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12STICAL ELEMENTS II EIIERSOIPS THOUGHT
APPROVED*
C&-. llajor Professor
Minor Professor
Dir5J€jb6g7 of the )epartraent of English
Dean of the Graduate School
MXSflCAL EmiEIfS Hi B1ERS0M*S THOUGHT
DIESIS
Presented to the Graduate Council of the
Nortli Tessas State University in Partial
FalfiUmeat of the Requirements
For the Degree of
MUSTER OF ARTS
By
Lillian II. ConliLin, B. A.
Denton, Texas
January,- 1966
TABLE OP CONTENTS
Page
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION . 1
II. PREREQUISITES 1?
III. MYSTICAL ELEIffiMTS II EJCKRSOMfS THOUGHT 31
IV. ACHIEVEMENTS 71
V. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . 8*+
BIBLIOGRAPHY , 88
ill
ciapi-ER i
llfHOKJCflOM
For nany years critics and biographers have asecl the
terras "nystic,n "roystical," and "xaystician" with reference
to Enerson or his writings. Dillaway has written that "he
[Emerson] was a cystic . • , Rusk states that Emerson
"endowed tho Greek philosopher [Plato] with a degree of ioys~
ticisa uuch like his own,"^ and liaulsby writes that "in some
degree . . . ESaerson was a mystic."3 G. w» Firkins refers
to hiri as a "scholar-aystic, and Christy states eiaphat-
ically that "Emersonian thought was a natter of elnost pure
mysticism" Goddard writes that "in Emerson this [mystical]
elenent was considerable, but • • , more in a tendency to
%ewton Dillaway, P£oj&et MeJElGS (Boston, 1936), p. 32^.
^Kalph L. Rusk, & M,fel StX ] U & Msxsm, {Mm York? 19^95 9 p# 375j hereafter abbreviated as. IAf© of ISM* " '
^David Lee l-iaulaby, lis S m i g d M M m 3& I4tesltei (Tufts College, 1911), pp. 7*-7'>*
^0. VI. Firkins, Sa2^ ¥&L4ft 1&SC3S& (Cambridge, 1915), P. 119.
^Arthur Christy, Th& ficisai imsXsm (Hew York, 1932), p . 266.
«L
excess of contemplation than to rapture ."6 Patrick Qulnti
denies «&at Ester son "«as in any sense a mystic #7 Though
raany authors refer to I person1 s mysticism, the only work
which has bean flew ted entirely to the subject Is & dis-
sertation by Ityvon F« Wicke entitled "Enerson's 2$ysticlsa.n®
Treataciit of the subject reaains vague and unsettled, how-
over, Tor no generally acceptable definition of terms lias
"been agreed on»
•Uystielsa,* Spurgeon writer., "is a tern so irrespon-
sibly applied in English that it hc.s "become the first duty
of those who "use it- to explain what they neaii by it. "9 Is
a preliminary step it is necessary to define oysticisn in
the light at recent prubXiea^loiis—that is, those which have
appeared since the late nineteenth centaury- Modern author-
ities have arrived at a generally usable definition of
raysticisa by eliminating the moaning of trio word in its
occasional use oad retaining the ncaning in its popular lase.
Harold Clarice Goddard, Studies jji Hey £ngl^d JJrsp-(Kew Yorl:, i960} , p« 132,
^Patrick F. Qulaa, "Eaersoa and l rsticiSEa," Ancrlean 2X1 (June, 19 ?C), 397-5+l -
<> uliyron F. Wlcke, "l&nerson's IJysticisn," unpublished doctoral dissertation* Department of English Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, l$ta»
^Caroline F» li. Spur goon, g&sSXs&m SieiMIl (London, 1927)» p. 1»
The dictionary definition of "nystic" is.
• • . one who maintains the "validity and the supreme importance of roystleal theology* Hence, in extended application: One who, whether Christian or non-Christian, seeks by contempla-tion and self-surrender to obtain union with or absorption into the Deity, or who believes in the possibility of tho spiritual apprehension of truths that are Inaccessible to the understanding.*®
The second step in defining the terras will be the limit-
ing of elements to those which are the essence of mysticism
or to the common characteristics.
Evelyn Underbill1 a detailed coverage of tho subject in
her recent study, Itysticisra. is most valuable in defining the
common characteristics. William Janes's excellent book en-
titled £&£ Jtea&fiUflS s& iifillgJLffiia Pgpsrirgnce Will be used as
a basic text along with W, T. Stace's two booksj Mysticism
JM&SUMptoX anfi m d M m u M m j m * l?or a compar-
ative analysis of the nature of mysticism, Rudolf Otto's
%.sUclsa M&St rnd Uss.% is the chief source.
As the critics and biographers suggest, it seems obvious
that there is some connection between mysticism and Emerson's
writings. A closc and objective investigation, therefore,
would be of value and of interest to Etaersoaiaa scholars.
It is the main purpose of this thesis to ascertain just to
what extent linerson1s writings do contain mystical elements.
i0The Philological Society, Tho Oxford English VI (London? 1933), 81?.
If.
m@ primary sources used are the Joyr.nala st
Wa dp. Lraerson, edited by Kdward Waldo Emerson and Waldo
Emerson Forbes;, and 3&A S M X S M Works feXltt.
Because much of Biierson's thought is revealed through letters
written to his friends, Sil& betters q£ R§2jiil iBSESfifi!?
edited by Ralph L* Rusk, is of value to this study. Iffiffig
Bfleraon Speaks, edited by Arthur Cusiman McGiffert, Jr., a
collection of sermons Fliers on delivered -while a Unitarian
minister j indicates the trends of Ms early thinking. Three
other collections of lectures and writings aro used;
ZifiSyzyjhjiS. J2JL BsCtell MsJsfiLs. ifiSKlSSBj odited oy teph©n »
Whicher and Robert 1>« filler 5 ^ttaLS? pub-
lished by tli© Lamb Publishing Company.} and Uj ojJLgfiiM
liSSSilSSSi edited by Clarence Gohdes. One of the earliest
and best references is A M®ajU fi£ MJLph M§Ma
edited by Jsuaes Elliot Cabot, literary executor and family
friend,,
flie biographical information is, for the most part, from
Ralph X* • huak10 ihc jjjui-jS*. Qji HsSeDti liSAiiQ. Sl3 £@3l «nd iros
0. v/. Firicins' Eaipli iMMa oscaoa*
There hay© been rustics in all ages and in all countries,
sono within on© of the numerous vorld religions, and some not
connectod vith any formal religion as such. Some of the
greatest thinkers and writers of all times have been nystics
or exhibit aystical elenents in their works: Plato?
Ileraclitiis, Plotinus, 1'ckhart, Spinoza, Goethe, Hegel, Slake,
Shelley, Keats,3*1 IJoehrae, St* Augustine, Sankara, Buddha,
and many others. All mystics agree that mysticism is con-
cerned with one essential experience; the union of nan with
the One, the Absolute, or the Infinite. Through the mystical
experience the mystic achieves nany things. He cones into
contact with a reality not accessible in any other way.
Tlirough the contact, he attains a heightened sense of aware-
ness, a satisfying comprehension of nan1s place in the scheme
of things, and an unusual insight into the laws of the
Infinites to him, the lavs are beautiful, eternal and in-
mutable. He perceives the relationships among nen, between
man and the Infinite, and between man and nature, Man's
greatest joy is experienced at the point of achievement,
which is a state of ecstasy. Those states of ecstasy are
sustained for very short periods, probably from a few minutes
to a half hour, never more than an hour or two. After a
mystical experience, the person involved is never able fully
to describe itf it is an experience that is beyond words and
defies any logical description he can give* Nonetheless, the
mystic is convinced of the profound truths he has experiencedj
truths that influence the reminder of his life. However
doubtful ills associates may be concerning the validity of his
aystical experience, the mystic's new knowledge is satisfying
• •Spurgeon, pp. 2, 17, 3l*-«
and fulfilling to himself. He Is sublimely happy; he is
never dissatisfied with lifo.^
Because mystics have "been highly individualistic, the
interpretations of their mystical perceptions often vary#
Stace -writes that each toys tic seems to put "upon M s ex-
periences tiie intellectual interpretations which, lie has
derived from the peculiarities of his own culture."3-3 The
psychological nake-up or the emotional temper of the mystic
affects the interpretation of the mystical experience; how-
ever, there is one point on which they all seen to agree;
that unity underlies diversity. Spurccon, on this point,
statess
Tiie true mystic then, in the full sense of the term, is one who knows there is unity under diversity at the centre of all existence, and he knows it by the most perfect of all tests for the person concerned, because he has felt it,-""
It is generally believed by mystics themselves and by
those who study mysticism that the mystical ability "is
latent in all men but is in most men submerged below the
surface of consciousness. Rufus Jones states that:
• * • the number of persons who are subject to the mystical experiences • • • is much larger than we usually suppose. We know only the mystics who
P. 2.
13walter T. Stace, l&a&Lfilsa ££& FtdXQaQVlXf, (Nov.- York, I960), pp. 3^-35.
^Spurgeon, p. 11.
• Stace, i&BliffiUB £Jailfl§£Pte:> p. 3^3.
were dowered i/ith a literary gift and, who could tell in impressive language what bad come to them, tat of the rmltltude of those who have felt and seen and who yet were unable to tell in words abou.t their experience, of these we are ignorant.
Progress toward the mystical experience depends upon the
extent to which the mystical ability is present in the
individual and the extent to which it is developed.
William James believes "that personal religious ex-
perience has its root and centre in mystical states of
consciousness • • and Stace echoes this by saying
that "mysticism is ultimately the source and essence of all 1
religions . < • • Mysticism is found in Persia in connec-
tion with Sufism; "in China, in connection with Taoism" 20
in India, in connection with Buddhism; and in the West, in
connection with Christianity and Judaism.
The Eastern and Western mystics have been different
with rospect to activity* the Eastern mystic is static,
while tho Western aystic is dynamic. The Eastern mystic l6Rufus M. Jones, MfeU Sp.gafea & Ms. SMSM*
edited by Harry Eaerson Fosdick (Hew York, 1951) > P» 133•
^Milliaa Jaiaes. The Varieties, of Religious Experience (New York, 1929), p. 379.
l8stace, iteyLsiffl ao& p* 3^3.
3*%alter T. Stace, l-frsticiain and Bu^an Reason (Tucson, 1955), p. 9.
20S. II, Dasgupta, Hindu ICYStielsa (New York, 1959), P* 85*
^Stace, l-jysticisd llMRPth Bsaapn? p. 9.
seeks union with Brafaaa or seeks Mirvana| "he leaves all
activity and reposes in oneness.1,22 His life is character-
ized more by contemplation and corunanication than by vital
action. However, the Western oystic's lifo is characterised
botii by contemplation and comunication, and by vital action.
The Western oystics have been great reforncrs, philosophers,
and literary figures. Underbill writes that "in the aystics
of the West, the highest forms of . • • Union impel the self
to some sort of active, rather than of passive lifo « . . . rt23
Inge quo tea Ecichart as saying that " there is . . . no con-
tradiction between the active and the contemplative life5 the
former belongs to the faculties of tho soul, the latter to ok
its essence.* The Eastern mystics perform active duties by
teaching those about them; therefore, both Eastern and West-
ern mystic3 are dynamic in their own characteristic ways.
However different the emotional temperament of the
individual mystic, the culture in which he lives, the age
in which, he is born, and the extent to which his iaystical
ability is developed, there are certain coomon character-
istics which recur in accounts of mystical experiences.
Unusual characteristics may appear occasionally because of
22Itudolf Otto, M l (Now York, 1957), p. 207.
23Eyelyn Underhill, Mysticism (London, 1962), p. 172.
2\illiam Ralph Inge, SffilStoa Ifr.aUclSffl (Cleveland, 196^), pp. 160-161*
individual differences, but the comon characteri s ti c s al-
ways appear consistently*
For ensample, tiie individual mystic has an unusual yearn-
ing for a greater reality than the* senses present to hiin. 5
He longs for a deeper arid greater acaning in life than is
revealed through his physical contact with it. Things, to hi%
roust be ciore significant than surface consciousness is able
to discern. He has an inner apprehension of something greater
than himself. Because of this apprehension his entire being
is drawn toward the greater reality for which he seeks.
Another characteristic which the individual possesses
is an Inherent inpulse toward moral perfection.He obeys
the ooral laws not only because he feels they are right, but
because he !:loves" thenj they attract hia like a aagnet.
With the apprehension of a greater reality and en impulse
for ooral perfection, ho is well prepared for the mystical
quest of union with the Lb solute.
This search, generally lifelong, is seen by nost
authorities on mystlclm as clividod into stops or stages*
Evelyn Underbill discusses five basic stages which adequately
cover the pleasure and pain states of the raystic. They are:
awakening, purgation, Illumination, the dark night of the soul,
2^Underbill, pp. .
26IM4.? p. 90.
10
and •union. Though such divisions of stages are made Tor
purposes or analysis, actually they are not divided but
overlap wiili signs of one stage occurring in both that pre-
ceding it and the one following it.
After tiie initial atfaheiiliig experience, the aye tic
accomplishes the progression from one stage to the other
only with great efforts The pain states, purgation and the
dark night of the soul, sro those difficult periods during
milcJa he purges himself of materialistic desires, sensuous
appetites., and the constant reference in his thoughts to I,
no? and alao. Kuftis Jones, Quaker Interpreter of i3ysticisn?
states: "The inport&nt mystics are tsea and wncn who have
•washed their souls clean of the hedonistic taint»n27 The nail
wliicli separates Mia from a I*igher consciousness of greater
reality thaa he is able to achieve in his generally material-
istic condition is selfishness and egocontrisn. It is the
i2s£ruisc for moral perfection laiicii cocico into action, direct-
ing his progress and guiding Jain eventually out of the stages
jf pain into the pleasure states of iUuaiaation and unionf
The mystical espericnce Is primarily a process of "be™
coiaing aware of the greater reality. The usual method
by i-Jhich the rustic progresses is haotei as contemplation..
