Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology · 7 of 11 · tr. C.E. Rolt
Chapter IV
That He Who is the Pre-eminent Cause of everything sensibly perceived is not Himself any one of the things sensibly perceived. We therefore maintain 536 536 Being about to explain, in these two last chapters, that no material or mental qualities are present in the Godhead, D. safeguards the position against pure negativity by explaining that they are not absent either. The rest of this chapter deals with the qualities (1) of inanimate matter; (2 ) of material life. that the universal Cause transcending all things is neither impersonal nor lifeless, nor irrational nor without understanding: in short, that It is not a material body, and therefore does not possess outward shape or intelligible form, or quality, or quantity, or solid weight; nor has It any local existence which can be perceived by sight or touch; nor has It the power of perceiving or being perceived; nor does It suffer any vexation or disorder through the disturbance of earthly passions, or any feebleness through the tyranny of material chances, or any want of light; nor any change, or decay, or division, or deprivation, or ebb and flow, or anything else which the senses can perceive. None of these things can be either identified with it or attributed unto It. 200
§ 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 centrally argues that God transcends all positive categories like shape, quality, or quantity by negation.
All passages →Body As Obstacleanthropology
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
It explicitly states that God does not possess outward shape or intelligible form and is not a material body.
All passages →Cosmic Dualismtheology
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
The text contrasts the transcendent God with the deficient material world possessing senses and qualities.
All passages →Divine Hiddennesstheology
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The divine is described as not being perceived by sight or touch and lacking local existence.
All passages →Divine Simplicitytheology
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
The text emphasizes that God is not any one of the things sensibly perceived and lacks composite attributes.
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 term 'universal Cause transcending all things' implies a hierarchical structure where God stands above all created beings.
All passages →Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The author asserts that the universal Cause is neither impersonal nor lifeless but possesses understanding and is not a material body.
All passages →Monadcosmology
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The 'Pre-eminent Cause' functions as a singular first principle from which all existence flows.
All passages →Related passages · 15 of 98 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 448
“Section 16 16. We have, of course, already seen that a secondary must follow upon the First, and that this is a power immeasurably fruitful; and we indicated that this truth is confirmed by the entire order of things since there is nothing,…”
Shared concept: Monad — The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 611
“Section 4 4. Then consider this god [in man] whom we cannot think to be absent at some point and present at another. All that have insight into the nature of the divine beings hold the omnipresence of this god and of all the gods, and reaso…”
Shared concept: Divine Simplicity — The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being. (derived)
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|3. The Triangle Of Solomon-c
“These shells, envelopes petrified or carnified, were such an expression possible, are the source of errors or of evil, which connects with the heaviness and hardness of animal envelopes.
In the book Zohar , and in that of the Revolution of…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVI (part 8)
“188 So writes Schopenhauer in his Counsels and Maxims , and indeed it is very effectively expressed, but we have no foundation whatsoever for regarding man as the summit of that which nature has created.
This is only THE HIGHEST THAT WE KN…”
Shared concept: Cosmic Dualism — Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 69)
“unity of a supreme and self-existent being, his eternity, his almightiness, and external reproduction thereby as God; the attributing of the creation of the world and of all living beings to this supreme God; the immortality of the soul, co…”
Shared concept: Divine Hiddenness — The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father. (derived)
gnosticism|Gospel of Thomas|Logion 71
“Jesus said, "I shall destroy this house, and no one will be able to build it [...]."…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
gnosticism|Gospel of Thomas|Logion 87
“Jesus said, "Wretched is the body that is dependant upon a body, and wretched is the soul that is dependent on these two."…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 9 (part 2)
“Or in the third place, it is impelled when it is not proper, and to objects to which it ought not to tend.
22.
Endeavour not to conceal your errors p.
49 by words, but to remedy them by reproof.
23.
It is not so difficult to err, as no…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I|Sutra 15
“Ceasing from self-indulgence is conscious mastery over the thirst for sensuous pleasure here or hereafter. Rightly understood, the desire for sensation is the desire of being, the distortion of the soul's eternal life. The lust of sensual s…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I|Sutra 19
“Subjective consciousness arising from a natural cause is possessed by those who have laid aside their bodies and been absorbed into subjective nature. Those who have died, entered the paradise between births, are in a condition resembling m…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I|Sutra 31
“Grieving, despondency, bodily restlessness, the drawing in and sending forth of the life-breath also contribute to drive the psychic nature to and fro. The first two moods are easily understood. We can well see bow a sodden psychic conditio…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I|Sutra 34
“Or peace may be reached by the even sending forth and control of the life-breath. Here again we may look for a double meaning: first, that even and quiet breathing which is a part of the victory over bodily restlessness; then the even and q…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III|Sutra 29
“Perfectly concentrated Meditation on the centre of force in the lower trunk brings an understanding of the order of the bodily powers. We are coming to a vitally important part of the teaching of Yoga: namely, the spiritual man's attainment…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book IV|Sutra 4
“Vestures of consciousness are built up in conformity with the Boston of the feeling of selfhood. The Self, says a great Teacher, in turn attributes itself to three vestures: first, to the physical body, then to the finer body, and thirdly t…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book IV|Sutra 6
“Among states of consciousness, that which is born of Contemplation is free from the seed of future sorrow. Where the consciousness breaks forth in the physical body, and the full play of bodily life begins, its progression carries with it i…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)