Self Knowledge

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

“In the first place, therefore, you say, “ it must be granted that there are Gods .” Thus to speak, however, is not right on this subject. For an innate knowledge of the Gods is coexistent with our very essence; and this knowledge is superio…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter Xa

“After these things, you again subjoin another division for yourself, “ in which you separate the essences of the more excellent genera by the difference of passive and impassive .” But neither do I admit this division. For no one of the mo…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVa

“After this, you pass on to another division into contraries, viz. the division of Gods with reference to dæmons. For you say, “ that the Gods are pure intellects ;” but you propose this opinion as an hypothesis, or you narrate it as a dog…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IIIb

“In addition also to these peculiarities, divine beauty, indeed, shines with an immense splendour as it were, fixes the spectators in astonishment, imparts a divine joy, presents itself to the view with ineffable symmetry, and is exempt from…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter Xb

“For if these are not true, but other things are so which have a real existence, thus also in the appearances of spirits, they seem to be such as things which are true beings; at the same time they participate of falsehood and deception, in…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V

“There are, therefore, many species of divine possession, and divine inspiration is multifariously excited; whence, also, the signs of it are many and different. For either the Gods are different, by whom we are inspired, and thus produce a…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXIV

“In what follows, while you endeavour to unfold divination, you entirely subvert it. For if a passion of the soul is admitted to be the cause of it, what wise man will attribute to an unstable and stupid thing orderly and stable foreknowledg…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIII

“Consider, therefore, also another genus of causes; how a stone or a herb frequently possess from themselves a nature corruptive, or again collective of generated natures. For this is not only the case with these, but this physical power is…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

“The hostile opposition, therefore, in the things that are now proposed, may be easily dissolved by demonstrating the dignity of wholes with 226 respect to parts, and by recalling to your recollection the exempt transcendency of the Gods abo…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IVb

“For how, in short, can that which is not possess in itself a certain contest [with any thing]? You in vain, therefore, suspect things of this kind to be absurd, and you adduce doubts unworthy of the Gods, since they cannot be reasonably ap…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XI

“It appears to me, also, that the present question errs in another respect. For it is ignorant that the offering of sacrifices through fire has the power of consuming and destroying the matter of them in a greater degree; that it assimilates…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XV

“Let us then, in the next place, direct our attention to that which accords with what has been before said, and with our twofold condition of being. For there is a time when we become wholly soul, are out of the body, and sublimely revolve o…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIX

“On this subject, however, there is also the following division. Of divine essences and powers some have [a genesiurgic] soul and nature subject and ministrant to their fabrications, whenever they wish to use them. But others are entirely se…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXVIa

“Since, however, prayers are not the smallest [but on the contrary a very great] part of sacrifices, especially give completion to them, and through these the whole operation of them is corroborated and effected; and since, besides 271 this,…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

“You say, then, “ that he is happy who having learned the scheme of his nativity, and knowing his proper dæmon, is thus liberated from fate .” To me, however, you appear to assert these things in a way neither consonant to themselves nor to…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VI

“If, however, it be requisite to unfold to you the truth concerning the peculiar dæmon, we must say that he is not distributed to us from one part of the heavens, or from some one of the visible elements; but that from the whole world, the a…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII

“Afterwards, abandoning these particulars, you pass on to the opinion of philosophy. But you subvert the whole hypothesis concerning the peculiar dæmon. For if [as you say] “ this dæmon is a part of the soul ,” such, for instance, as the int…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IX

“After this, therefore, you also mention another disquisition concerning the peculiar dæmon, which represents “ some as worshiping two, but others three, dæmons of this kind .” The whole of this, however, is erroneous. For it is a false mode…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter I

“It now remains, in the last place, that we should speak concerning felicity, about which you make various inquiries, first of all proposing objections, afterwards doubting, and then interrogating. Adducing, therefore, all that is said by yo…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

“Hence you in vain doubt, “ that it is not proper to look to human opinions .” For what leisure can he have whose intellect is directed to the Gods to look downward to the praises of men? Nor do you rightly doubt in what follows, viz. “ that…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

“I wish, in the next place, to reply to such assertions as calumniate divine prediction. For you compare with it “ certain other methods which are conversant with the prediction of future events .” To me, however, it does not appear to be an…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV

“Divine divination, therefore, which is conjoined with the Gods, alone truly imparts to us a divine life; since it participates of [divine] foreknowledge, and divine intellections, and renders us in reality divine. It likewise causes us to b…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII

“With respect to the good , likewise, they conceive that one kind is divine, and this is the God who is prior to the intelligible; but that the other is human, and is a union with the former. And these two kinds of good Bitys has unfolded fr…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIa

“And thus we have answered, to the utmost of our ability, your inquiries concerning divination and theurgy. It remains, therefore, at the end of this discussion, that I should beseech the Gods to afford me an immutable guard of true concept…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIi

“This, however, our philanthropic lord and father Jupiter understanding, that we might not be entirely deprived of communion with the Gods, has given us observation through sacred arts , by which we have at hand sufficient assistance.” For t…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIl

“Opinion, likewise, and the phantasy, are said thus to energize when they discover arts, and accomplish admirable works, such, for instance, as Phidias effected in the formation of statues, and another in another art, as also Homer says [157…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIo

“In the next place, departing from intellect, and descending into reasoning and dianoia, it no longer apprehended real beings by simple intuitions, but syllogistically and transitively, proceeding from one thing to another, from propositions…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIp

“It causes us, therefore, to pass through life in an irreprehensible manner; just as the internal prophetic mania contracts and elevates all the multiplied and many powers and lives of the soul to the one , in order that it may in a greater…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIq

“On the contrary, divinely-inspired poets, as Hermeas well observes, knock, as it were, at the gates of the Muses, and thus being filled from thence exclaim, Εσπετε νυν μοι Μουσαι And, Μηνιν αειδε θεα— And, Ανδρα μοι εννεπε Μουσα . For bein…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIs

“Hence the Emperor Julian, in the fragments of his treatise against the Christians, preserved by Ciryl, says, speaking of the Christians, “If any one wishes to consider the truth respecting you, he will find that your impiety consists of the…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIv

“Hence some of them preside over men, others over lions or other animals, and others over plants; and still more partially, some are the inspective guardians of the eye, others of the heart, and others of the liver.” He adds, “all things, ho…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIy

“Lond. 1676. p. 211. 7 . Arrian. de Exped. Alex. l. iv. et Curt. lib. viii. 8 . Vit. Artaxerx. Ælian. Var. Hist. lib. i. c. 21. 9 . Justin. lib. vi. 10 . Panegyr. 11 . Lib. vii. 12 . Lib. vi. cap. iii. 13…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII{

“The following testimony of an anonymous Greek writer, prefixed to the manuscript of this treatise, which Gale published, proves that this work was written by Iamblichus: Ιστεον οτι ο φιλοσοφος Προκλος υπομνηματιζων τας του μεγαλου Πλωτινου…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII

