Fr. Jaime Bulatao, SJ
I met Jesuit priest, Jaime Bulatao, Fr. Bu or Pabu to his students, during my freshman year as a Psychology major at the Ateneo de Manila University. When he was introduced to us during the Freshmen Orientation Seminar as the founder of the Ateneo Psychology Department, I told myself then that this guy must really be ancient enough to have that stature as a founder! To my surprise, he was a cheerful gray-haired priest who welcomed us to the Department of Psychology.
As we toured our home department, I noticed that he had the strangest room in the faculty area in the Bellarmine building. I used to wonder why his things were always in disarray until I was told how he preferred to keep his place that way because he would not be able to find what he needed if they were organized in another way. It wasn’t long before I got to know Fr. Bu as there was no way any psychology major would miss him in the department or along the halls of Bellarmine. It was a treat to be invited into his room full of books across a wide-range of topics and novel items not to be found elsewhere. He was always excited to show curious students like me his new finds from Quiapo — from rods of different shapes, to crystal balls of all sizes, and to what looked like anting-anting or amulets. Soon, I met his dwende friends who lived along the Balete tree along the Bellarmine sidewalk. Best of all, he enjoyed taking me on a “journey” through what I would later on learn to be “hypnosis.”
Inside the classroom, Fr. Bu was a teacher who demanded much from us but gave much more of himself. During my undergrad years, I had him for History of Psychology, Independent Research and Hypnosis. During my graduate years, although I did not pursue Counseling or Clinical Psychology, I took a class in Abnormal Psychology because he was the instructor. As always, he animated his students with a great deal of stories and trivia, and challenged us with exams that required much critical thinking. He was very open about discussing anything that interested us in class, as long as it was related to our discussion. However, he made it clear from the very start that he could not stand noisy students who disrupted the flow of the learning in class.
Once, during a lecture class in History of Psychology, I found myself chatting with my seatmate. Fr. Bu was always nice to me, thus, I never thought I would ever get his ire for what I thought was a casual conversation with the guy seated next to me. We sat across the teacher’s table and before we knew it, Fr. Bu threw a chalk at us to interrupt what must have appeared to be a more engaging discussion between two students right in the center of the classroom. Fortunately, the chalk did not hit my face but I got his point and never dared to do the same thing in any of his classes again.
He also expected us to come to class prepared to participate and contribute our thoughts or insights. He said he did not want to waste his time talking to himself as students sat passively in his class. Many of us took note of this but there was this one time when no one appeared to prepare or have the energy to participate in class. It must have been one of those hell weeks during our senior years when we could hardly keep up with our mounting requirements. Fr. Bu attempted to ask a few questions but no one offered any reply. After a few minutes, we were all surprised to see him pack up his stuff from the teacher’s table and walk out on us in the middle of the class! He remarked that it was absolutely pointless to go on with the course with a bunch of zombies. It was the first time Fr. Bu was known to have walked out on a class and we felt truly at a loss for words and strategies to get him back into the classroom that day or in the succeeding days. The class then decided to send one of our female classmates, known to be ever calm and sweet, as our emissary to apologize for our non-participation and persuade Fr. Bu to return to our class. He did not return to our class that day but in the succeeding days when he was finally convinced to resume our class, we knew we had to do our part in the learning process if he were to stay with us. Fr. Bu modeled and challenged us to make the most of every learning opportunity.
I have known Fr. Bu for more than half of my life. More appropriately, I guess, I should say that he has known me for more than half of my life. Fr. Bu has seen me through my undergrad and graduate studies, through my marrying and un-marrying years, and through the challenges of my parenting and teaching years. As always, he was unconditional with his support for me in whatever I decided to pursue but was uncompromising in his desire for excellence. When I decided to leave my post at the Ateneo to join a pioneering effort for sport psychology in the country, many did not think much of my decision, except for Fr. Bu who expressed excitement over what he recognized as breaking ground at that time. Through the years, as my study and practice in the field intensified, he continued to encourage me and would proudly introduce me to his friends and students as “the great sport psychologist.” It was always humbling to hear him say that of me but it certainly gave me a great boost of confidence to pursue the field and eventually, specialize in it. He always asked about the athletes under my care and even met some of them to share much of what he did in hypnosis that aligned with mental training for competition. Before I knew it, some of them looked forward to my sessions, not because of me but because of the opportunity to see Fr. Bu! Indeed, Fr. Bu never ran out of generosity, even if his physical energy was already running out.
Much has been said and will be said of Fr. Bu as the great mentor to generations of psychologists. Fr. Bu is all that and more. He is more than all that because Fr. Bu has embedded himself in countless lives through the generosity of his heart and soul. If we try to figure out what drives one man to do all that he has done and be all that he was to many of us, we would certainly come to the conclusion that he must have drawn all that energy and inspiration from some Unlimited Source that can only be God. Indeed, Fr. Bu was truly and foremost, a man of God.
[ I wrote this essay for Fr. Bu last 22 March 2010 for a book on him but it never made it to print so am sharing this on the occasion of his 90th birthday 22 Sept 2012]
