Elliot R. Wolfson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823230815
- eISBN:
- 9780823235087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823230815.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter considers the theme of apophatic body as enunciated in the contemplative mysticism of the branch of east-European Hasidism known as Habad or Lubavitch. Habad ...
More
This chapter considers the theme of apophatic body as enunciated in the contemplative mysticism of the branch of east-European Hasidism known as Habad or Lubavitch. Habad emphasizes cogitation as the supreme form of mystical piety. The more effective nomenclature to capture the cosmological viewpoint of Habad in all of its subtleties and ramifications is either apophatic panentheism or acosmic naturalism. These terms imply that the world is not thought to be an illusion vis-à-vis the hidden essence as much as it is conceived to be a veil through which the illusion can be apprehended and thereby unmasked for the illusion it appears to be, an unveiling in which the hidden essentiality is (un)veiled. The doctrine of incarnation that is the basis of Habad cosmology and that also serves as the foundation for the ethical ideal of mystical quietism, the suffering of world through eradication of existence, rests on affirming that it is only through the garment that one can see without any garment.Less
This chapter considers the theme of apophatic body as enunciated in the contemplative mysticism of the branch of east-European Hasidism known as Habad or Lubavitch. Habad emphasizes cogitation as the supreme form of mystical piety. The more effective nomenclature to capture the cosmological viewpoint of Habad in all of its subtleties and ramifications is either apophatic panentheism or acosmic naturalism. These terms imply that the world is not thought to be an illusion vis-à-vis the hidden essence as much as it is conceived to be a veil through which the illusion can be apprehended and thereby unmasked for the illusion it appears to be, an unveiling in which the hidden essentiality is (un)veiled. The doctrine of incarnation that is the basis of Habad cosmology and that also serves as the foundation for the ethical ideal of mystical quietism, the suffering of world through eradication of existence, rests on affirming that it is only through the garment that one can see without any garment.
