Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 3 of 4 · tr. C.E. Rolt

Chapter 10, Section 1c

It is spoken of by ail the Christian Mystics as the root of our being, or as the spark, or the Synteresis, etc.

Our perfection consists in this ultimate reality, which is each man’s self, shining through his whole being and transforming it.

Hence man is at last lifted on to the eternal plane from that of time.

The movements of his spirit will then be so intense that they will attain a totum simul .

We get a foretaste of this when, in the experience of deep spiritual joy, the successive parts of Time so coalesce (as it were) that an hour seems like a moment.

Eternity is Rest and Time is Motion.

Accelerate the motion in the individual soul, through the intensification of that soul’s bliss to infinity.

There is now in the soul an infinite motion.

But Infinite Motion is above succession, and therefore is itself a form of repose.

Thus Motion has been changed into Rest, Time into Eternity.

Mechanical Time, or dead Time (of which Aristotle speaks as mere movement or succession) is the Time measured by the clock; developing or living Time (which is Plato’s “incomplete life”) is real Time, and this is Aevum , which partakes both of mechanical Time and of Eternity.

The best treatment of the subject is probably to be found in Bergson’s theory of durée .

(Cf.

Von Hügel’s Eternal Life .) The words “eternal,” “everlasting,” etc., being loosely employed, may refer to three different things: (1) endless mechanical Time, i.

e.

mere endless succession; (2 ) Aevum , or developing and finally perfected living Time; (3) True Timeless Eternity.

And God we must celebrate as both Eternity and Time, 465 465 Vide pp.

169 n.

1, 170 n.

1.

as the Cause of all Time and Eternity and as the Ancient of Days; as before Time and above Time and producing all the variety of times and seasons; and again, as existing before Eternal Ages, in that 173 He is before 466 466 Vide p.

170, n.

2.

Eternity and above Eternity and His Kingdom is the Kingdom of all the Eternal Ages.

Amen.

455 In the Super-Essence each thing has its ultimate and timeless being, 456 In the Super-Essence each thing has the limits of its duration predetermined.

Or else D.

means that in the Super-Essence the movement of Time has the impulse which generates it.

457 Temporal precedence is metaphorically used to express metaphysical precedence.

God cannot in the literal sense of the words, temporally precede time.

458 He transcends both Rest and Motion.

459 Presumably Hierotheus.

460 He is the Source of all extension both in Time and in Space, Unity underlies all counting (for 2, 3, 4, etc.

= twice 1, three times 1, four times 1, etc.).

Hence it is the Origin, as it were, of all number.

And, being at the beginning of the arithmetical series (as youth is at the beginning of life) it is symbolized (according to D.) by youthfulness.

461 Ps.

xxiv.

7 .

462 We cannot help thinking of Eternity as an Endless Time, as we think of infinite number as an endless numerical process.

But this is wrong.

Eternity is timeless as infinite number is superior to all numerical process.

According to Plato, Time is “incomplete life” and Eternity is “complete life.” Thus Eternity fulfils Time and yet contradicts it, as infinite number fulfils and contradicts the properties of finite numbers.

Themes

◆Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The text emphasizes God's transcendence of time and motion, using negation to describe His nature.

All passages →

◆Cosmic Consciousnessanthropology

A state of awareness transcending ordinary human consciousness, often involving unity with the universe or higher dimensions.

The text describes a state where the soul's movements attain totum simul and coalesce parts of time into a moment.

All passages →

◆Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

The passage uses imagery of a 'spark' shining through the being and 'infinite motion' as a form of repose.

All passages →

◆Divine Simplicitytheology

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

God is described as transcending both Rest and Motion, implying an undivided nature beyond temporal categories.

All passages →

◆Emanation Hierarchycosmology

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.

The text describes God producing 'all the variety of times and seasons,' suggesting a downward flow of divine attributes.

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◆Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

Mechanical Time is described as 'dead Time' or mere movement, contrasting with living Time and Eternity.

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◆Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

The passage centers on the 'experience of deep spiritual joy' and 'experiential knowledge' as the path to perfection.

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◆Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

The text refers to the 'spark' or 'Synteresis' residing within each man's self that shines through his whole being.

All passages →

◆Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

Perfection is described as consisting in the 'ultimate reality' which is each man's own self.

All passages →

◆Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is celebrated as producing variety and existing above time, indicating an active divine presence.

All passages →

◆Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

The passage describes the soul's transformation into the 'eternal plane' and lifting on to the eternal plane from that of time.

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◆Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

The text links Unity with the origin of all number and discusses infinite motion as a superior state to finite numbers.

All passages →

◆Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

The passage explicitly states that Infinite Motion is above succession and changed into Rest, transcending binary oppositions.

All passages →

◆Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

The text presents the paradoxical idea that Infinite Motion is itself a form of repose.

All passages →

◆Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The passage describes lifting the soul on to the eternal plane from that of time and returning to its divine origin.

All passages →

◆Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

Perfection is defined as recognizing the 'ultimate reality' which is each man's self shining through his being.

All passages →

◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The text describes lifting the soul on to the eternal plane from that of time through intensified bliss.

