Buddhism, RWE, Existentialism, Transcendentalism, Unitarian-Universalism
"Existentialism "every appearance in nature corresponds to some state of the mind," we have entered the familiar Wordsworthian Romantic territory in which nature is phenomena and spirit is noumena and the task of the human person is to draw his being from whatever inscrutable force produces, organizes, and infuses the phenomenal universe —an "ineffable essence which we call Spirit. Being as not being stable but forever in flux and transition. Even history, Which seems obviously about the past, has its true use as the servant of the present.' Emerson and Buddhism stand for spirituality purged of creed detritus.' the essence of Existentialism is that you find meaning in nature, wisdom, mind and body."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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“For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
– RWE
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was the preeminent leader of the 19th Century American Transcendentalist philosophical movement which held many tenants in common with Buddhist thought. For example, Emerson’s dedication to compassion, reincarnation, interconnectedness, karma, and development of the individual are all core Buddhist concepts.
Emerson’s concept of “flux” is synonymous with Buddha’s universal truth of continuous change (arising from the law of cause and effect). “Everything changes, nothing remains without change.” Buddha famously said. Similarly, Emerson held the universe is fundamentally in flux and “Permanence is but a word of degrees.” Both philosophies agree that all things exist in a ceaseless flow of change, what Emerson calls “interminable oceans.” This is why Emerson suggested,“The quality of the imagination is to flow and not to freeze.”
Emerson calls “development” the central purpose of human existence. He praises the necessity of “the never-ending task of self improvement.” He praised reason and divided it into perception, insight, recognition, and cognition. Emerson writes,“A man is what he thinks about all day long.” Likewise Buddha offered, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.”
His concept of “unity” seems interchangable with the Buddhist idea of interconnectedness. In “Self-Reliance,” Emerson writes of “the resolution of all into the ever-blessed ONE” which suggests the reality of an ultimate metaphysical unity. Further, he states “Man is a piece of the universe made alive.” and “A man is related to all nature.” Of course the Buddha taught that the nature of reality is impermanent and interconnected.
Quotes like, “Fate is nothing but the deeds committed in a prior state of existence” suggest Emerson may have held some belief in reincarnation.
Furthermore, his belief in the infallibility of apt reward and punishment is identical to karma. Buddha explains that karma is not an illusion and that we are responsible for our actions.“You cannot do wrong without suffering wrong” says Emerson. Even more tellingly he states, “Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed.” Also, to those who are paying attention, “Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect.”
Emerson’s dedication to the compassionate life is shared with the Buddha. Emerson writes, “Give all to love; obey thy heart” and “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
The Buddha taught that compassion is not merely virtuous, but that it is essential to enlightenment. Transcendentalists dedication to nonviolence is also central to Buddhism. Emerson writes, “The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war.”
The quotation,“Patience and fortitude conquer all things” shows the necessary attitudes for renunciation of the violent churnings of the material world. Indeed, he describes the onset of enlightenment, “There is a time when a man distinguishes the idea of felicity from the idea of wealth; it is the beginning of wisdom.”
Emerson issues the following warning about materialism and the ownership of material things, “A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life: he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days.” Perhaps this is why Emerson presents the admonition, “Money often costs too much.” Rather, upon deeper examination one must come to the conclusion, “The first wealth is health.” He concludes his argument, “The greatest man in history was the poorest.”
Emerson shows his appreciation of the beginner’s mind, “To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and heart of the child.”
“Shoshin” or beginner’s mind is an attitude of childlike awareness without preconceptions, of openness and eagerness when looking at the world or studying a subject. In the essay, Nature,he writes, “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.”
Like the Buddha, he also expresses his desire to exhibit “right mindfulness.” Right mindfulness is awareness of one’s body, senses, thoughts, and surroundings and is also known as “being fully present.” He writes, “With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.” Similarly, Buddha offered, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
Furthermore, Emerson is also very clear in his appreciation of Zen simplicity: “To be simple is to be great.” He elucidates further,“We ascribe beauty to that which is simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end; which stands related to all things; which is the mean of many extremes.”
