Select Works of Plotinus · 229 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 228 (part 2)

In a word; all that is truly good in a Soul acting to the purposes of nature and within its appointed order, all this is Real-Being: anything else is alien, no act of the Soul, but merely something that happens to it: a parallel may be found in false mentation, notions behind which there is no reality as there is in the case of authentic ideas, the eternal, the strictly defined, in which there is at once an act of true knowing, a truly knowable object and authentic existence- and this not merely in the Absolute, but also in the particular being that is occupied by the authentically knowable and by the Intellectual-Principle manifest in every several form.

In each particular human being we must admit the existence of the authentic Intellective Act and of the authentically knowable object- though not as wholly merged into our being, since we are not these in the absolute and not exclusively these- and hence our longing for absolute things: it is the expression of our intellective activities: if we sometimes care for the partial, that affection is not direct but accidental, like our knowledge that a given triangular figure is made up of two right angles because the absolute triangle is so.

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Themes

Correspondencecosmology

The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.

The triangle analogy explicitly illustrates how the structure of the absolute (the absolute triangle having two right angles) is reflected in the particular (a given triangular figure), making each level a legible map of the other.

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Divine Immanencetheology

The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about whether that substance indwells its parts) and from kingdom_within (the divine present specifically IN THE INDIVIDUAL human, accessible without mediation) — divine_immanence is the general pervading-presence claim applied to all of creation, not a human-specific indwelling.

The passage asserts that the Intellectual-Principle is 'manifest in every several form' and that the authentic Intellective Act exists within each particular human being, claiming the divine is present within all particular existences rather than remaining solely transcendent.

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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.

The passage describes the Intellectual-Principle manifesting in every particular form and the relation between the Absolute and particular beings, implying a hierarchical cascade from the One through Nous to the individual soul.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

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

The passage defines authentic ideas as containing 'at once an act of true knowing, a truly knowable object and authentic existence,' and identifies the soul's longing for absolute things as the expression of its intellective activities rather than a moral or ritual path.

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Microcosm Macrocosmcosmology

The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.

The passage states that in each particular human being one must admit the existence of the authentic Intellective Act and the authentically knowable object, making the human a small-scale mirror of the divine intelligible realm.

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Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

The passage explicitly states that the authentic Intellective Act exists in us 'not as wholly merged into our being, since we are not these in the absolute and not exclusively these,' and identifies the resulting 'longing for absolute things' as the affective mark of this partial separation.

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Related passages · 8 parallels

christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 13, Section 1a

“184 CHAPTER XIII Concerning ” Perfect “ and ” One .” 1. So much for these titles. Now let us, if thou art willing, proceed to the most .important Title of all. For the Divine Science attributes all qualities to the Creator of all things…”

Shared concept: Divine Immanence — The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. (derived)

christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 2, Section 1k

“Indeed, He is not an unity in this sense, and doth not participate in unity nor possess it; 224 224 These two phrases well express the meaning of the title “Beyond things and supernally infusing Unity” (ὑπερηνωμένη), which I have generally…”

western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Human Body in Symbolism-a

“THE oldest, the most profound, the most universal of all symbols is the human body. The Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, and Hindus considered a philosophical analysis of man's triune nature to be an indispensable part of ethical and religious…”

Shared concept: Microcosm Macrocosm — The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror. (derived)

theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 46 (part 11)

“They say that what is called collectively Monads by Leibnitz -- roughly viewed, and leaving every subdivision out of calculation, for the present** -- may be separated into three distinct Hosts, which, counted from the highest planes, are,…”

hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 11: The Hymn|Section 1b

“It <i.e., Soul> fills it <i.e., the Body of the Cosmos> from within, and from without encircles it, making the All to live. Without, this vast and perfect Life [encircles] Cosmos; within, it fills [it with] all lives; above, in Heaven, con…”

Shared concept: Correspondence — The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others. (derived)

christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 4 (part 4)

“We may say that the world, as we know it, is constituted entirely of forms of heat, or of motion, or of electric conditions, or light, &c., &c. All this is true in so far as it refers to the relations which it bears towards ourselves. All…”

western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Mysteries and Their Emissaries-a

“DID that divine knowledge which constituted the supreme possession of the pagan priestcrafts survive the destruction of their temples? Is it yet accessible to mankind, or does it lie buried beneath the rubbish of ages, entombed within the…”

Shared concept: Gnosis Direct Knowledge — Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone. (derived)

sufism|The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi)|PROLOGUE-a

“HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains, Lamenting its banishment from its home: "Ever since they tore me from my osier bed, My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears. I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs, And t…”

Shared concept: Separation From Source — The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive. (derived)