Transcendentalism Essay

Transcendentalism is a literary and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century. Among the chief proponents of American Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson is widely regarded as the father of the movement. The Transcendentalism movement is acknowledged as having infused Eastern and Western philosophies altogether. American transcendentalism refers to a set of ideas by which we make our life better by lifting ourselves above the conflicts and apprehensiveness that weigh on our souls. This knowledge comes through intuition, imagination and common sense not through logic or reasoning. The writers and philosophers of this movement were loosely bound together with a common thread of idealism. They believed in the essential unity

They had firm belief that all this is possible to achieve because human could transcend limits and reach unknown heights. Indian philosophy is based on the same ideology of reason and action. In Bhagavad Gita Shree Krishna emphasized on karmyog or the yog of action throughout his preaching to Arjun. He explains to Arjun that nobody can remain without action. Every human being is bound to act and to work diligently in order to fulfill their responsibilities externally, without attaching them internally. Action does not mean pleasure of senses, but to accept one’s responsibility in this cycle. To fulfill our responsibility is moral action. The very idea of moral action is propounded by Emerson in his essay ‘The Transcendentalist.’ The knowledge of self and execute higher responsibilities of the soul should be the chief concern of an enlightened man. They must not abandon their social duties, as it may create dissatisfaction in the minds of the common man who look up to them for inspiration. Therefore, the wise continue to work without any personal motive for the betterment of society and

He was a man of great moral strength and integrity. Although, Emerson was a great thinker, many of his ideas were influenced by other intellectual scholars and philosophies such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Romanticism, Chinese philosophy, Persian philosophy, German idealism and Kantian philosophy. He was in search of a great source for man’s spirituals nature which turned him to the literature of the East. He says of the Vedas: “It is sublime as heat and night breathless ocean .It contains every Religious sentiment, all the grand ethics which visit in turn each novel and poetic mind and nothing is easier than to separate what must have been the primeval inspiration from the endless ceremonial nonsense which caricatures and contradicts through every chapter. It is of no use to put away the book; if I trust myself in the words or in boat up on the pond, nature makes a Brahmin of me presently. Eternal necessity, eternal compensation, unfathomable power, unbroken silence- this is her creed’’(Narasimhaiah