← Home
Select Works of Plotinus · 93 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

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, the Kosmic circuit is due to the Soul, we are not to think of a painful driving [wearing it down at last]; the soul does not use violence or in any way thwart nature, for "Nature" is no other than the custom the All-Soul has established. Omnipresent in its entirety, incapable of division, the Soul of the universe communicates that quality of universal presence to the heavens, too, in their degree, the degree, that is, of pursuing universality and advancing towards it. If the Soul halted anywhere, there the Kosmos, too, brought so far, would halt: but the Soul encompasses all, and so the Kosmos moves, seeking everything. Yet never to attain? On the contrary this very motion is its eternal attainment. Or, better; the Soul is ceaselessly leading the Kosmos towards itself: the continuous attraction communicates a continuous movement- not to some outside space but towards the Soul and in the one sphere with it, not in the straight line [which would ultimately bring the moving body outside and below the Soul], but in the curving course in which the moving body at every stage possesses the Soul that is attracting it and bestowing itself upon it. If the soul were stationary, that is if [instead of presiding over a Kosmos] it dwelt wholly and solely in the realm in which every member is at rest, motion would be unknown; but, since the Soul is not fixed in some one station There, the Kosmos must travel to every point in quest of it, and never outside it: in a circle, therefore.
Themes
◆Logoscosmology

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

The Intellectual-Principle functions here as the divine ordering principle that the Soul imitates.

All passages →
◇Active Contemplationpraxis

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

[auto] The 'movement of self-aware' describes an active intellectual contemplation rather than purely empty stillness.

All passages →
◇Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

[auto] The passage explicitly discusses whether cosmic motion implies providence, concluding it is an act under providence driven by indwelling nature.

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 describes the Soul moving in imitation of the higher Intellectual-Principle, indicating a hierarchical flow of being.

All passages →
◇Inner Silencepraxis

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

[auto] The passage states that the Soul must be in repose and cannot have spatial movement, emphasizing stillness.

All passages →
◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] The text asserts that the Soul has itself at once for centre, locating the divine principle internally.

All passages →
◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The goal of the Soul's movement is described as a self-centered revolution that implies unification with its source.

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 Soul's movement is described as having itself and the Intellectual-Principle as its goal, implying a return to origin.

All passages →
◇Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

[auto] The passage explicitly identifies the essential movement of the kosmic soul as a movement towards itself, defined as self-awareness.

All passages →
◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

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

[auto] The discussion of the Soul moving towards the Intellectual-Principle reflects an upward journey through levels of reality.

All passages →
Related passages · 7 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1o
“And herein the Divine Yearning showeth especially its beginningless and endless nature, revolving in a perpetual circle for the Good, from the Good, in the Good, and to the Good, with unerring revolution, never varying its centre or directi…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a cosmic or divine yearning that drives motion and unity within the universe. They describe a perpetual, circular movement towards a central, divine principle, highlighting the continuous and eternal nature of this motion.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Front Matter, p. 4 (part 3)
“Because it is also necessary that the soul, essentially rational, should receive intellect by participation, and that intellectual energy should be of p. 22 two kinds; one primarily subsisting in the divine intellect; but the other subsist…”
Both passages discuss the concept of the soul as a self-motive essence that governs the motion of bodies and the universe. They share the idea that the soul is more ancient than the body and that it imparts life and motion to inanimate objects, highlighting the rational nature of the soul's governance.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 2: The Serapeum|Section 1b
“A: How is it, then, that things down here, Thrice-greatest one, are moved with those that are [already] moved? For thou hast said the errant spheres were moved by the inerrant one. H: This is not, O Asclepius, a moving with, but one again…”
Both passages discuss the nature of motion and its relationship to stability and the cosmos. They explore how movement is governed by underlying principles, such as the interaction between the stable and the errant, and the role of the soul or intellectual principle in governing motion.
◆platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1l
“This entire compound he divided lengthways into two parts, which he joined to one another at the centre like the letter X, and bent them into a circular form, connecting them with themselves and each other at the point opposite to their ori…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the cosmos, emphasizing the continuous motion and the soul's role in maintaining the order and harmony of the universe. They share a mystical perspective on the interconnectedness of the soul and the cosmos, though they come from different traditions.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialogued
“To be infinite, it must be infinitely pursued with that form of pursuit which is not incited physically, but metaphysically, and is not from imperfect to perfect, but goes circulating through the grades of perfection to arrive at that infin…”
Both passages discuss the concept of pursuing an infinite or divine center through a circular or spiraling motion. They share the idea of the soul's journey towards unity and the nature of this metaphysical pursuit, albeit within different philosophical and mystical frameworks.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter VI (part 4)
“As has been said, the two-dimensional being will regard the straight lines only as immobile matter; irregular lines and curves will seem to him as moving. So far as really moving lines are concerned, that is, lines limiting the cross-secti…”
Both passages explore the limitations of perception and understanding in different dimensions or realms. Passage A discusses a two-dimensional being's inability to comprehend three-dimensional objects and motions, while Passage B examines the nature of circular movement and the Soul's relationship to spatial motion, highlighting the limitations of physical understanding of spiritual realities.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter X (part 4)
“This happens because the circle inevitably ends in the same point at which it began, and the "life" of the separate being, beginning with birth, must end in death, which is the return to the point of departure. But during its transit throu…”
Both passages explore the nature of existence and movement through dimensions, with Passage A discussing the perception of life and motion in higher dimensions and Passage B examining the circular movement of the cosmos and the soul's role in it. Both texts use geometric and spatial metaphors to explain complex philosophical concepts.