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The term esoteric is defined as - intended for or understood by a select few; secret; private. Esoterism implies that of transcendent wisdom and mystical union, of realisation through direct knowledge of the divine. While in exceptional cases such knowledge may, through divine grace, irrupt spontaneously within the soul, it is much more often the fruit of a sustained effort to actualise doctrine or theoretical truth through a method of concentration, which is found in a "Way". As such, it is a knowledge which the soul has experienced, thus confirmed for itself. Ultimately, this process implies a transcendental union between the soul and the truth. Islam designates the esoteric aspects by the term Tasawwuf - the path of mystical realisation or by al-batin ("the inner") Esoterism is also called the "kernel" (al-lubb), and the Quran sometimes addresses itself to "those who possess the kernels" (ulu-l-albab).
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