“Ταις ενεργειαις της μελῳδιας συμπασχειν ημων αντικρυς τας ψυχας, την συγγενειαν ωσπερ επιγινωσκουσας ——et, ποτε μεν εις ησυχιαν και κατασολην τρεπεσθαι, ποτε δε εις οἱσρον και ενθυσιασμον. And, in the last place, see Plato in his Io, and A…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIƒ

“with evil dæmons], which are hurled forth before the Gods, but on entering the interior parts of the temple, unmoved, and guarded by the mystic rites, they genuinely receive in their bosom divine illumination, and divested of their garments…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII†

“For these conceptions and these works teach us, that in reality we, through sacred operations, approach to divinity, but that divinity does not draw near to us. Hence Proclus in Alcibiad. εν ταις κλησεσι, και εν ταις αυτοψιαις προσιεναι π…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII

“The Pythagoreans, likewise, adorned numbers and figures with the appellations of the Gods. For they called the equilateral triangle, Minerva Coryphagenes, or begotten from the summit, and Tritogeneia because it is divided by three perpendi…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII—

“De Abstinentia, “to be a lover of truth, an accurate writer, and very conversant with the Stoic philosophy.” Τοιαυτα μεν τα κατ’ Αιγυπτιους υπ’ ανδρος φιλαληθους τε και ακριβους, εντε τοις Στωϊκοις πραγματικωτατα φιλοσοφησαντος μεμαρτυρημεν…”

◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII˜

“The joint risings and settings. 145 . i. e. Through a period of 300,000 years; and Procl. in Tim. lib. iv. p. 277, informs us that the Chaldeans had observations of the stars which embraced whole mundane periods. What Proclus like…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 11

“Section 7 7. The truth lies in the Consideration that the Couplement subsists by virtue of the Soul's presence. This, however, is not to say that the Soul gives itself as it is in itself to form either the Couplement or the body. No; from t…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 27

“Section 1 1. What art is there, what method, what discipline to bring us there where we must go? The Term at which we must arrive we may take as agreed: we have established elsewhere, by many considerations, that our journey is to the Good,…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 54

“Section 4 4. Still the one life has known pleasure longer than the other? But pleasure cannot be fairly reckoned in with Happiness- unless indeed by pleasure is meant the unhindered Act [of the true man], in which case this pleasure is simp…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 169

“Section 13 13. Those, then, that censure the constitution of the Kosmos do not understand what they are doing or where this audacity leads them. They do not understand that there is a successive order of Primals, Secondaries, Tertiaries and…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 182

“Section 6 6. But in fact everything follows its own Kind; the birth is a horse because it comes from the Horse Kind, a man by springing from the Human Kind; offspring answers to species. Allow the kosmic circuit its part, a very powerful in…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 203 (part 1)

“Section 16 16. But if all this is true, what room is left for evil? Where are we to place wrong-doing and sin? How explain that in a world organized in good, the efficient agents [human beings] behave unjustly, commit sin? And how comes…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 205

“Section 18 18. Souls vary in worth; and the difference is due, among other causes, to an almost initial inequality; it is in reason that, standing to the Reason-Principle, as parts, they should be unequal by the fact of becoming separate. W…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 220 (part 2)

“In some cases it communicates its force by permanent presence the life principle in plants for instance- in other cases it withdraws after imparting its virtue- for instance where from the putridity of dead animal or vegetable matter a mult…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 234 (part 2)

“It is universally true that the characteristic Act of immaterial entities is performed without any change in them- otherwise they would at last be worn away- theirs is the Act of the unmoving; where act means suffering change, there is Matt…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 236 (part 1)

“Section 4 4. We have, however, still to examine what is called the affective phase of the Soul. This has, no doubt, been touched upon above where we dealt with the passions in general as grouped about the initiative phase of the Soul and…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 236 (part 2)

“The causes originating the movement may be likened to the musician; what is moved is like the strings of his instrument, and once more, the Melodic Principle itself is not affected, but only the strings, though, however much the musician de…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 260 (part 2)

“That definite Quantity is merely something occurring within Time, for, otherwise Time is not everywhere but is something belonging to Movement which thus would be its substratum or basic-stuff: once more, then, we would be making Time ident…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 267

“Section 1 1. Supposing we played a little before entering upon our serious concern and maintained that all things are striving after Contemplation, looking to Vision as their one end- and this, not merely beings endowed with reason but even…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 275 (part 1)

“Section 9 9. Clearly a Being of this nature is not the primal existent; there must exist that which transcends it, that Being [the Absolute], to which all our discussion has been leading. In the first place, Plurality is later than Unity.…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 314

“Section 27 27. But of what soul; of that which we envisage as the more divine, by which we are human beings, or that other which springs from the All? Memory must be admitted in both of these, personal memories and shared memories; and when…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 315

“Section 28 28. Is memory vested in the faculty by which we perceive and learn? Or does it reside in the faculty by which we set things before our minds as objects of desire or of anger, the passionate faculty? This will be maintained on the…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 327

“Section 7 7. Well but can they not tell themselves that yesterday, or last year, they moved round the earth, that they lived yesterday or at any given moment in their lives? Their living is eternal, and eternity is an unchanging unity. To i…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 329

“Section 9 9. But Zeus- ordering all, governor, guardian and disposer, possessor for ever of the kingly soul and the kingly intellect, bringing all into being by his providence, and presiding over all things as they come, administering all u…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 368 (part 1)

“Section 2 2. If sight depends upon the linking of the light of vision with the light leading progressively to the illumined object, then, by the very hypothesis, one intervening substance, the light, is indispensable: but if the illuminate…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 381

“Section 2 2. But of what nature is this sovereign principle? If material, then definitely it must fall apart; for every material entity, at least, is something put together. If it is not material but belongs to some other Kind, that new sub…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 428

“Section 12 12. Possessed of such powers, how does it happen that we do not lay hold of them, but for the most part, let these high activities go idle- some, even, of us never bringing them in any degree to effect? The answer is that all the…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 447 (part 1)

“Section 15 15. Conferring- but how? As itself possessing them or not? How can it convey what it does not possess, and yet if it does possess how is it simplex? And if, again, it does not, how is it the source of the manifold? A single,…”

◆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,…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 462

“Section 9 9. Everything brought into being under some principle not itself is contained either within its maker or, if there is any intermediate, within that: having a prior essential to its being, it needs that prior always, otherwise it w…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 493

“Section 1 1. All human beings from birth onward live to the realm of sense more than to the Intellectual. Forced of necessity to attend first to the material, some of them elect to abide by that order and, their life throughout, make its co…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 544

“Section 6 6. But must it not draw on some source external to its essence, if it is to be conditioned, not only by Being, but by being an entity of a particular character? But if it is conditioned by a particular character, and this characte…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 640 (part 2)

“If then the future is present, it must be present as having been foreconceived for later coming to be; at that divine stage therefore it lacks nothing and therefore can never lack; all existed, eternally and in such a way that at the later…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 685

