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Select Works of Plotinus · 294 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 283

Section 1 1. In the Intellectual Kosmos dwells Authentic Essence, with the Intellectual-Principle [Divine Mind] as the noblest of its content, but containing also souls, since every soul in this lower sphere has come thence: that is the world of unembodied spirits while to our world belong those that have entered body and undergone bodily division. There the Intellectual-Principle is a concentrated all- nothing of it distinguished or divided- and in that kosmos of unity all souls are concentrated also, with no spatial discrimination. But there is a difference: The Intellectual-Principle is for ever repugnant to distinction and to partition. Soul, there without distinction and partition, has yet a nature lending itself to divisional existence: its division is secession, entry into body. In view of this seceding and the ensuing partition we may legitimately speak of it as a partible thing. But if so, how can it still be described as indivisible? In that the secession is not of the soul entire; something of it holds its ground, that in it which recoils from separate existence. The entity, therefore, described as "consisting of the undivided soul and of the soul divided among bodies," contains a soul which is at once above and below, attached to the Supreme and yet reaching down to this sphere, like a radius from a centre. Thus it is that, entering this realm, it possesses still the vision inherent to that superior phase in virtue of which it unchangingly maintains its integral nature. Even here it is not exclusively the partible soul: it is still the impartible as well: what in it knows partition is parted without partibility; undivided as giving itself to the entire body, a whole to a whole, it is divided as being effective in every part.
Themes
◆Inner Silencepraxis

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

The text mandates that all thinking and knowing must be eliminated to reach the First.

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◇Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

[auto] The passage explicitly negates consciousness, life, and existence categories regarding The Good, describing it only by what it is not.

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◇Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

[auto] The Good is positioned 'Apart from and over any Intellection', beyond conception.

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◇Divine Simplicitytheology

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

[auto] The Good stands apart from and over Intellection, implying a lack of composite attributes.

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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] It outlines a clear hierarchy where Intellection is secondary to Being, which projects from the Primal Source of Life.

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◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The text refers to 'The First', 'The Primal', and 'The Good' as the singular source transcending all acts.

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◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

[auto] It suggests the act of intellection can become the Primal Act itself through turning the gaze.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

[auto] The Good is described as standing apart from distinctions like existent or non-existent consciousness.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The text states the First cannot be said to live precisely because it is the source of Life.

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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] Turning the gaze towards the Primal implies a movement back to the origin of Being and Life.

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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 passage describes 'turning the gaze towards the Primal' as the act of intellection.

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Related passages · 11 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 11, Section 1b
“Plotinus says the Godhead is indivisibly divided. doth not leave Its own Unity, but, even in the act of going forth to all things, remains entirely within Itself through the excess of that all-transcendent Unity: concerning these things ‘t…”
Both passages discuss the concept of unity and division within a divine or intellectual framework, exploring how the divine or intellectual principle remains undivided while also being present in divided forms. They share a mystical exploration of the nature of unity and multiplicity.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 6)
“The human selfhood will then follow in its perceptions the Spirit of God, tremblingly and in the joy of humility, and become able to see what is contained in time and in eternity. Everything is near to a soul in that state, for the soul is…”
Both passages discuss the transcendence of the divine and the limitations of human intellection or consciousness in understanding the divine. They emphasize the idea that the divine is beyond human comprehension and that true understanding comes from a state of humility and unity with the divine.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 10)
“It is itself the most secret thing, which can be known by no one except by him who has experienced it; neither do those that live entirely within the realm of animality, or within that of the speculating intellect, believe that such a state…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and the limitations of human understanding and intellection in comprehending it. They emphasize that the divine is beyond human consciousness and that true understanding comes from a higher, transcendent source.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 7)
“48.) "The soul and the Word are not one or one being. The soul is born from the centre of nature, from the essences, and belongs to the body, for she issues from the essences of the body, and attracts to herself the body; but the Word is f…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the divine and the soul, emphasizing the soul's connection to both the higher, undivided realm and the lower, divided world. They also explore the idea of the soul maintaining its integral nature while being part of the material world.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 14 (part 2)
“2.) During his terrestrial existence man can remain consciously in the three worlds, and by the power of the will with which he is endowed penetrate into either one or the other; but after the separation of the soul from the body has taken…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to higher and lower realms. They explore the idea of the soul's existence in different states or principles, and the consequences of its division or attachment to different realms.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Front Matter, p. 4 (part 4)
“Hence according to his theology there are two worlds, the intelligible and the sensible. Hence too his three demiurgic principles: Jovial, Dionysiacal, and Adonical, Δΐι#, ( ) Διονυσιακὴ, Αδωναϊκὴ, from whence many orders and differences o…”
Both passages discuss the hierarchical structure of reality, with a supreme, transcendent principle (The Good in Plotinus, the supreme God in the Orphic and Platonic theology) that is the source of all existence and intellect. They also describe the emanation of lesser beings (Intellection, souls, and intellects) from this supreme principle, emphasizing the interconnectedness and order of the universe.
◆platonism|Plato: Phaedo|Section 1q
“Then reflect, Cebes: is not the conclusion of the whole matter this?-that the soul is in the very likeness of the divine, and immortal, and intelligible, and uniform, and indissoluble, and unchangeable; and the body is in the very likeness…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the body, emphasizing the soul's divine and intellectual qualities and its separation from the corporeal world. They share a mystical perspective on the soul's purity and its journey after death.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXIII (part 4)
“This last is called Self Consciousness and is that faculty upon which rests all of our life (both subjective and objective) which is not common to us and the higher animals, except that small part of it which is derived from the few individ…”
Both passages discuss different levels or forms of consciousness. Passage A outlines three grades of consciousness (simple, self, and cosmic), while Passage B discusses intellection and the transcendence of The Good, implying a hierarchy of consciousness and being. Both explore the nature of higher consciousness and its implications.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXIII (part 9)
“Further, it should be noted, as the possession of concepts implies the possession of language, so the possession of concepts and language (which are in reality two aspects of the same thing) implies the possession of self-consciousness. Al…”
Both passages discuss the evolution of consciousness and intellect, with Passage A describing the progression from perceptual to conceptual to supra-conceptual (cosmic) consciousness, and Passage B discussing the relationship between intellection, self-consciousness, and the Primal Good. Both explore the limits and nature of higher states of awareness.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXIII (part 18)
“And in those who do not possess it in some sort already, it cannot be created by any culture whatever, in the same way that no kind or amount of culture will make an animal speak the language of man. The possibility of the manifestation of…”
Both passages discuss the nature of higher consciousness and its relationship to ordinary human consciousness. They both emphasize that higher states of consciousness are not commonly experienced and are distinct from ordinary self-consciousness.
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◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Page 29 (part 2)
“Consciousness as in sleep without dreams. Simple consciousness. "It pains me," but the impossibility of saying, "I am conscious that it pains me." The reflected state of consciousness. Vision as in dreams. The passive state of conscious…”
Both passages explore the nature of consciousness and its evolution, with Passage A detailing various forms of consciousness and knowledge, and Passage B discussing the nature of intellection and its relationship to The Good. Both texts delve into the progression and different states of awareness, though from different philosophical and mystical traditions.