LITR 4232: American Renaissance
University of Houston-Clear Lake, spring 2002
Index to Student Research Projects

Devon Kitch

LITR 4232 2002

Influence of Eastern Religions on the Transcendentalists

The Transcendentalist philosophies of self-reliance and self-discovery have always been controversial, yet intriguing for Americans.  Americans have often thought of themselves as being immune from the plague of conformity that is spread by groups of people; however those with aberrant behaviors or beliefs are continually shunned for their individuality.  It was under this aura of conformity that the great minds behind the Transcendentalist movement were born.  Ralph Waldo Emerson paved the path for Transcendentalist thought, whereas Henry David Thoreau took the extra step by carrying out the ideals through his own actions.  These two men were influenced by the Puritans and Unitarians, but went outside of their ingrained religious teachings and sought their own belief system.  The purpose of this journal is to discuss the many different religious influences that shaped the minds of these two men who developed the ideals that came to be known as Transcendentalism.      

First, I will discuss Emerson’s background because it is impossible to discuss the Transcendentalist movement without first studying the leader.  Secondly, I will review the significance of the Bible as both a literary and religious work and the correlation between the Biblical “language” and the Puritans.  This “language” follows a pattern of allegory and metaphor, which is common in the works of Thoreau and Emerson. 

The main portion of the paper will discuss the interplay between the eastern religions of Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Neo-Platonism, Platonism and Taoism that were so prevalent in the works of these two authors.  There was not a specific eastern religion that won favor in the eyes of these authors; rather it was the combination of them as a whole.  The influence of these eastern religions led Emerson to seek God outside of the church walls where he felt that God’s essence permeated throughout all of nature.  His journals reflect the knowledge that he absorbed and the freedom that he began to feel as a direct result of his beliefs.  Thoreau also became well versed in these “mystic” religions and practiced their principles more aggressively than Emerson, but his enthusiasm later simmered and waned.  Emerson and Thoreau searched for God through reason and goodness, without the constrictions of institutionalized religions.  Their literary religion formed a new basis of thought for those Americans who wanted to think beyond the usual teachings and incorporate religion into every aspect of life.  For the Transcendentalists, the keys to salvation were held by the individual, and could only be obtained through goodness, reason, and truth.  Their words transformed the troublesome American wilderness into a personified nature that led them to personal freedom of thought and religion.   

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s life was not an easy one, but was filled with many hardships and heartache.  His father passed away when he was only eight years old, marking the beginning of his family’s death toll.  Out of his four brothers, one died of mental illness and another died of tuberculosis.  It was during this time that Emerson’s aunt inadvertently shaped his future by giving him the sermons of Puritan ministers to read; whereby his grandfather encouraged him to seek the beauty and “glories” of nature (Hundt 1). 

The influence of his relatives had a strong effect on the shaping of young Emerson’s character, but it was not until tuberculosis took the life of his wife of two years that he began to truly question his conventional religious beliefs.  Emerson had followed his father’s footsteps by seeking a job in the Unitarian church, however, he could no longer ignore the doubts that he had harbored (Hundt 1).  In 1832, Emerson went to Europe where he unearthed a newfound desire to be a naturalist.  He then left for England where he met many famous writers such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and Thomas Carlyle.  After nine months of self-discovery Emerson was “full of energy and ambition and anxious to begin with his new career as a naturalist, a writer, and, especially, a thinker” (Hundt 2).  Emerson’s literary career was launched by the publishing of his book, Nature which, in turn, led to the conversion of many others towards Transcendentalism. 

The trials that a person experiences inevitably shape and create the character of that individual.  The tragedy that ravaged Emerson’s personal life and brought down his faith, was the same medium by which he became the man who founded one of the greatest literary movements of all time.  With Transcendental thought came self-reliance and, with self-reliance came the peacefulness that he could not find in the transient materialism of society.    