Like the Dalai Lama, Emerson writes of religion in the simplest of terms, “Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble.” Similarly the Dalai Lama offers, “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” In conclusion, many concepts, basic to Transcendentalism, are also key to the philosophy of Buddhism. This is what led him to state, “The Buddhist, … who in his conviction that every good deed can by no possibility escape its reward, … is a Transcendentalist.”
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I need to research "over soul" and other parallels of RWE and Buddhism.
"Emerson has a more relaxed approach. His embracing of these basic Buddhist
ideologies captures the essence of the philosophy without the need for strict discipline. The goal
for Transcendentalism is to attain a more organic sense of enlightenment. As mentioned before,
enlightenment is not about gaining, but about losing. To attain enlightenment means
understanding emptiness in a slightly different way. This new perspective comes from the
experience of knowing that everything is interconnected, which means that nothing can exist
without the existence of something else. Perhaps Emerson’s enlightenment has resulted from his
concept of self-reliance. By becoming self reliant, one can exist independently, because there is
less of a need to depend on society. Blau notes that Emerson understood that human beings
require social contact, but he goes on to state the significance of the private self,
… [Emerson] considered that without rooting in society any person is lost. People
are nothing except in relation to other people, and yet, in his sense, the essential
human being is the private self. What seems paradoxical in the apposition of these
two ideas is resolved, in Emerson's thought, by the belief that the private self does
not exist for itself, but for the contribution that it can make to the human race.
(85)
Emerson consistently places an emphasis on the importance of the private self. The
private self embodies the Transcendentalist ideal that the reform of the individual would be
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mirrored in society, which would result in a social reform. The notion that the private self only
exists because of contributions it can make to society is ironic, considering the whole point of
being self reliant is to remain a nonconformist, but in Emerson’s view, society gains from the
individual rather than the other way around. People depend on one another for survival, but it is
the private self who contributes to the existence of society. It is the individuals or self(s) who
make the existence of society possible, because society is a composite of people, individual
persons. Each person adds something individual or unique to the group, which is what makes
society as diverse as it is. The private self is a reflection of a person’s true self, because within
his or her deepest thoughts, there are no social pressures to conform to a group. This is what
Emerson meant when he wrote that men should live as their private selves within society,
because when each man acts according to their own thoughts and ideas, they are then self-reliant.
The achievement of self-reliance within the population will result in a reform in society because
people will no longer feel the need to conform to the majority, simply for the sake of conformity."
Learning From Buddhism
Beyond spiritual technologies such as meditation and chanting,
Buddhism offers a view of reality that is affirmative of one’s potential
and teaches that enlightenment is not only possible, but inevitable.
Buddhists believe that all things in the universe arise interdependently,
and that the realization of our interconnection
produces peace, joy, and loving-kindness.
Through learning to let go of egocentricity
and lessening our self-centered attachments to things and people,
we come to appreciate the beauty and purity of the present moment
and develop a sense of gratitude and kinship.
The Wisdom of the West
The growth in UU interest in Buddhism
has also led to an appreciation of the strengths of Unitarian-Universalism
and discovery of ways in which UUism
can benefit the ancient traditions of Buddhism.
For one, UUism carries a much greater emphasis
on positive action in the social and political sphere,
putting our values to work for the advancement of our society.
UUism’s fierce commitment to feminism
helps to balance the chauvinistic aspects of Asian culture
that have seeped into Buddhism over the centuries.
While Buddhism has never produced holy wars,
like all religions it contains competing sects,
and the open-minded and non-dogmatic approach of UUism
helps to develop an atmosphere of mutual exploration and discovery,
and keeps the emphasis on how the practice is helping us
to become better and wiser people,
rather than on inherited customs
and outdated rituals from foreign cultures.
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