The Human Soul
Reading: Leonardo Mercado, "Soul and Spirit in Filipino Thought" (1991)
Welcome to the study group, where we will be exploring and discussing resources on folk psychology and indigenized spirituality, with a focus on Philippine culture. This is a self-paced study.
Last week, I opened the discussion board for people to introduce themselves by sharing what got them interested in Philippine culture, and what Filipino resources they enjoy and might recommend. If you’d like to participate in the previous discussion board, visit it here, and just come back to this one.
Resource For Today
There are different ways through which the Filipino identity can be explored. We can start with what makes a Filipino a “Filipino,” through our exports and internationally-recognized personalities. We could also look at stereotypes that others have about us, both good and bad, and see whether these hold any truth. For example, is it true that most Filipinos are good at karaoke?
We could then look at stereotypes we hold about ourselves, particularly about our personality. We know that as Filipinos, we value family and community. But we’ve also been called “lazy,” “non-confrontational,” and “fatalistic.” Is there some truth behind these descriptors, or do they come from an ingrained colonial mindset? We can also look into the cultural values inherent in our language, traditions, and folk beliefs.
Or we can start from the root of it all: our shared worldview. After all, our perceptions of reality shape our cultural vocabulary, which then influence the way we understand our environments and social interactions.
Our resource today comes from the philosopher Fr. Leonardo N. Mercado, who is known for his linguistic studies on Philippine culture. Although he was a Catholic priest, he did a lot of work studying indigenous spirituality, showing that so-called “pagan” beliefs are just alternative ways to get to the same magnificent divine truth. He passed away in 2020.
Today we will look at his analysis of words and beliefs referring to the Filipino soul, through his 1991 article, Soul and Spirit in Filipino Thought. Read it here.
Reflection Questions
When you are ready, you may use the comment section below as a discussion board for your answers. You are also encouraged to interact with the answers of others, to deepen your own insights on the topic.
What struck you the most about this resource? This could be something that you’ve never heard before, something that “connects the dots,” or something that affirms previously held beliefs.
What does this resource say about the Filipino identity, particularly your identity as a Filipino?
How could the ideas in this resource be useful to your daily life?
1. What I found the most remarkable in the article was that worldviews across the board tended to be very similar. Especially now, the easier thing seems to be to find differences between each other - to be presented with a common thread of understanding of the soul among multiple schools of philosophy was refreshing and a bit comforting. We may look different to one another now, but at our cores - indeed, maybe down to our souls - we once had the same understanding of who and how we are in relation to ourselves and to others.
I was also struck by the categorization of Christianity as an Eastern model of philosophy. It has been presented as so classically Western as it's been ensconced in Western civilization, so to see it alongside philosophies that are often presented as counterpoints was very interesting.
2. This article validated and supported the way I was raised. Despite being raised in the U.S., the way I was taught to interact with others and see myself in the world was very Filipino. Fr. Mercado brought this home to me especially in discussing how the dichotomy of Western thinking can lead to angelism; it got me to thinking a lot about Catholic guilt and how that guilt can be weaponized. As a self-proclaimed 'bad Catholic' I am working on my relationship with religion aside from this guilt and I'm trying to figure out what that relationship really entails outside of strict Catholic guidelines.
3. My recent efforts outside of Catholicism to find inner peace and grounding have included yoga, crystals and more excursions out into nature. Seeing this work through the lens of the Filipino worldview of all material things having life since reading this article has made these practices feel more like home. I'm excited to further explore my relationship to the world around me now that I'm more aware and more actively putting my phone down to just be.
1. I was struck by the structural rhymes between indigenous Filipino and ancient Chinese conceptions of spirit and dual souls. I began to question Catholicism in my early teens when I first encountered Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Through the years, I have come to understand hun and po not as two separate souls but as two poles on a continuum of vital energies.
I am also increasingly aware that many of my initial misreadings of Taoism and Zen were the result of translations by Western Christians misunderstanding Eastern epistemologies through their own ontological lenses. I can’t help but wonder how much Fr. Mercado’s descriptions are affected by the sources he relied upon and his own Catholic lens.
2. I am intrigued by the notion that my Ilocano ancestors viewed themselves as multitudes not monoliths. And, that they lived in a world of both/and instead of either/or. Those are both views that I have been uncovering in myself throughout my life.
3. In my search to connect with my ancestors and find a place of rootedness, I am understanding more and more that I am a continuation of my ancestors. That those connections are already within me, I just could not see them.