Newport Beach, CA, USA - Kurt Kawohl, author of a newly released book called “Transcendentalism - A New Revelation“ has reinstituted Transcendentalism in the USA. Kurt was born in Germany in 1941 and now lives in California where he is an Author/ Financial Advisor/ Real Estate Broker. It is his belief that the American Transcendental movement would have survived and thrived today if their philosophy had been more compatible with most religions and credited spiritual inspirations and revelations together with insight as being acceptable communicators of spiritual truth and reality.
In his book Kurt explores the origin of religious beliefs and religions. Although he credits most past religious leaders, writers and portrayed prophets of the “Holy Books” with having experienced spiritual interaction with a spiritual existence, Kurt attributes their mind’s interpretation of these events as being blended with superstitions which was the norm of that time period. It is the author’s claim that his concept of a spiritual deity is also derived through his own spiritual experiences and that the spiritual existence in the spiritual realm is in actuality a spiritual collective; the progressive and accumulative spiritual intelligence of the universe; an agglomeration of all of the righteous souls who have passed into the spiritual realm.
In New England in the 19th-century Transcendentalists were known as writers and philosophers who adhered to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of man, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. The term Transcendentalism was derived from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) who considered it a philosophy which holds that reasoning is the key to understanding reality and called "all knowledge transcendental which is concerned not with objects but with our mode of knowing objects”. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s interpretation of Transcendentalism was that it was a transcendental character or quality, a philosophy which stressed intuition and spirituality. Kurt’s philosophy is closely tied to Emerson’s.
Kurt states in his book, “Transcendentalism Today can influence the beginning of a new integration of rationality into many religions. In this 21st Century, the Age of Technology, we are still plagued by religious beliefs that is a contributing cause toward terrorism, killings and wars between nations. Belief in a deity who caused catastrophes, punished people and created the universe out of nothingness as if by magic was brought about by hysteria and superstitions. This thought process needs to be reassessed and brought up to date. Open-minded people must use common sense to determine whether this so-called deity was incorrectly perceived, misinterpreted and misunderstood by the masses of a bygone era. When peoples' concepts are flawed, corrections, truth, logic and common sense thereof must eventually prevail. It is the attributes of human characteristics to exercise upon others power, control, dominance, destruction, punishment, revenge, judgment and not the attributes of a deity. Everyone is personally responsible for his own soul's destiny, the only requirement for achieving spiritual continuity is righteous living. The destruction of civilizations, most sufferings and premature deaths are due to human frailties, stupidity or imperfections and are not a deity’s doings. The deity that mankind calls by several names exists in a spiritual realm and never has and never will interfere with anything on earth or in the universe.”
Will the author’s concept of Transcendentalism Today survive? Only time will tell. Kurt has had dialogue with religious leaders worldwide and supplies the evidence thereof in his book. On a website catering primarily to active and retired military personnel, at Military.com Kurt has posted his Transcendentalism opinions on who/what “God” is and supplied the website where his book can be accessed free of charge. Surprisingly over 10,000 people have visited there within a one year time period with many expressing their approval.
Lt. Colonel - US Air Force (retired) Melvin J. Beitscher wrote an email to Kurt stating, “As I near the end of your book and turn each page, I marvel at the insight, research and reading you have done to come to this point in your life and how you now affect so many more lives. Sometimes I lose a little hope for mankind but with you, and I know there are many like you, I realize that there is hope that we may transcend that which separates us. You have started that vital journey with a remarkable thesis in your book "Transcendentalism - A New Revelation". Your courage to fly in the face of organized religion and see the truth behind the basics of all religion deserves a Nobel Prize. The courage you display in listing the correspondence with other learned people even though it may be at odds with your statements is to be commended. Christopher Phillips writes "It is not enough to have the courage of your convictions, you must also have the courage to have your convictions challenged". You have that courage and wisdom. Congratulations on a work long needed“.
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http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/Showcase/Stories2/kawohl1_transcendentalism1_novel.html
http://transcendentalism.us
http://www.midi-ebooks.com/Kawohl.html