To achieve the greater reality which he has already ap-
prehended ? lie rmst develop a heightened consciousness which
^7jones. p. 1^5.
11
transcends the surface consciousness of the so-callod
"normal" man# Contemplation way be regarded as the yearn-
ing of the soul for what it feels is a greater reality.2®
It consists in a stilling of that part of the n&nd "which,
attends to material things, a calling in of all diverse
interests, a giving of oneself entirely to this one activity,
without consciousness of self or reflective thought. 29
Contemplation is progressive as the mystic purifies him-
self and more easily focuses his attention on reality. The
mystic1s uncommon yearning for absolute truth serves him
in striving toward a higher consciousness through con-
templation *
The quest of the uystic Is not all difficulty, pain, arid
struggle} there are rewards along tiie way. These rewards are
in the form of moments when he achieves the higher con-
sciousness and catches a glimpse, however brief it nay be,
of Reality, or of the Absolute. These moments occur inter-
mittently throughout the mystic1s progression and constitute
the pleasure states of his life. At the moment9 or at the
point of achievement, it is a temporary state of invol-
untary ecstasy. Although the e^erience is brief, tiie power
of it cannot be overestimated, VJillian James quotes B. M»
Bucke's description of his own ecstatical state. He says
2%ndorhill, p. 306 . 29rbld., p. 302,
that after Imvinc spent on evening with friends (discussing
pliilo sophy and poetry, as lie was returning homo,
"All at once, without warning of any I-dLnd, 1 found myself wrapped in a flane-colored cloud. For an iastsat 1 thought of fire, aa inaoase conflagration somewhere close by la that great city5 the next, 1 Izunr that the firo was within myself * Directly afterward there car.10 upon mo a sense of exultation, of imenso Joyousaess accompanied or immediately followed "by an intellectual illumination impossible to describe, Among other things, I did not merely cone to believe, but I saw that the universe is not composed of dead matter, but is * • . a living Presence| I becene conscious in myself of eternal life. It was not a conviction that I would have eternal life, but a consciousness that X possessed eternal life then , . * that the cosnie order is such that • • • all tiungs work together for the good of each and all • • • ."30
The descriptions of ecstasy are never exactly the seme,
but intellectual inclination of unity and order in matter
and in nind is always precept.
The offsets of the experience of ecstasy on the rays tic
are astouMiau, St&ce writes# To hin,s 'die experience has
objective reality-
• • • the mystic feels an intense and burning conviction that his experience is not a mere dream— a something which is shut \vp entirely inside his own consciousness. He feels that it transcends his own petty personality, that it is vastly greater than himself, that it in soijc sense passes out beyond his individuality into the infinite.31
3°R„ k. Bucke,, CQsaaic, ffofisclou.sness (Philadelphia, 1901), pp. 7-89 cited in Varies, p. 399.
^Stace, sad BiU&soplyc, p. lk$.
13
Staoe further explains: £ftg..t ttet &<§3JEh££&afi-
Is St Pj3.r.,t pf the .^eyxence A.ti ,§.&)»<£
why ms. ozaftfi Is steteteix s s c M a Q1 lis toJis, fesxaod
nil maaiMU-M oS. mwMZ, MM safe &£ it."32
As a result of the mystic13 contact with Reality, he
attains a heightened sense of awareness, an assurance of the
existence of the greater Reality for which he yearns, a
greater understanding of oa^s place in the scheme of things,
an optimism beyond that of other men, a joy which is inex-
pressible, and a definite conviction that what is perceived
is divine.
But ecstasy is not the end of the aystical quest* At
this stage one could easily be led into what Underhlll refers
to as "spiritual gluttony" except for the final state of pain
known as the dark night of the soul. In this stage, all
selfishness, which has gone unnoticed in the corners of the
soul, is finally and permanently removed, and the jays tic
emerges at last out of the dark night into union, the final
stage of the lifelong quest. In union, or the unitive life,
the interests of the mystic are completely absorbed in the
interests of the Infinite, or the Absolute. The mystic has
a conscious sharing of the strength and authority of the
Infinite, and he becomes "a centre of energy, an actual
P. 33underhill, pp. 39b-397.
lb
parent of spiritual vitality in other Few men
have reached the unitive life, "but these few have produced
works which speak of their inner assurance of a greater
Reality and of their love for the world and the creatures
who inhabit it.
P. bl6.
CHAPTER 11
Emersonian thought has so penetrated the minds of
Americans that it seems to "belong wholly to them. It did
not, however9 spring entirely front nineteen th-century New
England soil but has its roots in world literature *
Emerson's religious faith and optimistic outlook belonged
to puritan lew England and pioneer America, but his optimism
was derived partially froia the ancient Bast, and his faith
from the religions of all the world.^ The mystical writ-
ings of the ancient East were important sources for Emerson's
thought. That Emerson had an inexhaustible interest in then
from the late 1830's onward is well known,2 but that he read
oriental translations throughout his youth has only recently
coae to light.3 He is known to have read extensively fron
the supremo devotional scripture of India, the 5
another Hindu scripture, the YXMwaid&WSM-.5 the earliest
known Indian scripture, the Vjjdag; and a later part of the
• Frederic Ives Carpenters Encrson tfeMkQSfe (Hew lork, 1953) , P. 209-
%roderie Ives Carpenter, ISaejyapft and Asia (Cambridge, 1930), pp. 12-lV.
3Carpcnter, JSmRSQA ffeM.fePSJS# P- 23-0.
15
16
Vedic literature, tho Upanlshads, ilany lengthy quotations
from oriental "boots arc found in Emerson's early unpublished
journals» Tho literature of the near East had its influence,
too, The mystical Persian poetry of Hafis and Saadi Is quoted
intermittently in the published Journals, and Emerson's mm,
poetry was enriched by thorn, Other Asian literature also
drew Emerson's attention? the Koran, an Arabic scripture,
and tho ancient Chinese wisdom of Confucius were focal points
in liis studies.
Besides the mystical literature of the ancient East,
Snerson »s, of course, influenced by the literature of
ancient Greece and Rone.'7 During his early years in the
Boston Latin School, and later at Harvard College, Emerson
studied Greek literature, 3oniotines in the original, and at
the age of sixteen, Enerson recorded several lines from Plato 8
in the Journals, At twenty-one, he wrote a "Letter to
Plato" in the J<?um&S comparing modern moral and religious
problems to those of Plato*a day,^ His deep regard for the
mystical elements in Platonic philosophy stayed with hln
^Carpenter, BrA f.SOfl sM .k§i&t pp . 106-120.
'Carpenter> Emerson HandbookT p. 211.
P. 212 p. 213.
®Ralph Waldo Emerson, iffljsaeAs of fialfija MlMs 1&&ESP&, Vol. I, edited by lidvard Waldo Eraerson and Waldo Liierson Forbes in 10 vols. (Boston, 1909~ll+), 6.
9lbid.. pp. 380-388.
1?
throughout his lifetime. The Nco-Platoni st s captivated
his interests, especially tho writings of Plotinns, Procluo,
Porphyry, and laablichus.1^
Aoong the early Protestant aystics who caught the
attention of F-nerson were Japob Boehne and Heister Eckhart#"^
He also road the more recent mystical v/ritings of the Gcrnan
poet and draiaatist, Johann von Goethe; the Swedish scientist,
philosopher, and theologian, Ikaanuel Swedenborg; and the
English religious leader and founder of the Society of Friends,
George- Fox.
Being reared in a minister' s home and family of clerical
tradition, Ecierson w s naturally influenced by the Christian
Bible. lie himself was a Unitarian minister of the Second
Church in Boston from ilarch, 1829, to September, .1832, His
published Works refer to the Bible rarely, not that he ccased
to value its teachings, but because he could bettor conrriu-
nicato his ideas, better comand the attention of M s readers,
without the use of traditional biblical terms. The Bibles
especially the mystical portions, remain^ however, one of the
aajor influences on the thought and expression in the pub-
lished writings of Emerson*
Emerson, then, was well acquainted with the ancient
Eastern and Western mystical writings, the works of medieval
1 n •^Carpenter, l&eMGtt gamHaaofci p. 215.
"ittU., p. 115.
Protestant mystics, as well as the more modern mystics of
Burope»
In her study of mysticism Evelyn Underiiill states that
on© does not become a mystic -without the possession of cer-
tain vital characteristics. One of these characteristics is
an unusual yearning for absolute truth, or for a greater
reality.**" At some time in their lives, all men have felt
a yearning in themselves for a greater reality, something
more than their physical senses can represent to thera.1^ :-ian
lives locked *up in a physical body depending entirely upon
the mechanical equipment of M s senses, sight, hearing, taste,
smell, and touch, to tell him what the real world is like.
If his organs of sense were maladjusted., if they were arranged
in a different way, or if he possessed only a part of then,
his inner reception of the outer world would he vastly
different from what he normally receives. It is the partic-
ular arrangement of man's senses, the limited function of
then, and man's interpretation of the messages he receives
from them which represent the outer world to man. Sometimes
man has a feeling that there must he a deeper meaning to life
than is portrayed in his seemingly inadequate picture of its
he has a vague sense that he is missing something* that he
never truly lives. For the majority of men, the desire may
be a fleeting one, occurring only occasionally.
"^^Underhill, p. 2*t. ^Ibid., pp.
19
Although tlie yearning for reality is present la all sen,
in the mystic it is present to an unusual degree it toe-
comes a ruling passion. He longs for, not partial truth,
but absolute truth.-*-5 He cannot accept reports of truth;
lie nust know it within himself.
The man who has an intense yearning for reality and an
impulse for moral perfection is well prepared for engaging
in the mystical life. His life is primarily a process of
becoming aware of the greater reality. Such unusual char-
acteristics are necessary to him in the remaining of his
consciousness, an essential part of the mystical process.
Progress in the development of the higher consciousness is
noted by stages in the mystical life. The initial stage is
that of awakening, followed by purgation, illumination, de-
spair or the dark night of the soul5 and final union with the
Absolute.
The first stage of the mystical life, the awakening
of the self to the reality of the Infinite, may come sud-
denly or gradually, but it comes with astonishing clarity.
The individual is no longer aware of the physical world only,
but through the awakening he perceives the reality also of
the spiritual world. He is now more intensely aware of both
spiritual and physical reality. In the Christian religion
such a stage laay be compared to conversion. This conversion
, pp. 3--J+.. X%33M., PP. 33, V5-H6,
20
Is not a surface experience in tl.ie conventional sense5 it
is an experience within the individual which changes his
entire out look on life. Underbill says that " the awakening
of the self is to a new and aore active plane of being , new
and more personal relations with Reality5 hence to a aev and
more real work which it riuct do.w^
Ouch an awakening apparently occurred at an early age
in Enerson's life. At eighteen^ in his Journal for January
129 18229 he reveals an awareness of spiritual reality# Reli-
gion, he feels2 is "essential to the Universe* You seal; in
vain to contemplate the order of tilings apart from its exist-
ence. Ion can no more banish this than you can separate from
yourself the notions of Space and Duration.Uhether or
not the awakening cones gradually or suddenly is not evident,
hats at this point, it in clear that the awakening has occur-
red. xhcre is a marked certainty of belief in the existence
of sono thing greater than the physical world, as coiinonly
regarded by the surface senses.
After the awakening of the self to Divine Reality, the
self becomes aware of divine perfection and beauty; it
realises its own imperfection and corruption, end the tremen-
dous separation between it and the Divine. It then attempts
to eliminate all that stands in the way of its progress
IS, P« 197«
^Eaorson, Journalst I, 9&<
21
toward union with God, This must be acconplished through
discipline which constitutes the second stage, the state of
pain and effort Icnown as purgation.3-8
The first step in purgation of the self is detachment.
The self strives to beconc detached from finite things in
order to attain the infinite. It practices poverty, chas-
tity, and obedience: poverty, by a disregard for material
and immaterial wealth; chastity, by cleansing the soul of
personal desire; and obedienco, by the denial of selfhood
or by self-abandonment. The sua of these three practices
helps to mnke the subject think of himself as a part of the
order of things, important only as a part of the whole.
The second step in purgation is discipline, the re-
aaidtng of the permanent elements of the character. The
old self with its desires and attachments must bo aban-
doned 5 from the death of the old coaes the birth of the new.
The dying of the old self is often a bitter battle within
the soul5 during the struggle it is not uncoa^on for one
to reach a state of higher consciousness, only to be plunged
again into despair
Knowing that there is no clear demarcation between the
stages of the mystical life, it is not usually possible for
one to say that a specific stage occurs precisely at a given
tine. It seens indicative of some such stage, however,
^%nderhill? p. 169. PP® 205-216. 20im.d»? pp. 216-227.
22
that la the Journal of that year, 182 J? ? Emerson5 at twenty-
two, considers rotiring into solitude and giving hinself to
prayerj reading, anfl "barren neditation,"2*- and that he
eoumendn the pursuit of virtue and knowledge over the
satisfaction of appetites for worldly things.22
During Enorson's service at the Second Church, he be-
came aware of what, to ida. were new truths -which conflicted
with the Unitarian principles. His seruon on "Trifles" stay
have been an outward expression of his own situations
If you busy the natural eye too exclusively on lairmte objects, it gradually loses its powers of distant vision: end nore surely will the eye of the ialnd grow dull and incapable of great contemplation which is daily disregarded to little studies. If you arc careful about many snail things, you cannot fix your thoughts upon the one thing needful.*^
Emerson apparently found himself distracted at this
tine by the duties necessary to his position. Some of his
unrest was suggested to his congregation in a sermon of
October 18, 18291 "Let us not offend the nan within the
breast. Lot it be remembered that in all our talk, truth
is the end and aim,"2*1" That ho may have been offending the
man within himself was apparently a source of concern to hira.
