Transcendentalism Essay, Research Paper

Transcendentalism

When an average person seeks happiness, most often they search in the wrong place: “If only I could have that I would be happy.” For ages, man has been seeking happiness from outside, not within. People have the misconception that material things and materialistic goals will bring them ultimate happiness, but in truth those only bring transient happiness. True and lasting happiness can be reached from within when one realizes the ultimate truth. This ultimate truth, the main focus of transcendentalism, can be reached through self-reliance, nature, and oversoul, the main principals of the philosophy. By meditation, by communing with nature, through work and art, man could transcend his senses and attain an understanding of beauty, goodness, and truth.

With the realization of the ultimate truth comes lasting happiness. This is the kind of happiness that every person searches for and works toward but often gets thrown off course by the evil influences of society. This is where self-reliance comes in. In the path to realizing the truth and attaining true happiness, one first has to realize that it is within, and cannot be attained from outside the self (or soul). With this knowledge they must go through a process of introspection. When going through this introspective path, one develops his or her intuitive mind, and begins to believe in (have faith in) it. When one really begins to trust in their intuitive abilities they are able to become self-reliant. That is, they are able to form their own ideas and opinions based on their new found intuition, and not conform to societal norm. When self-reliant, one is really believing in the self and has that enormous confidence that allows one to be a nonconformist. When does one become a conformist and fall into the drudgery of society? It is when one lacks the confidence in oneself to ignore custom and social codes and rely on his or her own reason. As Emerson said, “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” The saying of Swami Vivekananda sums up the transcendental idea of self-reliance:

“Follow truth wherever it may lead you; carry ideas to their utmost logical conclusions. Do not be cowardly and hypocritical. You must have a great devotion to your ideal, devotion not of the moment, but calm, persevering, and steady devotion” (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda 121).

Once self-reliance is firmly established, one is able to see the true nature (the core), of all matter- living and nonliving, not just the mere surface. In this stage, the true beauty of everything, from a rock, a rose, water, or even an insect, can be realized by the observer (transcendentalist). Each part of nature contains all within it. Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole.

“…water is not just H2O but also an element of the soul- fluid, deep, changing, tidal, cleansing, amniotic, nurturing, and threatening. To know water intimately is to know something about ourselves and to appreciate its presence as a means for increasing the life of the soul” (Moore, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life 8).

The separation between two things vanishes and the uniformity of our existence is affirmed.

Back in the process of self-reliance, one realizes that “individuality in universality is the plan of creation” (Swami Vivekananda 121). In other words, one realizes that everything in this universe is connected with each other and that the underlying principal is the same for everything. This is expressed in the quote “One in all and all in one” (Bhagavad Gita). That is, one consciousness is pervading over all matter in this universe. For example, many individual drops of water (individual people, animals, plants, objects . . . etc.) come together to create the vast ocean (universe). This ocean of consciousness is the transcendental idea of the oversoul. Whitman speaks of the oversoul in a part of the poem “A Noiseless Patient Spider”:

“And you O my soul where you stand.

Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space.

Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres

to connect them.

Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor

hold.

Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere. O my soul.”

What I have learned from transcendentalism is that when the universality of consciousness is finally realized, there is more harmony because you see the goodness, unity, and bliss in everything. Of course that does not mean that the rest of your life will be flawless. Every life has its pitfalls and low points. Still, with this knowledge you will be able to see the beauty of it. You are able to live life as it comes to you and not get stuck in the societal rat race towards never ending desire of material things. As life progresses on, you will experience enjoyment and misery. This experience of life and death, good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, are universal happenings. You will go on for the rest of your life inside this net, the net of life, and will encounter much evil. With this in mind, there are two paths that you can take to the rest of your life- one by giving up all hope to take on the world as it is and bear the pains in the hopes of bits of happiness now and then. The other is to give up the small, transient pleasures and search for the truth, the truth that brings ultimate pleasure and happiness. The truth that lets you transcend and rise above everything to see what the genuine character is of everything in this universe. When this truth is realized, how I understand it, we also see how the truth is bliss, even when it is manifested in evil, and that the truth of real existence can be manifested as life or death. Thus we realize that all these happenings are nothing but the reflections of one existence, your real self and the reality of everything else. Only when this truth is realized is when it is possible to do true good without evil because such a person who has realized the ultimate truth has known and gotten control of the material of which both good and evil are manufactured. When he can manifest one or the other, and chooses to manifest only good, is it is true goodness. Now if only everyone can attain this level of goodness, our world would be a pure and blissful place.