The sensual side of man is regarded as mostly evil in that it distracts man from higher pursuits. Strong emotion of the baser varieties is discouraged. There is also a tendency towards hero worship, the holding up of a few great men as exemplars for the great mass of men. The Latin translation of Transcendentalism is overpassing and a good place to start to understand the basic tenets shared by its adherents. Transcendentalism embodied the adventurous spirit of a young United States, encouraging others to eschew material things and not be fettered by ideas of the past.
Individual intuition is the highest source of knowledge.
Through this spirit it encouraged those people to cherish individualism over established political and social order. It stressed the importance of harmony with nature God was imminent in our natural surroundings, there s a goodness that s inherent in all mankind. I become a transparent eye-ball. I am nothing. I see all.