In a sermon of April 1830, he admits to his audience« "I
^Emerson, II, ?C. 22lj#.M p. 52.
2%ialpli Waldo Emerson. Yssmg. i m m Q U Spffeb, edited by Arthur Cushaan licGlffert, Jr. (Boston, 193^T? P*
p. 65-
2j
"believe none vho hears me can bo more sensible of their own
faults than I an,"^
He apparently began to feci that his own. presence in
the ministry was due to the expectations and precedent of
M s family find was not a result of his own convictions. On
December 3, 1830, he confided, his uncertainty to his con-
gregation: "I an afraid of the groat evil done to so sacred
a property as a nan's own soul by an initation arising out
of an unthinking admiration of others."2** Emerson's White
I-ountain retreat vas foreshadowed in the same sermon when
he said:
Let this strange and awful being that \ic possess have that reverence that is due from us. Let us leave this immoderate regard for moats and drinks ? to dress and pleasure and to unfounded praise, and let us go alone and converse with ourselves, and the word of God in us."'
Emerson appears to have recognized that he was unable
to live according to his conscience and remain within the
principles of the Unitarian Church. Because of this, lie
went to the tthite Mountains in order to be alone and make
up his mind what to do. It was a hard decision for him to
make, and most of his relatives were against it, but, at
last, in September of 1832, he resigned the pastorate. The
specific reason he gave for his resignation was only a part
of the many reasons which he felt made it impossible for
p« 7i- p- 106,
Z 7 m & < , P. 111.
h
ilia to continue as minister. The objection ho chose to
express was his being required to officiate at the Lord's
Supper which ho no longer believed to be a necessary church
sacranent established for all tine•
A notable period of despair appeared directly before
and after Emerson's decision to resign, Afterward, in
January of 1033, on M s way to Italy, he records in the
jQJU'flC-i; "We feci some titles as if the sweet arid awful mel-
odies we have once hoard would never return * . « and
fear we shall not again aspire to the glory of a nonil
life * • . }:i;ercoi)' s trip abroad, he thought, might
help him to forget M o past tmc<safort&bl© situation at home*
In Halt a he fools that !Vkcrever we co5 whatever vc do ? self
is the sol© subject we study and learn.n29 He further states
that "hyself is such sore than I know, and yet 1 know nothing
else."3^ Study of self would "be "sneaicingly mean" if used
in a low sense, bivts he write®, "as self aeans Devil ? so it
ueans God *"33-
It is likely that Emerson had in raind the sonsual or
surface self as the Diabolical, and the spiritual or deeper
self as the Divine« He was studying then both at this time,
and he m y well hav.s been in the process of remaking the
self; the discarding of the old and developing of the new»
2®Emerson, H I S 20. ^ipi^' > p. 28.
« pp. 28-29.
While returning hose from England, he entered on October
6, 18339 a prayer in his fewml*
May X resist the evil that Is without toy the good that is within . • . . May I rejoice in the Divine Povor and be humble. Oh that I might show forth thy gift to me by purity, by loves by unshrinking industry and unsinking hope, and by unconquerable courage. May 1 be more thine, and so more truly myself awry day 1 live
Emerson's prayer appears to express a narked yearning for
the Absolute, a possible direction of purpose, and a hope
of drawing nearer to Reality.
The third stage of the mystical life is that of
illumination. When the self reaches this stage, the major
struggle ceases. Fron the despair of purgation the subject
emerges with the ability to see 'beyond the material world.
This is not union with the Absolute, but an apprehension of
the One. The self still realises itself to be a separate
entity, but it Is filled vith a joyous seeing or under-
standing of Reality. There is also an added Intensity of
perception in regard to the natural world* The self is
able to discern the significance of the beauty and purity
in natural objects. Underbill, in describing the stage of
illumination, writes:
His heightened apprehension of reality lights up rather than obliterates the rest of M s life;; and may even Increase his power of dealing ad- „ equately ..ith the accidents of normal existence.-3-'
3 2 m i u > pp. 219-220. 33underhill, p. 2k€,
26
In illumination, the ecstatic experience often occurs, and
the self perceives Reality#
After Emerson's return from Europe in 1S33* he appears
to ha.ve had a sense of direction concerning his future life.
He no longer lacked freedom for thinking, speaking, paid act-
ing according to M s principles. Exercising his own
courageous instincts by speaking truth as he saw it, he
strengthened those impulses for future use, and the new stage
of illumination may well be indicated by ideas which he ex-
pressed. Soon after his return froa Europe in 1833? he spoke
again to his old audience of the Second Church. Some of the
answers lie may have received from his search for absolute
truth appear in what is seemingly the results of an ecstatic
experiencei
"But now . « • man begins to hear a voice that fills the heavens and the earth, saying that God is within hira; that there is the celestial host. I find this anazing revelation of lay immediate relation to God a solution to all the doubts that oppressed ne.' T-
The availability of a new energy is affirmed by Emerson at
the same timi
"I recognize the distinction of the outer and inner self; the double consciousness that, within this erring, passionate, aortal self, sits a supreme, calm, immortal mind, whose powers I do not Imov, but it is stronger than ijf it is wiser than 1| it never approved me in any wrong; 1
^Jaries Elliot Cabot, A Upjolx ft£ I§M& feXJfi&f Vol, I of 2 vols. (Boston, 18(38}, 213.
2?
seek council of It in my doubts; I repair to It in ay dangers; I pray to it in ay undertakings."3?
That ecstasy is a solution to the soul's questions, an
enlightening experience, and a. temporary perception of Reality,
is affirmed by Underbill• On November 2, 1833, Person, en-
ters in tiie Journal a passage which reveals his belief in his
added insight: 11 To an instructed eye the universe is trans-
parent. The light of higher laws than its own shines through
it."36
Apprehension of the Absolute is often connected with a
musical element which the mystics express in several ways;
sometimes as a melody, soaetii.es as rhythm, and at other tines
as music or song. The mystical music or melody which accom-
panies ecstasy has very little resemblance to earthly music,
hence comes the mystic's problem, of describing it. The
closer the self cones to Reality, the more likely the musical
element is to appear and the more profound is its effect on
the mystic. Karly in April the next year, Emerson's Journal
indicates, his life's purpose was coming, at last, from the
outer periphery, into focus, and he again heard the melody;
* # . 1 woke to a strain of highest melody. I saw that it was not for me to complain of obscurity, of being mlsimderstood; it was not for r.ie, even in the filthy rags of my unrighteousness, to despond • of what 1 night do and learn#37
36Enerson, HI, 228.
37ifeia., P. 2?k.
B
Unorson sou the light of higher lavs and evidently intended,
to follow it without worrying about the fact that his own
ideas conflicted with those of others or that lie might
likely go unnoticed, Thus freed from M s inner conflict,
he apparently iiade use of the nev knowledge end strength
miich he had discovered.
Ikierson did occasional preaching and lecturing: after
hie return fron Europe, but by 2lay 31? 183**? noved with
his mother to Concord, Boon afterward the period of lit-
erary production began and did not eoase for many years.
She fourtli stage of the nystical life, icnovn as de-
spair or the dark night of the soul, is a final and more
intense purgative stage appearing directly before the uni -
tive life. It is the final battle between the surface senses
and the- higher consciousness • The self feels cut off so
completely from Reality that only the memory of the pleasure
states, -when Reality had appeared near, keeps it fron phys-
ical destruction. At th • end of the dark night, the self
is, at last? purified and ready for union with th© Absolute,
Howhere in Emerson's writings does it appear that he reached
such a depth of despair so great as to be indicative of this
O lb '•? p* r*> ndt V w W »
!The fifth arid last stage of the loystic1 s life is that
of union. Union is not nerely perceived as in iHunination
but enjoyed as one with the Absolute. The mystic's interests
29
are completely at sorted in those of the Infinite^ lie has a
conscious sharing of its strength and authority resulting
in a freedom and serenity vhleh soens astounding to other
men. The nystic is usually urged to some heroic effort or
creativ e work Mid becomes "an actual parent of spiritual
vitality in other men,"3$ underbill states that union "ends
with the coming forth of divine humanity, never again to leave
us i living in us, and vith us, a pilgrla, a worker, a guest
at our table5 a sharer at all hazards in life."39 jfc -does
not appear that Bnerson's interests wore ever completely
dissolved in those of the Infinite, He continued to main-
tain iris fatally, his home, and his private affairs throughout
liis lifetine.
The laystic's yearning for Reality is used to remake the
consciousness in order that he nay becone aware of the
greater Reality. The stages arc marks of the progress of
the consciousness toward higher levels.1*® The neans by
which the mystic remakes the consciousness is lino v. n as con-
templation# By a strict discipline of sensual appetites,
a removal of all distracting images from the jtaiM, and a con-
centrating of attention on the Absolute? the unification of
consciousness is achieved and mm is thus prepared for
perception of the Reality lie seeks
38underhill, p. 16, 39Xbid.. p. b'jo.
^ a i s U , p. 298. M I M A . • p. 32B.
A X t h o u o f tr.c contemplative j,;c-cuod
appear several t i u e s l a tho j ^ y ^ J L s s e m e n s , a su&-
s a t i o n oi* Baox'soii5 s noans oi* scoiimc t r u t a j.c Ucsu esvpAuliiCd
i n "Literary Bth icr" -
• * * iS i t 110 t j tha t} s)/ ti-ixS CliisCxpo-iilid, CiiG usurpation of the senses l a ovorcoao, ana tlxo Xcwer f a c u l t i e s of m a euro subdued to d o c i l i t y ; through, as an unobstructed channel the
soul now e a s i l y and gladly f3cw5'r*fo
The results of suck a d i s c i p l i n e i n the myst ica l l i f e can
be described i n s imi la r terras. I t is believed by Mystics
that through neglec t of "Hie subconscious the conscious riind
holds on unnaturally p r i o r p lace ; that through detactoenfc
f r o n personal d e s i r e s cad concent ra t ion 011 Reality the
subconscious and conscious mental a c t i v i t i e s become united.
Suck an i n t e g r a t i o n of the sur face se l f and the deeper s e l f
i s p r e r e q u i s i t e f o r union "with the Absolute.
lfSRalph Waldo Person, " L i t e r a r y l.ti'lcs," l lUamt AMeaaaaa sad &g&£u£oa> Vol, X of a a fisselsuifi Vteffis o£ &0j& KftlOft £sigxmx ( he r oaf t o r a o b r o m a t e a a s tos lu vols. (Boston, 1903-21) , 181.
CHAPTER III
MISTICAL ELEMENTS II EKEHSOI*S THOUGHT
The procedure of the mystic is a clearing of the mind
of all distractions, a concentration of attention, and a
discipline or control of the bodily appetites. This method
of seeking Reality is known as contemplation. In the con-
templative state, thought, emotions, and will "become a unity;
feeling and perception fuse, and there occurs a joyous sense
of communing with Reality or the Absolute, Consciousness of
self and the senses disappears; there remains only a con-
sciousness of being in immediate relation with the Absolute,
1
"of participating in Divinity," The experience itself is
usually transitory, but it is no less real to the mystic.
This brief, ineffable moment of the contemplative state is
known as ecstasy.
Although there are several places in Emerson's early
Journals which suggest the ecstatic experience, the most
complete account first appears in an entry made on March
19» 183?) when Emerson was thirty-one years old.^ In its
final poetic expression it is found in "Mature," an account
which resembles that experience of ecstasy described by
^"Underbill, p, 330, %2raerson, Journals,, III, b l-M- 2,
31
32
t! R, M. Bucke. Emerson writes that-*
In tiie woods we return to reason and faith . . . . Standing on the bare ground,—say head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space,— all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball 5 I an no tilings I see all 5 the currents of the Universal Being circulate through rae; I an part and parcel of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental *.<•»« I an the lover of uncontsined and imortal beauty. *"
A return to faith is 'understandable? but Emerson's use
of the word "reason" has not the meaning of its usual sense.
In a letter to M s brother, Edward, dated May 31, he
explains his own meaning of trie words "Reason is the high-
est faculty of the soul—what we mean often by the soul
itself5 it never reasons, never proves, it simply perceives;
it is vision.His definition appears to denote that latent
faculty or ability which the nysties believe to be. in all men.
In June, I835, Emerson further explains M s definition of
reason: "It is in all men, even the worst • • • • In bad
nen it is doraont, in the good efficient; but it is perfect fi
and identical in all . . . «{,u But perhaps his fullest
elucidation of the word is in "Ifcture"» "iian is conscious
of a universal soul within or behind M s individual life
. . . » This universal soul he calls Reasons it is not
^See Introduction, p. 12, footnote So. 30-
S-iaerson, "Nature," Viorks. I, 10.
- Emerson, Letters. I, 5+12-1+13.
6Cabot, I, 2*f6~2V/«
33
nine, or thine, or his, but we are its? we are its prop-
erty and men*Reason, as Emerson defines it, appears
to refer to that intuitive faculty latent in all man, -which,
if pureed a M purified, may be cone efficient enough for
perception,
Effective coianuni cation of the experience of ecstasy
depends upon the particular gift of the individuals the
poets the artistj and the musician are able to translate
spiritual truth into earthly beauty, 'but others have not
been as successful. Though ail mystics agree that the
ecstatic experience is ineffable, nonetheless most of them
spend their lives trying to coninunicute it to others.
