Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought

Sardar M. Anwaruddin

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11

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Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought

Sardar M. Anwaruddin

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 1, Issue 1)

Received: 19 May 2013 Accepted: Published: 10 June 2013

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Abstract

The first group of American thinkers who seriously examined non-Western spiritual traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism was the Transcendentalists. The prominent members of this group included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, and Elizabeth Peabody. In general, the Transcendentalists argued for a non-dogmatic and more universalistic perspective of life and the world. As the intellectual guru of this group, Emerson “represent[ed] the best in the spiritual explorer” (Moore 74). Unlike most of his predecessors and contemporaries, he was sensitive to and passionate about non-Western spiritual traditions and philosophies. Today, the sources of Emerson’s knowledge and inspiration are of particular interest to the critics and researchers of comparative literature. In this article, I explore Emerson’s passion for Indian thought with specific reference to Brahma, the Bhagavad Gita, and the laws of karma.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 1, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11
Page(s)	1-6
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Emerson, Indian thought, Brahma, Gita, Karma

References

[1]	Bode, Carl., ed. The Portable Emerson. New York: Penguin, 1981.
[2]	Boller, Paul, F. American Transcendentalism, 1830-1860: An Intellectual Inquiry. New York: Perigee, 1975.
[3]	Buell, Lawrence., ed. The American Transcendentalists. New York: The Modern Library, 2006.
[4]	Gilman, William H., et al. eds. The Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1960.
[5]	Hamilton, Sue. Indian Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford UP, 2001.
[6]	Herman, A. L. An Introduction to Indian Thought. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976.
[7]	Moore, Thomas. The Soul’s Religion: Cultivating a Profoundly Spiritual Way of Life. New York: Harper Collins, 2002.
[8]	Ralph Waldo Emerson: Collected Poems and Translations. New York: The Library of America, 1994.
[9]	Riepe, Dale. "Emerson and Indian Philosophy." Journal of the History of Ideas 28:1 (1967): 115-122.
[10]	Riepe, Dale. "The Indian Influence in American Philosophy: Emerson to Moore." Philosophy East and West 17:1/4 (1967): 125-137.
[11]	Rusk, Ralph L., ed. The Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York: Columbia UP, 1939.

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Sardar M. Anwaruddin. (2013). Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 1(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11

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Sardar M. Anwaruddin. Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2013, 1(1), 1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11

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Sardar M. Anwaruddin. Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought. Int J Lit Arts. 2013;1(1):1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11,
  author = {Sardar M. Anwaruddin},
  title = {Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {1},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-6},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20130101.11},
  abstract = {The first group of American thinkers who seriously examined non-Western spiritual traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism was the Transcendentalists. The prominent members of this group included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, and Elizabeth Peabody. In general, the Transcendentalists argued for a non-dogmatic and more universalistic perspective of life and the world. As the intellectual guru of this group, Emerson “represent[ed] the best in the spiritual explorer” (Moore 74). Unlike most of his predecessors and contemporaries, he was sensitive to and passionate about non-Western spiritual traditions and philosophies. Today, the sources of Emerson’s knowledge and inspiration are of particular interest to the critics and researchers of comparative literature. In this article, I explore Emerson’s passion for Indian thought with specific reference to Brahma, the Bhagavad Gita, and the laws of karma.},
 year = {2013}
}

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Author Information

Sardar M. Anwaruddin

Department of English, North South University, Bangladesh

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Sardar M. Anwaruddin. (2013). Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 1(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11

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ACS Style

Sardar M. Anwaruddin. Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2013, 1(1), 1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11

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AMA Style

Sardar M. Anwaruddin. Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought. Int J Lit Arts. 2013;1(1):1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11,
  author = {Sardar M. Anwaruddin},
  title = {Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {1},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-6},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20130101.11},
  abstract = {The first group of American thinkers who seriously examined non-Western spiritual traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism was the Transcendentalists. The prominent members of this group included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, and Elizabeth Peabody. In general, the Transcendentalists argued for a non-dogmatic and more universalistic perspective of life and the world. As the intellectual guru of this group, Emerson “represent[ed] the best in the spiritual explorer” (Moore 74). Unlike most of his predecessors and contemporaries, he was sensitive to and passionate about non-Western spiritual traditions and philosophies. Today, the sources of Emerson’s knowledge and inspiration are of particular interest to the critics and researchers of comparative literature. In this article, I explore Emerson’s passion for Indian thought with specific reference to Brahma, the Bhagavad Gita, and the laws of karma.},
 year = {2013}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Emerson’s Passion for Indian Thought
AU  - Sardar M. Anwaruddin
Y1  - 2013/06/10
PY  - 2013
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 1
EP  - 6
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20130101.11
AB  - The first group of American thinkers who seriously examined non-Western spiritual traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism was the Transcendentalists. The prominent members of this group included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, and Elizabeth Peabody. In general, the Transcendentalists argued for a non-dogmatic and more universalistic perspective of life and the world. As the intellectual guru of this group, Emerson “represent[ed] the best in the spiritual explorer” (Moore 74). Unlike most of his predecessors and contemporaries, he was sensitive to and passionate about non-Western spiritual traditions and philosophies. Today, the sources of Emerson’s knowledge and inspiration are of particular interest to the critics and researchers of comparative literature. In this article, I explore Emerson’s passion for Indian thought with specific reference to Brahma, the Bhagavad Gita, and the laws of karma.
VL  - 1
IS  - 1
ER  -

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