In the wisdom of Kabbalah, we study God in a practical fashion, in relation to us and how we attain it: as an upper force that creates us, the universe within and surrounding us, which rules over, sustains and guides it to a predetermined goal.
Similarly to how we refer to our parents as “mother and father” due to their specific relationship to us, when we attain a connection with the upper force, we attain a specific relationship that this force has toward us, and we cannot say anything about other possible attributes or relationships that this force might have. This is why we say in Kabbalah that we do not engage in the essence or the “self” of God, because we have no attainment in that aspect.
Therefore, with the methodology of Kabbalah, which is a practical and experimental research of ourselves and the surrounding reality, we undergo various changes upon ourselves until we can clearly perceive and sense God as an upper force that creates and sustains us, and which guides our development to a defined goal: our entering into balance—or in Kabbalistic language, “adhesion” (Heb. “Dvekut”)—with the Creator. We say “the Creator” because in Hebrew, the word for “Creator” (“Boreh”) stems from two words “come” (“Bo”) and “see” (“Reh”), i.e. we can only discuss what the Creator is once we attain this force through changes that we invite to ourselves using the Kabbalah method.
Therefore, we only characterize the upper force (the Creator, God) in relation to us people who attain it, as we can only analyze, sense and measure something that enters into our perception and sensation of reality. In the language of Kabbalah, such attainment is expressed as the reaction of the Kli (vessel/receptacle) to the light (the Creator’s quality) that fills it, while the light in and of itself is unattainable.
Therefore, by undergoing certain changes in ourselves and developing this Kli, we measure our reactions to it, and give definitions not to its qualities, but to our own reactions and perceptions. This is why Kabbalah is best defined as a science, that through applying its time-tested methodology upon ourselves, we attain results that past Kabbalists wrote about, which we can measure, repeat and reproduce. The knowledge of this science includes only what has been empirically verified.
Based on the article “Comparative Analysis of Kabbalah and Philosophy” by Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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