Redemption

Redemption is religious term syncretic with Perfection.

Syncretic Terms

Perfection > Al-Insan al-Kamil, Arhat, Cosmic Man, Final Fulfilment, Perfect Contemplation, Perfected One, Redemption, Ritambharapragya, Siddhi, The Unity, Tikkun, Triumph of Spirit, Triumph of Spirit Archetypes, Triumph of Spirit Narrative

Notes

In The Lurian Kabbalah, "The process of tikkun is therefore one of separation: uplifting sparks separates the good from evil, thus causing the abolishment of evil. Sparks are released when a person performs a commandment, says a prayer, eats a kosher meal, observes the Sabbath, or performs an act of charity and justice. On the other hand, every transgression and sin, any ethical misdeed, causes a spark from the person’s divine soul to fall captive to the powers of evil, thus strengthening them. Redemption will occur when all the sparks have been uplifted and separated from evil, which means, actually, when all the people observe the commandments and ethical norms and refrain from any transgression and injustice. A person can never know whether the spark he is uplifting at this moment is the last one, bringing about the redemption, or whether the transgression he has just committed has prevented the completion of the tikkun and thus delayed the redemption. Every moment, every deed, can be the crucial, final one, deciding the fate of the universe. Collective responsibility is paramount: what is at stake is not the fate of an individual soul, but that of the state of all creation."

"The messiah does not have any particular role to play in bringing about the redemption. Until all the sparks have been uplifted, he is a participant in the endeavor like everybody else. Only after the tikkun is achieved, his position will be recognized and he will be crowned the King of the Universe. Rabbi Hayyim Vital, Luria’s greatest disciple, believed himself to be the messiah and wrote a personal diary, Sefer ha-Hezyonot (The Book of Visions), in which he described his experiences and the evidence for his unique future role. Yet, he did not express a belief that this role required any particular action, and did not demand a role of leadership beside his position as the writer of his teacher’s ideas. The commandments are known to everybody, the ways by which sparks can be uplifted are described in detail in traditional Jewish law and ethics. The messiah has no specific role...

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