The Goal of Transcendence

There are basically two types of philosophy which the individual adopts in regard to the purpose of life. The first is ‘this-worldly’ and aims by one means or another to make the best of things as they are, or rather as they appear to be to the empirical eyes. Among such philosophies there are many different prescriptions of the best road to follow, but all are united in trying to achieve as nearly perfect an arrangement as possible in this world. Materi­alism is one form of such a philosophy, but in the modern world there are many people who are not necessarily out-and-out materialists but who put their faith in the empirical sciences of sociology and economics. The explicit, or implicit, basis of their pre­scription for mankind is that, by making the necessary adjustments in the outer organization of society or in the distribution of wealth, we can create a heaven on earth or at least the nearest approximation to it which is possible in life.

The essential character distinguishing such philosophies is that they find no place for anything beyond this world in their account of human nature or of the potentialities of the human spirit for further evolution.

The spiritual outlook is utterly opposed to this point of view. The idea that the purpose of life is simply to make the best of empirical things as they are is based on a totally inad­equate view of human nature. The empirical world is ultimately unable to satisfy us permanently, since any of the objects which it offers to us have a deceptive element in them. Their attrac­tion is due to something infinitely desirable, which is half glimpsed through the empirical experience but misinterpreted as residing in the object itself. We can only evolve by setting our mind on a transcendent goal, because the real object of our quest always is transcendent. It is the beauty and sweetness of Paramatman (highest Self) which is drawing us on, even in the empirical experience. Moreover, by their very nature, the sense objects which make up the empirical world are insubstantial and unsatisfying. How can one find and achieve permanent peace and satisfaction from something which is only an ever-changing appearance, and which dissolves like Shakespeare’s ‘insubstantial pageant faded’ when we try to grasp and possess it?

Even in terms of achieving their own ideal—the improve­ment of human society, the attainment of international peace and the elimination of the evils of poverty, starvation and illness—the this-worldly philosophies are not successful. If we look at the great ameliorative movements, which have led to a real improve­ment in the major ills endured by humanity, we find that it is the idealistic impulse, inspired by a transcendent philosophy, which has led the way. Prison reform, the abolition of slavery, the institution of modern nursing care of the ill, were not the fruits of ‘this-worldly’ philosophy. They arose from the initiative of individuals like John Howard, Elizabeth Fry, William Wilberforce and Florence Nightingale, who were all inspired by a strong spiri­tual sense of purpose. It was their urge for transcendence which sustained their self-dedication to these causes against all the empirical obstacles which were put in their way by the narrow self-interest and prejudice of their more empirically oriented contemporaries.

Sincere seekers of higher wisdom have the task of keeping this ideal of self-transcendence ever before us. Our greatest ally in this endeavour is the heart of man himself, which, however it may be bemused by temporary aberrations, con­tains within it the innate sense of that spiritual dimension in which spiritual perfection can be sought and found.

A.M.H.