Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology · 6 of 11 · tr. C.E. Rolt
Chapter III-b
Now in the former treatises the course of the argument, as it came down from the highest to the lowest categories, embraced an ever-widening number of conceptions which increased at each stage of the descent, but in the present treatise it mounts upwards from below towards the category of transcendence, and in proportion to its ascent it contracts its terminology, and when the whole ascent is passed it will be totally dumb, being at last wholly united with Him Whom words cannot describe.
533 533 At the last stage but one the mind beholds an Object to which all terms of thought are inadequate.
Then, at the last stage, even the distinction between Subject and Object disappears, and the mind itself is That Which it contemplates.
Thought itself is transcended, and the whole Object-realm vanishes.
One Subject now knows itself as the part and knows itself as the Whole.
But why is it, you will ask, that after beginning from the highest category when one method was affirmative we begin from the lowest category where it is negative?
534 534 In the Divine Names the order of procedure was: Goodness, Existence, Life, etc.
Now it passes from sense-perception to thought.
Because, when affirming, the existence of that which transcends all affirmation, we were obliged to start from that which is most akin to It, and then to make the affirmation on which the rest depended; but when pursuing the negative method, to reach that which is beyond all negation, we must start by applying our negations to those qualities which differ most from the ultimate goal.
Surely it is truer to affirm that God is life and goodness than that He is air or stone, and truer to deny that drunkenness or fury can be attributed to Him 199 than to deny that the may apply to Him the categories of human thought.
535 535 This shows that the Via Negativa is not purely negative.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The passage explicitly describes the Via Negativa and states that at the highest stage 'words cannot describe' the divine.
All passages →Divine Hiddennesstheology
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The text emphasizes that the divine is beyond description and words, remaining concealed from ordinary comprehension.
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 passage references a descent from the highest to the lowest categories, implying a hierarchical structure of being.
All passages →Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The text describes a direct contemplative knowledge of God that transcends ordinary thought and language.
All passages →Kingdom Withinanthropology
The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.
The text states that one knows oneself as both the part and the Whole, implying the divine realm is present internally.
All passages →Mystical Unionsoteriology
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The passage describes a state where 'the mind itself is That Which it contemplates' and is 'wholly united with Him'.
All passages →Opposites Transcendedanthropology
The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.
The text explicitly states that at the highest stage 'the distinction between Subject and Object disappears'.
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 an ascent from below towards the category of transcendence back to the 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.
The text states that one knows itself as the part and knows itself as the Whole in the highest state of union.
All passages →Spiritual Ascentpraxis
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
The passage describes a movement 'mounting upwards from below towards the category of transcendence'.
All passages →Related passages · 15 of 409 parallels
buddhism|The Dhammapada|Chapter XIV, Section 1a
“p.
49 CHAPTER XIV.
THE BUDDHA (THE AWAKENED).
179.
He whose conquest is not conquered again, into whose conquest no one in this world enters, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?
180.
He whom no…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
buddhism|The Dhammapada|Chapter XXVI, Section 1d
“Him I call indeed a Brâhma n a who has left what gives pleasure and what gives pain, who is cold, and free from all germs (of renewed life), the hero who has conquered all the worlds.
419.
Him I call indeed a Brâhma n a who knows the dest…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
buddhism|Vajrakkhedika (Diamond Cutter)|Section 1b
“observes that pa kkh abhatta m pi nd apâtapa t ikkânto is a {Greek ú!oteron próteron }, as it means, having returned from his rounds, and then made his meal on the food obtained on his rounds.
4.
Pâli pa ññ ata.
5.
Burnouf, Lotus, p.
3…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
buddhism|Vajrakkhedika (Diamond Cutter)|Section 1e
“But eka k ittaprasâda may also be 'faith producted by one thought,' 'immediate faith,' and this too is a recognised form of faith in Buddhism.
See Sukhâvatî, pp.
71, 108.] they would believe in a being, they would believe in a living bein…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
buddhism|Vajrakkhedika (Diamond Cutter)|Section 1m
“At that time the venerable Subhûti thus spoke to the Bhagavat: 'How should a person, after having entered on the path of the Bodhisattvas, behave, how should he advance, and how should he restrain his thoughts?' Bhagavat said: 'He who has e…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
buddhism|Prajña-pâramitâ-hridaya (Heart Sutra)|Section 1
“THE SMALLER PRA GÑ Â-PÂRAMITÂ- H RI DAYA-SÛTRA. ADORATION TO THE OMNISCIENT! The venerable Bodhisattva Avalokite s vara, performing his study in the deep Pra gñ âpâramitâ (perfection of wisdom), thought thus: 'There are the five Skandhas, a…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
celtic|The Mabinogion|Tale TALIESIN-i
“The names of the three springs From the midst of the ocean; One generated brine Which is from the Corina, To replenish the flood Over seas disappearing; The second, without injury It will fall on us, When there is rain abroad, Through the w…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 7 (part 3)
“xi.) that the Prisse papyrus was copied about the period of the XVIIth dynasty and that the works in it only date from the XIIth dynasty; but many Egyptologists assign the composition of the work to the age of Assa.
See Wiedemann, Aegyptis…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 8 (part 3)
“As a result, it seems that the word "God" should be reserved to express the name of the Creator of the Universe, and that neteru , usually rendered "gods," should be translated by some other word, but what that word should be it is almost i…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 8 (part 4)
“No man knoweth how to know Him--His name remaineth hidden; His name is a mystery unto His children.
His names are innumerable, they are manifold and none knoweth their number--God is truth and He liveth by truth and He feedeth thereon.
He…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 8 (part 6)
“, the litany from the tomb of Seti I., published by Naville, La Litanie du Soleil , Leipzig, 1875, p.
13 ff.
2.
E.g.
, Hymn to Amen-Ra, translated by Goodwin from papyrus No.
17, now preserved in the Gizeh Museum (see Les Papyrus Égypt…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 8 (part 8)
“His name is gracious, and the love of him is sweet; and at the dawn all people make supplication unto him through his mighty power and terrible strength, and every god lieth in fear of him.
He is the young bull that destroyeth the wicked,…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 10 (part 13)
“In turn it was identified with all the gods of Egypt, new or old, and its influence was so great upon the minds of the Egyptians that from the earliest days they depicted to themselves a material heaven wherein the Isles of the Blest were l…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 39 (part 1)
“PLATE XXXIII.
Vignette: A lake of fire, at each corner of which is seated a dog-headed ape. Rubric: (1) Osiris Ani, triumphant, is girt about with [fine] raiment, he is shod with (2)white sandals, and he is anointed with very precious anta…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 40)
“Thou art the heir of Seb and the sovereign of all the earth; [* This festival took place on the 17th and 18th days of the month Thoth; see Brugsch, Kalendarische Inschriften, p.
235.] {footnote page liii} Seb hath seen thy glorious power,…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)