Background: Session Three B
The Transcendentalists: Paul will present on the influences on, and the spirituality of, the Transcendentalists.Session Summary
When one gets down to studying the Transcendentalists, one notices that individually they "feel" different from each other - in personal character but also in what they are saying. This is, Paul notes, because there are four different dimensions to the movement: religious, philosophical, literary and reform. Scholars conclude that predominately the movement is religious and spiritual in nature. Thus, our study in Emerson and the Transcendentalists is not merely a study in interesting historical literature but in the spirituality of things. It is a study of how a formative group fared when they broke away from formalized religion in search of meaningful connections with themselves, each other and the world.Our study would fall short if we simply admired their eloquence. Rather, we would do well to see the Transcendentalists as conduits of a life-affirming metaphysic. A particular way of seeing life informs their literature, and can inform our lives today if internalized and made our own.
In terms of the four "roots" of Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson embodies all of them (although he was more of a reluctant social reformer). Within the religious dimension of the movement, Paul highlighted four subcategories: Platonists, Puritans, Unitarians and Eastern Spirituality. He said Amos Bronson Alcott was the most representative Platonist of the group, particularly in how he taught children. He saw the spark of divinity within them first before their more immediate limitations. Platonism in this sense is a way of life, more religious than philosophical in the ideational sense. (If we could retain that which we come to know during our most enlightened times, think of how much more transformed our thinking and doing would be.) Paul said although Emerson criticized Alcott's writing ability, Paul sometimes would choose to read Alcott over Emerson. "Enthusiasm is the glory and hope of the world," Alcott wrote. In Emerson's prose the same idea comes out: "Without enthusiasm, nothing is accomplished."
Bev raised the issue of seasoned teachers and how they usually have lost the enthusiasm but also the naive idealism of the beginning teacher. Paul said that the best teachers, however few there may be, are those who are seasoned with experience but still live in "la, la land" (idealism).
Jonathan Edwards from the Puritan camp, Paul says, probably influenced the Transcendentalists more than anyone. He was full of love for the soul and solidly believed in transcendent race. Unitarianism, the "ice house" rationalist religion that many Transcendentalists reacted to, also was an influence, but not only negatively. The Unitarians way of being worldly-wise and their downplaying of the trinitarian "God-head" suggested to the Transcendentalists that thinking broadly about Unity was possible.
Theodore Parker, a Christian Transcendentalist Abolitionist, was a unique Transcendentalist because he never left the institution of church, seeking to reform it from within. However noble an effort, he burned himself out in the process, having been open to constant criticism at every turn.
During Emerson's time, new translations were being made of the Bhagavad Gita and other Eastern spirituality texts. The Transcendentalists read them with great interest, seeing many of their intuited truths confirmed by these scriptures. Henry David Thoreau was one who developed many of his environmentalist ideas through reading Eastern spirituality.
The second major interpretive grid that defines Transcendentalism is that of a philosophical movement. In part, the movement was a reaction to Enlightenment rationalism as put forward by John Locke among others. Locke believed that we are what we perceive through our physical senses, and virtually nothing more. David Hume was a materialist to the point of not having any faith in a spiritual world whatsoever. Paul says the Transcendentalists needed these "enemies" in order for their creativity to shine.
Immanuel Kant, on the other hand, was a philosophical Idealist. He believed that it is the interpretative "glasses" that we mentally put on that determines what we see. Also, he thought that there are certain innate categories of human thought that are bred in humans. Reacting against rationalism, Transcendentalism has been said to be a restatement of Kant for an American audience, Dave noted. Scottish Common-Sense philosophy, with its belief in innate knowledge, also was a contributing influence.
A major influence in the literary stream were the Early English Romantics such as William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and Thomas Carlyle who wrote in direct reaction to the strong rationalism going on in Britain. Paul said the Transcendentalist Aesthete Convers Francis and the Poet Jones Very could be considered descendents of the Later Romantic posts such as Percy Byshee Shelley and Lord Byron.
The last major stream of influence on the Transcendentalist movement is social & political reform. Early Nineteenth Century America gave rise to increasing industrialization, the Abolitionist movement and reforms in education and everyday lifestyle. Transcendentalist George Ripley's Brook Farm experiment in community living was evidence of this influence, as was Margret Fuller's form of feminism and political revolution, and Thoreau's idea of civil disobedience.
The second half of our evening was a presentation and discussion of basic Transcendentalist spirituality. The Transcendentalists, all in their own way, did not want religion nailed down to a set of creedal beliefs. Their ground of ultimate concern, they believed, was larger than themselves and therefore larger than any attempt to define "reality" or "God". It is thus difficult to say that they were a church because of the lack of visible structure. (The same could be said for our Watershed group.) Their meetings, when they had them, were very informal and almost Quaker in approach (they waited in silence for the "right" moment to speak the "right" words).
The Transcendentalists desired to respect the Divine element in themselves, others and the rest of Nature. They imagined a very strong correspondence between the divine order (macrocosm) and the natural order (microcosm). For instance, Emerson used a nature metaphor in his statement that "nature ever flows". This watery image he then develops by suggesting that all things are constantly changing, making it hard, if not impossible, to articulate anything at an ultimate level.
They also seemed to strongly believe that transformation comes through the renewal of our minds, thereby enhancing ourselves. The focus of concern is not in changing others' behavior or beliefs, nor in forgetting about ourselves. It lies in expanding our awareness of the Divine in all aspects of our life. Many also believed that to be truly ourselves we need to live in some sense in community with others (hence their emphasis on building and examining their friendships).
Many kept personal journals for self-reflection because they were committed to looking at their motives for making decisions. Other common disciplines of their spirituality included nature walks, intense conversations and writing.
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