Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1869-12-21
a Remarkable Discourse DR.,
Scudder on Hindoo Philosophy anu
American Transcendentallsm

byterian Church, Chicago, in which
he gave such an eloqaen; exposition
Of the Hindoo philosophy oi religion
and drew such bold aud graphic
comparison between that aud Amer
lean traascendentalism," that some
ct bis hearers declared il TO BIO one
OF the most pungent and sensational
discourses ever delivered in Chica
20 pulpit. The text was Romans l.,
y Protesting to be wise, they
became fools" We give brief at
stract Of the sermon:
Hindoo theologians believe in Il
supreme being, not a personality.
They call it put, signifying that"
or "SQt, meaning existence. As q
sample of its passive existence, for
they do not recognize It's personality
by saying bis, they point to the
growth, ripening and decay Of the
flower under the rays Of the sun.
So the origin, existence, and end of
the world are the effect Of their su-
preme being Matter, they believe,
existed in an alteruated form almost
coeval with their God himself, and
goes through all the forms Of the
animal kingdoms BIZ regular ascend
ing steps by the influence Of the Su-
preme Bong Such is the Hindoo
idea Of creation, 1t is not creation,
but simple education. A certain Pc
Rod having elapsed, the different
forms are assumed in regular descend
ing gradations back TO the original
element, After another period Of
unknown but vast extent, the mott
en matter Is again agitated by Deity,
and a new cycle OF life is begun.
Another school Of philosophy as
sumes that matter is out modified
form OF sod Stili another assumes
that matter possesses three proper
tiles, goodness, which leads to hap
piness and repose passion, which is
productive Of worldly activity aud
sorrow and darkness, productive Of
ignorance and error. These proper
ties belong, not 10 God, but to mat
ter and subsist Is eqaipoise uall
moved by the presence of Deity
From these three h0w all moral quail
tiles What men here call virtues
ana vices, arr 10 India but tho prop
eytles Of mattor They believe man
Is composed 3I immaterial and ma
teria parts. The first is God
there Is no such thing as an ndiyid-
uai human soui They illustrate
this by pointing TO the air in q dute,
which escapes through MANY little
hoies there are macy holes, but only
one volume Of air. So the Supreme
Spirit circulates through all men.
The material organization ct man :
both internal aud external-the lat
ter being his body and the former
his conceptions. feeling, etc
Most OF the schools G. Hlndoo
theology PROFOUND pantheistic
idea they deny the existence of in
diFldual spirits, and assert Int one
which is all-pervadjn9 One Of the
oldest doctrines, ana one which ia
India il universally believed IN, il
that of trausmigration Their books
declare that "DeIore each soul lie
millions Of births and deaths through
which they must glide" According
to the properties it possesses, it may
be born on earth as a god, man,
beast, or vegetable, aud, by an as
cending plane, the deified state is
reached through the lapse Of ages.
though it begin as the meanest
weed.
The Hindoo believes in a great
many heavens and bells but these
are but Of temporary existence, and
20 back to the order Of nature, until
new cycle commences The soul
stays no longer in heaven or hell
than to exhaust the period Of reward
or punishment assigned to it, after
which it resumes its migration
The remote cause of TRANSPORTATION
i that the soul Is pure, and must get
rid OF its body OF matter which is
impure hence its lengthened migra-
tons. The proximate cause-and
on this hinges the whole system-of
the necessity of transmigration is
ju-interested action The three
properties already named, goodness,
passion and darkness, exist in man ;
mmaterial constitution, and are en-
gendered in him by desire Desire
is Of twO-fold pect-eiLher to do,
or to avoid something. From this
two-sosd desire flows action, mental,
verbal ana physical Human action
therefore is Interested So long az
man performs interested actions, he
aecumulates capitol for transmigra-
ton because all actions must possess
moral qualities, and therefore must
be ewarded or punished in order to
purify. Interested action is the
proXimate cause chat urges The soul
On It's journey The Hind00 idea oil
salvation il emancipation from this
RECONSIDERATION. The Hindoo heaven
is not real but transient good
The effect of these teachings is
round spread throughout the whole
uindoo mind Hindooisn is Pauthe.
ism
In America pantheistic ghos;
pervades much of the literature oil
our day. Certain men calling them.
selves transcendental philosophers
are ditfusing the principles Of Pan.
theisn by means of works OF fiction
poetry, and so-caIled philosophical
essays, They hate the idea Of a per
soLal God, deny the existence of the
human SOU, the existence Of God
and the necessity of a Redeemer
Ralph Waldo Emerson is the leader
Of these American or Boston tran.
scendentalists, for most of their
/ teachings proceed from that city.
/ The American transcendentalist
may be compared to the Hindoo phi
/ losophers, inasmuch as they deny
/ the existence of the individual soul
Emerson, in his Grafton on the Amer
lean scholar, says: 1T IS one light
which beams out of thousand stars
/ IL II one sOuI that auimates all men.