Transcendentalism “Transcend” – to rise above, to overstep or exceed limits Belief that the inner self, intuition, and nature should be guides to life

Intuition Intuition is the immediate knowing of something without conscious use of reasoning. In other words, we know what something is immediately without having to think about it.

Reason Reason is our ability to explain an act, idea, or pretty much anything around us. This is what sets us apart from the rest of the mammals in the world.

Key Belief #1 Our reality, what we experience every day, is based on our immediate understanding, not our ability to reason. Our reality, what we experience every day, is based on our immediate understanding, not our ability to reason.

Key Belief #2 We must rely on our experience. When we rely on our own experiences, we create our own truths. We must rely on our experience. When we rely on our own experiences, we create our own truths.

Key Belief #3 Truth, if it agrees with an individual’s intuition of truth, must be truth. Truth, if it agrees with an individual’s intuition of truth, must be truth.

Beliefs on… Intuition Intuition Trust yourself (like trusting God) Trust yourself (like trusting God) Helps you find God Helps you find God Nature Nature The doorway to the spiritual world The doorway to the spiritual world God works through nature God works through nature Morality Morality People are basically good People are basically good The individual is more important than the group The individual is more important than the group The body is a temple The body is a temple

Each individual is a small universe. The soul of the individual is the soul of the entire universe. All external authority disappears. God is in every soul. Wrap Your Mind Around This:

In a nutshell… Don’t fit in. Be yourself. Do what you want to do. Live your own life and develop your own truths to follow and believe in. Take the set truths and throw them out the window. Go out and live life in whatever way you see fit. This is the only way to gain experience, which gives birth to intuition, which in turn gives birth to truth. We all have different truths, and this is what makes us strong. Don’t fit in. Be yourself. Do what you want to do. Live your own life and develop your own truths to follow and believe in. Take the set truths and throw them out the window. Go out and live life in whatever way you see fit. This is the only way to gain experience, which gives birth to intuition, which in turn gives birth to truth. We all have different truths, and this is what makes us strong.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau