Jewish mystical thought wrestles with this very idea, especially when contemplating the most profound mysteries of creation. We're talking about the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah – "86 Openings of Wisdom." It's a text that tries to unlock secrets, peel back layers of reality.
So, what does it tell us?
Well, remember when we talked about how each decree, each divine command, is like a light that illuminates a particular aspect of the divine order? (We touched on this in Openings 6 and 7.) Think of it like a spotlight shining on one facet of a diamond.
Now, imagine a source of light so powerful, so all-encompassing, that it reveals all the facets at once. This, according to the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, is the "Unknown Head." It's a mind-bending concept.
This "Unknown Head" isn't a static thing. It's described as a light that travels in a constant state of "running and returning" – a concept we also find in the Idra Rabbah, a core text within the Zohar. It’s like trying to catch a glimpse of something moving incredibly fast. You see everything, but you can’t quite hold onto any single, defined image.
And that's the crux of it. You can see all these different aspects, all these divine orders, but you can't get a firm grip on any one of them.
Why? Because what you see is uncertain, unstable. One moment it appears one way, solid and clear. But the moment you try to examine it more closely, it shifts, transforms, becomes something else entirely. It’s like staring into a kaleidoscope – beautiful and ever-changing, but impossible to pin down.
It's a humbling thought, isn’t it? The idea that the deepest wisdom might be inherently elusive. Perhaps the point isn't to grasp and contain, but to appreciate the constant flow and transformation, the sheer dynamism of the divine.
Maybe the "running and returning" isn’t a flaw, but a feature. Maybe it’s in that very movement, that constant shifting, that we find the truest glimpse of the infinite.