“Section 3 3. All this calls for examination; the enquiry must bring us close to the solution as regards the gods. We have traced self-disposal to will, will to reasoning and, next step, to right reasoning; perhaps to right reasoning we must…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 686

“Section 4 4. It will be asked how act rising from desire can be voluntary, since desire pulls outward and implies need; to desire is still to be drawn, even though towards the good. Intellectual-Principle itself comes under the doubt; havin…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 698

“Section 16 16. We maintain, and it is evident truth, that the Supreme is everywhere and yet nowhere; keeping this constantly in mind let us see how it bears on our present enquiry. If God is nowhere, then not anywhere has He "happened to be…”

◆Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 713 (part 2)

“Any that have seen know what I have in mind: the soul takes another life as it approaches God; thus restored it feels that the dispenser of true life is There to see, that now we have nothing to look for but, far otherwise, that we must put…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 5

“Section 1 1. Pleasure and distress, fear and courage, desire and aversion, where have these affections and experiences their seat? Clearly, either in the Soul alone, or in the Soul as employing the body, or in some third entity deriving fro…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 6

“Section 2 2. This first enquiry obliges us to consider at the outset the nature of the Soul- that is whether a distinction is to be made between Soul and Essential Soul [between an individual Soul and the Soul-Kind in itself]. * * All matte…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 12

“Section 8 8. And towards the Intellectual-Principle what is our relation? By this I mean, not that faculty in the soul which is one of the emanations from the Intellectual-Principle, but The Intellectual-Principle itself [Divine-Mind]. This…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 13

“Section 9 9. That Soul, then, in us, will in its nature stand apart from all that can cause any of the evils which man does or suffers; for all such evil, as we have seen, belongs only to the Animate, the Couplement. But there is a difficul…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 14

“Section 10 10. It will be objected, that if the Soul constitutes the We [the personality] and We are subject to these states then the Soul must be subject to them, and similarly that what We do must be done by the Soul. But it has been obse…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 16

“Section 12 12. But if Soul is sinless, how come the expiations? Here surely is a contradiction; on the one side the Soul is above all guilt; on the other, we hear of its sin, its purification, its expiation; it is doomed to the lower world,…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 17

“Section 13 13. And the principle that reasons out these matters? Is it We or the Soul? We, but by the Soul. But how "by the Soul"? Does this mean that the Soul reasons by possession [by contact with the matters of enquiry]? No; by the fact…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 19 (part 1)

“Section 1 1. Since Evil is here, "haunting this world by necessary law," and it is the Soul's design to escape from Evil, we must escape hence. But what is this escape? "In attaining Likeness to God," we read. And this is explained as "…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 22

“Section 4 4. We come, so, to the question whether Purification is the whole of this human quality, virtue, or merely the forerunner upon which virtue follows? Does virtue imply the achieved state of purification or does the mere process suf…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 23

“Section 5 5. So we come to the scope of the purification: that understood, the nature of Likeness becomes clear. Likeness to what Principle? Identity with what God? The question is substantially this: how far does purification dispel the tw…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 37

“Section 4 4. If, then, the perfect life is within human reach, the man attaining it attains happiness: if not, happiness must be made over to the gods, for the perfect life is for them alone. But since we hold that happiness is for human be…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 41

“Section 8 8. As for violent personal sufferings, he will carry them off as well as he can; if they overpass his endurance they will carry him off. And so in all his pain he asks no pity: there is always the radiance in the inner soul of the…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 43

“Section 10 10. Perhaps the reason this continuous activity remains unperceived is that it has no touch whatever with things of sense. No doubt action upon material things, or action dictated by them, must proceed through the sensitive facul…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 44

“Section 11 11. We shall perhaps be told that in such a state the man is no longer alive: we answer that these people show themselves equally unable to understand his inner life and his happiness. If this does not satisfy them, we must ask t…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 45

“Section 12 12. The pleasure demanded for the life cannot be in the enjoyments of the licentious or in any gratifications of the body- there is no place for these, and they stifle happiness- nor in any violent emotions- what could so move th…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 46

“Section 13 13. The characteristic activities are not hindered by outer events but merely adapt themselves, remaining always fine, and perhaps all the finer for dealing with the actual. When he has to handle particular cases and things, he m…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 47

“Section 14 14. For man, and especially the Sage, is not the Couplement of soul and body: the proof is that man can be disengaged from the body and disdain its nominal goods. It would be absurd to think that happiness begins and ends with th…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 48

“Section 15 15. But suppose two wise men, one of them possessing all that is supposed to be naturally welcome, while the other meets only with the very reverse: do we assert that they have an equal happiness? We do, if they are equally wise.…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 60

“Section 10 10. But, it may be said, length of time produces an abundance of good actions missed by the man whose attainment of the happy state is recent- if indeed we can think at all of a state of happiness where good actions have been few…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 64

“Section 3 3. And the soul includes a faculty peculiarly addressed to Beauty- one incomparably sure in the appreciation of its own, never in doubt whenever any lovely thing presents itself for judgement. Or perhaps the soul itself acts immed…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 65

“Section 4 4. But there are earlier and loftier beauties than these. In the sense-bound life we are no longer granted to know them, but the soul, taking no help from the organs, sees and proclaims them. To the vision of these we must mount,…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 67

“Section 6 6. For, as the ancient teaching was, moral-discipline and courage and every virtue, not even excepting Wisdom itself, all is purification. Hence the Mysteries with good reason adumbrate the immersion of the unpurified in filth, ev…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 68

“Section 7 7. Therefore we must ascend again towards the Good, the desired of every Soul. Anyone that has seen This, knows what I intend when I say that it is beautiful. Even the desire of it is to be desired as a Good. To attain it is for t…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 70

“Section 9 9. And this inner vision, what is its operation? Newly awakened it is all too feeble to bear the ultimate splendour. Therefore the Soul must be trained- to the habit of remarking, first, all noble pursuits, then the works of beaut…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 100 (part 2)

“Such motion alone can constitute its impulse towards its centre: it cannot coincide with the centre, for then there would be no circle; since this may not be, it whirls about it; so only can it indulge its tendence. If, on the other hand,…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 113

“Section 10 10. If all this be true, we must at once admit signification, though, neither singly nor collectively, can we ascribe to the stars any efficacy except in what concerns the [material] All and in what is of their own function. We m…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 159

“Section 3 3. Ever illuminated, receiving light unfailing, the All-Soul imparts it to the entire series of later Being which by this light is sustained and fostered and endowed with the fullest measure of life that each can absorb. It may be…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 167

“Section 11 11. Now, in the first place, if the Soul has not actually come down but has illuminated the darkness, how can it truly be said to have declined? The outflow from it of something in the nature of light does not justify the asserti…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 173 (part 2)

“Nothing base within can be beautiful without- at least not with an authentic beauty, for there are examples of a good exterior not sprung from a beauty dominant within; people passing as handsome but essentially base have that, a spurious a…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 188

“Section 1 1. To make the existence and coherent structure of this Universe depend upon automatic activity and upon chance is against all good sense. Such a notion could be entertained only where there is neither intelligence nor even ordina…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 203 (part 2)

“That one Reason-Principle, then, must be the unification of conflicting Reason-Principles whose very opposition is the support of its coherence and, almost, of its Being. And indeed, if it were not multiple, it could not be a Universal Pri…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 219

“Section 5 5. But if the presiding Spirit and the conditions of life are chosen by the Soul in the overworld, how can anything be left to our independent action here? The answer is that very choice in the over-world is merely an allegorical…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 227 (part 1)

“Section 6 6. What then, in sum, is to be thought of Love and of his "birth" as we are told of it? Clearly we have to establish the significance, here, of Poverty and Possession, and show in what way the parentage is appropriate: we have a…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 230

“Section 9 9. This Poros, Possession, then, is the Reason-Principle of all that exists in the Intellectual Realm and in the supreme Intellect; but being more diffused, kneaded out as it were, it must touch Soul, be in Soul, [as the next lowe…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 238 (part 2)

“It is lifeless objects that deal the severest blows; they hit hardest and hurt most; where there is life- that is to say participation in Being- there is beneficence towards the environment, all the greater as the measure of Being is fuller…”

◇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…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 286 (part 2)

“In the case of things not endowed with intelligence, the "leading-principle" is their mere unity- a lower reproduction of the soul's efficiency. This is the deeper meaning of the profound passage [in the Timaeus], where we read "By blendin…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 290

“Section 3 3. Is it a question of part in the sense that, taking one living being, the soul in a finger might be called a part of the soul entire? This would carry the alternative that either there is no soul outside of body, or that- no sou…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 316

“Section 29 29. Are we, then, to refer memory to the perceptive faculty and so make one principle of our nature the seat of both awareness and remembrance? Now supposing the very Shade, as we were saying in the case of Hercules, has memory,…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 322

“Section 2 2. Enough on that point: we come now to the question of memory of the personality? There will not even be memory of the personality; no thought that the contemplator is the self- Socrates, for example- or that it is Intellect or S…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 325

“Section 5 5. But this power which determines memory is it also the principle by which the Supreme becomes effective in us? At any time when we have not been in direct vision of that sphere, memory is the source of its activity within us; wh…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 326

“Section 6 6. Souls that descend, souls that change their state- these, then, may be said to have memory, which deals with what has come and gone; but what subjects of remembrance can there be for souls whose lot is to remain unchanged? The…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 328 (part 1)

“Section 8 8. But, we need not record in memory all we see; mere incidental concomitants need not occupy the imagination; when things vividly present to intuition, or knowledge, happen to occur in concrete form, it is not necessary- unless…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 340

“Section 20 20. As with bodily pain and pleasure so with the bodily desires; their origin, also, must be attributed to what thus stands midway, to that Nature we described as the corporeal. Body undetermined cannot be imagined to give rise t…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 341

“Section 21 21. That this is the phase of the human being in which desire takes its origin is shown by observation of the different stages of life; in childhood, youth, maturity, the bodily desires differ; health or sickness also may change…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 345

“Section 25 25. But the organ is not the only requisite to vision or to perception of any kind: there must be a state of the soul inclining it towards the sphere of sense. Now it is the soul's character to be ever in the Intellectual sphere,…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 367

“Section 1 1. We undertook to discuss the question whether sight is possible in the absence of any intervening medium, such as air or some other form of what is known as transparent body: this is the time and place. It has been explained tha…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 382

“Section 3 3. Anyone who rejects this view, and holds that either atoms or some entities void of part coming together produce soul, is refuted by the very unity of soul and by the prevailing sympathy as much as by the very coherence of the c…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 385

“Section 6 6. It is easy to show that if the Soul were a corporeal entity, there could be no sense-perception, no mental act, no knowledge, no moral excellence, nothing of all that is noble. There can be no perception without a unitary perci…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 399

“Section 15 15. (20) Thus far we have offered the considerations appropriate to those asking for demonstration: those whose need is conviction by evidence of the more material order are best met from the abundant records relevant to the subj…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 401

“Section 1 1. Many times it has happened: Lifted out of the body into myself; becoming external to all other things and self-encentered; beholding a marvellous beauty; then, more than ever, assured of community with the loftiest order; enact…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 406

“Section 6 6. Something besides a unity there must be or all would be indiscernibly buried, shapeless within that unbroken whole: none of the real beings [of the Intellectual Kosmos] would exist if that unity remained at halt within itself:…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 407

“Section 7 7. The Kind, then, with which we are dealing is twofold, the Intellectual against the sensible: better for the soul to dwell in the Intellectual, but, given its proper nature, it is under compulsion to participate in the sense-rea…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 414

“Section 5 5. How then can a multitude of essential beings be really one? Obviously either the one essence will be entire in all, or the many will rise from a one which remains unaltered and yet includes the one- many in virtue of giving its…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 422 (part 2)

“But in soul the utterance is obscured, for soul is an image and must look to its own original: that Principle, on the contrary, looks to the First without mediation- thus becoming what it is- and has that vision not as from a distance but a…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 423 (part 1)

“Section 7 7. We must be more explicit: The Intellectual-Principle stands as the image of The One, firstly because there is a certain necessity that the first should have its offspring, carrying onward much of its quality, in other words th…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 423 (part 2)

“Now, even in the Divine the engendered could not be the very highest; it must be a lesser, an image; it will be undetermined, as the Divine is, but will receive determination, and, so to speak, its shaping idea, from the progenitor. Yet an…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 433

“Section 1 1. Are we to think that a being knowing itself must contain diversity, that self-knowledge can be affirmed only when some one phase of the self perceives other phases, and that therefore an absolutely simplex entity would be equal…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 434

“Section 2 2. We begin with the soul, asking whether it is to be allowed self-knowledge and what the knowing principle in it would be and how operating. The sense-principle in it we may at once decide, takes cognisance only of the external;…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 435

“Section 3 3. Sense sees a man and transmits the impression to the understanding. What does the understanding say? It has nothing to say as yet; it accepts and waits; unless, rather, it questions within itself "Who is this?"- someone it has…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 439

“Section 7 7. The contemplating of God, we might answer. But to admit its knowing God is to be compelled to admit its self-knowing. It will know what it holds from God, what God has given forth or may; with this knowledge, it knows itself at…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 440 (part 1)

“Section 8 8. Now comes the question what sort of thing does the Intellectual-Principle see in seeing the Intellectual Realm and what in seeing itself? We are not to look for an Intellectual realm reminding us of the colour or shape to be…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 440 (part 2)

“The life in the Divine Intellect is also an Act: it is the primal light outlamping to itself primarily, its own torch; light-giver and lit at once; the authentic intellectual object, knowing at once and known, seen to itself and needing no…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 442 (part 1)

