Practical Mysticism

Now that I’ve read Walden, I realize my theory that Thoreau progresses from practical considerations to a more abstract, meditative prose in the later chapters of the book was rather foolish. In the chapter entitled “The Pond in Winter,” one of the last, he provides us with some pretty precise geological measurements of Walden, which he goes to great lengths to obtain. Wouldn’t the measurements serve to demystify Walden for the reader? I see a paradox in Thoreau between his transcendental ambitions and simultaneous obsessive attention to the physical aspects of his environment. In the Christian tradition, mystics strived to turn their back on the world and mortify the flesh to attain spiritual illumination. Apart from meditation and contemplation, which Thoreau clearly adopts and engages with in earnest, Christian mystics commonly underwent fasting as a form of self-denial, and practiced service to others. Thoreau’s endeavor strikes me as a selfish one in comparison. As someone already mentioned, he is not interested in helping or bettering the community in any way whatsoever. He is mostly interested in himself (and what he has to say). His vision of spirituality, clearly, does not encompass service to others. It seems to me to be entirely egocentric.

However, Thoreau’s rejection of the comforts of civilized life and his insistence on complete self-sufficiency (at least in theory) bring to mind the purgative aspects of Christian mysticism. Before attaining spiritual enlightenment, mystics must purify their bodies and souls to be ready to receive it. Likewise, Thoreau seems to be preoccupied with a pure, simple life – albeit defined on his own terms according to the mood of the day - and searching for his own divinity. Unlike the Christian mystics, however, he seeks to be firmly grounded in the physical world as a way to access the spiritual dimension. It’s as if attending to practical matters (such as measuring the depth and breadth of Walden) becomes for Thoreau a form of spiritual meditation. He asks, “why has man rooted himself so firmly in the earth, but that he can rise in the same proportions into the heavens above?” (page 9 in my Dover edition). I find this insistence on physical and material groundedness the most paradoxical and therefore interesting aspect of his life in the woods. The physical world becomes not a hindrance but a required pathway to a transcendent spiritual state. Of course, Thoreau’s goals are not exclusively spiritual and it’s important to keep that in mind.

To add another, somewhat related, observation: I do see a deep contradiction in Thoreau’s attempt to live a simple, animal but at the same “pure” life (this attempt is exemplified in the passage we discussed during last class – p. 64, where he rejects the intellect as “a cleaver” and wants to “burrow” into the physical, material world like an animal would) and his rejection of “animal instincts” and even physical well-being in “Higher Laws.” I’m thinking of one particular sentence where he discusses following one’s genius (and, by implication, vegetarianism): “Though the result be bodily weakness, yet perhaps no one can say that the consequences were to be regretted, for these were a life in conformity to higher principles” (140). Generally speaking, Walden seems to be full of such paradoxes and contradictions.