Looking inward to find it all
Transcendentalism is a term describing a philosophical movement with origins that stretch back to to the mid 19th century in which principles of reality are to be discovered by the study of the processes of thought, or a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical. It’s a pantheistic approach to spirituality where God is equated to the forces and laws of the universe instead of having a personality.
An influential leader during the movement was Ralph Waldo Emerson.
For it is only the finite that has wrought and suffered, the infinite lies stretched in smiling repose. ~Emerson
You can never know what’s inside of another. There’s no way to know. Just as no one can know exactly what is inside of you. It’s personal and it’s deep. Call it the interior, hidden away, out of sight from public view but it’s inside everyone, nonetheless.
Physical or mental closeness doesn’t change this fact, no matter how well you think you know someone. Outward appearances give a glimpse, a portion of the story, because of course, there are always hints or clues on the outside of what lies within but no one else can ‘know’.
I will have no covenants but proximities. I shall endeavor to nourish my parents, to support my family, to be the chaste husband of one wife, but these relations I must fill after a new and unprecedented way. I appeal from your customs. I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier. ~Emerson
No wonder some of Emerson’s most important writings can be found in a series of essays called Self Reliance. He sees the self, our private side, as the place where infinitude lurks. Individuality and freedom are the pillars. All relations are intrinsic first before an individual can experience happiness extrinsically he must cultivate a harmonious relationship within his own soul, where the infinite lies, your exterior reflects that beauty.
. . . If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier.
When you put aside Ralph, the wordy terms and philosophical jargon, isn’t this the stuff we all seek? Others who can love us for what we are, being true to yourself.
Suffering stems from seeing ourselves as exclusively finite failing to recognized the infinity that dwells within, but when we know that the infinite is located in that secret interior place we also know that all the peace of the world can be found there.