The problem of corrauni cation w s one of which Emerson
vac veil aware. On November 19, 1833, he writes in the
"Uise moments are- years, and light the countenance
ever . . • . They refuse to be recorded."^ And in a
Journal entry made in June, 1835, Emerson recognizes that
"the aim of the author is not to tell truth—that he cannot
do, out to suggest it[f] • . • he uses many words, hoping that
one, if not the other, will bring you as near to the fact as
he is«,19 Even as late as October, l$+8, Emerson seemed still
to be dissatisfied with his failure to express fully his
^Emerson, "Mature ?" works. 1, ?.7<
"Emerson, Journals, 1X1, 231,
9Ibid.T pp. 91-^2.
3^
meaning. iiany of his best essays had already "been pub-
lished, 'out lie asks himself in the Journal; "Do you think
ecstasy is ever coraiaunicable"10
According to most authorities, the mystical procedure
is one of becoming aware of the greater Heolity by achieving
an integration or unification of the surface self arid the
deeper self, or of the conscious and subconscious activities
of the tiind* A coarjon belief is that nan's two selves have
not always been disunited and that men's souls are imortal,
that they "no nore cane into existence when we were born
than they will cease to exist when our bodies disintegrate»
For this reason it has often been thought that in youth the
consciousness is nore unified than in later life when the sur-
face senses becone greatly occupied with physical tilings of
the world*
It would appear that Etierson is aware also of the need
for adjustment of the senses, or the unification of the
deeper self and the surface self, before the contemplative
moment can occur, when, lomediately preceding the "eyeball"
passage, ho states that few adults ever really see nature,
but "the lover of nature is he whose inward and outward
senses are still truly adjusted to each other5 who has re-
tained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood
10lbiti.> VII, 522. ^Spurgeon, p. 12Er.ierson, "Nature," viorkSj I, 9»
35
It is5 of course9 not a perceivlnc by the physical eye that
Enter son refers to when lie says that few adults "can. sec
nature," The true act of seeing is a much deeper perception
which lie can only suggest by saying, "I see all." When this
adjustment is made and man can see nature, lie finds that,
Eueraoa writes, "the -whole of nature is a metaphor of the
human mind* The laws of moral nature answer to those of 'mat-
ter as face to face in a glass.nl3 All men can know tills
relation between nind and natter.^
Readers of Ktaer son's writings arc faniliar with his
"belief that nature is synbolic, a coonon characteristic of
raysticism. Spurgeon writes that "the essencc of rays ti dsn
is to believe that everything we see and loaov is symbolic
of something greater . . .,nl^ that one truth is only the
thread which unravels greater truths.16 The mystics see
nature as the revelation of the Absolute, An ecstatic ex-
perience described to Staee by au acquaintance, whose naue
lie did not disclose, reveals somewhat the mystic1 a insight#
2he subject was looking out a window into a littered back
yard of a tenement when.
"Suddenly every object in ay field of vision took on a curious and intense kind of existence of its own: that is, everything appeared to have an 'inside®—to exist as 1 existed, having in-wardness, a kind of individual life, and every object, seen under this aspect, appeared exceedingly
PP* 32-33. ^*IMd» ? p. 3 -« 1%purn©on, p. 12. 16Ibld.. p. 9.
36
beautiful. There -./as a cat o'tit there, with Its head lifted, effortlessly watching a wasp that aoved without moving just above its heacL Every-thing was urgent with life » , . which was the same in the cat« the wasp, the broken bottles? and merely manifested itself differently in these individuals (which did not therefore cease to be individuals however). All things seemed to glow with a light that caiao from within thm."*/
liner son believes that " the world proceeds fron the
same spirit as the body of man• llan is? he states, the
superior creation,, but naturo differs from man in that it jfc /
Is not "subjected to the huoan \;ill. Its serene order is
inviolable by us,"3-9 Mature represents the divine order»
the mind of the Absolute 5 nature also represents the isind
of nan« Ilaturc is the "organ through which the universal
spirit speaks to the individual. and strives to lead back
the individual to it."20
Emerson uses nature in a broader sense than is common
in its general usage. It is everything which is "not-;:e";
the universe.Between nature and man there is a very
close relation, according to Liner son, and, immediately
following the "eyeball" passage in what is evidently an
17Stace, l&S&S&m ££& &4toLQPhX, pp. ?1~?2,
^Enerson, "Mature," Wppks. I? 6*k,
^Ibld^, p, 65. 2QIbid.. p. 62.
^Carpenter, Ifeexsog JfejodfeppJIg, p. 18^.
3?
extended description,he sees, lie says, the "occult relation
"between nan and the vefyetable*n<~e-
I ism's mind, Emerson eixpiaias, seehs oat- in nature the
Identity said relationships of pleats, aniaals, suad r>henomena
which lead it to detect unity in nature. Unity arid order
suggest tlie aspect of intelligence manifested in nature.
From detection of intelligence, aan is led to wander about
causes*^3 Vron cause the nind of nan is led to the Absolute,
or, as the aysties refer to it, the "Cause of causes*" Emerson
affiriis that man may trust in the permanence of such natural
lavs.2lf
'fhe physical world and the relation of its parti; are
the &eys to the spiritual -world, liaerson finds ethical laws
in the assioss of physics: "1 tiie whole is greater than its
part^ reaction is equal to action5 the smallest weight nay
be znude to lift tne greatest, the difference of weight being
compensated by t i u e « f h e axions are not only applicable
for technical use, but are equally valuable when applied as
ethical laws in human life.
In Emerson1s view, as has been shown, the physical laws
in nature correspond exactly to the noral laws within the
mind of aan, When aan can see nature truly, he recognises
within it the beautifully necessary end eternal laws of the
92 hucrson, "Maturef
u ,.orks? I, 10•
, p * *7* ^ J P • J p * 33*
no
Absolute, of which he also, as a part of nature, is a man-
ifestation* Such an educative process—fctis recognition of
the iawtable lavs of nature reflecting his own moral in-
stincts—bo cosies a discipline for hiia, Knowledge of those
absolute laws is accessible to all, but not all avail tuera-
selves of it. MYct all men are capable of being raised by
piety or by passion, into their region,"^ Enerson writes,
a statement which sugcests the av/alsening md remaking of the
life and consciousness of the nystic.
Uhon ctan sees nothing in nature, it is because lie is
"disunited "with himself ."^7 Enerson ©plains that if nan
is to see nature truly he must satisfy "the demands of the
spirit,"^ The demands are perception and lovef but neither
is perfect without the other.^ If man is "disunited \*fithin
himself," his surface self and inner self are not integrated
or 'unified» Emerson's coraiaent that the spirit derianes both
perception and love is sucnestivv of the fusion of the two
which occurs in the mysticfs contemplative state. An ex-
perience such as that described by Stace reveals men's
relation to all things, lie sees the same light as that in
his own being manifested in other objects and animals. When
the "relation between the mind and natter"' becomes apparent
to man.} Emerson -writes, he "doubts if at all other tines he
2&-nvffi. n,. zn 27j 33M4., P. 5?. p. A . 28T,,,.,
QC
is not blind and dear « • * [5] for the universe becomes
transparent , caul the light o.v higher laws than its own
shines through it,toC)
Just as m x i can use tao p h y s i c a l laws of nature f o r
his ova benefit when he Isaovs then caicl puts hiasolf i n t o a
position to «sg their force and power, so can ho also acquire
the f o r c e of the moral laws of the Absolute when ho loaows
their t ru th ana aligns hiasoif with then to use t h e i r power.
Itierson explains -
Once Inha le the upper air, be ine s p i t t e d to behold tiie abso lu te natures o f j u s t i c e and truth, arid ¥e learn that oaa has access to the entire iiind of the Creator, is himself the creator in the finite.31
She power of i4rai Is i l l i m i t a b l e when he icnows abso lu te
truth; honcu, Emerson a s k s , "'.ho can sot bounds to the
possibilities of man-
Mhat nature iaeant to l&ierson, ev ident ly* was nore than
appears to the eye at f i r s t g l a n c e , but the a y s t l c s have boon
perceiving sixxllar assuijUis i n nature throughout the ages*
ivaerson's poetic power helped hia a r t i c o l a t c In M s writings
uh&t other men have apprehended oat have not often been able
to cosinunie&te.; the whole of nature is u oacroeosa of the
mind of man; the mind of nan is the nicrocosni of the whole
of nature5 both are uaulfestations of the Absolute , of the
3°Xi2M., P* 3^- P*
to
Universal "lad# As physical laws arc ."mom, "the world
becomes at last only c realised will,—the double of ITIPX.U!?33
"Trust thynelf" aay be little more than a trite phrase
without the reading of the nor.t pabular essay Iiaersoa ever
•wrotej "Self-Reliance." The appeal is to those who would
achieve true na$urltyy young or e l d * x t is len man. tries
to pattern hinsolf after others$ when he listens to the
advice of raea instead of the direction from his liner guide
that lie "scatters his force/' for, "whoso would bo a asm,
raust be a NONCONFORMIST*"^ Institutions and the COIM-
nications of other ricm do not have absolute truth; these
sources are secondary and have piclced up impurities. It is
only by feeing -A chaoiic-l through which the Divine flows that
r:ian can truly be himself5 the unique agent of the whole,
performing his own vital function# y&ierson says; "We lie
in the lap of iroease intelligence9 •which im&es us receivers
of its truth and organs of its activity. When we discern
justices i/hen we discern truth, we do nothing of ourselves,
but allow a passage to its b e a n s . " 3 6
Hnerson does not believe that nan should accept t i l l s
knowledge > or direction, frou other nenj lilce iiy sties in
s p. to.
~ Carpenter, m££JS2S SsMfeSPiS? P*
35>i3nereon, 51 Self-Reliance,n Essays; First Staying. Vol. II of WOXIHS) 5O.
, p. 64„
kl
every age, he feels it is necessary for the Individual to
receive primary truths, because, as he declares, "The re-
lations of the soul to the divine spirit, are so pure that
it is profane to seek to interpose helps."37 it is in-
teresting to note, incidentally5 that St. Teresa, the great
Spanish mystic of the sixteenth century, also said that ;nan
is incapable of understanding the " 'utter tr ansf ormation of
the soul in God, *" but, she adds, " *1 know it Jax experi-
ence. '"38 To know truth "by experience," the mystic feels,
is to perceive it directly in an Immediate relation of the
soul with the Infinite * it is not to believe someone . else's
account of M s relation. The climactic experience of the
soul is brought about by contemplation* When Erierson writes
that men "can and must detach themselves . . .,"39 he may
veil be referring to the detachment of the self through
poverty which occurs in the purgative stage of the mystical
life. The poverty of the nystic consists of detaching him-
self from all "immaterial as veil as material wealth, a
complete detachment from all finite things."1^ Something
of the same nature appears to be what Enerson has in nind
37iiiisi., p. 65. 38Saint Teresa, StiS, a£ ££. SftKfisa uX. ifiaua, oh. a ,
sect. 2M-„ cited in Underhill, p. 371, 39 Enerson, "Self-Reliance," l.'orks? II, 76.
hf\ Underhill, p. 205.
*+2
when he writes that "reliance oa Property, Including the
reliance on governments which protect it, is the want of
self-reliance,and, he adds, "a cultivated man becomes
ashamed of his property • . • .1,1+2 Even the prayer of the
mystic oust reflect no personal or earthly attachments.*^
Bcierson is likely of the sane opinion when he states that
"prayer as a means to effect a private end is meanness and
theft.,,liif It is because of the soul's need for freedom
that it must be detached from finite things. Underbill ex-
plains : "Divide the world, into 'nine' and 'not nine,' and
unreal standards are set up, claims and cravings begin to
fret the mind. we are slaves of our own property. We
drag with us not a treasure, but a chain. nl+5
Through poverty of the senses the self will of the
mystic is obliterated. He desires nothing and has nothing.
According to the mystics, such a state gives one a sense of
freedom unknown jy other nen. Through poverty and through
obedience to the naral lavs, the self vill of the mystic is
replaced by the will of the Infinite. The obedience of the
mystic is not just a strict surface conformance; it is so
great a love for the moral laws that he desires nothing else
^Knercon, nSelf-Reliance," Vfcrfcg, II, 87.
pp. B7-88* ^^Dnderhill, p. 306.
^llnerson, "Self-Reliance," II, 77»
^Underbill, pp. 206-207.
i 6
but their fulfillment in his ovn life end, naturally, thoir
fulfillment in the entire uaivorso. 1'he "fretting®1 of the
raind which Is still driven by self-will appears to be a
weakness which Eaersoxi recognizee. '"'Discontent * • he
writest "is infimity of •yil),.»"1*6 K e criticizes the usual
prayer as a petition for Individual benefits such "prayore
arc a disease of the mil . „ . ,ul*7 The transforation of
the vill is an inner process, anC from it, the mystic gains
freedom, \dimi he is no longer tied by physical things he has
rnxi strength. feerson shows avarcnees of the added mercy
through transformation when he says;
II© vho knovs that power is inborn, that he in •weak because he has looked for good out of hia and elsewhere, and, so perceiving, throws hiasolf unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself9 stands in the erect position, coniaejids his limbs, works miracles; just as a nan who stands on his feet is stronger than a nan who stands on his head,1^
The aystics declare that the will of the Absolute is
man's rightful v4.ll, that it is a will more fitting and
natural to man than M s own self-vill. Such perception
seoias to be what Emerson aeans by writing that "if wo live
truxy, we shall see t r u l y . U n t i l aan realises that tl'ie
Eternal will is his on ? he does not nor can he know his
^Emerson* "Self-helisnce," oj&S, II, 78.
h?XMd., p. 79' P. 89.
