Select Works of Plotinus · 65 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor
Select Works, Section 72
Section 1 1. We can scarcely conceive that for any entity the Good can be other than the natural Act expressing its life-force, or in the case of an entity made up of parts the Act, appropriate, natural and complete, expressive of that in it which is best. For the Soul, then, the Good is its own natural Act. But the Soul itself is natively a "Best"; if, further, its act be directed towards the Best, the achievement is not merely the "Soul's good" but "The Good" without qualification. Now, given an Existent which- as being itself the best of existences and even transcending the existences- directs its Act towards no other, but is the object to which the Act of all else is directed, it is clear that this must be at once the Good and the means through which all else may participate in Good. This Absolute Good other entities may possess in two ways- by becoming like to It and by directing the Act of their being towards It. Now, if all aspiration and Act whatsoever are directed towards the Good, it follows that the Essential-Good neither need nor can look outside itself or aspire to anything other than itself: it can but remain unmoved, as being, in the constitution of things, the wellspring and firstcause of all Act: whatsoever in other entities is of the nature of Good cannot be due to any Act of the Essential-Good upon them; it is for them on the contrary to act towards their source and cause. The Good must, then, be the Good not by any Act, not even by virtue of its Intellection, but by its very rest within Itself. Existing beyond and above Being, it must be beyond and above the Intellectual-Principle and all Intellection. For, again, that only can be named the Good to which all is bound and itself to none: for only thus is it veritably the object of all aspiration. It must be unmoved, while all circles around it, as a circumference around a centre from which all the radii proceed. Another example would be the sun, central to the light which streams from it and is yet linked to it, or at least is always about it, irremoveably; try all you will to separate the light from the sun, or the sun from its light, for ever the light is in the sun.
Related passages · 3 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1a
“CHAPTER IV Concerning ” Good ,” ” Light ,” ” Beautiful ,” “ Desire ,” ” Ecstasy ,” “ Jealousy .” Also that Evil is neither existent nor Sprung from anything existent nor inherent in existent things .
1.
Now let us consider the name of “Go…”
Both passages describe the concept of the Good as a transcendent, self-sufficient source of all existence and aspiration, using the metaphor of the sun to illustrate its central and radiant nature. They share a mystical understanding of the Good as being beyond being and intellect, and as the ultimate object of desire and aspiration.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 8, Section 1a
“CHAPTER VIII Concerning ” Power ,” ” Righteousness ,” ” Salvation ,” ” Redemption “; and also concerning ” Inequality .” 1.
Now since the Sacred Writers speak of the Divine Truthfulness and Supra-Sapient Wisdom as Power, and as Righteousne…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine as an ultimate source of power or goodness, transcending all other forms of power or goodness. They both emphasize the self-sufficiency and transcendence of the divine, which is the source of all other powers or goods.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 13)
“154:1 This is the difference between life in the terrestrial and life in the celestial states of nature, that the former is differentiated into forms, each of which loves to live in the consciousness of its own illusive self— i.e.
, in a s…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the divine or the Good. They explore the idea of unity and the aspiration towards a higher state, with the soul's act or consciousness being directed towards the divine or the Good. The passages also touch on the concept of the divine being the source and cause of all good, and the soul's need to align with this source.