EMERSON
at 2oo
Proceedings
of the International
B icentenníal Conference
Giorgio Muriani (Conference Coordi nat or)
Sonia Di Loreto
Carlo Martinez
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<TheLight from Asia>: OrientalCultural
and ReligiousInfluencein Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thousht
and Transcendentalist
M,qnto FRRAor.-E
di Trieste
Università
Wise,profound
astute
in discernment,
as to what is the path
and what'snot;
his ultimategoal attained:
h e ' sw h a t I c a l l
a brahmin.
Dhammapado403
Emersonhad all the wisdom
a n ds p i r i t u a l i royf B r a h m i n s
[ . . . ] . A m i d s tt h i sc e a s e l e s s ,
din and clashof
sleepless
the heat
Westemmaterialism,
ofrestlessenergy,the character
of Emersonshinesupon India
sereneas the eveningstar.
|
Protap Chinder Mo:oorndar ( I 885)
I
I am curiousto readyour Hindoo mythologies.One is apt to lamentover indolenceand ignorance.when he readssorneof thesesanguinestudentsof the Eastern antiquities.who seemto think that all the books of knorvledgeand all the
of the Brahminsand the volwisdomof Europetwice told lie hid in the treasures
umesof Zoroastert.
I SeeDhammapadaandProtapChunderMozoomdar367. respectively.
t Letterto Mary Moody Emerson.Emerson'saunt,written in 1822.SeeCabot l:
8 0 8 1 . A s q u o t e di n D a s3 2 9 .
297
298
Mario Faraone
Emerson'sfirst contactwith Orientalthoughtand cultureshowsthose
sameprejudicesand misunderstandings
towardsEasternculture and religions,w-hichwere so commonamongpeopleof eruditionbetweenthe
end of the eighteenthcenturyandthe beginningof the nineteenth3.
Moreover Emerson'sinitial skepticismis understandable:
William Famham,a
relativeof the yollng Ralph Waldo. had come back from India and reportedto the family the curiositiesand strangeness
of that country.And
year*old authorhad written a poem for the Harin 1821,the seventeen
vard College Seniorexhibitioncalled <lndian Superstition>.portraying
lndia in bondageto superstitions.
cruel practicesand fanaticism.entirely
Brahmins.
Nonetheless,
under the tyraruryof
in this very poem, he admiresIndia's ancientwisdom,appreciatingher happiergoldenageof the
past,trying to visualizeher fieedomfiom British domination".
r
It is imporlantto notethat criticismcontemporaryto Emersonoften condemnshis
fascinationwith and studyingof Orientalthought,whoseevidencesare prosubsequent
lific in the author'srvritingsduringhis life. The mainchargeis on a religiousbasis,condemninghis affìliationwith Eastemrvritingson the ground of heresyand detachment
from the official Christianreligion.At least.that's what elxergesffom the statements
of
sorneof his orvn contemporaries.
suchas the caseof CharlesSandersPeirce(1839
l9l4): <l was bom andrearedin the neighborhood
of Concord- I meanin Cambridge
- at the time of Emerson,Hedge,and their friendswere disseminatingthe ideasthat
they had cau-shtfiom Schellinc,and Schellingfiom Plotinus.ffom Boehm.or from God
knowswhat mindsstrickenrviththe monstrousmysticismof the East>(6: 86).
'
As a matterof fact. Emersoncomesback again and againto this issueof the
British dominationof India. as shown in severalentriesin his ioumals.See for instance.,/MA
X.I I I :
[ : n g l i s hp o s s e s s i oonf l n d i a $ a s n d c a l c u l a t e db. u t f è l l b 1 d e g r e c st o t h e i r t a l c n t & r n a s s i r , ceh a r a c t e r .e n g i n e st o t h o s er v h oc a n u s et l l e n r .C h r i s t i a n i qi,s i n t h e i r r l a v . I t i s n e c e s s a nt o d i s o u n t h e m i s s i o n a r i e sT. h e l m a l r e m a i nC h r i s t i a n sb. u t i l i s b y "t h e i r i n t e l l e c t u a&l r n o r a le n e r g i c sl h a t î h e 1 c a n
r e a c ht h e l l i n d o o s .( - 5 4 - l )
l n l n d i a t h c E n g l i s hr c p a i r t h e o l d & J i g n e u c a n a l sf b r t h c i r r i g a t r o no f t h e c o u n t n . c r o s st h e i m m e n s ee m p i r e* i t h M a c a d a r rrro a d s .e d u c a t et h e n a t i v ep o p u l a t i o ni n g o o d s c h o o l s a
. d v a n c en a t i r e s
t o p u b l i c e m p l o v n r e n la. n d a i m ( t o e l e v a t em o r e & m o r e t h e s o c i a lc o n d i t i o no f t h c p e o p l e so f H i n d o s t a n&
. t o p u t t h e m i n c o n d i t i o n( t o ) o l a d n r i n i s t e r i n g
t h e i r o r l n a f ' Í a i r so. n e d a y . b y a i d o f t h c p r i n c i p l e s& t h e l a * s 1 o f * h i c h l u h o s e u t i l i r y E n g l a n du i l l h a v e( t a u g h t )n . ì a d ct h e m t o c o m p r e h e n d&.
