Q&A: Awakening and Illumination
Awakening and Illumination
Question
Rabbi Michael, hello.
I am not a person who observes the commandments, but I know that Judaism deals with the subject of a person’s awakening, with all its many meanings.
I am very curious to know whether, in your opinion, a person can attain awakening, and how that is expressed.
Is awakening a permanent state, or only something that happens from time to time?
Or perhaps it is an eternal goal that cannot be attained, and one can only aspire to it, and through that improve one’s character traits?
And are we required to awaken in order to illuminate?
I would be very grateful if you find the time to reply.
Answer
Hello. I have no idea what “awakening” is, and I also do not think that “Judaism” has anything to say about things like that. Maybe there are Jews who dealt with it, but as I said, I do not know what it is, and I do not engage with that kind of literature.
Discussion on Answer
That’s too general a question. What exactly is the question?
Do you think a person can be exposed to the truth through all the filters? Of course, within the limits of human ability.
And if so, what, in your view, is the way to attain that ability?
Again, the question is too general. So I’ll give a general answer. A person can be exposed to the truth, although he can never have certainty. There is no way to attain this, because there is no need to attain it. We already have the tools: senses and intellect.
First of all, thank you — in my view this is a wonderful answer.
Are there things for which there is certainty, like the very fact of my existence?
And if that is certainty and truth, is it possible to derive truths from it, or is any inference from there already no longer certain?
I devoted two books to that question: Two Carts and a Hot-Air Balloon, and Truth and Unstable.
As for certainty about my very existence, see the discussion of the cogito in column 363. If there is something certain, then whatever is derived from it logically is also certain. And whatever is derived by softer tools, like analogy and induction, is not certain. But this is hypothetical, because there is nothing at all that is certain.
Wonderful.
Thanks for the direction.
I really appreciate it.
Sorry, I really am not knowledgeable about these things; maybe the word “awaken” is misleading.
What I mean is knowledge and recognition of the truth.
Of course, if none of this is relevant, forgive me for taking your time.