomorphic supernatural being, such as spirit and gods. November
2. A focus on the sacred supernatural, where sacred refers to a feeling of reverence and awe.
3. The presence of supernatural power or energy that is found on supernatural being as well as
physical beings and objects. Christianity
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. Beliefs
5. The articulation of worldview and moral codes through narratives and other means.
6. Provide the creation and maintenance of social bonds and mechanism of social control within ▪ Believe in Trinitarian God. One God in three personas: God the Father (Creator), God
a community; provide explanation for unknown and a sense of control for individuals. the Son (Savior), and God the Holy Spirit (sustainer).
▪ Eternal life after death will be achieved through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ os,
Ritual God the Son, who came to flesh, to spread the Good News of Salvation.
▪ Ritual is the performance of ceremonial acts as prescribed by a tradition or sacred law ▪ The Holy Bible is a selection of books, which is divided into two, the Old Testament
(Britannica 2017). Ritual is a specific, observable mode of behavior exhibited by all known and New Testament.
societies. It is thus possible to view ritual as a way of defining or describing humans.
▪ There are three fundamentals characteristics of ritual according to Penner (Britannica 2017) Customs and Practices
Ritual has the characteristics of:
1. A feeling or emotion of respect, awe, fascination, or dead in relation to the sacred ▪ Sacrament of Baptism and Sacrament of Communion are practiced by Christian
2. Dependence upon a belief system that is usually expressed in the language of myth. churches. The Sacrament of Baptism symbolizes the birth in Christian World, while
3. Is symbolic in relation to its reference. the Sacrament of Communion is an act of rememberance of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial
love. Jesus Christ teaching is unconditional love that is expressed in loving the poor,
Some World Religious Beliefs and Practices oppressed, and outcast of the society.
▪ Christ and Resurrection (Easter) are the two major celebrations in Christianity.
Buddhism
Hinduism
Beliefs
▪ Believes that life is not a bed of roses. Instead, there are suffering, pain, and
frustrations. When people suffer, they want to experience the goodness of life and Beliefs
void disappointments. ▪ Covers a wide range of traditional beliefs and religious groups; thus, there is no single founder
or leader.
Customs and Practices ▪ Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of birth, death and rebirth governed by Karma.
▪ There are two types of meditation practices: samatha and vipassana ▪ Karma is a concept where the reincarnated life will depend on how the past life was spent.
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▪ Hindus believe that the soul passes through the cycle of successive lives and its next ▪ Eidul-Adha is celebrated within the completion of the Pilgrimage, the Haji
incarnation is always dependent on how the previous life was lived.
▪ Vedas – are sacred scriptures of Hindus.
▪ Mahabhrata and Ramayana – are two other important texts of the Hindus.
Judaism
Customs and Practices
Beliefs
▪ Diwali, and Navrati are the most celebrated festivals of the Hindus. Diwali is the Festival of ▪ The Jews believe in the God of Abraham, the same God that liberated the Hebrews slaves
Lights while Navrati is the festival of nine nights, which we celebrate the triumph of good over from Egypt to Canaan, the Promised Land through the leadership of Moses and later, Joshua.
evil. Hindus have set dates to honor particular manifestations of God. ▪ The Jews believe in the coming of Messiah, the Savior. The sacred scripture of the Jews is
called the Torah of the Law. The Torah is the guide of the Jewish living. The study and
interpretation of Torah is part of the Jewish culture.
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go back to where it all started and continue on what we believe is our purpose. Finding purpose in our
Basic Concepts of Franklin Psychology life is not complete when we do not feel love. When our sacrifices are put into waste or when we are
just disregarded like a piece of trash. Everyone seeks love and attention and it is a fulfillment and a joy
▪ Life has meaning under all circumstances. when we have this love for ourselves and we receive love from others.
▪ Main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.
▪ Freedom to find meaning.
REFLECTION:
We all agree that a life without meaning is life without purpose. It is innate to us that we seek our
meaning for us to have purpose in our life and it is completely rooted with our thought that we must
provide for ourselves and our family. We tend to go to school, finish a degree and go on with our dream
job, earn money and sustain our needs and when difficulties arise in times of trouble wherein we need
to have the courage to face it. We need to be tough and wise so when these difficulties subside, we can