“Section 10 10. This matter need not be elaborated at present: it suffices to say that if the created were all, these ultimates [the higher] need not exist: but the Supreme does include primals, the primals because the producers. In other…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 442 (part 2)

“Similarly the knowing principle itself cannot remain simplex, especially in the act of self-knowing: all silent though its self-perception be, it is dual to itself. Of course it has no need of minute self-handling since it has nothing to l…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 443

“Section 11 11. Thus the Intellectual-Principle, in the act of knowing the Transcendent, is a manifold. It knows the Transcendent in very essence but, with all its effort to grasp that prior as a pure unity, it goes forth amassing successive…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 444 (part 1)

“Section 12 12. But why, after all, should it not be such a manifold as long as it remains one substantial existence, having the multiplicity not of a compound being but of a unity with a variety of activities? Now, no doubt, if these vari…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 445

“Section 13 13. Thus The One is in truth beyond all statement: any affirmation is of a thing; but the all-transcending, resting above even the most august divine Mind, possesses alone of all true being, and is not a thing among things; we ca…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 447 (part 2)

“We may take it as proved that the emanation of the Transcendent must be a Not-One something other than pure unity, but that it is a multiplicity, and especially that it is such a multiplicity as is exhibited in the sequent universe, this is…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 452 (part 1)

“Section 2 2. If the Intellectual-Principle were the engendering Source, then the engendered secondary, while less perfect than the Intellectual-Principle, would be close to it and similar to it: but since the engendering Source is above th…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 470

“Section 3 3. We may be told that nothing prevents an identity being thus multiple. But there must be a unity underlying the aggregate: a manifold is impossible without a unity for its source or ground, or at least, failing some unity, relat…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 475

“Section 1 1. We have to examine the question whether there exists an ideal archetype of individuals, in other words whether I and every other human being go back to the Intellectual, every [living] thing having origin and principle There. I…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 479

“Section 1 1. It is a principle with us that one who has attained to the vision of the Intellectual Beauty and grasped the beauty of the Authentic Intellect will be able also to come to understand the Father and Transcendent of that Divine B…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 487

“Section 9 9. Let us, then, make a mental picture of our universe: each member shall remain what it is, distinctly apart; yet all is to form, as far as possible, a complete unity so that whatever comes into view shall show as if it were the…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 488

“Section 10 10. This is why Zeus, although the oldest of the gods and their sovereign, advances first [in the Phaidros myth] towards that vision, followed by gods and demigods and such souls as are of strength to see. That Being appears befo…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 489

“Section 11 11. Similarly any one, unable to see himself, but possessed by that God, has but to bring that divine- within before his consciousness and at once he sees an image of himself, himself lifted to a better beauty: now let him ignore…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 496

“Section 4 4. But, soul reached, why need we look higher; why not make this The First? A main reason is that the Intellectual-Principle is at once something other and something more powerful than Soul and that the more powerful is in the nat…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 503

“Section 11 11. Now as to the arts and crafts and their productions: The imitative arts- painting, sculpture, dancing, pantomimic gesturing- are, largely, earth-based; on an earthly base; they follow models found in sense, since they copy fo…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 512 (part 1)

“Section 4 4. We are told that number is Quantity in the primary sense, number together with all continuous magnitude, space and time: these are the standards to which all else that is considered as Quantity is referred, including motion wh…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 552

“Section 14 14. Why is Quality, again, not included among the Primaries? Because like Quantity it is a posterior, subsequent to Substance. Primary Substance must necessarily contain Quantity and Quality as its consequents; it cannot owe its…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 564

“Section 3 3. How then do we go to work? Let us begin by distinguishing Matter, Form, the Mixture of both, and the Attributes of the Mixture. The Attributes may be subdivided into those which are mere predicates, and those serving also as ac…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 569

“Section 8 8. The division into elements must, in short, be abandoned, especially in regard to Sensible Substance, known necessarily by sense rather than by reason. We must no longer look for help in constituent parts, since such parts will…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 618

“Section 11 11. But how can the unextended reach over the defined extension of the corporeal? How can it, so, maintain itself as a unity, an identity? This is a problem often raised and reason calls vehemently for a solution of the difficult…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 624

“Section 4 4. We have to enquire into the existence of the Numbers in the Intellectual. Are they Ideas added to the other Ideas? Or are they no more than necessary concomitants to the Ideas? In the latter case, Being, as the first [in the In…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 629

“Section 9 9. It remains then to consider whether Being by its distinction produced Number or Number produced that distinction. It is certain that either Number was the cause of Being, movement, rest, identity and difference, or these the ca…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 631

“Section 11 11. It may be suggested that the decad is nothing more than so many henads; admitting the one henad why should we reject the ten? As the one is a real existence why not the rest? We are certainly not compelled to attach that one…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 636 (part 2)

“When you enumerate two things- say, animal and beauty- each of these remains one thing; the number is your production; it lay within yourself; it is you that elaborate quantity, here the dyad. But when you declare virtue to be a Tetrad, yo…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 642

“Section 3 3. What then is there to prevent man having been the object of planning There? No: all stands in that likeness, nothing to be added or taken away; this planning and reasoning is based only on an assumption; things are taken to be…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 652 (part 1)

“Section 13 13. For Intellectual-Principle is not a simplex, nor is the soul that proceeds from it: on the contrary things include variety in the degree of their simplicity, that is to say in so far as they are not compounds but Principles…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 683

“Section 1 1. Can there be question as to whether the gods have voluntary action? Or are we to take it that, while we may well enquire in the case of men with their combination of powerlessness and hesitating power, the gods must be declared…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 695 (part 1)

“Section 13 13. Our enquiry obliges us to use terms not strictly applicable: we insist, once more, that not even for the purpose of forming the concept of the Supreme may we make it a duality; if now we do, it is merely for the sake of conv…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 697

“Section 15 15. Lovable, very love, the Supreme is also self-love in that He is lovely no otherwise than from Himself and in Himself. Self-presence can hold only in the identity of associated with associating; since, in the Supreme, associat…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 702

“Section 20 20. The difficulty will be raised that God would seem to have existed before thus coming into existence; if He makes Himself, then in regard to the self which He makes He is not yet in being and as maker He exists before this Him…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 706

“Section 2 2. It may be suggested that, while in the unities of the partial order the essence and the unity are distinct, yet in collective existence, in Real Being, they are identical, so that when we have grasped Being we hold unity; Real…”

◇Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 714

“Section 10 10. But how comes the soul not to keep that ground? Because it has not yet escaped wholly: but there will be the time of vision unbroken, the self hindered no longer by any hindrance of body. Not that those hindrances beset that…”

◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismx

“Pluto, the lord of the underworld, represents the body intelligence of man; and the rape of Persephone is symbolic of the divine nature assaulted and defiled by the animal soul and dragged downward into the somber darkness of Hades, which i…”

◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolism

“The Bacchic state signifies the unity of the rational soul in a state of self-knowledge, and the Titanic state the diversity of the rational soul which, being scattered throughout creation, loses the consciousness of its own essential one-n…”

◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Atlantis and the Gods of Antiquityk

“The Argonautic expedition, listening to the advice of Orpheus, stopped at the island of Samothrace for the purpose of having its members initiated into the Cabiric rites. Herodotus relates that when Cambyses entered the temple of the Cabir…”

◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistusf

“It is doubtful that the deity called Thoth by the Egyptians was originally Hermes, but the two personalities were blended together and it is now impossible to separate them. Thoth was called "The Lord of the Divine Books" and "Scribe of th…”

◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistush

“He neither slumbers nor sleeps, and is governed by a Father also both male and female, and ever watchful. Such is the mystery kept hidden to this day, for Nature, being mingled in marriage with the Sky Man, brought forth a wonder most wond…”

◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistusi

“Knowing only the body which is subject to death, they believe in death because they worship that substance which is the cause and reality of death." Then Hermes asked how the righteous and wise pass to God, to which Poimandres replied: "Tha…”

◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Initiation of the Pyramidc

“From Levi's Les Mystères de la Kaballe. The Egyptian Sphinx is closely related to the Greek legend of Œdipus, who first solved the famous riddle propounded by the mysterious creature with the body of a winged lion and the head of a woman w…”

◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Bembine Table of Isisg

“ζ, η, θ--Serapæan Triad. 7. γ, δ (not shown), ε--Osirian Triad. In the lower section 1. λ, Μ, Ν--Horæan Triad. 2. ξ, Ο, Σ--Pandochæan Triad. 3. Τ, Φ, Χ--Thaustic Triad. 4. Ψ, F, Η--Æluristic Triad. Of these fifteen triads Kircher…”

◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | 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…”

◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 10, Section 1d

“If Time be thought of as an infinite series of finite numbers Eternity is the sum of that series and not its process. But the name may be applied loosely to the process, though this is generally to be avoided. According to St. Thomas, Et…”

◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 13, Section 1a

“184 CHAPTER XIII Concerning ” Perfect “ and ” One .” 1. So much for these titles. Now let us, if thou art willing, proceed to the most .important Title of all. For the Divine Science attributes all qualities to the Creator of all things…”

◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 13, Section 1e

“But be these matters as God wills 513 513 This anthropomorphic phrase is not inconsistent with the conceptions D. has been expounding; because he regards the limits of individual human capacities, etc., as timelessly existent in the Super-…”

◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1i

“The Godhead is not a Whole because it is indivisible, nor a Part because there is nothing, on the ultimate plane, outside It. Yet It is a Whole because It includes the true existence of all things, and is Partitive because It contains the…”

◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1o

“Yet It is a Whole because It includes the true existence of all things, and is Partitive because It contains the principle of separate Individuality whereby Christ possesses a Human Soul distinct from all other human souls, and whereby, too…”

◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 3, Section 1a

“CHAPTER III What is the power of Prayer? Also concerning the Blessed Hierotheus and concerning Reverence and the Writing of Divinity. 1. And first of all, if it like thee, let us consider the highest Name, even “Goodness,” by which all t…”

◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 3, Section 1c

“It would be an impiety to do so, for he is almost equal to the Scriptural Writers, as he showed when he met with them to view the body of the B. V. M. even among our inspired Hierarchs (when, as thou knowest, we with him and many of our…”

◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1c

“They are two, and yet they grow together out of one head or stem; and I cannot help thinking that if Aesop had noticed them, he would have made a fable about God trying to reconcile their strife, and when he could not, he fastened their hea…”

◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1f

“And being dead is the attainment of this separation; when the soul exists in herself, and is parted from the body and the body is parted from the soul-that is death? Exactly: that and nothing else, he replied. And what do you say of anoth…”

◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1g

“And he attains to the knowledge of them in their highest purity who goes to each of them with the mind alone, not allowing when in the act of thought the intrusion or introduction of sight or any other sense in the company of reason, but wi…”

◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1h

“And now that the hour of departure is appointed to me, this is the hope with which I depart, and not I only, but every man who believes that he has his mind purified. Certainly, replied Simmias. And what is purification but the separation…”

◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1i

“They are temperate because they are intemperate-which may seem to be a contradiction, but is nevertheless the sort of thing which happens with this foolish temperance. For there are pleasures which they must have, and are afraid of losing;…”

◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1n

“For this is clear, that when we perceived something, either by the help of sight or hearing, or some other sense, there was no difficulty in receiving from this a conception of some other thing like or unlike which had been forgotten and wh…”

◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1o

“For admitting that she may be generated and created in some other place, and may have existed before entering the human body, why after having entered in and gone out again may she not herself be destroyed and come to an end? Very true, Si…”

◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1p

“or are they each of them always what they are, having the same simple, self-existent and unchanging forms, and not admitting of variation at all, or in any way, or at any time? They must be always the same, Socrates, replied Cebes. And wh…”

◆Gospel of Philip | Section 1d

“When the child is grown, however, then the father turns over all he possesses. THE LOST Those who have gone astray are those born of the spirit. And they are usually lost because of the spirit. So from one single breath of spirit the fir…”

◆Gospel of Philip | Section 1j

“In the world these are the true people. They are the attendants of the bridal chamber. POWER AND WEAKNESS In this world, power and weakness mingle when man and woman have sex. Joining is different in the eternal realm, though we use the…”

◆Gospel of Philip | Section 1l

“Now they say, “He who creates engenders,” but his so-called offspring is merely a creature; therefore his children are not offspring but creatures. He who creates works openly and is visible. He who engenders does so in private. . . .…”

◆Gospel of Philip | Section 1m

“If we know the truth, we shall find the fruits of the truth within us. If we join it, it will fulfill us. THE STRONG AND WEAK, THE MANIFEST AND HIDDEN Now we have the manifest things of creation. We say, “The strong are they who are held…”

◆Gospel of Thomas | Logion 1

“And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."…”

◆Gospel of Thomas | Logion 2

“Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."…”

◆Gospel of Thomas | Logion 4

“Jesus said, "The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place of life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same."…”

◆Gospel of Thomas | Logion 8

“And he said, "The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the…”

◆The Dhammapada | Chapter I, Section 1b

“70-75.' I do not deny that this may have been the traditional interpretation, at all events since the days of Buddhaghosa, but the very legend quoted by Buddhaghosa in illustration of this verse shows that its simpler and purely moral inter…”

◆The Dhammapada | Chapter III, Section 1a

“p. 12 CHAPTER III. THOUGHT. 33. As a fletcher makes straight his arrow, a wise man makes straight his trembling and unsteady thought, which is difficult to guard, difficult to hold back. 34. As a fish taken from his watery home and th…”

◆The Dhammapada | Chapter III, Section 1b

“That s ru means 'to run,' and is in fact a merely dialectic variety of sru, has been proved by Burnouf, while Boehtlingk thinks the substitution of s for s is a mistake. Â s rava therefore, or âsrava, meant originally 'the running out towa…”

