Library / Neoplatonism / Select Works of Plotinus ← Select Works, Section 67 Select Works, Section 69 → 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 those that will take the upward path, who will set all their forces towards it, who will divest themselves of all that we have put on in our descent:- so, to those that approach the Holy Celebrations of the Mysteries, there are appointed purifications and the laying aside of the garments worn before, and the entry in nakedness- until, passing, on the upward way, all that is other than the God, each in the solitude of himself shall behold that solitary-dwelling Existence, the Apart, the Unmingled, the Pure, that from Which all things depend, for Which all look and live and act and know, the Source of Life and of Intellection and of Being. And one that shall know this vision- with what passion of love shall he not be seized, with what pang of desire, what longing to be molten into one with This, what wondering delight! If he that has never seen this Being must hunger for It as for all his welfare, he that has known must love and reverence It as the very Beauty; he will be flooded with awe and gladness, stricken by a salutary terror; he loves with a veritable love, with sharp desire; all other loves than this he must despise, and disdain all that once seemed fair. This, indeed, is the mood even of those who, having witnessed the manifestation of Gods or Supernals, can never again feel the old delight in the comeliness of material forms: what then are we to think of one that contemplates Absolute Beauty in Its essential integrity, no accumulation of flesh and matter, no dweller on earth or in the heavens- so perfect Its purity- far above all such things in that they are non-essential, composite, not primal but descending from This? Beholding this Being- the Choragos of all Existence, the Self-Intent that ever gives forth and never takes- resting, rapt, in the vision and possession of so lofty a loveliness, growing to Its likeness, what Beauty can the soul yet lack? For This, the Beauty supreme, the absolute, and the primal, fashions Its lovers to Beauty and makes them also worthy of love. And for This, the sternest and the uttermost combat is set before the Souls; all our labour is for This, lest we be left without part in this noblest vision, which to attain is to be blessed in the blissful sight, which to fail of is to fail utterly. For not he that has failed of the joy that is in colour or in visible forms, not he that has failed of power or of honours or of kingdom has failed, but only he that has failed of only This, for Whose winning he should renounce kingdoms and command over earth and ocean and sky, if only, spurning the world of sense from beneath his feet, and straining to This, he may see.
§ Ask Guru about this passage → Themes
Body As Obstacleanthropology The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
[auto] The body is described as unclean and unworthy, with death defined as the necessary parting of the Soul from it.
All passages → Cosmic Dualismtheology Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
[auto] The passage establishes a strong ontological opposition between the divine Soul/Intellect and the material body/filth.
All passages → Divine Sparkscosmology Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.
[auto] The Soul is described as entirely of the divine order and free of body, implying a fragment of divinity trapped in matter.
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.
[auto] The text references the Intellectual-Principle, lower places, and the Above, implying a structured hierarchy of being.
All passages → Funerary Navigationpraxis Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.
[auto] The text discusses death as the parting of Soul from body and references rituals regarding the Nether-World.
All passages → Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
[auto] Wisdom is defined as the Act of the Intellectual-Principle leading the Soul, emphasizing knowledge over mere ritual.
All passages → Hidden Sayingssoteriology Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The Mysteries are said to adumbrate deeper truths about the unpurified and the Nether-World.
All passages → Logoscosmology The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
The Soul is described as all Idea and Reason, aligning with the concept of divine reason ordering existence.
All passages → Monadcosmology The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The reference to the Above and Intellectual-Principle implies a simple first principle from which order flows.
All passages → Mystical Unionsoteriology The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
[auto] The Soul is described as being heightened to the Intellectual-Principle and becoming beautiful to all its power.
All passages → Opposites Transcendedanthropology The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.
[auto] The cleansed Soul is described as unmingled and free of body, transcending the duality of spirit and matter.
All passages → Psychopomp Journeycosmology Guided passage of the soul through afterlife realms.
[auto] References to Mysteries adumbrating immersion in the Nether-World suggest a guided passage through afterlife realms.
All passages → Renunciation Of Wealthethics The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.
[auto] Magnanimity is defined as disregard for the lure of things here, indicating detachment from material possessions.
All passages → Return To Sourcesoteriology The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
[auto] The passage explicitly describes the Soul being led to the Above and heightened to the Intellectual-Principle, reversing its fall into matter.
All passages → Ritual Puritypraxis The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.
[auto] Virtues are defined as purification, with extensive contrast between the clean Soul and the unclean body/filth.
All passages → Self Knowledgesoteriology The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.
[auto] Courage is linked to the delight of being one's unmingled self, indicating recognition of true divine nature.
