Select Works of Plotinus · 117 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor
Select Works, Section 124
Section 2 2. We are obliged, therefore, at the start, both to establish the existence of this other Kind and to examine its nature and the mode of its Being. Now if Matter must characteristically be undetermined, void of shape, while in that sphere of the Highest there can be nothing that lacks determination, nothing shapeless, there can be no Matter there. Further, if all that order is simplex, there can be no need of Matter, whose function is to join with some other element to form a compound: it will be found of necessity in things of derived existence and shifting nature- the signs which lead us to the notion of Matter- but it is unnecessary to the primal. And again, where could it have come from? whence did it take its being? If it is derived, it has a source: if it is eternal, then the Primal-Principles are more numerous than we thought, the Firsts are a meeting-ground. Lastly, if that Matter has been entered by Idea, the union constitutes a body; and, so, there is Body in the Supreme.
Related passages · 3 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 13, Section 1c
“Emily Brontë: “Every existence would exist in Thee.”) And if all things be conceived as being ultimately unified with each other, then all things taken as a whole are One.
507 507 All things possess the same Super-Essence, and that is why…”
Both passages explore the nature of ultimate reality and the unity of existence. Passage A discusses the primal, simplex nature of the Highest Kind, while Passage B elaborates on the Super-Essence and the Divine Unity that encompasses all things.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 4 (part 3)
“7.) "We cannot reasonably suppose any formation or differentiation to have existed in the eternal One from which, or according to which (formation) something could have been made; for if such a form, or predisposition to making a form, had…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and the process of creation, emphasizing the simplicity and unchangeability of the divine realm and the distinction between the divine and the material world.
◆platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1h
“First then, in my judgment, we must make a distinction and ask, What is that which always is and has no becoming; and what is that which is always becoming and never is?
That which is apprehended by intelligence and reason is always in the…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the primordial and the created, exploring the relationship between the eternal and the changing. They both delve into the idea of a creator and the nature of existence, though from different philosophical and mystical traditions.