c a r e f i l l l l a u g h tt h e n rt h e b e n e l ì c i e nat p p l i c a t i o n >
But evenmore revolutionary',
at leastfor the time, is the following passage,
from
the samevolumeof the diaries:
[ 3 9 ] l \ l a g n i f i c e n t h i s . t h e g r a d u a ld e t a c h m e nol f t h e c o l o n i e sr v h i c h s h e h a d p l a n t e d .r v h i c h h a v e
sro\vn to empires.& then are rlith dignitl & fìrll consentof the Mother Country. releasedliorn alleg i a n c e .< G o I h a v eg i v e n E n g l i s hl a n g u a g el .a u s . m a n n e r sD
. i s a n g l i c a n i sl eo u r s e l t . i f v o u c a n l >
<The Light Front .1.siu>
299
quotedletterto his aunt.Emersonstresses
In addition.in the previoLlsly
his interestfor issuesstill bervilderingaswell asattractiveto lim:
When I lie drearningon the possiblecontentsof pagesas dark to me as the chara c t e r so n t h e s e a lo f S o l o m o n I, c o n s o l em y s e l fw i t h c a l l i n gi t l e a r n i n g ' sE l D o r a d o .E v e r ym a nh a sa f a i r y l a n dj u s t b e y o n dt h e c o m p a s o
s f h i s h o r i z o n[ . . . ] a n d
it is very naturalthat literatureat large should look for some fanciful storesof
mind which surpassed
exampleand possibility(As quotedin Das 329)
Emerson'scontactsr,vithEasternthought were a lifetime preoccupayearsold, lÌe
tion. Startingas early as 1820.when he n'asjust seventeen
becamemore or less acquaintedwith the major Oriental systemsof
.
, 5
thought'. Japanese
cultureand religion left marks on his mind and productiononly late in lifè. while the useof Chinesemetaphorsand tropesis
definiteli,more substantial.The lands r,vherebiblical culturewas bome
are surprisinglyscarcelypresentin his works. with the exceptionof Persian poetry.which deeplyinfluencedhim in composingseveralpoems.
This issueof the necessityfor India to fiee herselffrom fbreign dominationis
presentalso in <lndian Superstition>,
togetherwith a _qenuine
concernfor India's
fate.<How long shall anxiousagesroll arvar'./ Umblestwith promiseof approach(Cameron,Indian 52)
ing day,/ Ere India's-qiantgeniusstrongly'u'ake?>
5
Thoughit is impossibleto be absolutelypositiveaboutrvhenexactlydid Ernerson first readany major lndianrvork, 1822is more or lessconsideredas an acceptable date.In fact, it is in the Journalsof this 1,earthat we frnd the very tìrst lengthy
quote from the Indian poemI Hinn to ,\uruvenu,in the translationof Sir Willianr
Jones.volume I of the .4siatickMi.sc'ellary'.See
The Ll'orkso;f'HIilliamJones.(1807),
X I I I . 3 0 8 - 3 0 9 ,L i n e s8 - 1 7 a n dJ M N , l . l 5 i l 5 , i :
Ofderv-bcspangledleavcsand blossomsbright
H e n c e !V a n i s hf i o m m l s r g h t .
D e lu s i re, p i c t r r r e su. n s u b s t a n t i sahl e r v s !
N I 1 s o u la b s o r b e dO. n l l o n e B e i n gk n o s s "
O f a l l p e r c e p t i o r .or sn-c a b u n d a nst o L r r c e .
Henceeverl' objecl-even' moment llous.
S u n sh e n c ed e r i v et h e r rf ì r r c e .
I I e n c ep l a n e t sl e a r nt h e i rc o u r s c .
Llut sunsand fatling \orlds I l'ierv no rììore.
. odonll' I aclorel
G o d o n l y I p e r c e i v eG
Emerson'slifè-long fascinationfor this poern was such that he 'uvouldsubseq u e n t l yi n c l u d ei t i n h i s I ' u r n t t s s u(sB o s t o n .1 8 7 5 ) h
. i s a n t h o l o g yo f f a v o u r i t ep o e m s
and poets.And it is generallyconsideredto have providedthe seminalideaf'or Emerson'slìrst maior work. Nalure.
300
Mario Faraone
such as <Saadi>.<Hafiz>,<Beauty>and in renderingand paraphrasing
severalquotesfrom Persianpoets.It is aboveall Indian philosophythat
givesmetaphysicalfìavor to most of Emerson'swriting.
This is not surprising.In Emerson'sday.New England'sculturalenvironmentand Harv'ardin particular\,\€rea cradlefor the leamingof Eastem
lore and thought.In the university,Emersonhad plenty of opporfr"rnities
to
read fìne translationsof Indian texts from the Sanskit and leamedworks
on India and Indianculture"traditionand relicion.suchas the writinss of
the eminentSir William Jonesn.
Moreover.cluringEmerson'slouth*several abstractsof Indian materialhad starledto appearin magazinesand periodicals. such as The C'hristianDisciple" The TheologicalRevieu,.The
lllorth Americun Ret,icw.The EelinburghReviev' and The Quarterly, Reyleu,.The Rev. William Emerson"the author"sfàther.had a numberof
Oriental texts in his olm library and discussedIndian literatureand the
Orienttnhis Anthologt Olubin Boston,which he foundedin 1804.
