Transcendentalism
Elements of Transcendentalist Belief:
The transcendentalist "transcends" or rises above the lower animalistic impulses of life (animal drives) and moves from the rational to a spiritual realm.
The human soul is part of the Oversoul or universal spirit to which it and other souls return at death.
Every individual is to be respected because everyone has a portion of that Oversoul (God).
This Oversoul or Life Force or God can be found everywhere.
God can be found in both nature and human nature.
Jesus also had part of God in himself - he was divine as everyone is divine - except in that he lived an exemplary and transcendental life
and made the best use of that Power which is within each one.
More important than a concern about the afterlife, should be a concern for this life - "the one thing in the world of value is the active soul." -
Emerson
Death is never to be feared, for at death the soul merely passes to the oversoul.
Emphasis should be placed on the here and now. "Give me one world at a time." - Thoreau
Evil is a negative - merely an absence of good. Light is more powerful than darkness because one ray of light penetrates the dark.
Power is to be obtained by defying fate or predestination, which seem to work against humans, by exercising one's own spiritual and moral
strength. Emphasis on self-reliance.
Hence, the emphasis is placed on a human thinking.
The transcendentalists see the necessity of examples of great leaders, writers, philosophers, and others, to show what an individual can
become through thinking and action.
It is foolish to worry about consistency, because what an intelligent person believes tomorrow, if he/she trusts oneself, tomorrow may be
completely different from what that person thinks and believes today. "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." - Emerson
The unity of life and universe must be realized. There is a relationship between all things.
One must have faith in intuition, for no church or creed can communicate truth.
Reform must not be emphasized - true reform comes from within.
Courtesy of The University of Arizona
