Select Works of Plotinus · 362 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor
Select Works, Section 345
Section 25 25. But the organ is not the only requisite to vision or to perception of any kind: there must be a state of the soul inclining it towards the sphere of sense. Now it is the soul's character to be ever in the Intellectual sphere, and even though it were apt to sense-perception, this could not accompany that intention towards the highest; to ourselves when absorbed in the Intellectual, vision and the other acts of sense are in abeyance for the time; and, in general, any special attention blurs every other. The desire of apprehension from part to part- a subject examining itself- is merely curiosity even in beings of our own standing, and, unless for some definite purpose, is waste of energy: and the desire to apprehend something external- for the sake of a pleasant sight- is the sign of suffering or deficiency. Smelling, tasting flavours [and such animal perceptions] may perhaps be described as mere accessories, distractions of the soul, while seeing and hearing would belong to the sun and the other heavenly bodies as incidentals to their being. This would not be unreasonable if seeing and hearing are means by which they apply themselves to their function. But if they so apply themselves, they must have memory; it is impossible that they should have no remembrance if they are to be benefactors, their service could not exist without memory.
Themes
◆Logoscosmology
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
The text describes an 'intermediary' that links the extremes of sense and the intellectual, functioning as a mediating principle akin to the Logos.
All passages →◆Tripartite Soulanthropology
Division of the human being into three principles: spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche), and body/matter (hyle or soma).
The text distinguishes between the soul, the body (bodily organs), and their conjunction ('living conjoint'), implying a composite human structure.
All passages →◇Cosmic Dualismtheology
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
[auto] The passage emphasizes the distinctness between the intellectual and sensible realms, noting that fire and man of the intellectual remain distinct from their sensible counterparts.
All passages →◇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 intellectual and sensible orders and mentions Nature as a soul-phase bringing man into being, implying a hierarchical structure of reality.
All passages →◇Self Knowledgesoteriology
The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.
[auto] The text explicitly states that when the soul is self-acting, it has knowledge of its own content, distinguishing this from perception.
All passages →Related passages · 21 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 5, Section 1b
“367 367 Sense-perception is a direct apprehension of that which we actually touch, see, hear, taste, or smell; Reason or Inference is an indirect apprehension of that which we do not actually touch, see, etc.
Intuition is a direct apprehen…”
Both passages discuss the nature of perception and the higher states of being or consciousness. They explore the idea of transcending sensory perception to attain a higher, more unified state of understanding or existence, though they do so within different philosophical and theological frameworks.
◆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 perception and knowledge, emphasizing the role of an intermediary between the knower and the known. Plotinus describes an intermediate entity that facilitates perception, while the second passage speaks of the soul becoming an instrument of God to perceive divine truth.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 6 (part 8)
“They are fire-flames, illumined by the light of God, but we attain the great fountain of meekness and love which is welling up within the holy essentiality of God." 1 ( Menschwerdung , i.
5.) Man comprises all three principles: the princip…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul or spirit and the material world, positing an intermediary or middle state that facilitates perception and interaction. They share a conceptual framework involving multiple principles or states that bridge the gap between the higher, intellectual or divine realm and the physical, sensible realm.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 6)
“2.) There existed in man also the third principle, wherein resides sensual desire.
He was not endowed with this principle for the purpose of surrendering himself to it, but that he might introduce it into the light of God, and glorify Him…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the soul or inner consciousness and the external world, emphasizing the role of an intermediary or instrument that facilitates knowledge or interaction between the two realms. They explore the idea of the soul's ability to perceive and interact with the external world through some form of mediation.
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 12 (part 6)
“The precept, therefore, admonishes us when we philosophize, and Proceed in the way pointed out, to fly from the snares of, and avoid all connection with, things corporeal and multifarious, but to become familiar with the essence of the inco…”
Both passages discuss the nature of knowledge and the role of the soul or intellect in perceiving and understanding the world. They emphasize the importance of contemplation and discipline in philosophy, and explore the relationship between the soul and the material world.
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 12 (part 7)
“It admonishes us, therefore, rather to betake p.