Since the very fìrst years of his intellectuallife. Emersonproved
himself hungry for erudition and curious about other systems of
thoughtand religioustraditionst.Of courseit is mostly from his journals that we come to know about his readings.In thesenotebooks,
Emersonoften quotesat lengthentirepagesfrom the pillars of Oriental wisdom, such as The Lutt's o.f Munu, the Bhagavad Gito. fhe
Upanishatlsand the VishnuPurana.. Knowing what he read and lvhen
u-The
lfctrkso/ Sir LVittiam./ones,6
vols.(London, 1799).
'
While at Harvard.in l818 Emersonsubmitted
for the BowdoinPrizean essaytitled
<Dissertation
on the Comparative
Methodsof Ancientand Modem Historians>,
quoting
William Robertson'sAn Historical DiscluisitionConcerningthe Knov'letlgev'hich the
.4ncientsHad ry''India (London:Strahamand Cadell, 179I ) and showinghis readingof
Thomas Duer Broughton'sSelectionsfrom the Popular Poetn^of'the Hindoos (London:
J. Martin. | 814).For moreinfonnationon the Harvardperiod.seeGordon.
" The presenceof the rnajorworks of Easternthoughtin the Emerson'slibrary is
extremelyheterogeneous
and specialized.
A brief excr.rrsus
throughthe title list will
suffice to attestthe author'scompetencein the field and his sophisticated
tasteto
a c q u i r et h e m o s tr e n o w n e dt i t l e sa v a i l a b l ei n h i s t i m e s :
The Tuilktt'itú. .1ttatétLt. I'ltunishutl.r.trans.E. RÒer(Calcutta. 1853)-r'ol. XY t>fBih/iothecu!ntlica
. . . O n l \ l a 1 l " l 8 - 5 7 .l l r n e r s o na s k c dt h e B o s t o n . A t h a n a c utno. p
ì r o c u r et h i s f ò r h i s u s c .
The Drtbistun,or Sc'htxtlo[.llanners. transllted fionr the original Persian.r'iîh notesand illustralions.
b l D a v i dS h e a . . .a n dA n t h o n r " ì r o 1 e r . . . . 3I o l s . ( L o n d o n .I 8 . 1 3 ) .
R i g L e d u S a n h t t u . 1 ( ' o l l e c t i o no l ' . l n c i e n tI l i n t l u h y m n s t. r a n s .I t . t l . W i l s o n .- t v o l s . ( l - o n d o n .1 8 5 0 1 8 6 6 ) .E r n e r s o nu i t h d r e * r ' o l u m e sI a n d 2 f i o r n t h e [ ] o s t o r A
ì thenaeurn
Mar 5-9. ltl-55.
<The Light From Asiu>
i0l
may then contributeto an understandingof his essavs,in n'hicl-rOriental and Hindu issuesaredirectlymentioned.
This is not a minor issue:Emersondidn't know Sanskritand Pali.
His readingr,vasalways basedon translation.The matter of translation
is a key concept in the English-speakingworld's understandingof
Eastemculture.For instance.the British middle--class'sfascinationfor
Orientaland N,liddleEasternmattersbeganat the end of the seventeenth
century.For the first sixty or seventyyears,major English thinliersand
writers, suchas SamuelJohnson,had to rely on translationsfrom other
languagese.
Torvardsthe end of the eighteer-rth
centurya secondgenerawas bom. English-speakingmen of erudition
tion of <Orientalists>
startedleaming Easternidioms themselves.making their own translations. For example.William Beckford was so versatilein Persianand
Arabic languagethat he not only translatedseveral stories fiom the
Thottsandlíights.butalsowrote storiesin theselanguagesr0.
The same happenswith the literatureof the Far East. In 1785
CharlesWilkins publishedthe Bhagat,aclGita. and translationsof the
Rig Veda,Mahubhurutu.Upunishods,VishnuPurcrna.andLottts Sutrcr
f'ollow-edir-rthe first decaciesof the nineteenthcenturv". In 1844
The Bhctgt'ut(ieelo, or Draloguesol Kreeshrutancl.!'1oon.transl.Charlcs \\'ilkins (t-ondon. 1785).
Tlv L ishnuI'urctnu.ct Stslemrl IIindu.\h,tholoE)antl'fraditiort" trans ll.ll. Wilson (London. 18.10)
For a detailedaccountof Emerson'sreadingsseeDas and Cameron,Emerson's
Rectcling.
" The first translationof theArabiaÍ Nishts in a Europeanlanguageis in French
and it is dueto AntoineGalland.The beststudiesof the penetrationof this irnporlant
text of orientallore in Westerncivilizationare still DuncanB. Macdonald.<Bibliographical>and Anon.. <Notes>.Also the Histor-vof Abissiniu,one of the most irnpoftant sourcesfor SamuelJohnson'sRasselas,
the Prince o/ Ahissiniu,was first
translatedinto Portuguese
by FatherJeronimoLobo, a Jesuitpriestwho traveledand
lived many a years in East Afiica, and then translatedinto French,before being
by Johnsonhimself'.into English(seeConant).
translated,
and ofrvhat is now consideredthe first ever Eng"'Pagesofthese compositions
lish translationof the Arabian Nights, are in the paperscollectionof the Duke of
Hamilton.Cfr. Moussa-Mahmoud.
tt
The Bhagvqt Geetu, or DiuloEtes oJ' Kreeshna und Arioon, translated by
CharlesWilkins (1835);The l'ishnuPurana,a Ststemo/ Hindu Llythology,andTretlition. trans H.H. Wilson (London, 1840): Rrg L'eduSonhitu. A Collection rf'Ancient Hindu hymns,trans. H.H. Wilson. ,1 vols. (London, 1850 1866); Emerson
r,lithdrewvolurres I and 2 from the BostonAthenaeumMav 5 9. 1855.
