Descartes Argument on God’s Existence

Darwin Prado

Rene Descartes proves the existence of God using his argument of the “Cogito Ergo Sum” as the starting point.  He claims that God exists because it is God Himself who implanted the idea God to his (Descartes) mind.  When Descartes thinks the idea of God, he proves his “thinking” by examining his own thinking of himself.  Thus, he says, Cogito ergo sum, I think, therefore, I am.  In connection with this claim, when he grasped the idea of God who is greater than himself, the idea of God which is present in Descartes’ mind comes from God Himself.  He (Descartes) said this simply because, he cannot think of a greater idea of God since he (Descartes) is less great than his own idea of God.  So, where does this idea of God come from?  Logically, it comes from God Himself simply because (not that simple for some people); God Himself is the Cause of the Effect of the idea of God on him (Descartes).  Thus, there would be no greater effect than the cause.  Since, God is the cause of the idea of God, it follows that God exists.  Descartes cannot think of the idea of God, if his idea of God comes solely from him.  In a nutshell, Descartes says that God exists because he has in his mind the idea of God, and this idea of God cannot come from him since this idea (of God) is greater than him.  If that is the case, there is innate idea of God in his mind implanted by God Himself.  Therefore, God exists.

Upon hearing the dialogue of Kim Chu from the teleserye entitled, Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo, I cannot but reflect on what she said to Kris Aquino, her Mother.  “Hindi lang Ikaw ang Kaylangan Ko”.  She was reprimanded simply because she attended the party/gimmick without permission from Kris.  In the Filipino family set-up, talagang nangyayari ang mga ganun.  yung tipong nagrerebelde ang anak dahil sa pamamaraan ng paghuhubog sa anak ng magulang.  Minsan hindi malinaw sa mga anak ang dahilan kung bakit dinidisiplina sila ng mga ito…If I will relate Kim’s argument, it is closely related to father-mother-relationship situation.  What do I mean? yung tipong ang isang party ay naghahanap nang panibagong libangan kung may simpleng pagkabagot na nararamdaman.  Yung lalake halimbawa magpapainum inum, sa una ay unti unti, pag tumagal ay dumarami na ang naiiunum at madals na ding lasing umuwi.  Worst kung makahanap pa ng iba.  The girl or let say the mother will complain of course.  And this will lead to a fight…and eventually separation. because the father will shout, HINDI LANG IKAW ANG KAILANGAN KO!!! (Kailangan ko ding uminum/barcada.) It could be vice-versa, the girl or the mother will try to kill her boredom.  So she’ll visit beauty parlors to dress-up and replenish herself with the help of Belo Med Group or Calayan.  Sometimes, she will go to shopping, or finding textmates,  or simply create a facebook account and play farmville.  Doing this will kill her boredom.  It’s good .  it will not lead to a fight healthy kasi eh, but excessive use of social networking site is also dangerous, especially if the one party finds his/her friends, ex’s, whomsoever, and sometimes, even new lover (friend sa una sharing sharing lang  nang promlema kasi hindi daw kilala mas mainam daw, hello? hindi mo nga kilala eh, hindi ka din kilala, matutulungan ka ba?  eventually nahooked na at nasira na ang pamilya or masisira pa lang) .  Then one will doubt the love s/he shared with one another for such a long time.  Confused and bombarded with these thoughts,  another fight will arise and lead into separation…  and the argument will be the same, “HINDI LANG IKAW ANG KAILANGAN KO!!!   Then, the children will intervene in order to preserve the relationship of their parents, and the parents argue, Hindi lang KAYO ang kailangan ko!   What a sad reality isn’t it?  This is a challenge for everyone of us my beloved friends, FIDELITY.  To be faithful is a constant or should I say never ending challenge…a life long temptation.  One should be strong enough not to entertain temptation.  To be tempted is not a sin, entertaining this temptation, that’s a sin.  As a worker in an  all-girl community, every hour every minute, temptation exists.  But thanks God, the said temptation makes  me MAN, a strong MAN. And so I also say, HINDI LANG IKAW ANG KAYLANGAN KO…kaylangan ko din ang TIWALA mo.  MAGTIWALA KA…mahal KITA.