P. 68*
M,
true nature. According to Underbill, part of the realisa-
tion cones through concentrating on Beality. Bneraon is
very likely suggesting this jaethod when he writes that nan
"must go a l o n e , a n d adds tii&t such "isolation mat not be
mechanical, but spiritual, that is, mast bo elevation."53-
E&ersoa cautions against the danger of mil's concerning him-
self tilth trifles which arc always dmar.cling his attention;-
"At tines the whole world seeas to he in conspiracy to im-
portune you with enphatic trifles • • • • hut lceep thy
state? coao not into their confusion#"52 jfysulc concentra-
tion through elimination of all other concern appears,
obviously9 to be implied*
When through the whole act of contemplation the mystic
has transformed his will into the Eternal will and has unified
his senses for illumination, ecstasy occurs, Shterson may be
referring to the intellectual perceptions of unity in ntind
and matter, always present in the contemplative Element, when
he states that "the soul raised over passion beholds identity
and eternal causation, perceives the self-existence of Truth
and Ilight, and calms itself with Icnowing thai all -tilings go
well."hncrson brings out the same illuminations which the
mystics have always achieved through the ecstatic experiences
P. 71. p. 72.
, p. 69.
that "all tilings irell." Sic mystic sees -chat a rose and
a blade of grass exist in ike present In perfect beauty and
fulfillment5 M s insight reveals that lie mist clo the sane,
Eiierson believes, also, that n;n "cannot be happy and strong
until he too lives with nature in, the pi'osont, above tino."^1"
It in through the ecstatic experience that the aystic learns
that the present is part of eternity, and, as such9 requires
M s utmost participation and Divine direction. Because of
this revelation, the all~inportant present is designated as
the goy. Eiaerson seems aware of the rustics' Eternal
lion whan he affirms that "yhenover a sind is simple and re-
ceives a divine visdon . « • it lives now, and absorbs past
and future into the present hour."25" The reason for self-
reliance is therefore obvious; it is reliance upon God
uithin. The .qnji*j,erd jaajLff is tae channel through wiiich God
acts and speaks. Thus, vith tlie reason, assuranco, and
authority of the aysties of every age, nay Baerson declares
* * . the only right is what is after ay own con-stitution; the only wrong what is against lt.?o
Like the nan of action, the scholar also must "be a
self-reliant man. Referring to an old fable which, he srys,
is "ever new and sublime . . .,"57 Baerson relates that frfon
P. 67. % M 4 . * P» 66. Sfclfrld*? p. 50.
^Etierson, "The Meriean Scholar," Vorks. I, 82.
} 'r6
was divided Into noa in ordex* to "be aoro helpiCul to
just as the IxcaMi \ms divided into fingersj the better to
answer its ©nd.M^ "lie One I son !•-, oi&y partially present in
each jaanf and it takes "the whole society to find the whole
iaan."?9 Each nan, in order :tto possess himself, mist sone-
tiiies re tuna. from M s own l&bor to cwbrcco nil the other
laborers Baerson thus inplioa that the scholar smart ro-
ssKaaber his identity x-rith all other &on, that all ore united
in the One 1'nxi,
"ho most important influence upon the mind of the scholar 61
is nature, for it provides tho raw material on which his
mind nay work* Like that of the nystie, tho raind of the
scholar nust possess a strong unifying instinct. "To the
young irindj11 Bncrson says, "every thing is individual . « .
out as it grows older "it finds ho-;* to join two things m d
see in then one nature: then throe5 then three thousand • «
• ."63 The unifying; instinct of the scholar continues to
join thingsj "discovering roots running under ground - /hereby
contrary and remote things cohere and flovei* out from one
stoK."^ He finds that classification has boon going on
since the beginning of tirio, tnd Knerson asks, "what is
classification out the perceiving that these objects are not 58-r v -t ,1 5 9 r 1,4,! 60-r 5 p. 63»
p. 8*k 621M4*» p. C5. 63J
6Vr-K^: A
chaotic, and are not forei{>:? but liave a law which I s nlso
the Imr of the hrumn ralnd". The scholar then sees, soiae-
\Jhc-.1i r:g the si?.b;]cct scu in. the costs t i c Bomcnt described 1 )jr
Ot&ce, that "he end i t [nature] proceed tvon one root . « • »,,66
The roo t , 'i-kmvuon w i t e s , in "the soul of his soul."**? r j i o v
inr that the lairs or.' nature are the sane as those of ids own
riind2 the scholar measures h is attainment by natures* "So
Eii.icii or nature as he i s Ignorant o f , so nnch of hie ovn uincl C O
does lie not yet possess.
Although nature i s the primary source of aisdon, boohs
uro the scholar.«s instruments for Ms *'1610 t i r i e s*"^ Boohs,
hnerson bel ieves, aant he- used in such a way that the scholar
m l n t a i n s the in t eg r i ty of hie oau nind i.hile recognising tlie
t ru ths of other riinds, ln& when JS&erson v r i t e s thai; the best
books "inpress ms v i th the conviction that one; nature -wrote
an0. the aaae r e a d s h e apparently recognizes, as the
rays t i c s do, that a l l ninds are wilted In, the Universal hind*
The a j s t i c ' s knowledge of the connection i s perceived through
ecstasy, and Eraeruoa seouirj&ly believes that the- scholar and
the best authors receive; insight in a cooparabl# manner, The
scholar, he says, t r i l l know , ! that as the see r ' s hour of v i -
sion i s short and rare . * • [ ,] so i s i t s record • *
Pp. 85-86. 6Gihija. > p. 86. 6?TH:
p. &7- ^%bid«, p, 91. 7 1IIOii . , p . 93.
which strongly suggests the brevity of the contemplative
moment. The perceptive scholar recognises the absolute
truth when it appears in M s reading because it is the
truth of M s own mind, and he will, Emerson explains,"read
• # . only that least part)—only the authentic utterances
of the oracle}—all the rest he rejects • • • ."72 A
strict belief in everything found in even the best of books
is a grave error according to Emerson; "I had better never
see a book than to be varped by its attraction clean out of
my own orbit, and made a satellite instead of a systea."73
The scholar *s primary sources of wisdom through nature and
action, Emerson warns, must not be replaced by a secondary
source such as books: "When he can read God directly, the
hour is too precious to be wasted in other men's transcripts
of their readings
More valuable than books to the scholar is action; it
is a resource he cannot do without"Action is with the
scholar subordinate," Emerson -writes, "but it is essential."7&
His definition of action is, however, somewhat broader than
the usual one: "The preamble of thought, the transition
through which it passes from the unconscious to the conscious,
is action,"77 ho affirms, and without this action "thought
7 2IMA. 7'52MM't PP. 89-90. p, 91.
p. 98. p. 9^. pp.9^95.
*f9
can never ripen into truth. Every kind of action in which
ho can participate is useful to the scholar* "It is pearls
and rubies to his discourse."79 Action furnishes Jaiia with
language? and "it is the rav material out of which the in-
tellect moulds her splendid products."^
"The mind," ifeierson says, "nov; thinks, now acts, a M
each fit reproduces tho other."^l Thinking is a partial act*,
if the scholar lacks ability to impart Ills truths, lie can
still live their*; the combination of both constitutes a total Qn
act. liner son believes that the one thine of value in the
vorld is "the active soul"; "Shis every man is entitled to;
tiiis every man contains witiiin hin, altitough in almost all
men obstructed and as yet unborn. The soul active sees ab-
solute truth and utters truth, or c r e a t e s . T h e active
soul is that which is in the process of beconing aware of
the greater Reality, /.ll sen, the nysties believe, have
•within them the seed of the Divine, the latent ability to
achieve union with the Absolute. V/hon liuerson writes tliat
the active soul is "obstructed ;aid as yet unborn," he im-
plies, seemingly, that it trust be awakened. The obstruction
aay be caused by the surface senses which have be cone all
important and thereby prevent the deeper self or the seed
from emerging into consciousness. The active soul,
7^Ibirl.. n. 79rh1d_ n- Q«?. SOt> » P* (A. ''I&ui., p« 95. , pp. 95-96.
&lr^,n . c>9. ^2Ibld» 83iMil., P* 90.
50
awakened, sees absolute truth through a deeper perception?
lie utters and enacts truth, because he nust, although he
feels It to be ineffable.
If the active soul is he who yearns always for Reality,
it is logical that Emerson would describe the duty of the
scholar as showing men "facts amidst appearances.
Emerson affirms that "the world is M s who can see through
its pretension."§5 Jut, he warns t tho task of the scholar
is not an easy one. His method requires that he be "one who
raises himself from private considerations and breathes and
lives on public and illustrious thoughtsWhether or not
Bmerson intended it to be so, the scholar's nethod resembles
that of the rays tics. In order to detach himself from per-
sonal desires, the nystic accepts poverty, and when Luerson
declares that the scholar "must accept-—how often!—poverty
and solitude,1'^7 it is suggestive of the purgative stage.
That Knerson ejects the scholar to progress into the stage
of illumination is implied by this statement;. "Whatsoever
oracleo the human heart, in all emergencies, in all solem
hours, has ottered as its commentary on the world of O0
actionss—these he shall receive end impart."
Like the self-reliant nan, the scholar must trust hia-
sclf completely, lie nust, Knerson explains, "defer never
P. 100. P. lO f. P. 101,
87.rw, eeTV.„ 1 A O
to the popular cry»H<^ TIe says tiiet ,:in yourself is
the law of o.ll nature . . * [53 in yourself slumbers the
whole of Reason5 It is for yon to know all5 it is for you
to dare all."9° After putting the responsibility directly
upon the scholar for realising his own potential. Enerson
declare® that he can learn as awoh at home as he can by
traveling to other lands. "The ne- r explains the far-."91
he affirms5 and "one design "unites and animates the farthest
pinnacle and the lowest trench.'^2 Emerson's discounting
the value of travel and the vr lue of learning from secondary
sources appears to be an effort to unite past and future into
the Eternal How of the rayntics. The results are well ex-
pressed by Eraerson; "Give ne insight into to-day> and yon
m y have the antique and future worlds."93
If the scholar fulfills the requirements which Timer son
has set forth, he "becones not a mere thinker? but ij&jj Tliinlc-*
ifig.* He attains absolute truth through his own experience,
not by listening to the ideas of the multitude hut to his
own heart# Ho then finds, feerson affirms, "that in going
down into the secrets of M s own raind he has descended into
the secrets of all minds."9 - Whether one refers to con-
templation as a going inward or a going outward, it is the
same mystical p r o c e s s ,9? £$& Enerson' s egression appears
P. 9 1 ^ 4 ^ p. 112.
9 2 ® M . p. 111. , P. 103. 9%inderhill? pp. 97, 99-
52
to b© tii© inward mystics 1 procedure. If the scholar is true
to M s own mind, M s truth is recognized "by that part of the
Universal nind present in all other men* Emerson explains;
"It is one soul which animates all iaen."96
If the scholar as a representative of the Universal
Soul is MsUl Thinking, then the poet is I3&R j>ayin£« He is
the men who can both recoive and conjnunicate truth. "For
all iaen live by truth and stand in need of expression,"^
Liner son explains, 'but few men can impart their truth to
others, A "man is only half himself, the other half is his
expression,"^ laerson affiras, and the poet "stands among
partial nen for the complete una . . . ."99 merson views
poetry as something not created by nan1 s sldLll, for, he feels.
• • . poetry was all written before time was, and whenever w© are so finely organized that we can penetrate into that region where the air is music, we hear those printJL warblings and attempt to write them down, but we lose ever and anon a word or a verse and substitute something of our own, and thus niswrlte the poea.**-00
The mystics have frequently noted the musical aspect
of ecstasy St. Francis of i ssisi, Italian nystic of
the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, heard
96Enerson, "The American Scholar," Work?. I, 108*
9?13iaersons "The Poet," = Second Series, 111, 4.±*v f MMAdSfAf
? p* 8.
^underhill, p. 76.
? 3
during the ecstatic aoaent a " 'heavenly melooy 9 intolerably
sweet.'"102 When the poet "penetrates into the- region whore
the air is u u s i c h e comes into contact; \rxzii ab.'-.olute Liuth,
and having an ear delicate enough to cai;ch the raelooy $ «e cy-
pres yes it in the earthly beauty oi poetry* i'ne tnoiigiit and
the form are heard by the poet5 the form and rhythm arc part
oi' the truth. As Saerson explains- "» # » it is not saetres,
but a aetrc-at'Iiins argur.ieat that lualiet; a poem • • «
i'lie poet learns, at» do all intellcctuc 1 ifiei.'j Ux&fc there
xs a greater energy availtble to hiru Etiersoa declares "what
beyond the energy of his possessed anu conscious he
is capable of a new energy • • • This now power wny
obtained, Baerson explains, "by ab&ndonnertt to the nature of
tilings » « » [|] by iioloc&ing, at all risScs, his human door0,
and suffering the ethereal tides to roj.1 and circulate through.
Ilia • * , .,sl0^ Emerson appears to be referring to the aban-
donment oi the I A Y S lie , V J I I O , si tor "Qic awaKenin^,, leaveb «A11
personal desires. The honan doors which need unloehin^ are
probably indicative of the nysvical unification of senses
v-hich is necessary before the ecstatic moment <iay occur in
coat eoplation» liner son writes also that "t ie sueliiae vxsxon
cornea to the pure and simple soul in a clean and chaste
10ZUiislM P- 77.
•k^Dnersoa, "The Poet," .._O.ai>j5> -L- ? ' *
1>c^lp2A't P . 26, 10h)il£l'
5^
body,ul°6 a statement which suggests tho mystical process of
purgation and perception which, occurs in the ©tag© of illu-
mination.
Underhill states that many artists and poets come to
the threshold of Reality, or experience ecstasy, but they
cannot remain in the unitlve life as the mystics often do.
"But the artist cannot act thus. On hiia lias been laid the
duty of expressing sonething of that which he perceives. He
is bound to tell his l o v e . He cannot rest until he does.