Mario Faraone
J\):
EugèneBurnouf publishedan Introduction à l'Histoire du Buddhisme
Indien, a capital r.lork for spreadingknowledge of Buddhism in the
West. With the bulk of Oriental works appearing in translation. a
greaterrespectgrew fbr Easternreligionsl2.
Around the beginningof the nineteenthcenturythe unity behindall
religionsemerged.Interestin Orientalthought.specifìcallyIndian wisdom. was common to all the New English Transcendentalists,
from
TheodoreParkerto Amos BronsonAlcott. from H.D. Thoreauto Elizabeth Peabody,from Nathaniel Hawthometo MargaretFuller, who, as
editor of The Dial after 1840, published somc ú'anslationsof Indian
classics.Generallyspeaking.the spiritualapproachto the re-discovered
religions relievedtheseNew England_thinkers,
and their readers,from
the prevailing Christian dogmatism''. Emerson's grasp of Oriental
thought is astonishing:l-remore or less put his handson every major
translationof the sacredtexts.and in his lettersandjournals he showed
that he was eagerto find their specifìctitles and exacteditionsrr.
Emerson's knowledge of Oriental thought, specifically Hinduism,
did not alwaysrelay on a first handreadingof translationsof the sacred
texts of Eastemtraditions.For instance.while there is little doubt that
Emersonrvasindebtedto the Upanishadsw-henhe composedthe essav
<The Over-Soul>r5,he hadn't éven readthem at the time of writing ii,
between1838and 1841.Examplessuchas theseare fairly commonin
rr
The best treatmentof this early culturalcontactof Britishculturewith Orient
probablystill remainsP.J.Marshall.
'' <These
Nerv Englandspirits,with strongclericalbackgrounds,
or fideistlearnings,found in Indianthoughtnot only ideaswith which theyagreed,but suggesrions
as
to the possibleshapefuturespiritualdevelopments
might take if they wereto be universalisticin appeal.Emersonand the otherTranscendentalists
found Indianwisdom
attractivebecauseit rvas profound rvithout being too gloomy. But Transcendentalists
aren't rvhite flies in being attractedby Eastemreligions.John Adams (1767-1848),
secondpresidentof the U.S.A.,is known for his fascination
with Orientalthought,a
voraciousreaderof thetranslations
of Easternreligiousworks>(RiepeI l6).
't
Cfr. .,1,'1,1N,
V, 68 and t, III. 288: <Thereis a book rvhichI very much want of
rvhichthis is the title. "The BahgavatGeeta.or Dialosuesof Kreeshna& Ar-ioon;in
eighteenlectures;rvith notes.Translatedfiom the original in Sanskreet.
or ancient
languageof the Brahmins,by Churleslltilkins:London:C.Nourse;1835")).
'' See Parabarnananda
65. Accordingto Parabamananda
the term <Over-Soul>
could be more or less regardedas a plain translationof the Sanskritword <Param
Atman>,that is <SuprerneSelflr.SeealsoGoodman63 l.
<The Light From .Asia>
J(,J
Emerson'sapproachto Orientalnritings and mainly dependon the fàct
that similar ideaswere presentin other Oriental texts as well; and that
thesesameideasare milestonesin philosophicaland religious texts of
other traditions.Emerson,it seems,appliedone of fhe Gitctlr most imthe answerhowever hidden it
portant messagesto his own researches:
may be, is alreadypresentin the mind of the seeker.Emersonindicates
fiom <SelfReliance>:
this muchin the followingpassage
A man shouldlearnto detectand rvatchthat gleamof light which flashesacross
his mind fiom within. more than the lustreof the firmamentof bardsand sages
[ . . . ] . T h e p o w e rw h i c h r e s i d e si n h i m i s n e w i n n a t u r e a. n d n o n eb u t h e k n o w s
what that is which he can do. nor does he know until he has tried. (<Self
R e l i a n c e ,E
r ,s l 1 5 9 ) .
The existenceof common issues and formulations in different
faiths and diffèrentculturesappealedto Emersonvery earl)-in his literary life. One of the textsthat left a mark on Emerson'sthoughtw-as
o.fthe Hislory oJ Modtlre FrenchphilosopherVictor Cousin'sC)ourse
ern Philosctpfty.Cousin drer.vattentionto the undoubtedexistenceof
severalelementsof thought.both secularand religious.sharedby traditions differing in age,thought,and latitude:
The rootsof Creeceand RomeareabsolutelyOriental.Language,writing. the alphaof industryand agriculture,rnechanicalarls. printitive forms of govbet, processes
of art, and the primitive forms of reand characters
ernment,the prirnitiveprocesses
ligion,all, all are Oriental.[...] Whenwe readrvith attentionthe poeticaland phithoseof India,which are beginningto
of the East,especially
losophicalmonuments
spreadin Europe,we discem there so rnany truths,and truths so profòundingand
standingin so stronga contrastwith thosemeanresultswhich, in theselatterdays,
havesatisfiedEuropeangeniusthat we aretemptedto bor.va kneebeforethe genius
of the East,andseein thatcradleof mankind.thetruehomeof philosophy!'"
