Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 6 of 15 · tr. C.E. Rolt
Chapter 1, Section 1f
And in all the other Divine enlightenments which the occult Tradition of our inspired teachers hath, by mystic Interpretation, accordant with the Scriptures, bestowed upon us, we also have been initiated: apprehending these things in the present life (according to our powers), through the sacred veils of that loving kindness which in the Scriptures and the Hierarchical Traditions, 80 80 ἱεραρχικῶν παραδόσεων, i.
e.
Ecclesiastical Tradition.
enwrappeth spiritual truths in terms drawn from the world of sense, and super-essential truths in terms drawn from Being, clothing with shapes and forms things which are shapeless and formless, and by a variety of separable symbols, 58 fashioning manifold attributes of the imageless and supernatural Simplicity.
But hereafter, when we are corruptible and immortal and attain the blessed lot of being like unto Christ, then (as the Scripture saith), we shall be for ever with the Lord, 81 81 I Thess.
iv.
16.
fulfilled with His visible Theophany in holy contemplations, the which shall shine about us with radiant beams of glory (even as once of old it shone around the Disciples at the Divine Transfiguration); and so shall we, with our mind made passionless and spiritual, participate in a spiritual illumination from Him, and in an union transcending our mental faculties, and there, amidst the blinding blissful impulsions of His dazzling rays, we shall, in a diviner manner than at present, be like unto the heavenly Intelligences.
82 82 ἐν θειοτέρᾳ μιμήσει τῶν ὑπερουρανίων νοῶν—i.
e.
the angels.
For, as the infallible Scripture saith, we shall be equal to the angels and shall be the Sons of God, being Sons of the Resurrection.
83 83 Luke xx.
36 But at present we employ (so far as in us lies), appropriate symbols for things Divine; and then from these we press on upwards according to our powers to behold in simple unity the Truth perceived by spiritual contemplations, and leaving behind us all human notions of godlike things, we still the activities of our minds, and reach (so far as this may be) into the Super-Essential Ray, 84 84 Meditation leads on to Contemplation; and the higher kind of Contemplation is performed by the Via Negativa.
wherein all kinds of knowledge so have their pre-existent limits (in a transcendently inexpressible manner), that we cannot conceive nor utter It, nor in any wise contemplate the same, seeing that It surpasseth all things, and wholly exceeds our knowledge, and super-essentially contains beforehand (all conjoined within Itself) the bounds of all natural sciences and forces (while yet 59 Its force is not circumscribed by any), and so possesses, beyond the celestial Intelligences, 85 85 i.e.
The Angels.
I have throughout translated ὑπερουράνιος “celestial” instead of “super-celestial.” Presumably the meaning is “beyond the material sky,” or “celestial in a transcendent sense.” Its firmly fixed abode.
For if all the branches of knowledge belong to things that have being, and if their limits have reference to the existing world, then that which is beyond all Being must also be transcendent above all knowledge.
86 86 The whole of this passage shows that there is a positive element in Unknowing.
5.
A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.
The passage describes the initial stage of using 'appropriate symbols for things Divine' and 'separable symbols' as a contemplative practice that employs symbolic thought before moving to the higher negation.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
References to angels and celestial beings imply a structured hierarchy of divine existence.
A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).
The reference to 'our inspired teachers' who have 'bestowed upon us' the occult Tradition implies a chain of transmission from master to disciple across generations.
Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.
The text distinguishes between meditation and contemplation as stages of ascent.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage describes the divine as 'the imageless and supernatural Simplicity' that is 'shapeless and formless,' which is the monad as absolutely simple, undivided first principle.
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
The text promises that believers will be 'equal to the angels' and partake of the divine nature in the resurrection.