Wisik: A Splash of Reality

CONSCIOUSNESS PURIFICATION            It is evident that Philippine Culture has been influenced deeply by the colonizers. A whopping 90% of Filipinos adhere to Christianity (albeit the various denominations), a ‘gift’ from our Spaniard colonizers. The American colonizers, on the other hand, has given us the public school system. These are just some of their influences; many of our practices (and even our lexicon) have been imbedded with foreign influences. With all these, I sometimes ask: “Do we really have that unique identity?”             From the various foreign influences, we could surmise that our identity is like our famous delicacy—“Halo-Halo” –a mixture of different ingredients formed as one product. This kind of identity, I believe, has made the Filipino consciousness ‘unstable’ in a sense that our uncertainty has led to some complications. For example, a lot of us do not really have that good sense of history. Another is that words like ‘patriotism’ and ‘love for country’ a

  Knowing and Acting in the Season of Creation     The pursuit for knowledge and for truth is an arduous yet imperative venture. This task is what animates philosophy (and all the other disciplines). But, is it enough to just know?     "Knowledge is power," the popular dictum says. Well, this kind of power is unrealized; it is just a potentiality. Its actuality is realized by means of applying such knowledge to reality. Hence, I would say that applying what is known to our actions is the actualization of our rationality.     On the notion of knowing and acting, Wangming has also contributed to this issue. What I like about his idea is that he presupposes a connection or unity with knowledge and action: in their original state, "knowledge automatically/necessarily leads to action (Kim, n.d.)." Knowing, for Wangming, is not about learning concepts. Instead, it is about knowing how to act in a certain situation. What guarantees that knowledge is applied into action is

  TRAVELING AND PHILOSOPHIZING (photo from: https://www.shareexit.com/sustainable-travel/)               Traveling to various places is more than fun. I always see it as a learning experience. Every new terrain that I am able to explore evokes in me a sense of wonder.               Wonder – what an interesting word. It is after all what prompts philosophy. I say that it is interesting since wondering is such a ‘basic’ thing to do given our rational and inquisitive nature, and that even the most random and mundane things trigger it – even traveling.               It is exhilarating to note that the greatest ideas from the wisest thinkers of history were born from unique landscapes – the Greeks at the agora, Indian sages in the wilderness, and Chinese sage masters across the warring states.               The common denominator among their ancient (but immortal and influential) ideas is the self, or the human person himself: be it Socrates’ dictum, “Know thyself”; the Indian sages’ teachi