Emerson,himself,indicateda common identity of views in different historicalsystemsof thought:
I submitthat in soundframeof mind,we reador rememberthe religioussayingsor
oraclesof other men. whetherJervor Indian,Greekor Persian.only for fiiendship.
'u Victor Cousin.Course o/'the History rf'illotlcrn Philo.sophy.2vols. (Paris.
. u o t e di n C h r i s t y .
1 8 4 6 )T r a n s l a t ebdy O . W . W r i g h t( N e w Y o r k : 1 8 5 2 )Q
304
Mario Faraone
only for joy in the social identitywhich they opento us, and that thesewordswould
haveno weight with us if we had not the sameconvictionalready.(<Addressto the
Secondannualmeetingof the FreeReligiousAssociationr>.
rl/ ll: 489 490).
Emerson'sw-idestreadingof Hindu texts occurredbetween1844
and 1851.In 1845, Emersonread fìrst hand the BhagavadGita: initially borrowing a copy frorn JamesElliot Cabot and then obtaining
his own from London in September.In the 1845journals.a surprisingly large numberof entriesconcerningfhe BhagavudGiÍa (or Bhugvat Geeta^as the writer spellsit in his journals) indicatesEmerson's
deepinterestin this sacredtext:
I owed [...] a rnagnificentday to the BagavaatGeeta.- It rvasthe first of books;it
was as if an empirespaketo us, nothingsmall or unworthybut large,serene.consistent, the voice of an old intelligencewhich in anotherage & climatehad pondered
andthusdisposedof the samequestionsrvhichexerciseus.(J,L1,V:
l0: 360).
A subsequent
entry in the samejoumal shor.vs
how Emersonconsideredthe Gita not altogetherisolatedbut paralleland congruentwith seminal works such as Plato's writings, becausethesebelongto the human
raceas a whole. As Emersonput it: <Platois not Athenian.An Englishman sayshow English! a German,how Teutonic! an ltalian, how Roman
& how Greek!It transcendssectionallines.the greathumanePlato [...].
[A trans-nationalbook againis the BhagvadGeeta.]>(IMl{.9:248)
Emersonoften relied on the Vedasfbr inspirationalpurposesand in
his poems he fiequently paraphrasedlines of the Puranas. Another importantwork of Eastemthoughtw-hichEmersoncameacrossin the mid
forties is the vishntt Purana. a collectionof legends.rituals and metaphysicsfrom the seventhcentury A.D., translatedfor the first time in
Englishin 1840''. Emersontranscribedpagesfrom thePuranain volume
9 of his joumals. indispensablefor tracing the author's reflectionson
Easternculture.In a letterto JamesElliot Cabot,datedAugust 1845,Emersonseemedcompletelyat easein his daily readingsof this work: <The
Ptu'anaI carriedrvith me to Vermont.& readwith wonderin the mountains. Nothing in theology is so subtle as this & the Bhagvat>(2, III,
t'
The l'ithnu Purana, a Sl,stentol'Hindu LlytholopX,ctnclTraclition,trans. by
H . H . W i l s o n( L o n d o n .1 8 4 0 ) .
30-5
<T'heLight F-rortr
,1siol
293). What fascinatedEmersonis the idea that the universecannotbe
consideredas somethingbelongingto a singleindividualandthat <I> and
<Thou>are illusoryconcepts:
<Thenotionsthat "I am, - this is mine,"
which influencemankind,are but delusionsof the motherof the world.
originatingin thy activeagency.Thosemen who attentiveto their spiritual duties,worshipthee,traverseall this illusion,& obtainspiritualfieedom> (IMN,9: 320).Refeningto what he called<thesublimeethicsof
the Vishnu Purano>,Emersonperceivedthe substantialnon-duality of
the natureof the universeand of humanlife, applyingthis conceptto his
own task of reformingman's way of living. In this way, Orientalthought
is not a fancy but a way to solve one of his most importantpreoccupations, namely the increasingmaterialismand spiritualaridity of a New
Englandsocietyon the brink of industrialandeconomictransformationl8.
II
In this paperI would like to show how Emerson'sdaily readingand
studyingof Orientalsacredtextshelpedhim shapehis own thought.In
particular, I want to look at the figure of the guru as a path-opener,
and at the dichotomy<illusion vs reality>which permitsEmersonto
tacklethe conceptof <unity>.
't
Thc influence of Onental thoLrghthelps Emerson in dealing lith socml social. political and religious n1îtters"couìnolì to thc spiritual searchof ahnost all
Transcendentalists.
For instancc"let us consider the issue of slaven: as lve knou'.
Ernersonvery often espresseda clear condemnationof this bmtal and inluunan
treatlnentof otlrer fellol' huuranbeings.u'ho happento bclong to a different and. in
thosc davs. <infcrior called>race.Exactll' as in the caseof the British domination of
India. thc issueof slaven is condernnedon thc grou.rdth"lt even single mln is part
of tlrc dilinih'. See for instancel hat Er.nersonstatesin his cssal' <Lecture on the
tirnes"readat the Masonic Temple"Boston Decernber2. I tl+ l,). E.sl,.161'.
[...] the nrui of ideas. itccorutling the !-ircr.lmslarìcenoîhinq-.ludgcs of'1h!' !-olììuìolì\\ealth fiom the
state of his osn mind. <lf)'. lre savs. (l lun s!'lfìslÌ. then there is slrncrr. or thc et]òrt to establish it.
xherever I go. But if I am just. then is îhere no slaverr'. let the lans slv *hat thev nill. For if I treat
all nten as gods. horv lo lììe ciÌn there be such a thing as a slitlel>
I arn grateftll to ProfessorAnita Hava Pattcrsonfor hcr enlighteningclarification
of tlte issueof rnaterialismand ol'nerslúp. See her cssal in this volume. as lell as
Patterson2-t+9.
