Transcendentalism

 Hello People!!!!💮💮

"Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true."

_R.W.Emerson

So we are going to work on Transcendentalism as it is in our syllabus. In American literature, we are going to study Transcendentalism very closely and deeply. So let us drown into the question What is Transcendentalism? 

First of all, we will start with who brought this movement? what is the meaning of it? What is the Origin of Transcendentalism?  Transcendentalism? 

The movement arose around the 1830s in the eastern united states as a reaction to intellectualism.

The easiest meaning of Transcendentalism is...

To go beyond / Above 

We can go beyond by depending on our intuition rather than on reason and logic. Transcendentalism came with philosophy. The keyword for Transcendentalism is simplicity.

Henry David Thoreau 

American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher Henry David Thoreau are renowned for having lived the doctrines of Transcendentalism as recorded in his masterwork, Walden. He was also an advocate of civil liberties, as evidenced in the essay “Civil Disobedience”.

His three keys towards literature

1) Individualism

2) Idealism

3) Divinity of Nature 

Henry talks about one's relationship to nature. 

Today Henry is considered among the greatest of all American writers and the intellectual inspiration for the conservation movement. Thoreau inspired people to break the rules when they didn't believe in them, to be an individual, and to fight hard for something they love and believe in. That's his impact on society.

Effects of Transcendentalism ...

As a group, the transcendentalists led the celebration of the American experiment as one of individualism and self-reliance. They took progressive stands on women's rights, abolition, reform, and education. They criticized government, organized religion, laws, social institutions, and creeping industrialization.

While attending the lectures we had a few activities related to this particular subject...

I have found one image from Classroom Activities. In which we were supposed to draw whatever we are imagining or something we are living. So I did try to draw to exactly different shells of life in one there is Pink water is there which is completely beyond imagination and there is a sparkle of darkness which no ones wants to have in their life same as that there is another shell which has same water but there is a Unicorn Basically unicorn defines a beautiful world with intuition.

Also we are asked to share our view that

What is nature for you?

so,

Here is my answer about What is Nature for me?

Nature is something in which we are living we can say the reason of human life is possible on earth is only nature.

1  Transcendentalists talk about an Individual’s relation with Nature.

 Thoreau and Emerson emphasized the transcendentalist idea of human harmony with nature. They believed that nature can help us improve spiritually and help us connect to the rest of the world. According to Transcendental ideas, everything is connected, everything is one. Transcendentalists believe that nature allows us to escape from reality. They believe it can free our minds so that we can connect with our inner spirit. The Transcendentalists revered nature in a divine sense. Nature was not subordinate to them, but instead, nature was the other part of a symbiotic relationship. This analogy is the creed of the transcendental view of nature and of man as an individual. The Transcendentalists revered nature in a divine sense. Nature was not subordinate to them, but instead, nature was the other part of a symbiotic relationship. This analogy is the creed of the transcendental view of nature and of man as an individual.

2 Transcendentalism is an American Philosophy that influenced American Literature at length. Can you find any Indian/Regional literature or Philosophy that came up with such similar thought?

I have found two books based on spirituality divinity and individualism.

1) God are you A- Thiest 

'God' is most researched, but still unresolved. Most unknown, yet most relied upon. God is most discussed and debated, but still dodges consensus. God, most prayed, still remains inaccessible. Most trusted, God, still keeps trying our faith in Him. The mystery of creation and doubts of destination keep us confused and engaged. It remains unanswered. ‘God’ is an acknowledgment by the human mind of its limitations, who otherwise thinks himself to be most evolved and even most conscious. The convexity of the concave idea is that ‘God’ must have come to the human mind owing to their limitations in understanding existence and hence the need for surrender after reaching the saturation of their ‘own’ capabilities. Surrender for unknown things and inexplicable situations in favor of some supreme power got us, God. But even this utility is not entire futility. By the side of this flawed journey, we have at least realized that we are not God, howsoever hard we may try. The genre of this book is Spirituality and religion.

2) Crossing Boundaries with Jesus 

This book captures the realities of India that is marred by gender and caste conflicts and economic disparities. What would Jesus speak and do in such a context is the question the author is posing. He is exhorting us to participate with God in making a positive difference in the lives of the most marginalized segments of society.

Transcendentalism

Transcendentalists saw physical and spiritual phenomena as part of dynamic processes rather than discrete entities. Transcendentalism emphasizes subjective intuition over objective empiricism. It was also strongly influenced by Hindu texts on philosophy of the mind and spirituality, especially the Upanishads.

Transcendentalism and Indian Spirituality 

Transcendentalists and their interaction with Indian Thought and Spirituality.

1) Herman Hesse 

A German-born Swiss novelist and poet, Hesse’s life and work were characterized by a deep spirituality and search for the self. His family was Protestant-Pietist, and consisted of theologians and preachers: his parents’ and grandfather Dr. Hermann Gundert’s missionary work in India meant the young Hesse was exposed to both Hinduism and Buddhism. Much later, his study of German philosopher Schopenhauer led to his reading of the Bhagavad Gita.

Hesse’s understanding of both Buddhism and Hinduism is often criticized as homogeneous and facile but Siddhartha – his novel based in India that tells the story about the spiritual journey of a young boy who was a contemporary of the Buddha – remains much-read, a work in which his familiarity with Indian spiritual thought is most apparent.

2) T.S.Eliot 

The wasteland is also based on Indian Upanishads. Eliot has used different ideas in one frame.

Here is my blog on the Wasteland https://vachchhalata014.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-wasteland.html

3) Octavia Paz 

A Mexican poet and writer who won the Literature Nobel in 1990, Paz was a career diplomat. In 1952, he traveled to India for the first time, visiting Mathura, which led to his long poem Mutra, a “subject associated with Hinduism and its search for unity in the plurality of the forms of life”. In 1962, he was appointed Mexico’s ambassador to India.

His essay In Light Of India, which deals with India’s painting, music, architecture, philosophy, and religion, rests on how a Mexican writer at the end of the twentieth century perceives the reality of India while his poems on India are collected in East Slope (Ladera Este). Paz was interested in Tantra, with Tantric thought and imagery permeating his works; his understanding of Vedanta and Buddhist religious philosophy is apparent in essays he wrote on those subjects.

Spirituality should come from the self, not organized religion. Insight and experience are more important than logic. Nature is beautiful, should be deeply appreciated, and shouldn't be altered by humans.

An example of transcendentalism is the belief that man is at this best when he is independent and not a part of organized religion or politics. An example of transcendentalism is the quote "a man in debt is so far a slave" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. noun. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were two of the most famous and influential transcendentalists.

Transcendentalism still exists today in many different ways. You may not even realize it because it blends and comes so easily to us in our everyday lives. We have found evidence of the influence of transcendentalist ideas in popular songs, commercials, and even video games.

Dear ma'am here is my understanding of Transcendentalism Please draw my attention if anything is missing there.