Thoreau’s background is less vivid, mostly focusing on his two-year stay at Walden Pond.  He was not born high on the social stepladder, but he was able to attend Harvard College.  Soon after, Thoreau met Emerson who encouraged him in his studies as both a friend and confidante.  Later Emerson allowed Thoreau to build a cabin on his land, which became the setting for the greatest experiment during the Transcendentalist movement- Walden.  His reason for living in solitude, as written in Walden is, “I went to the woods Because I Wished to Live Life deliberately.  To front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”(Gustafson 1).  Henry David Thoreau was the activist of the movement, for he did not sit back and discuss the ways in which a man should live his life; he just lived it the best way he knew how.  His love for nature grew with each passing day, until the struggle against tuberculosis became too difficult and Emerson lost another loved one due to the disease.  

The Transcendentalists did not approve of their title because it implied that they believed themselves to be greater, almost elevated above others.  One source defined Transcendentalism as “any philosophy thought to be enthusiastic, mystical, extravagant, impractical, ethereal, supernatural, vague, abstruse, or lacking in common sense” (Hutchison 23).  This definition was popular among those who ridiculed Transcendentalist thought; perhaps it was an attempt to hide the laziness and materialism of those men who would not trade the lavishness of daily living for the fulfillment of spiritual growth.   Perhaps this definition is not entirely absurd.  Transcendentalism is the ideal, but unfortunately, like most ideals it is not the rational or practical way to live.  A life spent pondering the essence of nature in search of God would be quite rewarding but it does not pay the bills. 

In order to understand the Transcendentalist movement we must look at the Bible as a literary and spiritual source.  The Bible is overflowing with examples of prophecy and fulfillment, which can be interpreted by preachers of any religion to reinforce their beliefs (Lowance 16).  It is a pattern which largely consists of obedience followed by a reward, or disobedience followed by punishment.  Likewise with the Transcendentalists, the individual must achieve spiritual unity so that he may reap the rewards of self-fulfillment and freedom.  According to Lowance, the Bible could be interpreted “through the seemingly more direct revelation of the divine principal in the activities of the natural world”, which was evident in the philosophy of the Transcendentalists (IX).  God has always used Nature to prove his omnipotence; therefore, Nature must also be the key to understanding the Bible.  The closer one becomes to his natural surroundings, the closer he becomes to God.

The sacred language of the Bible is referred to as the language of Canaan.  The Puritans believed that “all literary genres were forms through which the language of Canaan might associate contemporary history with the original biblical dispensation” (Lowance 18).  The Puritans believed that mastery of the language of Canaan would ensure salvation because “The language of Canaan, after all, is that universal tongue that will be understood and spoken by all the elect saints at the time of the resurrection and millenium” (Lowance 39).  The Transcendentalists shunned tradition, but the language of Canaan reverberates throughout the metaphors in their “highly symbolic writing”(Lowance 279).  The influence of the Puritans and Unitarians never completely departed from the works of the Transcendentalists because it was not God they opposed, but the mindlessness with which people attended church services. 

 Emerson felt that these strict religions merely hindered spiritual growth through the repetition of reverent acts such as Communion.  In fact, William Hutchison stated that the Transcendentalists “were fundamentally unified in condemning formalism in religion and literature and all that was inhuman or materialistic in the popular social morality” (30).  Emerson was both optimistic and pessimistic toward man’s ability to think for himself by searching for his own identity.  Emerson began to think for himself when his brothers, followed by his wife, died and left him questioning the teachings that he had obediently emblazoned within his mind. 

Emerson took pieces of many different religions and organized them into his literary religion.  He chose works that contained moral strictures and passages dealing with self-transcendence, such as Confucius and Plato (Verslus 62).  The two things about Confucianism that intrigued Emerson were the emphasis on the moral imperative of the individual and the “ideal of the ethical, solitary, learned, and decorous man”(Verslus 70).  If it were not for his constant battles with illness, Emerson would have probably joined the other Transcendentalists in their romps through the countryside.  In Nature, Emerson says “that every natural process is a version of a moral sentence.  The moral law lies at the centre of nature and radiates to the circumference”(qtd. in Lauter 1529).  This quote shows how Emerson incorporated Confucianism into Nature.