Similarly, according to i-toerson, the poet says," 'It is in
jae-f and shall out»'"1°® The artist, Underhill writes, "Is
the mediator between his brethren and the divine, for art is
the link between appearances and reality. Somewhat the
same idea is affirmed by Enerson: ". • • we love the poet
• • • who • » • has yielded us a new thought. He unlocks
our chains and adnits us to a new scene #"1H> Emerson be-
lieves that the poet connunicates truth which momentarily
releases roan's mind from physical obscurities, allowing him
a glimpse of something Real. The poet, -person asserts,
holds man "steady to a truth until he has Bade it his
1 0 6IM£., p. 28. 107Underhill, p. 7?.
108Bmerson5 "The Poet," Wajfca, III, ho.
10%nderhill, p ,75*
^Enerson, "The Poet," v&afca, III, 33.
P. 11..
55
Emerson declares that " the Universe is the extde-
nization of the soul,"112 and that the poet oust study it
as such., Hature Is symbolic of the Universal irdnd, and, if
rightly seen, reveals absolute laws of matter and nind.
n, . . Nature is," states Emerson, "a symbol, in the whole,
and in every partj"11^ and, he adds, "there is no fact in
nature which does not carry the whole sense of nature • .
. When the poet applies thought to nature or events,
when they are used as symbols, all common distinctions be-
tween high and low, or honest and base, disappear. "Thought
makes everything fit for use,"^? Emerson writes. He believes
that the poet, apparently through the ecstatic experience,
finds all things contained in the Absolute and that within
any of them may be found truth, beauty, and goodness.
Emerson's theory of history seems also to havo sprung
from mystical apprehension. According to liucrson' s view,
nature reveals a few basic levs repeated Infinitely. The
laws proceed from the Universe! Iliad, and iiis.t.Q£y is the
record of Hind as manifested in the evolution of civilised
man* llan is the conscious, thin!:inc part of creation, and
through his actions the Universal Iliad is manifested.
Linorson believes that "there is one mind common to all in-
dividual men. Every nan is an inlet to the same and to all
"^iJiLd., p. 1*k > p. 13•
^^XbM. 3 p. 17- 1 1
56
of the same."116 Therefore, each nan "Is a party to all
that is or can be done * . • »"H7
Hind, or thought, is always prior to fact. Bach fact
In history exists first in the mind of man as law5 "each
law in turn is made "by circumstances predominant, and the
limits of nature give power to "but one at a tine. " H 8
Eiaerson explains that "a nan is the whole encyclopaedia of
facts, "* 9 just as "the creation of a thousand forests is in
one acorn • • . ."*20 Thus the history of one nan as seen
by liner son is the microcosm, and the history of all men is
the macrocosm,
Emerson'0 belief in the ultimate value of immediate
apprehension of truth made him "very suspicious of the de-
ceptions of the element of time«"121 ]ie thought history
"less important than 'psychology'• • « •"^22 History, he
believed, might "be explained from individual experience.
There is a relation between the hours of our life and the
centuries of tine. "**-23 Since ontogeny repeats phylogeny,
the whole of history can be brought into the experience
-^-^Enerson, "History," W&rj£g, II > 3.
U9XKI!I. 1 2 0XM&., PP.3-1*.
^^Eaerson, "Experience," Viorks. Ill, 8 5 .
122 Carpenter, KBfifcSfiB EauQ£ka£>j&, pp. 119-120.
123iomerson, "History," Works. II,
57
of the individual raan. *4, Euerson "brings out as a basic
factor the importance of individual progression, a point
also stressed by mystic a. "The world e:cists for the ed-
ucation of each man,"-*-2!? lie says# IJbn's education is
evidently seen cs a deeper experience than it is conaonly
regarded to be* Ha simplifies the concept of education to
mean the basic experiences of each individual; "Every mind
must know the whole lesson for Itself,—oust go over the
•whole ground. What it does not soe, what it does not live,
it will not know."126
The history of man consists of an infinite variety of
facta, but all stem from a tm fundamental causes^7 which
originate within the mind of man. Because of the unity of
all nindc -within the Universal Mind, man is able to relate
the acts of other sen to himself. So interpret history as
Emerson sees it nay require a mystical perception of unity
in order to bring the various facts together. "The progress
of the intellect is to a clearer vision of causes, which
neglects surface differences, "3-28 iiaerson affiras, Lb a
reason for the neglect he explains that "the eye is fastened
on the life, tmcS. slights the circumstance."3-29 Men cannot
acquire easily the ability to pierce the fact to its
12^carpenter, J^grgsa I&Mb&Pii, p. 120.
•^2%:aerson, "History," Works« II, 8. 126JMa., p. 10. 127Ikld., p. lb,
P. 12.
58
origination, tot 15 as they come to revere their intuitions arid
aspire to live holily, their own piety explains every
fact . • ,,"^30 Er.icrGon believes. Cabot, Emerson's per-
sonal friend, says that "reverence for intuitions meant
to Emerson resistance to the sleep that is apt to cone over
our spiritual faculties « • • ,"3-31 o resistance which "con-
sists in obedience, unobstructed reception,"3-32 '/hen the
mystic receives insight through intuition he is united with
the Infinite and has access to the knowledge and power of
the Absolute, liner son is seemingly aware of the results
when he asserts: "lie that is once adroit ted to the right of
reason is made a freeman to the whole estate."133 The no-
ment of ecstasy is soooinely man's admission to the "right
of reason." Fron the added insight of the contemplative
moment, nan13 understanding of other minds and ills knowledge
of his relation to then is greatly increased, according to
the mystics. I'nerson also affirms that: "Who hath access
to this universal iaind is a pcrty to all that is or can. be
done . • . ."13^
Apparently through mystical perception, nan finds that
"there is properly no history* only biography,"^35 and that
x3°56M»s p. 26. 131cabot, I, 252, 1 3 2 M 4 m P. 2?3.
133Lnerson, "History," Works, II, 3-
13l>lbid. p. 10.
lie '
59
can live all Ills tor 7 in his own p e r s o n . \;hen aeon
perceives M s •unity with other men he is able to reed
history as Emerson suggests: ". . • all public facts are
to be individualized, all private facts are to be generol-
iaed."^37
Man' 3 life, Emerson writes, is ,:an endless flight of
winged facts and events,*338 all of then creating problems
which he must solve, and, he says: "Those nen who cannot
answer by a superior wisdom these facts or questions of time,
serve then."3-39 Emerson thinks, obviously, that it is
through higher knowledge that aari can solve his numerous
problems, through perception that he can understand the
history of man# Emerson*s description of the means and re-
sults of man's understanding resembles those of the mystics:
"But if the man is true to his better instincts • » • as one
that conies of a higher race; remains fast by the soul and
sees the principle, then the facts fall aptly and grapple
[sic] into their places . • » . I«.II . * *
It is the application of history to the present and to
the individual that makes it useful, according to liner son.
His tendency to epitomize all history into the experience
of the individual raan results in a concentration on the
present which strongly suggests the Eternal Now of the
X 3 6IM4. ? P. 8. 1 3 72M£., P. 21. 1 3 81W4.j P. 32.
W . I M A m PP. 32-33. l k 0 ' m a ^ P. 33-
60
nystics. 2he part hisuory should play in the life; of
nan is expressed by Emerson's declaration that "history
is an impertinence and an injury if it be any thing more
than a cheerful apologue or parable of mj being and be-
coming * "3. *1
Tad mystics hav- stressed the importance not only of
the present as a type of the eternal but also the progress
of tiio individual toward "union with the Absolute# Fro/a
ecstasy the mystic knows lieeuity, but what Keality aay be
is not easily told by the mystic nor grasped by his audi-
ence, According to Underbill, the nystic returns froa this
brief iioiaent declaring that by his participation in Divinity,
he learned ""the meaning of existence • . . .'"1**2 jn the
third century Plotinus said that "'if a man could preserve
the nenory of what he was when he mingled with the Divine 9
he would have within himself an image of God • . . .' "1^3
If Emerson through contemplation ever experienced
mystical insight into the nature of C-od, that concept is
best expressed in " ihe Over-Soul.." In this essay, liner son
owes cmch to Eastern thought and the idea of the world soul,
tot he owes even more to Plotinus and his theory of
372.
^ % i E i e r s o n ? " S e l f - R e l i a n c e , " - . .orkSj I I , 66*
l I f 2 U n d e r h i l l s p. 371.
llf3piotinus, X M fioasafls* VI, 9, cited in Underbill, p.
61
lltk emanation. Baerson used both as vehicles to carry his
own concept of the Absolute•
Mystics have always been reluctant to assign definite
qualities to what they feel to be ineffable# Consequently,
they have been impelled to use all-inclusive, negative, or
neutral terms to express the idea of Reality or God.
Enerson's choice of Over-Soul resembles the solution of the
mystics to a problem in semantics.
The mystics have declared throughout the ages that
"all is God." A concept of the Absolute for the jay3tics
always Includes two aspects: unity and diversity• The
aspect of unity is derived froa & feeling of the mystic's
connection with the Deity; from an apprehension of love,
pemanence and dependability, the unchanging qualities which
he feels belong to the Infinite. Emerson imputes a definite
connection between man and the Absolute when he writes that
the source of his own body and of nature is "the soul of his
soul«"lli"^ The everlasting quality is obviously what Biaerson
neons when he refers to the Deity as "the eternal One.
Probably because the word ,:love!' is overused by most
Christian denominations, Eraerson avoids it; nonetheless, he
refers subtly to the same quality in the Absolute. The
^Carpenter, K&ejLSfija gsasUg&te, p. 212.
-^Kaerson, "The American ScholarWpffis, I, 86*
-^^Enerson, "The Over-Soul," Works. Xis 269.
62
Over-Soul isf he writes, "that great nature in which we
rest as -the earth lies in th© soft arms of the atmos-
phere . , « it is apparent, too, that Ewer son,
perceived the same unity which the mystic always sees when
he describes the Absolute as "that Unity, that Over-Soul,
within which every man's particular "being is contained, m d
nade ono with all other • • • •
She second aspect in the rustic's concept of the
Infinite is diversity, which might be thought of as the
countless outward manifestations which are ultimately joined
by old contained within the unity, From the Eystic18 appre-
hension of power and energy, of progress and growth, he
derives the concept of on active, changing Reality. Through
an experience such as that related "by Stace the mystic sees
that the saae light is in ell created matter. Kmerson finds
nature an unconscious manifestation of the Absolute 5 he finds
nan the conscious manifestation.3-1^ Mature exactly represents
the moral laws of man's mind and exhibits a perfect obedi-
ence, out nan can choose to obey or disobey these l a w s . 1
Hie light in man appears, according to Emerson, to be the
moral sentiment which glows ever brighter as it is obeyed,
lighting his own life and giving light to those about him.
^Ibld.. p. 268„ llf8Iblc
"^^hnerson, "Nature," ko£i^, 1, 6^65 , p. <>?.
63
'i!he mystical proccss is the achieving of this iXlunl nation*
She mystics feci that nan's purpose is to pursue the li^ht,
that in doing so lie fulfills his own part as a mmbav of
the evcr-clianginc, progressing aianifestations of the One .
"hat nmerson recognises the active guidance of the
Divine in the life of a&& is evident in M s statement that
the soul is "the poreoiver and rovealer of truth."^5^ She
rustic's preparation for reception to a detachment from
finite things j Ester con advocates the same approach when he
states that truth "comes to whomsoever will put off what is
foreign sn£L proud. * • * »"1?2 After detachmentj tliL, no;:t
step in nystieal coatenplation is an ©xccssivo yearning for
Reality and a deliberate concentration on the Absolute#
Emerson apparently refers to this process "wkea he sayss
". * *1 desire and look up and put ray self in an attitude of
reception # • • ."3-53 A unified state of consciousness
accomplished through renoval of sensual distractions from
the mind is attained when in contemplation the emotions?
will, and perception fuse- Enerson seeias to Gsqplaia a like
fusion: "In these corii;mnications the power to see is not
separated fron the will to do,- hut the insight proceeds
fron obedience, and the obedience proceeds from a Joyful
^ Emerson, "The Over-Soul," viorks, I I , 279*
P. 289. 1 5 3 I M . , P. 268.
(."Af-
perception«"1$^' .. t aie point oi fusion ecs cntsy occurs >, n-Jid
the 3oy which inevitably attends the contemplative r,ioraent
is apparently what iiiorson is describing whon he says that
wevery distinct apprehension of this central coswnaacat
agitates sea with awe end delight« & thrill passes through
all m-jii at the reception oi" mm truth . . * »Hl55 Accom-
panying the joy of ecstasy is the feeling the aystic has
that his apprehension is divine# Such a feeling is recog-
nized by Kiaerson in his statenent that revelations "arc
always attended by the emotion of the sualirae#"^?^ The union
of man with the Infinite, which ocears in ccstasy, is obvi-
ously the experience Itierson has ill mind when ho declares
that "the simplest person who in his integrity worships God,
becomes God * • • *n3-57 F.eljhartj Plotims, St. Catherine of
Genoaj and n&ny other mystics have said essentially the sane
iiilaothat man and the Absolute are one. The mystics find
that froa aa&n's participation in Divinity he receives truth,
laaows iloality, und . aerson affirms that 15 the nature of these
revelations is the aa&ej they are perceptions of the absolute
law,"i^S adds, "fhey arc solutions to the seal's own
questions*"i29
It is the hunger of the heart and Intellect for ultimate
truth which causes a person to seelc through the stages leading
p. 201. '
1 ? 6 M .
iff7lb.ld*? p. 292. P. >82.
65
to the mystical csqperience the answers to ills questions.
