The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 · 4 of 24 · tr. Samuel Zinner
The Monad-a
[I also] asked to [understand it; and he said] to me: “The monad [is a unity with nothing] higher than it. [It is that which exists] as [God] and as Father of the All, [the unseen] one, who is higher than [the All, who exists as] indestructability, [as] pure light, [IV, 4] at which no [eye] can gaze.
He [is the] unseen [Spirit] of whom it is improper [to think of] as a god or as anything similar, because he is more than a god, given that nothing exists that is higher than him, because no one [II, 3] rules over him.
[This is because he does] not [exist] inside something subordinate [to him, given that everything] exists inside him, *because he is the one who is* self- [established]. [He is eternal], given that he stands in need of [nothing], because [he] is complete perfection. [He lacked nothing] so that he would need to be perfected by [it. Instead], he is forever completely perfect in [light].
He is [limitless], given that no one exists [before him] who could place limits on him.
He is unfathomable, [given that there] exists before him no one who could [fathom him.
He is] beyond measuring, given that no one [existed before to him who could measure] him.
[He is unseen, given that no] one has seen [him.
He is eternal], given that he [exists] eternally.
He is [unspeakable, given that] no one existed who could conceive of him in order to speak [of him].
He cannot be named, given that [no one existed before him] who could name [him].
He is [light] [IV, 5] [beyond measure],
being pure, sacred, [unstained].
He is unspeakable, [existing in perfect] indestructability.
(He exists) [not] (confined) inside perfection,
nor inside blessedness,
nor inside divinity,
but he is highly exalted (above these).
He is neither somatic, [nor] non- somatic.
He is neither large, [nor] small.
[It is impossible] to say that he has a quantity or that [he has a quality], because no one can [understand him]. He is not a being among [beings, but he is] highly exalted, [not] as [though
he were loftier], but (he is lofty in) himself. He neither [participates] in the aeons nor in temporality, because he who participates in [an aeon] that was set up previously [. . .]. He [was not] not assigned a temporal measurement, [given that] he does not obtain anything from another, [because it would be obtained] as a loan, given that he who exists before someone (else) [has no need] to accept (something) from [another].
This is because he is the one who gazes at himself, waiting, in [II, 4] [his] light, given that the [. . .] is glorious.
To him belongs purity beyond measure.
He is an aeon that bestows aeons.
[IV, 6] He is [life] that bestows life.
He is a blessed one who bestows blessedness.
He is knowledge that bestows knowledge.
[He is] goodness that bestows goodness.
[He is] mercy and redemption [that bestow mercy].
He is grace that bestows grace, [not] because it belongs to him, but because he bestows [the light] that is beyond measure and comprehension.
§ 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 text extensively uses negation to describe the divine (unseen, unspeakable, cannot be named, neither somatic nor non-somatic).
All passages →Divine Hiddennesstheology
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The supreme God is described as the 'unseen one' at which no eye can gaze and of whom it is improper to think.
All passages →Divine Lighttheology
The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.
The divine is repeatedly characterized as 'pure light' and 'light beyond measure' that bestows light.
All passages →Divine Simplicitytheology
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
The Monad is defined as a unity with nothing higher, self-established, complete perfection, and without parts or quantity.
All passages →Ein Softheology
The infinite, unknowable aspect of the divine prior to and beyond all emanation; the hidden root from which the Sephirot unfold.
The description matches the definition of an infinite, unknowable aspect prior to and beyond all emanation.
All passages →Monadcosmology
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage explicitly identifies the subject as 'The monad' and describes it as the absolute unity and first principle.
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 the divine is 'neither somatic, nor non-somatic' and 'neither large, nor small', transcending binary categories.
All passages →Related passages · 11 parallels
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|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…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1l
“Need is there to understand that in proper truth we do but use the elements and syllables and phrases and written terms and words as an aid to our senses; inasmuch as when our soul is moved by spiritual energies unto spiritual things, our s…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
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|Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune)|11. The Psychic Element In Mental Disturbance-d
“The older faiths knew this, but popular Christianity, which has no roots in tradition, has forgotten it.
Protestant Christianity threw away its occult aspect at the Reformation.
All the pagan pantheons have gross aspects of divinities as…”
Shared concept: Ein Sof — The infinite, unknowable aspect of the divine prior to and beyond all emanation; the hidden root from which the Sephirot unfold. (derived)
jewish_mysticism|Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation)|Section 1a
“Wescott, tr.
(1887) CHAPTER 1 1.
In two and thirty most occult and wonderful paths of wisdom did JAH the Lord of Hosts engrave his name: God of the armies of Israel, ever-living God, merciful and gracious, sublime, dwelling on high, who i…”
Shared concept: Ein Sof — The infinite, unknowable aspect of the divine prior to and beyond all emanation; the hidden root from which the Sephirot unfold. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 2, Section 1g
“Their ultimate nature, which they possess in their own original being, is beyond Mind and beyond all Being and Knowledge.
203 203 Even the Differentiations finally lead us up into the Undifferenced Godhead Where they transcend themselves.…”
Shared concept: Divine Hiddenness — The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father. (derived)
western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXII (part 13)
“Then the understanding of such a man receives from the Holy Spirit the highest and hidden mysteries which according to the divine Paul, neither the human eye can understand nor the human reason comprehend unaided.
(Ii Corinthians ii, 9).…”
Shared concept: Divine Light — The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation. (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)
neoplatonism|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…”
Shared concept: Opposites Transcended — The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|INTRODUCTION-i
“The life of man is more than an experience or trial; it is an effort, a struggle to reproduce and represent upon earth some of that goodness, beauty, and truth which are diffused over the universe and constitute its harmony.
Long, slow, an…”
Shared concept: Opposites Transcended — The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion. (derived)