In Plato, Emerson’s main appeal lies in his idea that “self-transcendence is central to self-actualization”, therefore man must rise above his own ego in order to discover what lies deep within him (Verslus 67).  In his “Divinity School Address” Emerson takes a bold step by saying, “The man who renounces himself, comes to himself”, which seems to be a direct revelation from Plato in the sense that it leads to self-actualization.  Also familiar of Plato are Emerson’s allusions in Nature to “the individual forms” and “the simple perception of natural forms” which can actually be studied as man’s perception of nature, rather than nature itself.  Plato deals with the idea that the “Forms” are mere representations of what men actually see.  The significance of Plato’s “Forms” in Nature is to show how true beauty, described through the eyes of Emerson, can only be achieved by those that have let go of their inhibitions and their egos.  Thoreau also uses the idea of the “Forms” in Walden as he writes, “that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality”(qtd. in Lauter 1694).  The material things that we deem so important are only shadows, or shapeless forms, which will not stand the test of time.  

In Nature Emerson writes, “The presence of a higher, namely, of the spiritual element is essential to its perfection.  The high and divine beauty which can be loved without effeminacy, is that which is found in combination with the human will.  Beauty is the mark God sets upon virtue”(qtd. in Lauter 1521).  Emerson is saying that the high and divine beauty can not be found without human will, therefore the will must be released from its societal trappings because beauty can only be seen through the eyes of a virtuous man.  Emerson’s reference to a higher spiritual element is also quite common in eastern religions. 

Emerson’s idea of literary religion is summed up by Verslus, “world religions and world literature nearly merge: sacred literature is the culmination of literature and of religion together, the highest endeavors of which humans are capable” (73).  As Verslus continues, “he looks forward to the American worship of that supreme Beauty that ravished the souls of Eastern men”, which again brings us to a religion that would encourage Americans to appreciate the beauty of nature and the spirit of nature (51).  Emerson and Thoreau both believed that nature embodies spirit, but only those filled with goodness and truth can comprehend this fact (Lowance 280).  Every object in nature stands for a feeling or event in our daily lives; therefore what we do in nature may have a direct effect on our lives.  So great was his desire to exude goodness, Thoreau goes to extremes as he states, “To eat animal flesh is recognized as ‘darkening’ in both Buddhism and Hinduism.  To eat meat is to extend the endless cycle of birth, suffering, and death, just as it is psychologically to feed the passions and darkness of egotism it is to inflict suffering”(Verslus 89).  With his decision to be a vegetarian, we see the conviction he feels towards the idea that nature has a spirit.  Eating meat would potentially darken his spirit to the point that he would not possess enough purity to continue his self-transcendence. 

For the Transcendentalists, especially for Thoreau, a transformation of consciousness must occur through the “willingness to cast off the extraneous influences of civilized living and make an excursion into nature, out of which the regenerate sensibility can fashion metaphors that will express timeless and immutable truth”(Lowance 283).  Here, Thoreau mirrors the thoughts that Emerson discussed in Nature.  Thoreau beckons us to “reawaken and keep ourselves awake” for “To be awake is to be alive” and it is a rarity then men are actually awake spiritually and mentally (qtd. in Lauter 1692). 

The Transcendentalists accepted people regardless of their skin color or social stature.  They supported the abolition of slavery and were a part of the minority who did not regard eastern religion or Asian peoples as inferior.  In fact, they only disapproved of those people who “obsess with the accumulation of luxuries but are incapable of individual moral effort”(Verslus 91). 

Emerson and Thoreau did not want to trade Puritanism and Unitarianism for eastern religions because they did not want to find imported Oriental traditions repeating the errors of ritualism (Verslus 80).  Emerson remained interested in the Orient, whereas Thoreau became consumed with the wild and the natural (Verslus 95).  Verslus describes the many sides of Thoreau as “the naturalist, the farmer, the poet, the Greek scholar, and the Orientalist”, all of whom he portrayed during his stay at Walden Pond (95).  Ultimately, they both believed that the self could be discovered through nature and her expression of truth.