Mario Faraone
L'Ien,
In <Uses of Great Men>, the introduction to Repre.sentafive
Emersondealswith a major themeof Orientalthought.He opposesan
the word of God and the earsof the believer
offrcialmediatorbetr.veen
(as what he argr"red
in the <Divinity School Address>,words which
years
him
of banishmentfrom HarvardUniversity and
several
earned
disgracein the opinion of severaltheologiansof the time)re.Nonetheless,Emersonparadoxicallyacceptedthe role of the learnedhelping
anotherto fbllow the right path.The seveneminentmen of culturehe
in the sevenessaysofthis collectionare seenas representadiscusses
and the
tive of the role of the guru. r.e.a masterwho hasthe greatness
knowledgeto teachthe disciple,by example- to think, act and worship in the right way. <The world is upheld by the veracity of good
men: they make the earth wholesome.They who lived with them
Life is sr.veet
and tolerableonly in our
found life glad and nutritior-rs.
belief in suchsociety;and actually,or ideally,we manageto live with
superiors>(<Usesof GreatMen>, LsL 615).What strikesEmerson's
imaginationso much and representsa common issuein theseotherwhat
wise so differentthinkersand writersis a sort of <innerrhythrn>,,
one could call an <innerdisposition>uniting their effortstowardsthe
samegoal. They share<directgiving>, as Emersonhimself statesin
aid>.
the essay:a <directgiving of materialor metaphysical
These<specialmeu mediateideasfor ordinarymen: oncethey have
them,everybodywill be ableto
conceivedtheseideasand communicated
understandthem and live accordingly.Unlike the preacherand mediator
of the word of God in the church (a role which lastsall the believer's
life), the act of mediationof these<specialmeD) ceasesquite instantly.
the truth remainsavailableto everyinThe skill to ultimatelyunderstand
dividual,and the mediator,thoughhavingactedas a go-betweenfor the
remainshumanand consequentlyas biased
<eternal>and the <<human>>,
<Thepossibilityof inas anyoneelse.Emersonspeaksof <translation>:
terpretationlies in the identity of the observerwith the observed.Each
Ìe
Onc of the most discnsscdstatelnentsin this essal'is prccisell' tlre negationof
ediatoni behrcen tlrc Creatorand the Crcation to Ltttthe necessitl'of an official <<tr.
ravcl and e.rplainthe ultinratcdivine tmth The perceptionof the fact lh.'tt<Good is
positirc. Eril is mcrclr priratirc. not absohltc:it is like colcl.lhiclt is thc priratiott
{o Enrcrson.sonrclhingu'hich is to be rcachcdin lltc priratc of
oilrcatr is" t'rccordiug
one's rnind and one's hcart. Seeespecialll |ist. 18*i9. Seealsor on Frank l l 8.
<fhe Light Frorn,lsia,t
307
materialthing hasits celestialside;hasits translation,throughhumanity,
into the spiritualand necessary
sphere,whereit plays apart as indestructible as anyothen>(<Usesof GreatMen>,E.sL,619)20.
These<specialmen> or (representative
men), as Emersondefines
them, are of the utmost use in facing yet anotherimportantissuein
Emerson'ssystemof thought,an issuewhich worrieshim and appears
in his writings throughouthis career.It is the dichotomy<lllusion vs.
Reality>,a paradoxwhich preventshumanityfrom perceivingthe ultimate truth, the unity between man and God. This issue is more
deeplyfacedin the essay<Illusions>,but Emersonalso dealswith it in
<Usesof Great Men>. The world in which we live is dominatedby
Maya. the illusory perceptionof materialreality as detachedfrom the
spiritualone. <<Weswim, day by day, on a river of delusions,and are
effectuallyamusedwith housesand towns in the air [ ]>. The <representativemen>,the gurus,are specialbecause<[t]hey teachus the
qualitiesof primary nature,- admit us to the constitutionof things>,
and it is exactlythis innermostconstitutivequality of things,the reality of life, which we haveto seekin orderto avoid aridity:
But life is a sincerih'.In lucid inten'als\\ e sal,.<Lct tlrcrc bc an cntmnceopcrrcd
for rne into rcalitics:I lnr.e rrom the fool's cap too long>. [...lWe lnve been
chcatedof our reason:1'etthere have been sanclnc[ rho enjol'cd a rich and related eristence. [...] These rnen correcl the delirium of thc animal spirits"make
us considcrale"and engrge us to lìe\\ aims and po\\'ers.(EsL 621)
In <Illusions>,Emersontalks aboutYoganidra,the goddessof lllusion: <[t]here are as many pillows of illusions as flakes in a snow
storm.We wake from one dreaminto anotherdream>(I',.s|,| 117).All
through our life, Emersonsuggests,our perceptionshufflesbetween
illusionand realitv.This is the thesisof his poem <Maiu and,aptly,
it at the beginning.
he expressed
t"
It is irnportantto note that this tenet of tlrc absoluteidentitr of the obsen'cd
l ith the obsen'ed.tlmt is the ultimate non-dual nature of thc relationslúpbetu'een
man and God. is of the utrnost relevanceto Emenon's thought. The author keeps
reflecting on it for practicallv all his life. Sec for instancc thc Joumals of 1830.
