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Select Works of Plotinus · 357 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 341

Section 21 21. That this is the phase of the human being in which desire takes its origin is shown by observation of the different stages of life; in childhood, youth, maturity, the bodily desires differ; health or sickness also may change them, while the [psychic] faculty is of course the same through all: the evidence is clear that the variety of desire in the human being results from the fact that he is a corporeal entity, a living body subject to every sort of vicissitude. The total movement of desire is not always stirred simultaneously with what we call the impulses to the satisfaction even of the lasting bodily demands; it may refuse assent to the idea of eating or drinking until reason gives the word: this shows us desire- the degree of it existing in the living body- advancing towards some object, with Nature [the lower soul-phase] refusing its co-operation and approval, and as sole arbiter between what is naturally fit and unfit, rejecting what does not accord with the natural need. We may be told that the changing state of the body is sufficient explanation of the changing desires in the faculty; but that would require the demonstration that the changing condition of a given entity could effect a change of desire in another, in one which cannot itself gain by the gratification; for it is not the desiring faculty that profits by food, liquid, warmth, movement, or by any relief from overplenty or any filling of a void; all such services touch the body only.
Themes
◆Body As Obstacleanthropology

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

The body is characterized as an accessory dependent on the true self that produces pains and pleasures distinct from the master-principle.

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◆Divine Sparkscosmology

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

The body is described as holding a 'shadow of soul,' suggesting a fragment of the higher principle resides within the material form.

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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.

References to a 'superior principle' entering into relation with the body imply a descending order of reality from higher to lower.

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◆Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

The soul is described as immune from evil in isolation, with pain arising only from the artificial unity with matter.

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◆Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

The text expresses a longing for unison with the higher principle and penetrating into the true man.

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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.

The passage describes a longing for unison and being directed to the above as the soul's orientation.

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◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] The true self is identified as the internal 'master-principle' or higher soul rather than the external physical form.

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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.

[auto] The passage explicitly defines the 'true human being' as the higher soul, distinguishing the authentic self from the compound of body and lower nature.

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◇Tripartite Soulanthropology

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

[auto] The text distinguishes between the higher soul, the vegetive or animal life within the body, and the physical body itself as distinct layers of existence.

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Related passages · 10 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 3 (part 4)
“The will cannot attain this light, and the more it desires for freedom the greater will be the attraction caused by the desire." ( Six Theosophical Points , i, 38.) "There must be au opposition, for the will desires not to be dark, and this…”
Both passages explore the nature of desire and its relationship to the self and the body. They discuss how desire is influenced by external and internal factors, and how it can lead to conflict within the individual. The passages come from different traditions but share a conceptual parallel in their examination of desire and its effects.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 1)
“p. 180 CHAPTER IX. GENERATION. "Let every Brahman, with fixed attention, consider all nature, both visible and invisible, as existing in the Divine Spirit. For when he contemplates the boundless universe in the Divine Spirit, he cannot…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul and the body, and the higher self and the lower self. They discuss the idea of a higher principle (soul or spirit) interacting with a lower principle (body or nature), and the consequences of this interaction, including the experience of pain and pleasure, and the striving for a higher state of being.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 7)
“Even in its best aspect the performance is disgusting before the sanctity of that which is divine, it having been caused by sin in consequence of primordial man's degradation, but being patiently submitted to by that which is divine in man,…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul and the body, discussing how the soul interacts with the physical form and the nature of their union. They both delve into the idea of a higher self or soul that is distinct from the bodily experiences of pleasure and pain.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 10)
“The conditions of these animal elementals in the constitution of man are some of those causes of his bodily ills of which modern medical science is entirely ignorant. 191:1 This is the way in which the "personalities" mentioned in the Book…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the human soul, the body, and the spiritual essence. They discuss the duality of human nature, the influence of the soul on the body, and the distinction between higher and lower aspects of being, showing a genuine conceptual parallel across 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 soul (or higher self) and the body (or lower self), discussing how they interact and the nature of their union. They both describe a duality that is also a unity, with the higher principle penetrating and illuminating the lower.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 12 (part 11)
“The human will refuses to submit itself entirely to the exquisite grace which offers itself out of divine love, and seeks for its own self and for the love of that self which belongs to that which is impermanent. It loves itself and the st…”
Both passages discuss the conflict between the lower, bodily desires and the higher, spiritual aspirations of the human soul. They explore the tension between natural inclinations and the pursuit of divine or rational will, highlighting the struggle within the individual to align with a higher purpose.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 13 (part 9)
“279 free will already in the beginning (of a desire) destroys the desire, so that it does not become substantial, then is the physician (for the cure of that disease) already born, and there will not be needed such great earnestness as will…”
Both passages discuss the nature of desire and its relationship to the body and the soul. They explore how desires are influenced by bodily states and the need for reason or spiritual awareness to control or transcend these desires.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount|Section 1d
“Spirit pervading [body] by means of veins and arteries and blood, bestows upon the living creature motion, and as it were doth bear it in a way. For this cause some do think the soul is blood, in that they do mistake its nature, not knowin…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul, body, and higher principles, discussing the interplay and distinction between these elements. They both emphasize the idea of a higher self that is distinct from the physical body and its associated experiences.
◆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 body, soul, and higher faculties (mind or intellect). They explore how desires and impulses are influenced by the corporeal and psychic aspects, and how the higher faculties (reason or thought) play a crucial role in governing these desires. The passages share a mystical and philosophical approach to understanding human nature and the path to higher consciousness.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XII (part 2)
“Yet we know perfectly well that the wheel can go on rotating for millions of years, and no single idea will be produced by it at all. Thus we see that the phenomena of motion differ in a fundamental way from the phenomena of life and of co…”
Both passages explore the nature of desire and its relationship to the body and the psyche. Passage A discusses how desire originates and is influenced by the body's state, while Passage B examines the transformative power of desire as a psychic phenomenon. Both highlight the complex interplay between physical and non-physical aspects of existence.