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'''Over-Soul''' is a term used by [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] in one of his best essays, first published in 1841. In this essay he says: | '''Over-Soul''' is a term used by [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] in one of his best essays, first published in 1841. In [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature the term is used as a synonym for [[anima mundi]] or [[ālaya]]. | ||
== Emerson and the Over-Soul == | |||
[From Wikipedia] The broad subject of the essay, considered one of Emerson's best, is the human soul. Several general themes are treated: (1) the existence and nature of the human soul; (2) the relationship between the soul and the personal ego; (3) the relationship of one human soul to another; and (4) the relationship of the human soul to God. Influence of Eastern religions, including Vedantism, is plainly evident, but the essay also develops ideas long present in the Western tradition, e.g., in the works of Plato, Plotinus, and Emmanuel Swedenborg. | |||
In this essay he says: | |||
<blockquote>The Supreme Critic on the errors of the past and the present, and the only prophet of that which must be, is that great nature in which we rest, as the earth lies in the soft arms of the atmosphere; that Unity, that '''Over-soul''', within which every man's particular being is contained and made one with all other; that common heart.<ref>Ralph Waldo Emerson, ''The Over-soul,'' from ''Essays: First and Second Series,'' ([New York]: A.L. Burt Co., [1922?]), 190-213.</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>The Supreme Critic on the errors of the past and the present, and the only prophet of that which must be, is that great nature in which we rest, as the earth lies in the soft arms of the atmosphere; that Unity, that '''Over-soul''', within which every man's particular being is contained and made one with all other; that common heart.<ref>Ralph Waldo Emerson, ''The Over-soul,'' from ''Essays: First and Second Series,'' ([New York]: A.L. Burt Co., [1922?]), 190-213.</ref></blockquote> | ||
For Emerson the term denotes a supreme underlying unity which transcends duality or plurality, much in keeping with the philosophy of [[Advaita Vedanta]]. | For Emerson the term denotes a supreme underlying unity which transcends duality or plurality, much in keeping with the philosophy of [[Advaita Vedanta]]. | ||
== Over-Soul in Theosophy == | |||
Theosophy is the exact science of psychology, so to say; it stands in relation to natural, uncultivated mediumship, as the knowledge of a Tyndall stands to that of a school-boy in physics. It develops in man a direct beholding; that which Schelling denominates “a realization of the identity of subject and object in the individual”; so that under the influence and knowledge of hyponoia man thinks divine thoughts, views all things as they really are, and, finally, “becomes recipient of the Soul of the World,” to use one of the finest expressions of Emerson. “I, the imperfect, | |||
adore my own Perfect”—he says in his superb Essay on The Over-Soul. | |||
=== Macrocosmos === | |||
Since everything comes from the One, the Universal Over-Soul is said to be an aspect of the Unknown Root.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 17.</ref> | |||
=== Microcosmos === | |||
As a general law, the Highest God, the Over-soul of the human being (Atma-Buddhi), only over-shadows the individual during his life, for purposes of instruction and revelation; or as Roman Catholics–who erroneously call that Over-soul the “Guardian Angel”–would say, “It stands outside and watches.” | |||
which leads to the union of the Soul with the Over-Soul or Higher Self (Buddhi-Manas). | |||
=== Unity === | |||
For us there is no over-soul or under-soul; but only ONE—substance: the last word being used in the sense Spinoza attached to it; calling it the ONE Existence, we cannot limit its significance and dwarf it to the qualification “over”; but we apply it to the universal, ubiquitous Presence, rejecting the word ‘Being,’ and replacing it with “All-Being.” | |||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
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* [http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/oversoul.html# ''The Over-Soul''] at American Transcendentalism Web | * [http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/oversoul.html# ''The Over-Soul''] at American Transcendentalism Web | ||
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]] | [[Category:Theosophical concepts]] | ||
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]] | [[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]] | ||
Revision as of 22:01, 2 August 2012
Over-Soul is a term used by Ralph Waldo Emerson in one of his best essays, first published in 1841. In Theosophical literature the term is used as a synonym for anima mundi or ālaya.
Emerson and the Over-Soul
[From Wikipedia] The broad subject of the essay, considered one of Emerson's best, is the human soul. Several general themes are treated: (1) the existence and nature of the human soul; (2) the relationship between the soul and the personal ego; (3) the relationship of one human soul to another; and (4) the relationship of the human soul to God. Influence of Eastern religions, including Vedantism, is plainly evident, but the essay also develops ideas long present in the Western tradition, e.g., in the works of Plato, Plotinus, and Emmanuel Swedenborg.
In this essay he says:
The Supreme Critic on the errors of the past and the present, and the only prophet of that which must be, is that great nature in which we rest, as the earth lies in the soft arms of the atmosphere; that Unity, that Over-soul, within which every man's particular being is contained and made one with all other; that common heart.[1]
For Emerson the term denotes a supreme underlying unity which transcends duality or plurality, much in keeping with the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.
Over-Soul in Theosophy
Theosophy is the exact science of psychology, so to say; it stands in relation to natural, uncultivated mediumship, as the knowledge of a Tyndall stands to that of a school-boy in physics. It develops in man a direct beholding; that which Schelling denominates “a realization of the identity of subject and object in the individual”; so that under the influence and knowledge of hyponoia man thinks divine thoughts, views all things as they really are, and, finally, “becomes recipient of the Soul of the World,” to use one of the finest expressions of Emerson. “I, the imperfect, adore my own Perfect”—he says in his superb Essay on The Over-Soul.
Macrocosmos
Since everything comes from the One, the Universal Over-Soul is said to be an aspect of the Unknown Root.[2]
Microcosmos
As a general law, the Highest God, the Over-soul of the human being (Atma-Buddhi), only over-shadows the individual during his life, for purposes of instruction and revelation; or as Roman Catholics–who erroneously call that Over-soul the “Guardian Angel”–would say, “It stands outside and watches.”
which leads to the union of the Soul with the Over-Soul or Higher Self (Buddhi-Manas).
Unity
For us there is no over-soul or under-soul; but only ONE—substance: the last word being used in the sense Spinoza attached to it; calling it the ONE Existence, we cannot limit its significance and dwarf it to the qualification “over”; but we apply it to the universal, ubiquitous Presence, rejecting the word ‘Being,’ and replacing it with “All-Being.”
Notes
Further reading
- The Over-Soul at American Transcendentalism Web