The revelation of truth Is not given to the rays tic by a
stated "definition" during ecstasy, but by a knowing from
having experienced the immediate apprehension of the thing
itself. Logic has nothing to do with it. Heception of
primary truths is affirmed also by Emersons "The soul
answers never by words, but by the thins itself that is
inquired a f t e r T h e subject IfflGMS beyond any doubt the
validity of what he perceives, out the expression is diffi-
cult. A lack of sufficient words for egression of the
contemplative moment is obviously what Bmerson feels when
he writes. "Ineffable is the union of man and God in every
act of the soul."161
The combination of all the diversified aspects of the
absolute culminates in what the mystics embrace as the idea
of progression* imystics feel tloat the progression includes
not only the soul of man but also the entire universe. This
idea comes more from immediate apprehension than from any
theory which has been worked out. That the universe is a
"living Presence" was perceived by II. II, Bucke in an ecstatic
moment, and in a description of a state of ecstasy wiiich
Stace relates? the light of life is seen as vital in the
broken bottle as in the cat and the wasp. Eserson also
160iMfl. , p. 292.
66
expresses the same idea ;>
Sic soul looketh steadily forwards , creating a yorld before her, leavinc worlds behind M r . She- has no dat«% nor rites, nor persons, nor specialties nor uen. The soul knows only the soul; the web of events is the flowing robe in which she is clothed,162
"The soul's advances," • person says, are made by "ascension
of state, such as can be represented fey ne tamo rpho sis,—
frora the egg to the worn, from the worra to the fly. "3-63
laaerson seens to liavo accepted an early concept of evolution
before the fijeigifl QJL j^a SftOSUa appeared in print. There is
a higher end in nature than "in the production of new indi-
viduals • » .," he states in his essay on the poet, and this
end is ascension, ,;or the pes sago of the soul into higher
f o m s , " ^
R* M. Buck© believed that the mystical ability, or as
he expressed it, the "cosiaic consciousness," was not to be
looked upon as supernatural, or as any tiling nore than natural
development, and he maintained that such consciousness was
emerging in the process of evolution, according to the normal
principles oi evolution, ana that it was destined at sone
later date "to become the psychological condition of a
majority of the human race#"2.65 Mystics see the soul of nan,
the world , and all created natter as progressive• The world
1 6 2IM&., p. 27k. l63lbid.
16lf2inerson, "The Poet," l-iosfea, III, 2k. l 6 5 s t a c e , M z s i i c i j j a a M m t a s a a f a x , p . 26 .
67
is not dead natter; it is in every particle alive and
ascending.
Buck© perceived in his ecstatic experience that "all
tilings work together for tho good of each and all •" Because
of the reception of such knowledge, the cystic ? \;ith perfect
assurances intrusts all particular riddles to the progression
of the soul. A nan. receives from the soul's coramunication,
according to oner son "an infallible trust. It© lias not the
conviction, but tho sight, that the best is the truo • • . •
II© is sure that his welfare is deer to tie heart of being • "166
Then he may easily dismiss all personal uncertainties and
fears and trust completely in time to the solving of partic-
ular probiens."^7
Through the diversified aspect of the Infinite and the
progression of both man and nature s man, tho mystics affirm,
derives some Idea as to the meaning of his own life. If
Emerson ever attained insight into the meaning of existence,
as the mystics have done , a concise attempt to explain the
personal meaning of such perception occurs in the conclusion
of ""ho Over-Soul";
» • * 1 am born into the great, the universal laind. 1, the imperfect, adore ay own Perfect. 1 an somehow receptive of the great soul, and thereby I do overlook the sun and stars and feel them to be the fair accidents and effects which
166Eraerson, "The Over -Soul," .orks, II, 293. 167
I M .
f* Ft oo
change and pass. -lore cud sore the surges of everlasting nature enter into ne, and 1 "become public end human In my regards and actions. So come X to live in thoughts and act vith energies vhich are inrnortal.!^
iimer son's thoughts, "which spring fron the Universal Mind,
arc not subject to tine: and space, out transcend his o\m
mortality. Being a part of the or 10 mind, lie shares also
its energies and its authority. Euerson s&ya that iio sees
"that the "world is the perennial lalracla wldcii the soul
vorkoth . • «[|] that all history is sacred5 that tho
universe is represented in tm otom, in a Meat of time»"2*^
In the ecstatic esqperieneo- tho unified self pierces
the barriers of tho sensual world and goes beyond, or tran-
seentis#" ® Underbill explains it by saying that "in this
025>erienco the departmental activities of thought and feeling,
the consciousness of I-hood, of spsxc and. time • , • are sus-
pended,"^"^ Knerson1 s o\ra place in tiit: -world appears to
have been suspended in the eyeball passage vhen ho writes,
"I an nothing." Vhen he is "uplifted into infinite space
iiu obviously goes beyond the sensual world. Corson's de-
scription of the transcendence which occurs during an
"announcement of tho soul11 is expressed in "The Over-Soul":
"Before the revelations of the soul, Tine, Space, and Mature
shrink: away. "3*72
i 6 8 i M . s p. 296e 16%l2M.* P. 297-
i^%nderhili? p. 366. ^ "Xald.« p. 367,
^7%jaer son, "The Over-Soul," kpxfc&j II, 273.
69
rtystics agree in their affirmation, that they participate
ia eternity and, like R, l!» By eke, feel immortal. It is not
an immortality as it is usually interpreted, that is, a per-
sonal survival after death; it is the aoraentary insight into
eternity when the self participates in Divinity. Eraerson
seems to be explaining such a noaent when he writes that
"with each divine impulse the nind rends the thin rinds of
the visible and finite, and coraes out into eternity, and in-
spires and expires its air."3-73
The Eternal Now of which the mystics speak is the ur-
gent present with which the soul is concerned. It is not
given to man to know what happened before he becone a living
soul 5 it is not given to aan to know what iiappens after
deaths he knows through the ecstatic experience that he is
part of the Eternal Being, that his business is with this
bit of life granted his in the world, and that his purpose is
the manifestation of the Absolute in his own being. From
this knowledge, he feels innortal .
Such a sense of imnortality appears also to have- been
one which Eraerson had felt. In a isama! entry of October
3 0 , 18*kL, he writes I
If you are sure of your truth, if you are sure of yourselfs you ascend now into eternity, you have already arrived at that, and that takes, pi with yem which other men promise themselves *1'"
, p. 2 7 5 .
i^merson, JsauaaaAs, VI, 117-118.
70
And Husk has noted a comment by Emerson resembling his
Journal meditations in which Liner son uses "the true or
right state of the soul" interchangeably with the "kingdom
of heaven# "3-75
ilia nystic is innovable in his affirmation that the ex-
perience has objective reality. Staee assorts- "Objectivity
is not for him an opinion but an experienced certainty,
One of the coismon characteristics of mysticism is the din-
regard foy the usually accepted laws of logic.^77 ij; only a
few of the nysties had insisted upon the objectivity of the
ecstatic moment, their statements night be overlooked, but,.
Stace notes, "it attaches to a certain kind of experience
MIOSIS tea .tfag it is an experience which
is not inclosed in the nystic?s own mind but something
which occurs outside his being, beyond his pliysical or mental
control at that inoncnt«
The objective reality of such a noment so ens to be what
Liierson was attempting to express when he wrote:
Every mm, discriminates between the voluntary acts of his mind and his involuntary perceptions, and knows that to M s involuntary perceptions a'perfect faith is due. He may err in the expression of them, but he knows that these things are so, like day and night, not to be disputed • » , . For my perception of it is as audi a fact as the sun.179
^Busk.J M f e jq£ ILJSL, p. Ill,
176Stacc, itoiiijisa ?jbU&fi£Bb£« p. 68.
177iteia. p. 153-
l^Emergon, "Self-Reliance," works? II,
CiiAPrn; IV
ACmiiVEU-SEHIS
That the thought of Bnerson tended always toward 'the
conccpt of unity Is evident in ills writings. The whole
universe, as lie sees it, is epitoaizod in one nan, for all
the physical laws and all spiritual laws are present in each
individual. With a mint! ever cognisant of unities and har-
monies 5 Bfcicrson writes in the of December 21,
"Blessed is the day when youth discovers that Within and
Above arc synonyms«n^- -Jccause man represents! the Absolute
in little and is a part of the eternal, time and space are
united in M s experience„ Lan is* as it were5 the rxLcro-
cosn; the Abso3.ute, the macrocosm.
Because of Enerson's concept of the relationship be-
tween aan and the Absolute? he "concentrated on the present
as a type of the eternal*"2 Knerson is known to have in-
structed M s children to '"finish every day and be don© with
it. ni3 They should forget the errors of yesterday and live
each day to the best of their abilities, always concentrating
1 Uierson, Journals, 111, 399.
2 F i r iOns , p . 370. 3 C a bo t , I I , kQ$.
71
72
on tiie present. " Because truth is ever being disclosed,
Lraerson themght that nan should speak and live by the truth
each day as he sees it, oven if it should contradict his truth
of yesterday. Past ideas of truth shoi.ld not obstruct nan1 s
vision of the ever-revealing laws of the Absolute, In
Person's estination it is "fitter to account every mo-
raont » . . c.s a new Creation, and all as a revelation
proceeding each moment fron the Divinity • • . ."!> The
uniting of time and space in the here and now, the unfold-
ing of new truth, and nan's dependence upon tho immediacy
of the inner guide for direction appear to be central in
most of Emerson's thought. The overall effect is a con-
centration on the present. Lmerson feels that it is "the
quality of the moment . • . [,] the depth at which we live
and not at all the surface extension that imports."^
Luerson's efforts to remove tine and space fron reli-
gion are evident in several of his writings. In a letter
to Mary Moody Emerson written on September 23, 1826, he
says that "it is wrong to regard ourselves so nuch in a
light as we do, putting Time between God &
us . • . • "? The scholar, the poet, end the self-reliant
hjlM* burner son, L&j&mg, X, l?h.
w , ^ % £ s o n » "y°Tk c n a Days?" Ss.ciet2 a M SiUMp., VII, Msr&s.? 183.
^Lraerson, I5 1?*k
73
nan. have access to the Universal Mind, not to a party but
to all of it. The need for instruction froo oinds of the
past is secondary5 the primary need is to "read God directly"
from nature and experience, l.inerson believes. To recoive
truths which the soul reveals, aaa must prepare himself
•through thoughts and actions5 it is the present, the Eternal
HOY; which is seen as important to lain#
Enerson views historical accounts of religious denom-
inations or sects as interesting in thonsolves, but never
should such creeds become a barrier between nan and the
Deity. He "believes that too much emphasis has boon put upon
historical religion and not enough upon the living, vital
words which speak to the soul of nc-n. These words, he
writes, "can only be Interpreted "by the same spirit that
uttered then."^ llan, by studying the histories of his own
religious sect, puts his mind too Liuch in the past*, thereby
arriving at a concept of the Deity as something outside his
own experience, vaguely fauiliar but with no direct connec-
tion to the present. The Deity, says Emerson, is not dead
and inaccessible but exists today and is as accessible and
closely related to man and life as his own being» He de-
clares that "God exists • . .,"9 and that "God connunicates
3 Emerson, Journals. Ill, 225*
^U.ierson, "Spiritual Lavs," Works? IX, 139.
with tiie thoughts of a en • * . Overemphasis on past
revelations he a put tine and space between man and the
Absolute, But5 h&erson explains, religion is a living
experience, natural, vital, and beneficent to the soul of
man. Item can coianrone with, the Deity, he affirms5 yet "the
coiirjunity in which we live- will hardly hear to be told that
every man should be open to ecstasy or a divine illumination,
and his daily walk elevated by Intercourse with the spiritual
world.
From Emerson' s view of the imaediacy of the Absolute,
hi a ideas on the acquiring of knowledge naturally follow.
rfhe reading of books is less important than immediate appre-
hension of Imowledge• /.ll knowledge is, in a sense, varia-
tions or related applications of the physical laws of the
universe or of the spiritual laws* ifcn, whether he realizes
it or not, is on 'the road to absolute truth when he 1 earns
anything, l iaerson explains how the knowledge of natural
laws leads asa, ultimately, if he prepares himself to see It,
into knowledge of the spiritual laws.*^ What a man may
learn from reading the accounts of other sen's knowledge is
only those truths which he hfaselaT can recognize as such.
They oust apply end relate to his o\/n life, his own being.
10iiierson, Jcm£nal£, II, 22*+.
^•Kticraon, "Man the Reformer," Works, I, 22?.
"Nature," pp.
75
Man appears to con.tc.ln within Mmse-lf a pattern fox* wiiich lie
selects bits of truth to fit, tiie end of which is a meexdng-
ful design, just as one might select bits of glass or stone
to fit the plans for a. colorful mosaic* It is because of
ncai1 s inner patters ths.t he tenous the) pieces wnich lit# lie
recognizes them in M s reading; he s^es them in nature5 he
receives tiieM through the soul's coniium. cation, Liner son
explains, and he discovers them in M s actions* xlirough
carefu.1 selection sian recognises hie truth, and by the use
of it he builds toward the completion of the plan, however
many pieces he perceives and puts to use will determine the
extent to which the design is resli&ea* Si® education of
aMi is a. progression| iust as is man's knowledge ox Got*.
Possibilities for either are unlimited, i;gaia, Person shows
that what has happened before > ad what may happen cu terwaPd
ar© not n^n's concern5 xt j.,S the prusen^ wxiicii nxusi* cocisi nd
M s attention.
Hot only in learning end religion but also in liie itself
man cmst accentuate the present, }>aerso& believes that what
happened yesterday is p; st, what happens tomorrow aepenus
upon today | therefore, the present is all important:. If attire
and m'.n '..re iairc'Culous nanifest& tions ol the ii 0solute, end
each day is another opportunity to complete as much of the
inner design as man nay sake possible to himself. The moral
76
sentiaent. "that nystorious foantaiii?,f~3 directs the building
processj and Enerson addss "Here or nowhere resides un-
bounded energy, unbounded pox/or»
ilaiiy of Person's Ideas correlate with aysticisri.
