Select Works of Plotinus · 216 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 218

Section 4 4. But is this lower extremity of our intellective phase fettered to body for ever? No: if we turn, this turns by the same act. And the Soul of the All- are we to think that when it turns from this sphere its lower phase similarly withdraws? No: for it never accompanied that lower phase of itself; it never knew any coming, and therefore never came down; it remains unmoved above, and the material frame of the Universe draws close to it, and, as it were, takes light from it, no hindrance to it, in no way troubling it, simply lying unmoved before it. But has the Universe, then, no sensation? "It has no Sight," we read, since it has no eyes, and obviously it has not ears, nostrils, or tongue. Then has it perhaps such a consciousness as we have of our own inner conditions? No: where all is the working out of one nature, there is nothing but still rest; there is not even enjoyment. Sensibility is present as the quality of growth is, unrecognized. But the Nature of the World will be found treated elsewhere; what stands here is all that the question of the moment demands.

Themes

◇Body As Obstacleanthropology

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

[auto] The author warns against keeping oneself set towards the sensuous principle and images of sense.

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◇Cosmic Dualismtheology

Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.

[auto] A clear distinction is drawn between the High/Soul and the lower sensuous/vegetative principles.

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◇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 description of Soul passing through heavens in varying forms suggests a graded hierarchy of being.

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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 instruction to break away towards the High implies a journey back to the divine origin.

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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 text concludes with an imperative to break away towards the High rather than remaining in the sensuous.

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◇Tripartite Soulanthropology

Division of the human being into three principles: spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche), and body/matter (hyle or soma).

[auto] The passage explicitly details the sensitive, reasoning, and vegetative forms collaborating within humanity.

All passages →

Related passages · 5 parallels

◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 7, Section 1d

“Furthermore, we must ask how it is that we know God when He cannot be perceived by the mind or the senses and is not a particular Being. Perhaps ‘tis true to say that we know not God by His Nature (for this is unknowable and beyond the rea…”

Both passages explore the relationship between the divine and the material world, emphasizing the transcendence and immanence of the divine. They discuss the limitations of human perception and understanding in grasping the divine nature, highlighting the idea that the divine is both knowable and unknowable.

◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Hymn LXXVI. MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY

“LXXVI. To MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY * . The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. THE consort I invoke of Jove divine, Source of the holy, sweetly-speaking Nine; p. 215 Free from th' oblivion of the fallen mind, By whom the soul with inte…”

Both passages discuss the relationship between the soul, intellect, and the divine, emphasizing the soul's ability to turn away from the material world and towards higher, intellectual or divine realms. They share a common theme of the soul's elevation and remembrance of its true nature.

◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialogueg

“The fifth results from the disproportion of the means of our cognition to the knowable; seeing that in order to contemplate Divine things, the eyes must be opened by means of images, analogies and other reasonings which by the Peripatetics…”

Both passages discuss the limitations of human cognition in understanding higher realities. Plotinus describes the soul's turning away from the material world to grasp higher truths, while the Fourth Dialogue discusses the inadequacy of human cognition to comprehend divine things, emphasizing the need for negation and conversion.

◆taoism|The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters)|Book 128 (part 9)

“257 [paragraph continues] 'I have lost all thought of ceremonies and music.' 'Very well, but that is not enough., A third day, Hui again saw (the Master), and said, 'I am making progress.' 'What do you mean?' 'I sit and forget everything 1…”

Both passages discuss the transcendence of the physical and sensory aspects of existence to achieve a higher, more spiritual state. They emphasize the dissolution of the self and the union with a greater, divine principle, though they use different cultural and philosophical frameworks.

◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter VIII (part 7)

“90 [paragraph continues] HIMSELF, BUT FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD. MAN IS THE TRANSMITTING OR TRANSFORMING STATION FOR CERTAIN FORCES: ALL OF HIS ACTIONS IN THESE THREE CATEGORIES ARE CREATED AND DETERMINED BY HIS IMPRESSIONS OF THE OUTSIDE WOR…”

Both passages explore the distinction between human and animal consciousness, focusing on the role of higher cognitive functions (conscious actions, reasoning, and the Intellectual-Principle) that elevate humans above animals. They both argue that animals lack these higher faculties and are governed by lower, instinctive or sensory processes.