All passages →

Related passages · 14 parallels

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 57

“Section 7 7. But if we are to consider only the present and may not call in the past to make the total, why do we not reckon so in the case of time itself, where, in fact, we do not hesitate to add the past to the present and call the total…”

Both passages explore the relationship between time and eternity, contrasting the transient nature of time with the permanence of eternity. They also discuss the concept of happiness or spiritual joy in relation to these temporal and eternal dimensions.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 258 (part 2)

“But the conception of Eternity demands something which is in its nature complete without sequence; it is not satisfied by something measured out to any remoter time or even by something limitless, but, in its limitless reach, still having t…”

Both passages discuss the concept of eternity in relation to time, emphasizing the timeless and complete nature of eternity. They both draw on Platonic thought, with Passage A directly referencing Plato and Passage B discussing Platonic ideas.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 263 (part 1)

“Section 11 11. To this end we must go back to the state we affirmed of Eternity, unwavering Life, undivided totality, limitless, knowing no divagation, at rest in unity and intent upon it. Time was not yet: or at least it did not exist fo…”

Both passages explore the relationship between Time and Eternity, with Plotinus discussing the emergence of Time from the Eternal Beings and the Christian Mystics describing the transformation from Time to Eternity through spiritual perfection. Both traditions see Eternity as a state of rest and Time as motion, with a deep conceptual parallel in their understanding of these concepts.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 263 (part 2)

“Therefore over against that higher life there must be another life, known by the same name as the more veritable life of the Soul; over against that movement of the Intellectual Soul there must be the movement of some partial phase; over ag…”

Both passages explore the relationship between time and eternity, and the nature of the soul's movement towards perfection or completeness. They share a mystical perspective on the transcendence of time and the attainment of a higher, eternal state.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 328 (part 2)

“And if it is in eternal perfection, it has no points of time and place at which it will achieve perfection; it will, therefore, have no concern about attaining to any such points: it will, therefore, make no measurements of time or place; i…”

Both passages explore the relationship between time, eternity, and the nature of perfection or ultimate reality. They discuss the transcendence of time and the attainment of a timeless, eternal state, though they do so within different mystical traditions.

◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 523

“Section 16 16. If it be urged that Motion is but imperfect Act, there would be no objection to giving priority to Act and subordinating to it Motion with its imperfection as a species: Act would thus be predicated of Motion, but with the qu…”

Both passages explore the relationship between motion, time, and timelessness, discussing how motion can be understood as both temporal and timeless, and how the concepts of eternity and timelessness transcend the limitations of time.

◆platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1m

“They are all parts of time, and the past and future are created species of time, which we unconsciously but wrongly transfer to the eternal essence; for we say that he "was," he "is," he "will be," but the truth is that "is" alone is proper…”

Both passages explore the nature of time and eternity, discussing how time is a created, moving entity that imitates the eternal and unchanging nature of the divine. They both emphasize the distinction between the temporal and the eternal, and how the divine transcends time.

◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|INTRODUCTIONh

“The primal idea of Pythagoras, which Bruno worked out to a more distinct development is this: numbers are the beginning of things; in other words numbers are the cause of the existence of material things; they are not final, but are always…”

Both passages explore the concept of an ultimate, immutable reality (the One in Passage A and the Super-Essence in Passage B) from which all things originate and to which they return. They also discuss the nature of time and eternity, and the idea of a divine unity that underlies all existence.

◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Third Dialoguef

“Fitly, therefore, this rapture of heroic enthusiasm feeds on such "high emprise." For the object is infinite, and in action most simple, and our intellectual power cannot apprehend the infinite except in speech or in a certain manner of spe…”

Both passages discuss the concept of the infinite and the human struggle to comprehend and attain it. They explore the idea of perfection and the soul's journey towards ultimate reality, though from different mystical traditions.

◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialogued

“To be infinite, it must be infinitely pursued with that form of pursuit which is not incited physically, but metaphysically, and is not from imperfect to perfect, but goes circulating through the grades of perfection to arrive at that infin…”

Both passages explore the concept of pursuing an infinite or eternal state, with the soul or self transcending temporal limitations. They discuss the transformation of the individual through intense spiritual or metaphysical experiences, aiming for a higher, timeless reality.

4 more

◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fifth Dialogueo

“For love, while it is finite, contented, and fixed in a certain measure, is not in the form of the species of divine beauty, but as it goes on with ever higher aspirations, it may be said to verge towards the infinite. Cic. . How is brea…”

Both passages explore the concept of infinite aspiration and the relationship between finite human experience and divine or eternal reality. They discuss the transformation of motion into rest, time into eternity, and the human soul's yearning for the infinite, showing a genuine conceptual parallel across different mystical traditions.

◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|First Dialoguem

“Thus everything has an impetus towards its beginning retrogressively, and progressively towards its end and perfection, as Empedocles well said, and from which sentence I think may be inferred that which the Nolan said in this octave: The s…”

Both passages explore the concept of the soul's journey towards its divine origin or ultimate reality, emphasizing the progressive nature of spiritual ascent and the transformation of the soul. They share a mystical perspective on the soul's innate drive towards perfection and union with the divine, though expressed within different religious frameworks.

◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|Third Dialoguee

“This alone I will not leave (unsaid) that it is not without reason that the affection of the heart is said to be the infinite sea by the apprehension of the eyes.[X] For the object of the mind being infinite, and no definite object being pr…”

Both passages explore the concept of eternity and infinity in relation to the divine and human experience. They discuss the transformation of time into eternity and the nature of the infinite, showing a genuine conceptual parallel across different mystical traditions.

◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXII (part 4)

“Both philosophies, that of the East and that of the West [says Müller] start from a common point, namely from the conviction that our ordinary knowledge is uncertain, if not altogether wrong. This revolt of the human mind against itself is…”

Both passages explore the concept of the ultimate reality or divine essence (Brahman in Vedanta, God in Christian mysticism) and the journey of the soul to reunite with this essence. They discuss the transformation of temporal existence into eternal being, emphasizing the unity and perfection of the divine.