← Home
Select Works of Plotinus · 329 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 313 (part 2)

This being admitted, aspiration will belong to soul, and so, as a consequence, will that memory of the aspiration and of its attainment or frustration, without which the soul's nature would fall into the category of the unstable [that is to say of the undivine, unreal]. Deny this character of the soul and at once we refuse it perception, consciousness, any power of comparison, almost any understanding. Yet these powers of which, embodied it becomes the source cannot be absent from its own nature. On the contrary; it possesses certain activities to be expressed in various functions whose accomplishment demands bodily organs; at its entry it brings with it [as vested in itself alone] the powers necessary for some of these functions, while in the case of others it brings the very activities themselves. Memory, in point of fact, is impeded by the body: even as things are, addition often brings forgetfulness; with thinning and dearing away, memory will often revive. The soul is a stability; the shifting and fleeting thing which body is can be a cause only of its forgetting not of its remembering- Lethe stream may be understood in this sense- and memory is a fact of the soul.
Themes
◆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.

References to spheres to which elements belong imply a structured hierarchy of existence beyond the material world.

All passages →
◆Funerary Navigationpraxis

Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.

The passage serves as a philosophical guide regarding the destination and fate of the soul immediately following death.

All passages →
◆Logoscosmology

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

The 'divine law' described as ineluctable and carrying out doom functions as an ordering principle governing the universe.

All passages →
◆Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The soul seeks a 'natural recipient' or 'fit place,' implying a journey back to where it belongs naturally.

All passages →
◇Body As Obstacleanthropology

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

[auto] The text states the soul cannot remain in this world as there is no natural recipient for it, implying the material realm is unsuitable for the soul's nature.

All passages →
◇Paradox As Teachingethics

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

[auto] The passage presents the paradox that the soul is brought to a lot it never chose through its own self-chosen movement and errors.

All passages →
◇Soul Migrationcosmology

The transmigration of the soul across lives.

[auto] The passage centrally addresses the question of where the soul goes after leaving the body and describes its movement to a sphere based on its condition.

All passages →
Related passages · 8 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation)|IIb
“So, if my soul is to know God, it must be God-like.” Now, how is the soul to arrive at this heavenly state that it recognizes God in itself, and knows that He is near? By copying the heavens, which can receive no impulse from without to ma…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship with the divine. Passage A emphasizes the soul's stability and its powers, including memory, which are impeded by the body. Passage B focuses on the soul's need to be rooted in God and free from earthly disturbances to know God. Both highlight the soul's divine nature and its struggle to maintain this nature in a bodily context.
◆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 nature of the soul and its connection to the divine. Passage A emphasizes the soul's inherent powers and memory, while Passage B focuses on the soul's union with God and the attainment of divine knowledge. Both highlight the soul's elevated state and its ability to perceive higher truths.
◆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 nature and destination of the soul after death, exploring themes of divine justice, the soul's purity, and its relationship with the divine. They share a mystical perspective on the soul's journey and its connection to the divine realm.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 14 (part 8)
“, in the heavenly essentiality (Devachan)—cannot be disturbed by anybody, unless they should wish it themselves, in case that they were very favourably inclined towards some particular soul in harmony with their own. They do not trouble th…”
Both passages discuss the state of the soul after death and its journey or rest in a higher realm. They also touch on the concept of divine justice and the influence of one's actions in life on the soul's afterlife.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 14 (part 10)
“When, then, death actually takes place, and separates the soul from the body, the poor soul will then cling to that thread and refuse to let go her hold of it, but all her essences are still deeply immersed in the wrath of God; she is tortu…”
Both passages discuss the state of the soul after death and its journey towards redemption or rest. They explore the idea of the soul being held back by earthly attachments and the process of purification or suffering that the soul undergoes.
◆platonism|Plato: Phaedo|Section 1{
“For example, when the body is hot and thirsty, does not the soul incline us against drinking? and when the body is hungry, against eating? And this is only one instance out of ten thousand of the opposition of the soul to the things of th…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the body, emphasizing the soul's higher, more divine qualities and its ability to transcend bodily limitations. They both argue for the soul's stability and its capacity for memory and perception, which are impeded but not determined by the body.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|INTRODUCTIONj
“The body is in the soul, the soul is in the mind, the mind is in God. The life of the soul is the true life of the man. Of all his various faculties, that which rules all, that which exalts our nature, is Thought. By means of it we rise…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the soul and the body, emphasizing the soul's higher nature and its connection to divine or higher truths. Passage A focuses on the soul's memory and perception, while Passage B discusses the soul's elevation through thought and its connection to the divine.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialoguej
“This I understand right well, and also that which you would infer about the principal intention; that is to say, that these are the degrees of the loves, of the affections, and of the enthusiasms, according to the degrees of greater and les…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul, its activities, and its relationship with the body and the divine. They explore themes of memory, aspiration, and the soul's journey, showing a conceptual parallel in their mystical perspectives.