Seeing the Light

While writing my previous post about religion and the red pill, I asked myself what term we have in Judaism which is parallel to the red pill. Maybe along the lines of "seeing the light". In Judaism though there does not seem to be any similar concept.

Yes, we do have people who get carried away in their mystical experience. People who discover Judaism and tell are their friends they saw the light. People who change their understanding of Judaism and talk of discovering the truth. But I am not looking for individuals describing their spiritual experience - that is the same everywhere. I am looking for a religious term, found in the classic works, which talks of this as a positive experience or as a goal to be reached. I am sure such passages exist, but there are no popular terms or common themes like this.

This observation is likely related to the strict legality of Judaism. When someone discovers the truth of Judaism they do not enter an ecstatic state of connection with God. There is too much they have to get busy doing. The practical demands of the religion counteract the force of spiritual discovery.

The same mechanism seems to be at work when someone reaches a deeper understanding of Judaism. Judaism is composed of practical instructions. The revelation of the true idea behind one of the instructions will immediately be connected to the performance of that instruction. The practical focus which is automatically connected to any insight moderates the spiritual excitement which would otherwise accompany religious discovery.

Judaism is a framework for life. It is not a otherworldly dedication which supplants our focus on the immediate world. Discovering Judaism or reaching a new understanding of Judaism should not lead to a feeling of seeing the light,but a feeling of renewed dedication to refining our everyday life. 

There is somewhat of a paradox here.  Discovering some fundamental truth will often lead people to experience a spiritual exhilaration. The found a red pill, but took a blue pill. The full realism of Judaism, on the other hand, diffuses the intense feeling of recognizing deeper truths. Its orientation towards teaching fundamental concepts prevents people from having an spiritual experience of having discovered the truth.

This paradox is not so surprising. People always prefer the liberation of beautiful ideas rather than the guidance of truthful concepts. When we learn a new truth we are more likely to turn it into a blue-pill high than a red-pill lesson. The practical aspect of Judaism mitigates this response and directs us towards the practical application of our intellectual knowledge and away from the spiritual escapism.