Summary of Transcendentalism
...y idealistic and hopeful. They thought about education, practical everyday living, poetry, politics, and mystical elements. They celebrated individualism and worked toward human perfection. They also stressed self realization. Religion also played an important part in the transcendental movement, although not as formally as others at that time period. Transcendentalists did not believe in the organized church because they felt that God was all around them. They did not feel as though they had to attend church to experience God. They were also divine optimists. They felt that God is all good and works through nature. In there beliefs, death is a part of the cycle of life and even those who did evil things were good because they were a part of it. Transcendentalists also believed that they were God in the sense that they were a part of him. This caused some harsh feelings because people would often take this belief too literally. For Transcendentalists, the best way too examine life was through the mystical approach. They believed in mysticism, which is direct communication with ultimate reality and direct knowledge of God. These can be attained through personal experiences. Mysticism offered a powerful way of attaining direct knowledge. Transcendentalists were very involved ...