Select Works of Plotinus · 330 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 314

Section 27 27. But of what soul; of that which we envisage as the more divine, by which we are human beings, or that other which springs from the All? Memory must be admitted in both of these, personal memories and shared memories; and when the two souls are together, the memories also are as one; when they stand apart, assuming that both exist and endure, each soon for gets the other's affairs, retaining for a longer time its own. Thus it is that the Shade of Hercules in the lower regions- this "Shade," as I take it, being the characteristically human part- remembers all the action and experience of the life, since that career was mainly of the hero's personal shaping; the other souls [soulphases] going to constitute the joint-being could, for all their different standing, have nothing to recount but the events of that same life, doings which they knew from the time of their association: perhaps they would add also some moral judgement. What the Hercules standing outside the Shade spoke of we are not told: what can we think that other, the freed and isolated, soul would recount? The soul, still a dragged captive, will tell of all the man did and felt; but upon death there will appear, as time passes, memories of the lives lived before, some of the events of the most recent life being dismissed as trivial. As it grows away from the body, it will revive things forgotten in the corporeal state, and if it passes in and out of one body after another, it will tell over the events of the discarded life, it will treat as present that which it has just left, and it will remember much from the former existence. But with lapse of time it will come to forgetfulness of many things that were mere accretion. Then free and alone at last, what will it have to remember? The answer to that question depends on our discovering in what faculty of the soul memory resides.

Themes

◆Body As Obstacleanthropology

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

The inquiry concerns souls that have 'quitted the places of earth,' implying a separation from the material realm is necessary for this state.

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◆Monadcosmology

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

The 'Authentic-Existent' and 'Intellectual-Principle' function as the simple, undivided first principles from which lower levels derive.

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◆Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

The text references 'self-intellections' of the higher beings as distinct from memory or external perception.

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◆Soul Migrationcosmology

The transmigration of the soul across lives.

The inquiry focuses on the state of souls after they have departed from earthly life, touching upon post-mortem existence.

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◆Tripartite Soulanthropology

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

The author investigates which 'constituents of our nature' hold memory, distinguishing between the Soul, the Animate, and the Couplement.

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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 describes the higher hypostases as possessing an 'unbroken state of identity' where all is one without past or sequent.

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◇Anamnesissoteriology

Platonic recollection: knowledge as the soul's recovery of what it knew before birth, with learning as remembering rather than acquisition.

[auto] The passage explicitly discusses and analyzes 'Recollection' (Platonic Anamnesis) in relation to the soul's memory of ideas.

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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 defines divine beings by negating attributes like memory, time, and experience rather than affirming positive qualities.

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◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] It describes the higher principles as possessing an 'unbroken state of identity' free from temporal division or composition.

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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 text distinguishes between earthly souls and the timeless Intellectual-Principle, implying a structured order of existence.

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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 divine nature is characterized by transcending the binary opposition of past and future time.

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Related passages · 6 parallels

◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 11)

“Unless this distinction of the various aspects of man is kept in mind, we are always exposed to mistaking the leaves of the tree of life for the branches, and the branches for the trunk, and the trunk for the roots. 197:1 Each soul constit…”

Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to a higher divine principle, as well as the concept of reincarnation and the persistence of memory across different lives. They explore the idea of different aspects or phases of the soul and how they interact with each other.

◆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 nature of souls and their relationship with memory, knowledge, and divine principles. They explore the idea of souls retaining or possessing knowledge and wisdom, though from different mystical traditions.

◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 13 (part 8)

“27.) Chapter LXXXIX. "The Chapter of causing the soul to be united to its body in Neter-khert." (See pp. 112, 318, and pl. 17.) The two incense burners which stand, one at the head and one at the foot of the bier, are peculiar to the pap…”

Both passages discuss the concept of the soul and its journey after death, exploring themes of memory, identity, and the afterlife. The Egyptian Book of the Dead focuses on rituals and chapters for the soul's journey, while Plotinus discusses the nature of the soul and its memories. Both traditions share a concern with the soul's existence and experiences beyond physical death.

◆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, particularly in the context of death and the afterlife. They explore the idea of the soul's purity and memory, and how these factors influence its post-mortem existence.

◆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 explore the concept of the soul and its relationship to the divine and the body. They discuss the soul's memories, its elevation, and its connection to higher truths, though they come from different mystical traditions.

◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXII (part 3)

“These Eleatic ideas—namely that there is and there can be only One Absolute Being, infinite., unchangeable, without a second, without parts and passions—are the same ideas which underlie the Upanishads and have been fully worked out in the…”

Both passages explore the nature of the soul and its relationship to the divine, with Passage A discussing the soul's memory and its connection to both personal and shared experiences, and Passage B discussing the soul's return to God and the unity of the human and divine natures. Both texts delve into mystical concepts of the soul's journey and its ultimate connection to the divine.