<thouglrtand the object of Thought arc but onc>. Of course"tlús is a relevantstate'l
rncnt in Advaita Vedanta and keeps recurring in such u orks as he L'panishads"Tlte
Iìhagcn'atlGira and The [-i.shnuPuraua.
lvfarioFaraone
i08
Illusionss ork imlrnetnble.
Weaving'nebsinnumenblc.
Hcr gar picturcsncvcr fail.
Crou ds eaclìon other.r eil on veil.
Channerl ho rvill be belie'l'ed
Bl' man u ho thirststo bc dcceivcd:r
Human eristenceappearssuperficiallyseparatedbut it is deeply
rooted. so that to the man of wisdom, the one who has reached
enlightenment,the material and ephemeralsphererevealsitself for
what it is, an illusory stateinducedby the senses.What is significant
is the <unity>which definesman's essentialnon-dualistic(<advaitu)
nature,the immanentGod, the aman, who perceivesthe existenceof,
and tries to reunitehimself with, the transcendental
God, the Brohmart. And it is in <Brahma>(1856-1857)that E,merson
the
expresses
<unity>standingbehindthe muddleof appearances.
If the rcd slal'ertlúnk he slavs.
Or if the slain think he is slainThcr knou nol ucll the subtle'r'r'avs
I keep. and pass.iu-rdtum again.
Far or forgot to rne is near:
Slndou and sunlight are the sarne:
The varush'd godsto rne appcar.
And one to rìÌeare shameand farne.
Thcv reckon ill who lear-eme out:
Wlren rne ther'flr'. I am thc u'ings.
I arn the doubterand the doubt"
And I the hvum the Bralunin sings.
Tlrc strong gods pinc for nr1 abode.
And pine in vain the sacrcdScven.
But thou. ureeklover of the good!
Find me. and turn thl back on hea',eu.
(('ollecÍeclPoenrsanclTran.slullon.rI59)
t'
The pocm \\'ascorììposedin Julv l8-56and originallr publishedin \'he ,ltlantic
,\Ionthlv. Novcnrbcr 1857.SeeCollectecl['oenr,sand Tran.slotions132.
< ' l h e L i g h t h - r o n t, l s i a l
It is the sameidea of <Oneness>
caughtby Emersonin almostten
years of reading the L''ishnuPurona. Always appreciatedas one of
Emerson'sfinest poems,<Brahma>is consideredby the Hindus an apt
versificationof this subtleand most difficult tenet of their relieious
' r
r
1 2 r
| ' ,
philosophy--.
And it is most probablythe very same(other element)
indicatedin the essay<Plato),soughtand importedfrom the East.
This senseof <<unity>
is an elementof the utmost imporlancein
proceeding
Emerson'sfurther
into Orientalthought,enablinghim to
reflect on the increasingmaterialaspectof nineteenthcenturyAmerican society.Far from being an elementlimited to Emerson'sthought,
it is sharedby the majorityof Transcendentalists,
aboveall by thoseof
This seemsto be the caseof Samthe so called<SecondGeneration>.
uel Johnson,who dedicatedmuch of his life to the scholarlyand religious approachto Orientalreligions,trying to find what Aldous Huxley would latercall <theminimum commonworking hypothesis>:
I lvn e u rittcn llot as Íur adrocateof Clristranin or of mv othcr distiuclivereligion but
as attnctcd on tlre one lumd bv the identih' of the religioussentirncnttndcr all its grcat
lìistoricfonns" atd on tlrc otlrerbl thc movcmcrl indicatedin their divenities and contràststo$ ard a lúgherplaneof uruq . on l hich thcir csclusiveclains shall rest. 1I. 2.):3
The issueof <unity> showsalso how Emerson'sunderstanding
of
the Hindu conceptof mayo is uncertain.Criticism is more or lesssplit
on this point:
According to Advaita"the diversitl ís ttrt-t.t'a
. lncrc appcaruncc..\1ó,a is an inhercnl po\\'erof bralunan.and one cîrulot vcn u cll ask u hen the pou er began.The
po\\'er.ia{'tl. docs not cxist as au independententit}'.-\[c1.t'a
is neithcrsrrt.being.
nor drdl. absolutenonbeing.neither real or unreal. it is an illuson' aplranìnce.
the serpentu hich the rope appearsto be in tlre dusk. It seernsthat Enrcrsoncould
:r FrcdericCaqrenterconsidenit <nof onll'
onc of ilre finest expressionsof tlrc Hindu
idea of the absolutcurutr' [but also] orrc of Ernerson'sbestpocns lreprcscntinglon Emerson'spart a deepand subtlc rel'orking of the Hindu idclu>.SeeClrpcr-rtcrI I l.
*'
,\eries, 3
Sarnucl Johnson.<General lntroduction>rto his ()riental Reli.qion.s
This ter1is practicallvuntnccable.never
r,ols.(Boston:Osgood"1873.1fÌ77.ltìS-'r).
printed again after its first publication. Arthur Vcrsluis. rvho quotes at lenglh frour
Johnson'slork. considersthis statcrnentof Johnson'shis proper founding thesis.
and statcstlurt Jolursonis not u-rcrclratteurptingto stLrdrlhe various religions of the
u orld. but he is ont to sketchthc coming Uuir ersalRelieion. SeeVersluis I I3.
