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Select Works of Plotinus · 333 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 317

Section 30 30. But what of the memory of mental acts: do these also fall under the imaging faculty? If every mental act is accompanied by an image we may well believe that this image, fixed and like a picture of the thought, would explain how we remember the object of knowledge once entertained. But if there is no such necessary image, another solution must be sought. Perhaps memory would be the reception, into the image-taking faculty, of the Reason-Principle which accompanies the mental conception: this mental conception- an indivisible thing, and one that never rises to the exterior of the consciousness- lies unknown below; the Reason-Principle the revealer, the bridge between the concept and the image-taking faculty exhibits the concept as in a mirror; the apprehension by the image-taking faculty would thus constitute the enduring presence of the concept, would be our memory of it. This explains, also, another fact: the soul is unfailingly intent upon intellection; only when it acts upon this image-taking faculty does its intellection become a human perception: intellection is one thing, the perception of an intellection is another: we are continuously intuitive but we are not unbrokenly aware: the reason is that the recipient in us receives from both sides, absorbing not merely intellections but also sense-perceptions.
Themes
◆Anamnesissoteriology

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

The passage discusses reviving things forgotten in the corporeal state and remembering events from former existences.

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◆Funerary Navigationpraxis

Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.

The passage discusses the 'Shade of Hercules in the lower regions,' referencing the state of the soul after death.

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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.

It contrasts the dragged captive soul with the freed and isolated soul, highlighting the condition of exile from the divine.

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◇Body As Obstacleanthropology

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

[auto] The soul is described as a 'dragged captive,' implying that the human condition or material existence hinders its freedom.

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◇Divine Sparkscosmology

Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.

[auto] The text identifies a 'more divine' aspect within human beings that distinguishes them from the soul springing from the All.

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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 distinguishes between a 'more divine' soul and another that 'springs from the All,' reflecting a hierarchical structure of spiritual principles.

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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] The inquiry into what the 'freed and isolated' soul would recount implies a state of separation from earthly life and return to its origin.

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◇Soul Migrationcosmology

The transmigration of the soul across lives.

[auto] The passage explicitly describes the soul passing in and out of one body after another and recounting events of discarded lives.

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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 contrast between the 'dragged captive' soul and the 'freed and isolated' soul suggests a movement toward liberation or ascent.

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Related passages · 7 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 the divine and personal aspects of human existence. They explore the idea of reincarnation and the persistence of the soul through different lives, though from different mystical traditions.
◆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 explore the relationship between the divine and the human aspects of the soul, discussing how the soul retains memories and experiences from different states of existence. They both delve into the idea of the soul's connection to a higher, divine reality, though from different mystical traditions.
◆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 the soul after death and its relationship to memory and previous lives. They explore the idea of the soul's existence beyond the physical body and its connection to divine or higher realms, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 14 (part 9)
“The faith of the living caught that of the saints, and the faith performed the miracle. Faith can overthrow mountains. It could destroy the world, if God were so to direct it." 1 ( Forty Questions , xxvi.) In the above we have considered…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul after death and the concept of purgatory or a transitional state. They explore the idea of souls being held in a middle state where they experience suffering or purification before moving on to their final destination. The passages also touch on the role of faith and memory in this process.
◆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 nature of the soul after death and its connection to the physical body and earthly affairs. They explore the idea of the soul retaining memories and attachments, and the process of the soul's liberation from these attachments.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LXI — Of the Forming of Man, of the External Senses, also those Inward, and the Mind; and of the Three-Fold Appetite of the Soul, and Passions of the Will|Chapter LXI, Section 1b
“This is that which shows us future things by dreams, whence the fancy is sometimes named the phantastical intellect. For it is the last impression of the understanding, which, as saith Iamblicus, is that belonging to all the powers of the…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the mind, intellect, and the formation of images or perceptions. They explore how mental acts and intellections are processed and remembered, highlighting the role of the imagination and the different faculties of the soul.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXIII (part 8)
“V It remains to say a few words upon the psychological origin of what is called in this book Cosmic Consciousness. Although in the birth of Cosmic Consciousness the moral nature plays an important part, it will be better for many reasons t…”
Both passages explore the nature of mental processes and the formation of abstract concepts from sensory or perceptual inputs. Plotinus discusses the role of the image-taking faculty and Reason-Principle in memory and intellection, while the second passage outlines the evolution of the intellect from percepts to concepts, highlighting the role of naming and language. Both texts delve into the mechanisms by which higher cognitive functions are achieved.