All passages → Spiritual Ascentpraxis A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
[auto] The text details a staged journey of the soul upward through purification virtues toward the divine Intellectual-Principle.
All passages → Related passages · 15 of 18 parallels
christian_mysticism | Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 5, Section 1a
“131 CHAPTER V Concerning ” Existence “ and also concerning ” Exemplars .” I.
Now must we proceed to the Name of “Being” which is truly applied by the Divine Science to Him that truly Is.
But this much we must say, that it is not the purpo…”
Shared concept: Mystical Union — The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity. (derived)
christian_mysticism | Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 5, Section 1i
“364 The ultimate Godhead is reached only by the Negative Path, and known only by Unknowing.
The Affirmative Path of philosophical knowledge leads only to the differentiated manifestations of the Godhead: e.g.
the Trinity, in Its creative…”
Shared concept: Mystical Union — The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity. (derived)
christian_mysticism | The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 4)
“28.) "In Paradise the substance of the divine world penetrated the substance belonging to time, comparable to the power of the sun penetrating a fruit growing on a tree, and endowing it with such qualities as render it lovely to the sight a…”
Shared concept: Logos — The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world. (derived)
western_esoteric | The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Human Body in Symbolism-j
“When humanity has completed its physical evolution, the empty shell of materiality left behind will be used by other life waves as steppingstones to their own liberation.
The trend of man's evolutionary growth is ever toward his own essent…”
Shared concept: Self Knowledge — The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology. (derived)
theosophy | The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page xvii]] INTRODUCTORY.
------- "Gently to hear, kindly to judge." -- S HAKESPEARE.
S INCE the appearance of Theosophical literature in England, it has become customary to c…”
Shared concept: Hidden Sayings — Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth. (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)
christian_mysticism | Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter I-b
“They are useful and necessary up to a point, but the Truth lies beyond them and is to be apprehended to a supernatural manner by what later writers call “infused” contemplation.
The sum of the whole matter is that God is incomprehensible.…”
Shared concept: Return To Source — The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination. (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 Heaven and Hell | Chapter 2 (part 1)
“p.
vi PREFACE THE present work is the outcome of two lectures on the Books of the Tuat, i.e., the Egyptian Underworld, or "Other World," which I had the honour to deliver at the Royal Institution in the spring of 1904, and it has been prep…”
Shared concept: Funerary Navigation — Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death. (derived)
egyptian | The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 43 (part 23)
“41-43.] Selection and arrangement of chapters.
The sections or chapters of the Theban version are a series of separate and distinct compositions, which, like the sections of the pyramid texts, had no fixed order either on coffins or in pap…”
Shared concept: Funerary Navigation — Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death. (derived)
egyptian | The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 39 (part 3)
“8258, mottled glass buckle having the loop inlaid with blue composition; No.
8259, red faïence double buckle, pierced lengthwise for threading in a necklace.] deceased] he shall be among those who follow Osiris Un-nefer, triumphant.
The g…”
Shared concept: Psychopomp Journey — Guided passage of the soul through afterlife realms. (derived)
christian_mysticism | The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 4)
“Let them, therefore, again go out with their will from their wilful ignorance or malignity and enter again into the will of God." ( Menschwerdung , 3, 5.) All this goes to show that it is useless and vain to seek for divine wisdom, meaning…”
Shared concept: Self Knowledge — The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism | The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-m
“Thus everything has an impetus towards its beginning retrogressively, and progressively towards its end and perfection, as Empedocles well said, and from which sentence I think may be inferred that which the Nolan said in this octave: The s…”
Shared concept: Spiritual Ascent — A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source. (derived)
greek_mystery | Orphic Hymns | Hymn LVI. THE TERRESTRIAL HERMES
“LVI. TO THE TERRESTRIAL HERMES. The FUMIGATION from STORAX. HERMES I call, whom Fate decrees to dwell In the dire path which leads to deepest hell O Bacchic Hermes, progeny divine Of Dionysius, parent of the vine, p. 189 And of celestial Ve…”
Shared concept: Psychopomp Journey — Guided passage of the soul through afterlife realms. (derived)
western_esoteric | The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) | Page 34
“THE MOON. THE MOON. 18. צ 18th Hebrew letter (Tzaddi). ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE EIGHTEENTH CARD OF THE TAROT. The hieroglyphic idea connected with the Tzaddi is the same as that of the Teth (9th card); but it chiefly signifies a term…”
Shared concept: Divine Sparks — Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source. (derived)
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