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Select Works of Plotinus · 225 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 226

Section 5 5. But what is the Nature of this Spirit- of the Supernals in general? The Spirit-Kind is treated in the Symposium where, with much about the others, we learn of Eros- Love- born to Penia- Poverty- and Poros- Possession- who is son of Metis- Resource- at Aphrodite's birth feast. But to take Plato as meaning, by Eros, this Universe- and not simply the Love native within it- involves much that is self-contradictory. For one thing, the universe is described as a blissful god and as self-sufficing, while this "Love" is confessedly neither divine nor self-sufficing but in ceaseless need. Again, this Kosmos is a compound of body and soul; but Aphrodite to Plato is the Soul itself, therefore Aphrodite would necessarily- he a constituent part of Eros, dominant member! A man is the man's Soul, if the world is, similarly, the world's Soul, then Aphrodite, the Soul, is identical with Love, the Kosmos! And why should this one spirit, Love, be the Universe to the exclusion of all the others, which certainly are sprung from the same Essential-Being? Our only escape would be to make the Kosmos a complex of Supernals. Love, again, is called the Dispenser of beautiful children: does this apply to the Universe? Love is represented as homeless, bedless and barefooted: would not that be a shabby description of the Kosmos and quite out of the truth?
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Themes
Active Contemplationpraxis

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

[auto] The text emphasizes the 'strenuous activity of contemplation' and the 'intensity of its gaze' as the generative force behind the birth of Eros.

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Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The text uses biological metaphors like 'conceived and brought forth an offspring' to describe metaphysical emanation.

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Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

[auto] The passage uses visual metaphors such as 'eye filled with its vision' and 'seeing that bears its image' to describe the divine influence.

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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 passage explicitly describes Love as a Real-Being sprung from the Soul, which itself comes from a higher Hypostasis, establishing a clear downward chain of existence.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] Love's essential being is defined by 'horasis,' or direct seeing/vision of the divine object, rather than discursive reasoning.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

The divine principles are described as having 'life' and engaging in 'strenuous activity,' portraying them as dynamic realities.

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Monadcosmology

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

The text references the 'very Highest' and the 'Act of the Hypostasis that ranks before it,' implying the ultimate simple source of all being.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

[auto] The Soul is described as looking 'rapt' towards the very Highest, indicating a state of deep spiritual connection or union with the divine source.

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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 Soul's orientation is described as looking towards the Highest as its good, implying an upward movement or aspiration toward the divine origin.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The passage refers to a singular 'Real-Being of all that authentically is,' suggesting an underlying ontological unity.

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Related passages · 10 parallels
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Shared concept: Spiritual Ascent — A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source. (derived)