:rt0
Mario Fanone
not quite rnake up lús rnind about thc relatioruhip betuccn tlte Bralunan and
into tlre depthsof Indian thought\\as no1Emcnon's strongpoint
ttrc-t.va.Probing
(Nagaraian328)
It is not neccss.lrJ'hcrc to anal1z-efulh the Hindu Ma1'aor to interprct lús rmplicau ith tlrc Logos of thc Clristian Gospels.u'ith the infitions. It lursbeencon.rpared
nite modcsof thc s1'stentof Spinoza.and otlrcr concepts.Indian Bralutrinsthetnseh'esnot infrcqucr-rtlrintcrpret the Ma1'adiffcrcntlr . lt is sufficicnt herc to deuronstratetlnt Emersonlus takenthe tenn" understoodit to be illusion and u rittenof
it as such.His yerse"ltis essars a1d lús ioumalsarc all eyidcnceof thrsfact.
(Clristl . <Etttcrsou 59)
Thereforeit is usefulto turn oncemore to Emersonon Emerson'sbeTheir
halt, in orderto understandthe conflict betweenthesetwo cultr"rres.
conflictsand limitationsare not destinedto last fbreverbut can be over<lnto thatdim problem^l...]I cannot
comeby meditationanddedication:
enter.A believerin unity, a seerof Unity, I yet beholdtwo))"*.
Emerson'sbelief in indir,'idualresponsibilitytakes strengthfrom
Hinduism.It is possibleto readhis looking into the individual'sself
for a pathto the <universalself> as parallelingthe individual'ssearch
for the Atman. or the immanentGod, in order to reunite itself with
God" Emersonstressesthe individual's
Brahman,the transcendental
He never
experienceand focuseson the originalityof that experiencetires of underliningthe universalquality of this experience,the presenceof the light in all culturesand systemsof thought:
In all nations.therc are minds l'lúch incline to ducll in tlre conceptionof the
fundarncntalUnit!'. The rapturesof pmr er and ecstasl'of devotion losc all being
in one Being. Tlús tendeno' finds its highesterpressionin the Indian Scriptures"
'Ihose
l ritings contain
in tlre Vedas"the Bhagalat Gccta.and thc Vishmr Punrna.
in celebrating
purc
strains
rise
lnd
sublitrc
idca.
to
and thcl'
little elsc than this
1t.((Plato" Or. the Philosoplren.É-,\Z63tÌ)
:'1The complctccntr-r'<8-l>for Mar' 25. 1837.shous both thc cotnplcxreflections and thc disposition tou'ards thc issue of dualin' in Enterson's thought. See
J-lA'. V: .136-337.
< the Light lÌrom .1.sia>
3tl
ilI
The debt of Emerson's thou_qhtto Oriental influenceswas acknowledgedas earlyas 1881,rvhenG.W. Cooke,in his criticalbiography Ralph Waldo Emer.sort: Hi.s Life Writing.s, cuttl Philo.x4thl;,
statedthat Oriental scripturesconstituteda deep sourcealong with
New EnglandPuritanism,Neoplatonismand EuropeanRomanticism.
In 1885,merely threeyearsafter his death,the first official appreciation of Emerson'sstudy of Easternthought by a most representatir,'e
man of EasternCulture,ProtapChunderMozoomdar,appeared.
The discoveryof Asiatic thought,particularlyIndian sacredtexts,
gave Emersonassurance
that the grandeur,the principlesand depths
of intellect and morality are universal A common religion, in other
words,alwayseristedand keepson existing,regardlessof the ephemeral,illusory differencesof the variousfaiths.Emerson'sstudyingand
readingof Easternsacredtexts,and his meditatingon Orientalthought
as a whole, on Hinduism and Buddhism in particular,are pathsfbr
subsequent
studies.The so-called<SecondTranscendentalist
Generation> is much indebtedto Emerson'seffort. One need only think of
scholarssuch as JamesFreemanClarke and Moncure Conwav. and
especiallyof SamuelJohnson'sstudyof orientalreligions:5.
As there is no doubt about Emerson'slife-long engagementwith
Orientalthought,so nowadaysthereis very little doubtthat the contribution of his writingsto a dialoguebetweenEasternand Westernculturesis of greatimportance.S.P.Das, a scholarinvolvedin East-West
relationships,points out how much Emersonis indebtedto Oriental
thought,as well as how Indian peopleare influencedby the writings
and considerations
of the wisestAmericanBrahmin:
We Ldians lill alwavs find in Eurerson sonctlúng of a couunon bond trlúch
naturalll drau's us tolards him. Tlús great Arnerican thinkcr is the spiritual
bridge bcntcen thesehlo countries"betl'ecn East and Wcst. We carnot for surc
sar' ho'n uruch this bridgc lns been uscd bv the pcoplc of both thc countries.but
anl' one can seetlnt this is the basic link. (33+)
And to the light he receivedfrom Asia, ProtapChunderMozoomr-'
On this sceJackson.
3t2
Mario Faraonc
dar acknowledgedEmersonwas capableof giving his own personal
light in return.
Bralunanisrnis an acquirclncnt.a slateof being rathertlnn a creed. In lhoursoever the eternalBralunan brcathed his unqueuchablefire. he uas the Brahntan.
And in tlurtsenseErnersonu'asthe bcst of Bnhmans.(i7l)