It is amazing how many different opinions you can receive concerning the same subject matter.  The most helpful web page I found is located at www.concordma.com/magazine/nov98/trans.html.  This site gave the best summary about the Transcendentalists as a whole, rather than just focusing on Emerson and Thoreau.  I enjoyed the end of the article in which the author says, “The lasting influence of the Transcendentalists rests in the endurance of the major writings produced by the movement as American classics…and in the powerful inspiration that their reform efforts provided to later social movements, notably to the American civil rights movement of the 1960’s by Thoreau’s principle of non-violent resistance to oppressive civil government” (Wilson 4).  I found biographical information from World Book Encyclopedia Online.  I was disappointed with the amount of information that I was able to find online because there is little reference to the influence of eastern religions.  The articles seemed accurate, based on the information I have.  It irritated me to see how many web sites are no longer in use, especially when you find one that specifically talks about religion and transcendentalism.  

The Language of Canaan by Mason Lowance was an excellent source for this project.  It discussed the influence of the Bible throughout the years as a basis for metaphorical and symbolic thought.  It introduced the purpose of using Biblical writing, the language of Canaan, in all aspects of literature.  They believed that the language of Canaan is what the saints will speak when the rapture takes place.  The Puritans wanted everything to adhere to their strict guidelines and this type of special language was a way to force obedience through fear. The chapter “From Edwards to Emerson to Thoreau” discusses the plight of the Transcendentalists.  Thoreau became so obsessed with his study of the natural that he began looking for meaning in every blade of grass. If I had focused on the Unitarian and Puritan influence of religion rather than the influence of the eastern religions, then it would have helped me a lot more.  

If I could do this project again, I would definitely visit the University of Houston library at the main campus.  I struggled with my topic because I really wanted to try to focus on the humor that lies in the work of the Transcendentalists, however I could not find an adequate number of sources.  I think that the paper would have been better if I could have analyzed one piece of work with the principles from each religious doctrine.  I think it would be interesting to see how it all breaks down.  I had to restrain myself from making a list of the different religions so that I could explain the significance of each one, rather than presenting them with no background information.  It would have been a good idea to have a table of contents that divided the paper into sections by topic.  I didn’t know if we were allowed to do that or not.  I have learned several things throughout the course of this project, namely the fact that the Transcendentalists were influenced by the Asian religions.  As I said earlier, I wish that I could have gone into more thorough detail about the Asian religions. Emerson and Thoreau have always interested me and I would like to do more research into the origins of their thought.  The books I read gave references to Kant and Goethe, neither of whom I know much about.  I would like to study them and see if they also believed in the unity of nature and/or the eastern religions.  I believe that this topic would be amazing with the right amount of research.  I feel that my organization could have been better and I should have talked about Emerson’s background in more depth, but I hate feeling like I am copying facts from a book!

Works Cited

Emerson, Ralph Waldo.  “Nature”.  Heath Anthology of American Literature.  Ed. Paul Lauter.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002.  1521, 1529.

Gustafson, James.  www.mwt.net/~yihs/thoreau.html

Hundt, Jacob. www.mwt.net/~yihs/emerson.html

Hutchison, William.  The Transcendental Ministers: Church Reform in the New England Renaissance.  Yale UP, 1959.

Lowance. Mason I.  The Language of the Canaan: Metaphor and Symbol in New England from the Puritans to the Transcendentalists.  Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1980.

Thoreau, Henry David. “Walden”.  Heath Anthology of American Literature.  Ed. Paul Lauter.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002.  1692, 1694.

Verslus, Arthur.  American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions.  New York: Oxford UP, 1993.

Wilson, Leslie.  www.concordma.com/magazine/nov98/trans.html