Kabbalists On The Essence Of The Wisdom Of Kabbalah, Part 12
Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.
The Reality Contained in the Science of Kabbalah
Kabbalah uses only names and appellations that are concrete [attained in our senses and then examined in our mind] and real [revealed to us to the extent of our correction]. It is an unbending [absolute] rule for all Kabbalists that, “Anything we do not attain [clearly, in our corrected qualities], we do not [it is impossible to] define by a name and a word.” [It is because a name explains the quality of the object being attained, and that quality is attained to the degree of similarity to the object’s qualities, according to the law of equivalence of form: Only similarity is attained.]
Here you must know that the word “attainment” (Heb: Hasaga) implies the ultimate degree of understanding. It derives from the phrase, “that thy hand shall reach” (Heb: Ki Tasig Yadcha). That means that before something becomes utterly lucid, as though gripped in one’s hand, Kabbalists do not consider it attained, but understood, comprehended, and so on.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How Do You Calculate Infinity?
Shamati #3: “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment”
Shamati #166: “Two Discernments in Attainment”
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A question about attainment:
Is it possible to ‘attain’ a friend who does not want to be my friend?
What does it mean when a person senses something distinctly, but still cannot name the quality they have experienced? Like for instance, you know because you had felt it, but it’s like a memory and memories aren’t always so clear and there are no words you’ve ever heard to describe it.