Select Works of Plotinus · 24 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 29

Section 3 3. The metaphysician, equipped by that very character, winged already and not like those others, in need of disengagement, stirring of himself towards the supernal but doubting of the way, needs only a guide. He must be shown, then, and instructed, a willing wayfarer by his very temperament, all but self-directed. Mathematics, which as a student by nature he will take very easily, will be prescribed to train him to abstract thought and to faith in the unembodied; a moral being by native disposition, he must be led to make his virtue perfect; after the Mathematics he must be put through a course in Dialectic and made an adept in the science.

Themes

◇Active Contemplationpraxis

A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.

[auto] The text prescribes 'abstract thought' and 'Dialectic' as active intellectual practices to achieve spiritual adeptness.

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◇Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

[auto] The requirement for 'disengagement' and faith in the 'unembodied' implies that the embodied state is a hindrance to be transcended.

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◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

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

[auto] The training in Dialectic and Mathematics aims to produce an 'adept' with faith in the unembodied, pointing toward direct knowledge.

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◇Numerical Mysticismtheology

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

[auto] Mathematics is explicitly prescribed as a necessary discipline to train the mind for abstract thought and higher reality.

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◇Pneumatic Electsoteriology

A spiritual elite who possess the divine spark and are predestined for salvation, contrasted with psychic (faithful) and hylic (material) persons.

[auto] The passage describes a specific type of person ('metaphysician') who is 'equipped by that very character' and naturally suited for the ascent.

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◇Return To Sourcesoteriology

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

[auto] The text outlines the soul's 'disengagement' and movement back toward the divine origin ('supernal') through purification and intellectual training.

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◇Ritual Puritypraxis

The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.

[auto] The instruction to 'make his virtue perfect' indicates a requirement for moral purification as part of the spiritual path.

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◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

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

[auto] The passage explicitly describes the metaphysician's journey 'towards the supernal' as a staged process requiring guidance and training.

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