◆The Dhammapada | Chapter III, Section 1c

“I translate it therefore in a more general sense, let him not return or turn away from the battle, let him watch Mâra, even after he is vanquished, let him keep up a constant fight against the adversary, without being attached to anything o…”

◆The Dhammapada | Chapter IV, Section 1a

“p. 16 CHAPTER IV. FLOWERS [1] . 44. Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama (the lord of the departed), and the world of the gods? Who shall find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right)…”

◆The Dhammapada | Chapter V, Section 1a

“p. 20 CHAPTER V. THE FOOL. 60. Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law. 61. If a traveller does not meet with one who is his better, or his eq…”

◆The Dhammapada | Chapter V, Section 1b

“In Manu IV, 172, where a similar sentence occurs, the commentators are equally doubtful: Nâdharma s k arito loke sadya h phalati gaur iva, 'for an evil act committed in the world does not bear fruit at once, like a cow;' or 'like the earth…”

◆The Dhammapada | Chapter VI, Section 1a

“p. 23 CHAPTER VI. THE WISE MAN (PA ND ITA). 76. If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found, who shows what is to be avoided, and administers reproofs, follow that wise man; it will be better, not wo…”

◆Tao Te Ching | Chapter 5

“Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the people as the dogs of gras…”

◆Tao Te Ching | Chapter 26

“Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement. Therefore a wise prince, marching the whole day, does not go far from his baggage waggons. Although he may have brilliant prospects to look at, he quietly remains (in his p…”

◆Tao Te Ching | Chapter 70

“My words are very easy to know, and very easy to practise; but there is no one in the world who is able to know and able to practise them. There is an originating and all-comprehending (principle) in my words, and an authoritative law for t…”

◆Tao Te Ching | Chapter 77

“May not the Way (or Tao) of Heaven be compared to the (method of) bending a bow? The (part of the bow) which was high is brought low, and what was low is raised up. (So Heaven) diminishes where there is superabundance, and supplements where…”

◆The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 123 (part 3)

“When the seasonal rains are coming down, if we still keep watering the ground, will not our toil be labour lost for all the good it will do? Do you, Master, stand forth (as sovereign), and the kingdom will (at once) be well governed. If I…”

◆The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 123 (part 4)

“Yâo ruled the people of the kingdom, and maintained a perfect government within the four seas. Having gone to see the four (Perfect) Ones 3 on the distant hill of Kû-shih, when (he returned to his capital) on the south of the Fän water 4 ,…”

◆The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 124 (part 1)

“p. 176 BOOK II. PART I. SECTION II. Khî Wû Lun, or 'The Adjustment of Controversies 1 .' 1. Nan-kwo Sze-khî 2 was seated, leaning forward on his stool. He was looking up to heaven and breathed gently, seeming to be in a trance, and to…”

◆The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 124 (part 8)

“You see the egg, and (immediately) look out for the cock (that is to be hatched from it); you see the bow, and (immediately) look out for the dove (that is to be brought down by it) being roasted. I will try to explain the thing to you in…”

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

“The body is in the soul, the soul is in the mind, the mind is in God. The life of the soul is the true life of the man. Of all his various faculties, that which rules all, that which exalts our nature, is Thought. By means of it we rise…”

◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialoguec

“Hence he cries: "O mountain of Parnassus, where I abide! Muses, with whom I converse! Fountain of Helicon, where I am nourished. Mountain, that affordest me a quiet dwelling-place! Muses, that inspire me with pro found doctrines. Fount…”

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

“Some are called in vain to put in a ready appearance, and are chiefly those which proceed from the lower instincts, and which obey the reason either not at all, or very little; and forcing himself to prevent their actions and condemn those…”

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

“One thing is certain, that he who loves wisely in youth will in age not go astray. But derision is for those of mature age, into whose hands Love puts the alphabet. Cic. Tell me now why Fate is called blind and bad. Tans. Again, blind…”

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

“It is not a fury of black bile which sends him drifting outside of judgment, reason, and acts of prudence, and tossed by the discordant tempest, like those who, having violated certain laws of the divine Adrastia, are condemned to be scourg…”

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

“Such over-boldness rarely grief escapes." "Fear not the utmost ruin then," I said, "Cleave confident the clouds and die content, That heaven has destined thee to such illustrious death." Cic . I understand when you say: "Enough that thou h…”

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

“Hence it follows that not less do we desire to see things unknown and unseen than those known and seen. And from this it does not follow that the desire does not proceed from cognition, and that we desire something that is not known; but I…”

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

“And amongst men the same thing is seen, according as some resemble one species of brute beast and some another: these having something of the quadruped, and those of birds, and, may be, some affinity, which I will not explain, but through w…”

◆Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1f

“All this befell me from my Mind, that is Man-Shepherd, Word (Logos) of all masterhood, by whom being God-inspired I came unto the Plain of Truth. Wherefore with all my soul and strength thanksgiving give I unto Father-God. 31. Holy art T…”

◆Corpus Hermeticum 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius | Section 1c

“And for this cause hath He all names, in that they are one Father's. And for this cause hath He Himself no nome, in that He's Father of [them] all. Who, then, may sing Thee praise of Thee, or [praise] to Thee? Whither, again, am I to tur…”

◆Corpus Hermeticum 8: The Eight Sphere | Section 1a

“That No One of Existing Things doth Perish, but Men in Error Speak of Their Changes as Destructions and as Deaths <The idea of cyclic change central to CH III, "The Sacred Sermon", also takes center stage here. A current of ancient specula…”

◆Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount | Section 1d

“Spirit pervading [body] by means of veins and arteries and blood, bestows upon the living creature motion, and as it were doth bear it in a way. For this cause some do think the soul is blood, in that they do mistake its nature, not knowin…”

◆Corpus Hermeticum 13: The Discourse of Hermes to Tat | Section 1c

“Gnosis of God hath come to us, and when this comes, my son, Not-knowing is cast out. Gnosis of Joy hath come to us, and on its coming, son, Sorrow will flee away to them who give it room. The Power that follows Joy do I invoke, thy Self-c…”

◆Corpus Hermeticum 13: The Discourse of Hermes to Tat | Section 1e

“Sing praise, my Self-control; sing thou through me, my Righteousness, the praises of the Righteous; sing thou, my Sharing-all, the praises of the All; through me sing, Truth, Truth's praises! Sing thou, O Good, the Good! O Life and Light,…”

◇Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1b

“But when He raised His head, I see in Mind the Light, [but] now in Powers no man could number, and Cosmos grown beyond all bounds, and that the Fire was compassed round about by a most mighty Power, and [now] subdued had come unto a stand.…”

◇Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1c

“And when she saw that Form of beauty which can never satiate, and him who [now] possessed within himself each single energy of [all seven] Rulers as well as God's own Form, she smiled with love; for 'twas as though she'd seen the image of M…”

◆Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 10)

“For in this solemnity grass is carried about, enwrapping the kernels of olives, attended with figs, all kinds of pulse, oaken boughs or acorns, the fruit of the strawberry, wheat, and barley, a mass of dried figs, cakes composed from the me…”

◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXXVI. MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY

“LXXVI. To MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY * . The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. THE consort I invoke of Jove divine, Source of the holy, sweetly-speaking Nine; p. 215 Free from th' oblivion of the fallen mind, By whom the soul with inte…”

◆The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 4 (part 1)

“p. 1 THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS 1. First worship the Immortal Gods, as they are established and ordained by the Law. 2. Reverence the Oath, and next the Heroes, full of goodness and light. 3. Honour likewise the Terrestrial Dæmon…”

◆The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 7 (part 2)

“Understand that no dissimulation can be long concealed. 24. The unjust man suffers greater evil while his soul is tormented with a consciousness of guilt, than when his body is scourged with whips. 25. It is by no means safe to discours…”

◆The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 12 (part 1)

“p. 67 THE SYMBOLS OF PYTHAGORAS All the Symbols are exhortatory in common to the whole of virtue; but particularly each to some particular virtue. Different symbols also are differently adapted to parts of philosophy and discipline. Thus…”

◆The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 12 (part 3)

“75 words accord with their energies, to honour and reverence them with the greatest earnestness. SYMBOL 9. Cut not fire with a sword. 1 Explanation .--This Symbol exhorts to prudence. For it excites in us an appropriate conception with…”

◇Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXXVII. AURORA

“LXXVII. TO AURORA. The FUMIGATION from MANNA. HEAR me, O Goddess! whose emerging ray Leads on the broad refulgence of the day; Blushing Aurora, whose celestial light Beams on the world with red'ning splendours bright: Angel of Titan, whom w…”

◇The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 5 (part 3)

“"Thou shalt not hope what thou ought'st not to hope," knowing the nature of all things, and what is possible. 55. The Gods near at hand are virtue and truth. p. 17 59, 60. The fatal strife is caused by our inclination "madly to run cou…”

◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 40 (part 1)

“PLATES XXXIII AND XXXIV. Vignette: The mummy-chamber, arranged as a plan, representing the floor and walls laid flat, in fifteen compartments. In the centre, under a canopy, is place d the bier bearing the mummy of Ani, beside which stand…”

◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 43 (part 44)

“The preservation of the corruptible body too was in some way connected with the life in the world to come, and its preservation was necessary to ensure eternal life; otherwise the prayers recited to this end would have been futile, and the…”

◇The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 18 (part 12)

“May I sail up and down through the fields of Aaru; may I come thither in peace; for I am the double Lion-god."…”

◇The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 19 (part 9)

“, the "house of cloth," was a district belonging to the temple of Suten-henen or Heracleopolis in Upper Egypt.] Ubes-hra-per-em-khet khet,[l] and Maa (106) -em-qerh-an-nef-em-hru.[2] The chief of the holy ones (107) who minister in his cham…”

◇The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 20 (part 1)

“PLATES XI. AND XII. Vignette I. : Ani and his wife Thuthu approaching the first Arit,[3] the cornice of which is ornamented with ### i.e. , emblems of power, life, and stability. At the entrance sit three gods, the first having the hea…”

◇The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 33 (part 2)

“I shall behold sacred things which are hidden, there shall be done unto me holy (37) hidden rites, I shall see what is there; my words shall make full the majesty of Shu, and they shall drive away evil hap. (38) I, even I, am Horus who dwe…”

◇The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 34 (part 1)

“PLATE XXVII. life. O, I have made them to know the plans of the gods which Horus hath devised (55) at the bidding of his father Osiris. Hail, lord, thou most terrible and mighty soul! Let me come, even me, (56) let me lift myself up! I…”

◇The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 34 (part 4)

“I am the lord of millions of years. I make my nest in the limits of heaven. I descend unto the earth of Seb (14). I do away with my faults. I behold my father, the lord of Mash; and his body breatheth in Annu. I am provided with what I…”

◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUEb

“Knowest thou why thy mirror reflects not? Because the rust has not been scoured from its face. If it were purified from all rust and defilement, It would reflect the shining of the SUN Of GOD.6 O friends, ye have now heard this tale, Whic…”

◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY II

“The Oilman and his Parrot. An oilman possessed a parrot which used to amuse him with its agreeable prattle, and to watch his shop when he went out. One day, when the parrot was alone in the shop, a cat upset one of the oil-jars. When the oi…”

◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Vd

“But the light that lights the heart is the Light of God, Which is distinct from the light of reason and sense. At night there is no light, and colors are not seen; Hence we know what light is by its opposite, darkness. At night no colors…”

◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VIIa

“The Merchant and his Clever Parrot. There was a certain merchant who kept a parrot in a cage. Being about to travel to Hindustan on business, he asked the parrot if he had any message to send to his kinsmen in that country, and the parrot…”

◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IXb

“Woman is a ray of God, not a mere mistress, The Creator's self, as it were, not a mere creature! Moses and Pharaoh, alike doers of God's will, as Light and Darkness. Poison and Antidote. Verily, both Moses and Pharaoh walked in the right…”

◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IXd

“I knew of myself what ye thought, But I desired that ye should speak it; As this boasting of yours is very improper, So shall my mercy be shown to prevail over my wrath: O angels, in order to show forth that prevailing, I inspired that pret…”

◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY XII

“Joseph a‚Žd the Mirror. An old friend came to pay his respects to Joseph, and, after some remarks upon the bad behaviour of his brethren, Joseph asked him what present he had brought to show his respect. The friend replied that he had long…”

◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY XIII

“The Prophet's Scribe. The Prophet had a scribe who used to write down the texts that fell from his lips. At last this scribe became so conceited that he imagined all this heavenly wisdom proceeded from his own wit, and not from the Prophet.…”

◆The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1m

“I ween that I hung | on the windy tree, Hung there for nights full nine; With the spear I was wounded, | and offered I was To Othin, myself to myself, On the tree that none | may ever know What root beneath it runs. [138. In the manuscrip…”

◆The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1p

“An eighteenth I know, | that ne'er will I tell To maiden or wife of man,-- The best is what none | but one's self doth know, So comes the end of the songs,-- Save only to her | in whose arms I lie, Or who else my sister is. [163. Some edi…”

◆Îsâ-Upanishad | Îsâ, Section 1a

“p. 308 p. 309 VÂ G ASANEYI-SA M HITÂ-UPANISHAD, SOMETIMES CALLED Î S ÂVÂSYA OR Î S Â-UPANISHAD p. 310 p. 311 VÂ G ASANEYI-SA M HITÂ-UPANISHAD. 1. ALL this, whatsoever moves on earth, is to be hidden in the Lord (the Self). When thou…”

◇Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation) | Section 1e

“He produced Oin, predominant in Anger, crowned, combined, and formed Capricornus in the world, Tebet in the year, and the liver in man. 11. He produced Tzaddi, predominant in Taste, crowned, combined, and formed Aquarius in the world, Seb…”