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy
5. Make time for prayer
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day —- and while you walk, smile

Personality:
11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
13. Don’t over do ; keep your limits
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously ; no one else does
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
25. Call your family often
26. Each day give something good to others
27. Forgive everyone for everything
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day
30. What other people think of you is none of your business
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right things
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful
34. GOD heals everything
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
37. The best is yet to come
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

GOD DOES NOT EXIST

 

Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach, a humanist-atheist claims that God does not exist.  He explains that God is merely a projection of human imagination.  He says that man, in his action, is experiencing limitations in this life.  He is going through suffering and poignant pangs of grief in life.  To make up for this limitation, he produced or made up the idea/concept of God who is greater than himself.  Man, in his limitation, made the idea of infinite, eternal and omnipotent God.  Thus, Feurebach claims that God is a simple product of human imagination.  To put into syllogism, he says that “If God is, so man is a slave.  But man is free and intelligent, therefore God does not exist.”  Granted that Feuerbach was trying to prove the non-existence of God by saying that God is just a product of human imagination in order to satisfy his limitation.  Though he was able to deny the existence of God, still, he was not able to explain where this man’s idea of God comes from.  The question now is that, if man was able  to make his own idea of God who is greater than himself, where this idea/concept of God comes from?  Obviously, his idea/concept of God does not come from himself, for man cannot think or even create someone or something which is greater than himself.  This unsolved question in Feuerbach’s position is answered and explained by Rene Descartes. 

 

“Salat man ako sa salapi, sa karunungan nama’y ako’y wagi.”   pradz19

 

 

“Salat man ako sa pagkapogi, sa kasintahan nama’y ako’y bawing-bawi.”          pradz19

“If I were given a chance to live my life again, I would be a tear…be born from your eyes, lives in your cheeks, and dies on your lips.”

Minsan, wag mong pigilan ang pagsilang ng luha sa iyong mga mata. Bigyan mo ng kalayaan mamuhay ito at umagos sa iyong mga pisngi, Sapagkat ito’y daglian din lilisan sa iyong mga labi.  Ito lang ang tamang paraan upang maibsan ang pait na iyong nararamdaman.Huwag maging negatibo sa pagtanggap ng realidad, pagkat ang luha’y hindi puro pait lamang.  Lasapin ang alat na ibinibigay nito, sapagkat pagkatapos ng lungkot, kaligayahan naman ang idudulot.

Sa bawat pagpulandit ng aking isip ay sinasala ng busilak kung puso ang mga katagang nais mamutawi sa aking bibig subalit walang sapat at tamang panahon upang ito’y muling tuluyang dumaloy sa bawat litid ng aking dugo na nananalaytay sa aking puso. Ang pagkatao ko ay animoy isang bagong lumad na hinuhulma upang maging kapakipakinabang ang aking pag-iral sa mundong aking ginagalawan. Isa lang ang hinihingi nang natura ng mundo…Busilak at wagas na PAGMAMAHAL.

Instant

 

What is patience? It is a virtue.  That is the thought that most of the Catholic students learned in the school.  Defining what patience is, is quite easy for them, it is very mechanical.  But trying to understand the “whatness” of patience is hard to decipher.  Rev. Fr. Dominic Radecki, CMRI once said and I quote patience “is a virtue which helps us, for the love of God, to calmly bear our tribulations and preserve serenity amid the sufferings of life. Patience tempers sorrow and staves off excessive anger and complaining. Patience is the guardian of all the virtues, for there are obstacles to be encountered in any good work, and they can be overcome only by patience”.  It is obvious here that patience is a virtue, one of the cardinal virtues, which any Christians should possess.   But how can people really acquire the virtue of patience, if everybody wants an instant access. People nowadays desire to get what they want immediately.  All the scientific investigations are used in order to speed up the natural process.  Everybody easily get tired of waiting. They don’t want to wait for so long.  Human experiences tell us that people don’t want to wait.  As a matter of fact, many “instant” things are ever produced. Instant noodles, and instant coffee, in order to fill up the hungry stomach are there.  ATM’s are built to speed up banking transactions.  Mobile phones and internets are the most common means of communication nowadays. One can easily send message to their loved ones using the said stuffs. With all these realities, it appears that the humanity is very successful in trying to speed up everything and eventually avoided the agony of waiting.  All that is said from above are just few things that one can see… people really want everything to be instant, so that in a glimpse of an eye, everything would be possible.  However, there is no such thing as instant.  To be able to eat the instant noodles, and to drink the instant coffee, one should boil water first.  One should wait for a few minute in sending the message through the SMS or through email.   In fact, in using computer, one has to wait in order for the computer to fully function, and so it says…loading, downloading, etc.   In trying to get cash from the ATM, one should fall in line before s/he can take his/her turn.  There is no such thing as instant millionaire.  Even the lotto bettors have to fall in line in buying their bets.  They also need to wait.  Be patient.  That is the lesson.  There are many individuals who want to earn instant money, so they cut the trees for profit.  And they never mind replacing them.   As a result, the city of the rich and famous was flooded.  Indeed, there is no such thing as instant that the human beings can acquire. People must have a virtue of patience. Only the Absolute One can make it happen.  And here it was…instant flood.

 

IN MID-SUMMER DAY,

I LOOK UP TO GAZE THE SKY,

BLUISH LIKE YOUR EYES.