My Philosophy of Life

MAN’S DELUSIONAL ESCAPE Image courtesy of Crosswalk.com By Ronald Michael Quijano, LPT We always tend to hear someone asking for prayers, or sometimes, they offer prayers. The majority of Bible-based religion believes that prayer is the most powerful tool that connects man with God. Questions arise from these beliefs; Does it really work? Not just the functionality of this action demands evidence and reason, but also its operation. On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked 3 airplanes, the terrorists are praying to God for their success, while the passengers are desperately praying for the terrorists’ failure, the question is; how did prayer work that day? Which are answered?  For people who are religious, believe that prayer has benefits for those who pray and for whom the prayer is for. For this issue, the discussion will be under the roof of the Judeo-Christian god believers, or the god of the bible since it strongly implies the habitual praying of its followers. There a...

The Manila Bay after the clean up ~ Photo by Ed Lustan By Ronald Michael Quijano I can still dwell into the memories Manila Bay has given me. The cold water that runs on my skin complements the warmth of sunrise. I can still feel the texture of the seashells formed on the sides of rocks lined-up at the bay. I can still taste the sea, smell the sea, and visualized the common marine life that usually occupies the Manila Bay. When I was a child, about 9 or 10, my cousins and I used to went to Manila Bay on foot, just to swim, get mussels and small crabs, and cook it when we get home. But after a few years went by, the same old Manila Bay is far from the haven I used to see. Coined by some as Metro Manila's “Toilet Bowl". Generations have passed, yet the management and care for the bay have always been fragmented. This essay is neither to establish some propaganda nor campaign some political figure, the goal is not to praise the current administration. This is to enlighten th...

By Ronald Michael Quijano, LPT      Blasphemous; as what they call it really give a ring to all religious people - especially religious Filipino people - to be offended when someone is questioning the existence of their God. Whether it is Islam God, Judeo-Christian God, or Greek Gods does not greatly matter, the idea of a god is an early attempt of man to fulfill its primal desires and wishes. It is also an attempt to unravel the basic mystery of nature that isn’t mysterious at all, given that knowledge and the scientific method are not yet available at that time. From fetishism to animism, to polytheism, reduced to monotheism, man has furnished and perfected the nature of the divine to match all his wishes. Carl Von Doren stated in his article “Why Am I An Unbeliever (1926)” that a wish - whether it has been desired by an intellectual man or an ignorant man -  is still a wish, it does not change. Another primal desire of man is to live after death. Life is too ...

Image courtesy of Justine Lambert/Getty by Ronald Michael Quijano What are you most afraid of? Rats? Spiders?  Flying cockroaches - sometimes they assume that they are butterflies - or something to do with heights? Dark? Confined spaces? Whatever it is, surely, all of us have something to be afraid of. Among all those stimuli that might trigger your fear, there is this concept which all of us are a victim. Death. This perhaps is one of the common reasons why we believe in God, hoping for an afterlife. The belief in God is somehow an early attempt of humans to save himself from inevitable death. This is, somehow, evidence of human worshipping himself, constructing a goal of immortality.  Most of us can’t fathom the idea of non-existence. We tend to rely on our hope of a non-evident afterlife. But what does death really mean? For us to understand the concept of death, we must first comprehend the idea of purpose, existence, and meaning. Socrates, a well-known phil...

Front view of National Museum of Natural History, RIzal Park, Manila Philippines (September 5, 2018) By Ronald Michael Quijano, LPT              I happened to visit the National Museum of Natural History in the heart of Metro Manila. It is located along Agrifina Circle in Rizal Park. To give some background about the building, it was originally built as Agriculture and Commerce Building in 1940. On the other side of this building, the National Museum of Anthropology is erected, where the history of the Philippines is preserved in a fashionable manner. This building formerly housed the Department of Finance. A few blocks from the National Museum of Anthropology where the National Museum of Fine Arts is located. The vital role of these museums in cultural growth was recognized as a contribution to the government’s desire for national development. In 1996, when President Ferdinand Marcos signed the Cultural Properties and Protection Act - which is ...

    By Ronald Michael Quijano, LPT      Education - as defined in different well-known dictionaries - is a systematic way of instructing a particular subject or field in which they should integrate with other learning experiences to apply it in reality to make progress and contribution to society. The definition may differ to some aspect, but the essence of its meaning and application are under the same roof. Education is the action or process of teaching someone especially in a school, college, or university; it somehow refers to what we know as formal education but the very essence of its definition stays within the context of being academic. Education is teaching the knowledge, skill, and understanding that you get from attending school, college, or university; which pertains that a student should be taught that they have the right to decide what to think, how to think, and why should they think. Religious education tends to give them absolute underst...