Issue #08 November 2017

Emerson’s Experience: Present and Eternity Colliding

Process and Results

Emerson’s basic point appears at the outset of his first book, Nature:

Vincent Van Gogh - “Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds” - (1890)

Nature Through Nature

Writing, for Emerson, carried the import of his thought. Writing, as with all art, is less seen as the creation of anything so much as the unveiling of what already exists at the bottom of all things: life’s “quintessence”, normally concealed by the lack of incisive thought, lack of contemplative the brooding that transcends habit, narcissism, and self altogether — lack of meditation.

This was always Emerson’s point, his response to the initial question. How could one preach self-reliance upon ‘no-self’? It’s nice to peek beyond every now and then, but we inevitably lead embodied lives. However, the vital process is one that orients us towards the Self through the self, to Nature through our nature; towards that space of consciousness — of experience — beyond ‘I’, nevertheless within each and all. This ever-present and elusive space, the experience Emerson grappled with from nearly birth until death, is not a particular point of arrival, but a commitment to the endless commute towards an eternal destination.

Oshan Jarow writes and curates Musing Mind. He received his BA in economics & philosophy, then set off to India as an entry-level Dharma Bum. A year later, after studying meditation & contemplative practices in zendos and ashrams across both Asia and the US, he’s interested in cultivating and contributing to the American iteration of wisdom, i.e. the practical application of contemplative ideals.

Works Cited

Arendt, Hannah. The Life of the Mind. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981.

#08

November 2017

Introduction

Sublime Borders: Schiller’s Will and Nietzsche’s Will-to-Power

by Daniel Rhodes

Emerson’s Experience: Present and Eternity Colliding

by Oshan Jarow

Giving Thanks: Heidegger’s Pathway into Thinking

by Justin Richards

The Scandal of Qualia: Bergson and Dennett on Interiority

by John C. Brady

Crashing the Metaphysical Party: Walter Benjamin on Knowing and Thinking

by Timofei Gerber

The Negation of Motion

some musings by Hiroshi Satow