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Introduction
Nature is a work written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1836. This book reveals basic ideas about the concept of Transcendentalism and how this belief perceives and understands man’s essential nature and origin. A particular quote from the book holds an interesting notion regarding a state of mind: “Standing on the bare ground — the head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball. I am nothing. I see all” (Emerson). Firstly, it emphasizes a unique sense of connection to the surrounding nature. Secondly, it implies freedom from the constraints of human society and identity. Finally, in a seeming contradiction of simultaneous nothingness and expansiveness, it represents the author as a mere observer focused solely on contemplation. These state of mind’s features frequently occur throughout the book, aligning into a framework of high personal awareness and enlightenment.
The Surrounding Nature
It is worth analyzing the concepts and meanings that the author invests in his work. Despite Emerson not explicitly elaborating on the concept of God and its definition, he says how God acts on us and where He can be found. For the author, every believing person is automatically a person who has at least some part of God in themselves (Emerson). In addition, to believe would mean to seek to understand God’s presence in the one-self and the environment and reach self-awareness. In other words, the connection to nature and God lies in reaching a certain point of personal enlightenment.
In order to do so, people must first concentrate on the present and attempt to resolve the matters at hand without turning to the past. The author criticizes such an approach, noting that interpreting the past would mean interpreting the opinion of others, which comes at the expense of personal cognition (Emerson). According to Emerson, “why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?” Thus, attempting to interpret experience through the societal lens would be futile without its evaluation in the context of interactions with the environment, also referred to as nature.
For Emerson, nature is not viewed in an ordinary sense but a much broader scope. The author sees nature primarily as the embodiment of God’s essence and how people can perceive the world (Emerson). Moreover, nature can be considered essential for the author and his worldview. Consequently, Emerson urges people to learn to use nature correctly and realize its crucial role in human lives. Mainly, in the context of God’s embodiment, nature serves as the only possible direct connection with God and a state of full awareness (Emerson). Direct contact with God implies rejecting everything bestowed by the modern world that tests God’s ideas and essence. The societal absorption of people and their consciousness without explaining how to establish the divine connection appears to the author as the driving force that destroys nature and prevents people from freely entering into a relationship with God.
Constraints of Society and Identity
Society and people themselves build various obstacles on their way to enlightenment. The influence of the former can be seen in the fact that people cannot often control their actions and thoughts. The majority of a person’s actions depend on what other people do. In turn, society has the power to set norms and regulations to what is considered appropriate, imposing its perspective and desired way of living. In this way, people develop the idea of their inability and incompetence in personal and independent cognition (Emerson). It is manifested in the fact that people limit themselves and cannot go beyond their limits, which is a requirement for fully mastering the understanding of nature and connecting with God (Emerson). Due to such a mindset, people cannot fully detach themselves and make the right choice (Emerson). Consequently, people often do rash and wholly incomprehensible actions, further pushing themselves away from the possibility of increasing their awareness.
Apart from that, in the modern world, people are not able to refuse various negative influences they grew dependent on. Very often, the author uses the concept of materialism, which is considered almost prominent harm in the context of society. Materialism, for Emerson, is the main threat to why people cannot accept God. The materialistic trait manifests in the fact that a person tries to chase material things but often forgets about other essential things that also affect life and self-awareness. Another materialistic manifestation lies in the people not always being ready to discover something new for themselves. Many societal norms and expectations contribute to the desire to cling to what makes people human, rendering openness to new perspectives impossible.
Nothingness and Expansiveness
The last part of Emerson’s quote explains the state of genuine cognition and perception, the state of total self-awareness, and the way to understand the divine. An individual who achieved such a state turns into an observer deprived of the ability and the need to intervene, whose role is to register and acknowledge the surroundings (Emerson). It has a dual meaning that connects two opposite concepts of nothingness and expansiveness.
An observer’s nothingness implies that there is no way to interact with the environment and influence the unfolding events. Nothingness comes as a result of finally freeing oneself from the constraints of human identity. To some extent, it implies the freedom of the soul from its body. Such extremes are necessary in order to leave the old ways of perception and cognition behind, that is, the initial interaction and consequent observation of the consequences. Interaction is greatly limited by its reach – the object of cognition should be in direct proximity. However, it is not the case with the addition of overwhelming expansiveness of an observer state.
Expansiveness stands for the ability to reach far beyond the constraints of a physical world. In this context, the inability to interact simply becomes unnecessary due to its imperfection. The connection to nature and freedom from societal and identity constraints provides the desired understanding and, thus, connection to the divine. As was already mentioned, God is ubiquitous and ever-present in people and nature (Emerson). Therefore the ability to finally see God can be simultaneously considered the ability to see everything.
Conclusion
In his book Nature, Emerson expressed many influential thoughts and ideas regarding the transcendental worldview and the nature of human beings. In a single quote, he outlined the necessary steps for people to embrace nature and God. The first step lies in the realization of the role of nature in people’s lives. The second step implies realizing constraints put on people by themselves and society. These realizations can help people become self-aware to the extent of entering a transcendent state, simultaneously being nothing and seeing everything.
Work Cited
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature. James Munroe and Company, 2009.
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