That the religious life of the mystic is a process of be-
coalng awrc of the greater Heality seens to "be expressed
in Emerson*s theories of learning end religion. The pos-
sibility of 'anion i/ith God, vhich is the essence of
raysticisra, Is one in vhich Emerson believes. He himself
bocoaec part and parcel of God, and vhat is true for Mia is
true for all nen,^ ho affirns. II© recognizes in all non,
as do the mystics, that latent ability to find union mth
Reality, for the nystics have always attested, and Emerson
adds his affirmation, that through the contemplative mo-
ment spiritual truths are apprehended.
To discern the unities or harmonies of things, one nust
first recognize the differences„ A heightened sense of aware-
ness of tilings is an ability which the ays tic inevitably
develops, lie becomes nore keenly awaro of all things thereby
noting diversities which dissolve into -unities® Underbill
states that nystics see a sacrauental moaning in every iiian-
if©station of life5 they see "a loveliness, a yonder , a
"Lecture on the 'fines," p. 272.
•^Emerson, "Self-ileliance," Uorks, 11, b$.
77
heightened significance, which is hidden from other raen."^
0, I;. Firkins writes that Emerson* s tracing of the 'unities
and harmonies "became the keenest of intellectual pleasures:
it combined the solemnity of worship with the zest of
sport."1? An interesting description of Emerson's alertness
is recalled by John Burroughs, who saw him at West Point
after President Lincoln had appointed Enersori a nenber of
the Board of Visitors. Burroughs explainss
"My attention was attracted to this eager, alert, inquisitive farmer, as I took him to be. Evidently, I thought, this is a new thing to hia; he feels the honor that has been conferred upon him, and he means to do liis duty and let no fact or word or tiling es-cape hira. When the rest of the Board looked dull or fatigued or perfunctory, he was all eagerness and attention,"I"
Because of the mystic's assurance of his truth he will
express it without concern even though it may be controver-
sial or contradictory# Firkins noted that Emerson was
"disinclined to logic • • . After the "Divinity School
Address" of lC/38, and the severe criticism it evoked, Henry
Viare, Okies son's former colleague at Second Church, wrote
Emerson a siting for a logical argument defending the points
he had made, Emerson's answer was: . # I do not know
what arguments mean in reference to any expression of a
thought.'"^0
• Underiiill, p. 36, -^Firkins, p. 3^2.
l8Cabot, II, 613. 19Flrkins, p. 299-
20J])M.? pp. 299-300.
78
Because the mystics ignore the usual procedures of
logic, they have been accused of talcing the point of view
of the Deity* vihen something is revealed to then through
union with the Absolute, they state it i/ith authority.
The same viewpoint is used by liner son in nuch of M s writ-o*s
ings. Some of his expressions may be humorous and
colloquially epigrammatic, but when he sets forth a truth
he does so with forthrightness} for exanple; "Good is
positive. Evil is merely privative, not absolute; it is
like cold, which is the privation of heat."^ However con-
troversial his statement may be, he says it positively and
simply.
That Emerson was not overly concerned with evil has
led to some criticism of his ideas• Apparently, due to nan's
inability to find cause or meaning in the evil which he sees,
it seems to him that Emerson has not faced the reality of
roan's problems. But the avoidance of evil in thought end
action v/as part of Emerson's religion. He did not wholly
ignore evil, for he saw its place in the schene of things;
but he dwelt on what was more important in the life of man.
He saw this as being the possibility of man's virtue, evil
being only the lack of it. The relativity of good and evil
is a coninon belief of the raystic, for ho sees the part which
PI
^Carpenter, Eiiexspfi Handbook, p. 122.
2^Enerson, "An Address," Wojikj;, 1, 12*+.
79
evil plays in the world* Through contemplative tnaigiit the
nystic Is absolutely certain that all things ultimately
work for the benefit of the universe. With this assurance
he does not spend as ouch time in resisting evil as he does
in promoting good.
Hov/ever, Lnerson cannot be accused of ignoring the evils
of hia day. He was alvays interested in national affairs and
took an active part in them. Two specific instances are the
removal of the Cherolcee Indians from Georgia and the Civil
War. Eraerson wrote a letter to President ilartin Van Duren
on April 23j I83&, voicing protest for the outrageous treat-
ment of the Indiana and asking that he stop their removal
from their homeland*^ Emerson was vitally interested in
the anti-slavery conflict.*** He never ceased to urge freedom
for the slaves until their final release* He spoke against
slavery many titles end was not sorry to see the beginning of 2l)
the Civil -ar. Liner son had always stressed the importance
of individual freedom.; and it was unthinkable to hiia that
any asn should toe deprived of his frecdorj«.
IHien a mystic fights evil, he fights it with confidence
and fortitude. To the depths of his being, he knows that
good will prevail and that M s help is merely an aid to the
eternal law; in fact, he is assured that all truth and right 23Cabot, II, 697-702. 2 \ b M . , p. 57*k
^%Ald., pp. 600-601.
8n V
lend their power to the struggle# Partly for this reason
mystics are noted for their serenity and optimism* The
self-possession and dignity of Emerson after the "Divinity
School Address" and its ensiling consequences Lidian Enerson
describes in a letter she wrote to her sister;
"Jut you want to Jmov how nucii of a cloud these mists of prejudice have formed over his light— hy none at all* I do not know that lie has felt a moment's uneasiness » # . •M26
The obloquy from many sources with which Emerson had to
contend he either ignored or, if it were necessary, he an-
swered with an inner dignity befitting the truth which he
purposed to represent* Theodore Parker, one of the Tran-
scendentalists, describes Eaerson's characteristics:
Boldly he faces every fact, never retreating be-hind an institution or a great nan. In God his trust is complete? with the severest scrutiny he joins the highest reverence.
Hence cooes his ealianess and serenity . . • • A nore tranquil spirit cannot he found in lit-erature# Nothing seems to fret or 3er hio, and ell the tossings of the literary \forld never Jostle him into anger or impatience.27
From Encrson'c perfect faith in the validity of his
o m thoughts cane M s courage? in expressing then. Through
the sane faith he remained serene when M s ideas aroused all
manner of controversy* Trusting always in M s own "best in-
stincts, he read for what he called "lustres," for those
26Rusk, M£§, „o£ M M , P. 270. 2^Theodore Parker, IJas Aaerjcan Scholar (Eoston, 1907)?
pp. 9l*-95»
81
passages which harmonised with bis own inner feelings,
l^erson m y well U:.vo been, describing himself when he wrote
"The mericaxi Scholar," in wMek ho was perhaps trying in
soac way to explain tin..1 purpose ?nd value of M s own actions#
If Emerson were a mystic? as many critics and biog-
mphors have felt, from the mystical elements which are
present in X&erson's writings and from the accounts of M s
personal ciurracteristics, it can be surmised that he periu-ps
reached the stage of illumination rnd that his method was
generally that of contemplation* He may even have attained
ecstasy a few times in M s life bat never, apparently, the
find union with 'the Absolute which the true mystics have
achieved* For in the unitive life, the Western mystic leaves
all personal concerns raid, works exclusively for the good of
hwmcmity.
Of course, laerson also worked for the benefit of human-
ity in many ways, but lie maintained M s home and family 5
working in the mornings, going for walks in the afternoons,
and enjoying M s family £>nd friends in the evenings*2® His
mysticism was, apparently, like- that of the poet who through
the contemplative moment achieves temporary 'anion with the Ab-
solute end because of M s literary ability is able to
communicate part of what he apprehends. -merson thought
Mmself a poet, as he expresses in a letter to Lidian
28Cabot, I, 2d?-
Mil
i:ane<Iiatsiy before their marriagei
I an to c, -oootj of 3 low class without doubt yet a poet a poet la the sense of a per-celvcr & dear lover of the harmonies that are in the soul & in matter . • .
Although Emerson's inystlcisn has been an issue on
which his biographers and critics vrry, it has been rec-
ognised toy most of them. George Santayana says that
Emerson "belonged by nature to that mystical company of
devout souls that recognize no particular home ana are
dispersed throughout history . • . ."30 He considers
Emerson a "Puritan mystic with a poetic fancy . • • »"31
llaulsby thinks that "in some degree . . . Lnerson was a
mystic. But his mysticism was compatible with life on a
high plane of conduct . . . ."32 Goddard does not doubt
"the existence of genuine mysticisn in Lraerson's nature "33
and states that liaerson had the unique ability or "power to
be at once * standing on the earth1 and *rapt above the
psle,1 "3^
Three authors unreservedly consider Emerson a mystic.
"Emerson," says tticke, "is fundamentally a mystic, and only
^Emerson, Lg.ticr.Sj I, ^35*
3°George Santayana, "Eaorson," Eagrspiis 4 Cpll^tjion Critical Assays, edited by a niton K. Konvitz caid Stephen Whicher (liaglevood Cliffs, 1962}, p. 38.
31lblcl.« ? p. 37. 32jlaulsby, pp. 7U-.7?.
33ooddard, p* 126. p. 176.
83
in terms of oysticisu does his basic thought become Intel-
ligible. "35 Dili&vay writes that "Emerson was assuredly a
mystic. One can pick up almost any essay lie ever wrote and
300 Ills oysticisu. It is a healthy and universal nysti-
cism."^ Christy affirms that "Emersonian thought was a
natter of almost pure aysticiszu."37
That Esacrson used his mysticism for practical onds
appears to be recognized by several critics. The most gen-
erally acceptable evaluation is probably that laade by Bliss
Perry, who says that Emerson belonged to the "healthy-tiinded"
aystlcs as tJillian Jaiaes has labeled and defined tiiea.3
liuerson was obviously influenced by both Eastern and -est-
ern mystics, but in the final analysis l&ierson appears,
because of his active participation and interest in life, to
belong to that group of mystics from the -est who have
actively used their mysticism for the benefit of mankind.
35 icke, p. 291. 36Dillaway> p. 106,
^^Christy, p. 266.
3%liss Perry, iiSfijfiLQa (Princeton, 1931), p. 6o.
CIIAPl'EB ¥
CONCLUSION
After the X&kO*s uhQn. the Transcendontali s t s caused
such a stir In Heu England, their popularity increased for
many years* Brier son's popularity has declined, hovever, in
the past few decades, /iltriough his rjysticism is mentioned
by numerous authors, many students are inclined to ignore
it or consider it merely another word to add to those vhich
they use to describe i.nerson. /; thorough study of the
nystical elements in M s thought, however, clearly shows that
they are essential to an under standing of M s nost important
ideas. The apparent gap between today's scholars and -nerson-
iari thought raight be bridged through a comprehension of the
rustical elements which help to illunin&te Emerson's still
vifcal idee, s.
Through a study of the nystical elements present in M s
writings5 I'iner son's expositions of men's three most important
relationships can best bo understood* The relationships are
those between man and nature, between nan arid his inner self,
and between nan end the Deity. T m significance of nature to
man becomes apparent when its synbolic and xaoral meanings are
penetrated# When man can "see nature truly," he observes
85
that tho sane moral laws existing in his own mind are
exhibited in nature. By man's deeper insight into his
relationship with nature, he learns to love and accept her
lavs# Through tho combination of love and obedience, he
achieves harmony with nature and learns to use the energy
which comes frost his alignment with natural laws. But with-
out a mystical background for the understanding of "Nature,"
many students feel it to bo more of a poetic tranquilizer
than an enlightening essay.
The second vital relationship is that between man and
his inner self5 vith inner harmony, he is a useful and happy
member of society; without it, he is neither useful nor
happy. The achieving of a self-reliance, such as Person
advocates, is an inner process similar to mystical progres-
sion. As man obeys his inner guide, it® direction becomes
ever stronger until ultimately his surface self and his
deeper self become united. Man must place his reliance
upon his own moral instincts, not on the accepted morality
of others or on what books or institutions say of morality*
He can accept only primary truths. Through man's own ex-
perience and through his own thought, he can recognize
absolute truth. Through inner harmony man becomes self-
reliant j he becomes a joyful, beneficial part of his own
society.
86
Emerson's concept of the relationship between man and
the Deity is more easily understood if viewed in the light
of the mystical elements. Shis relationship is a living,
thriving, working part of man's existence; without knowledge
of Reality, man is deprived of his greatest source of truth
and energy; with knowledge of it, he obtains essential power
and guidance. Knowledge of the Absolute is gained by means
of a progression similar to that of the mystics. Han must
detach himself from finite things, obey his own conscience,
and concentrate his attention upon the Infinite. By such a
method he achieves union with the Deity5 he perceives
absolute truth.
The Eternal Now of the mystics is paralleled by
Kraerson when he discounts the past and disregards the future
in favor of an intense concentration on the present* To the
interpretation of history, religion, learning, end to life
Itself, tie makes a vital contribution by stressing the value
of the individual and the value of his freedom. Freedom
from institutions and conventions of the past and freedom
from worries projected into the future are prerequisites for
a vital and rewarding life, The ring of individual freedom
has always been and will over be a joyful sound to the ears
of nan. Although the frontier of America is no more and man
is seemingly inclosed on all sides by restrictions, there
is a new liberty available to all. It is through the mind
of man that new frontiers are opened, that liberation is
87
obtained# ±iy penetrating the laws of nature nan has
ventured into outer space. If he penetrates the spiritual
laws which are equal to and more powerful than the physical
laws| who can predict the potential of men? If Emerson is
right in his assertion that the understanding of physical
laws leads eventually into the understanding of spiritual
laws, it say be that man has a future revelation in store
which far surpasses all others, i'he method for unlocking
new truth is carefully explained by Emerson and needs only
to be used by man. unerson's own life is an ezcaaple of
the accomplishnents possible when one man obeys the light
which is his and in so doing lights the paths of those around
him, end of the world.
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Unpublished I l r : tor ials
i f icke. Myron F„ , "pe rson ' s r y f l t l c i sa . " ittpabllshed doctoral dissertat ions Department of ^nglfsli} Western Hescrtr© Univers i ty . Cleveland, Ohio19^1»
II *