90 ourselves to scientific conceptions about intellectual objects, from which a most splendid and stable purity is produced about the eye of the soul, resulting from all intellectual concept…”
Both passages discuss the separation of the soul or intellect from the corporeal and material world, emphasizing the importance of philosophical or intellectual pursuits to achieve this separation. They both advocate for a focus on the incorporeal and intelligible aspects of existence.
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 13 (part 6)
“55 Ἐννέα γάρ οἱ νυκτὸς ἐμίσγετο μητίετα Ζεὺς νόσφιν ἀπ᾽ ἀθανάτων ἱερὸν λέχος εἰσαναβαίνων· ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δή ῥ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸς ἔην, περὶ δ᾽ ἔτραπον ὧραι μηνῶν φθινόντων, περὶ δ᾽ ἤματα πόλλ᾽ ἐτελέσθη, ἣ δ᾽ ἔτεκ᾽ ἐννέα κούρας ὁμόφρονας, ᾗσιν ἀοιδὴ 60 μέμ…”
Both passages discuss the nature of knowledge and the role of the soul or intellect in perceiving and understanding the world. They emphasize the importance of contemplation and discipline in philosophy, and the need to move beyond mere physical or sensible perceptions to grasp higher truths.
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 13 (part 7)
“Πὰρ δ᾽ αὐτῇς Χάριτές τε καὶ Ἵμερος οἰκί᾽ ἔχουσιν ἐν θαλίῃς· ἐρατὴν δὲ διὰ στόμα ὄσσαν ἱεῖσαι 65 μέλπονται πάντων τε νόμους καὶ ἤθεα κεδνὰ ἀθανάτων κλείουσιν, ἐπήρατον ὄσσαν ἱεῖσαι.] Αἳ τότ᾽ ἴσαν πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἀγαλλόμεναι ὀπὶ καλῇ, ἀμβροσίῃ μ…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the soul or intellect and the corporeal world, emphasizing the need to transcend physicality to achieve true understanding or philosophical enlightenment. They both advocate for a separation from bodily concerns to attain higher knowledge.
◆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 discuss the relationship between the soul, the body, and the perception of the external world. They explore the idea of intermediaries or vehicles that facilitate knowledge and perception, highlighting the layered nature of human existence and consciousness.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialoguef
“Hence it follows that not less do we desire to see things unknown and unseen than those known and seen.
And from this it does not follow that the desire does not proceed from cognition, and that we desire something that is not known; but I…”
Both passages discuss the nature of perception and the soul's inclination towards higher intellectual or spiritual realms. They explore the idea that sensory perception can be a distraction from higher understanding and the soul's desire to focus on the universal and the good.
11 more
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|Third Dialoguef
“Here the eyes imprint upon the heart, that is upon the intelligence, and rouse in the will an infinite torment of love, where there is no pain because nothing is sought which is not obtained; but it is happiness, because that which is there…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul/intelligence and sensory perception, emphasizing the higher, intellectual or spiritual realm over the physical senses. They share a mystical perspective on the soul's connection to divine or intellectual realms, though they come from different traditions.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter I (part 2)
“But such a procedure constitutes a departure from facts, and all such considerations of the world and of the self, to the ordinary non-philosophical mind, will not have the character of obviousness.
On the contrary the sole obvious fact re…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the subjective and objective worlds, and the nature of perception and knowledge. They discuss the role of the soul or psyche in understanding the external world, and the limitations of human perception.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter VIII (part 1)
“p.
80 CHAPTER VIII Our receptive apparatus.
Sensation.
Perception.
Conception.
Intuition.
Art as the language of the future.
To what extent does the three-dimensionality of the world depend upon the properties of our receptive appara…”
Both passages explore the nature of perception and the role of the soul or psyche in processing sensory information. They discuss how the soul or psyche interacts with external stimuli and how perception is constructed from basic sensory inputs.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVI (part 7)
“From the STANDPOINT OF LOGIC such a theory is more correct than the theory of two classes of actions—REASONED AND UN-REASONED.
It at least establishes the principle of NECESSARY UNIFORMITY.
It is really impossible to suppose that in an im…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the physical and psychic realms, questioning the primacy of physical phenomena and suggesting a deeper, unified principle underlying reality. They both argue for a living and rational world, though from different philosophical and mystical perspectives.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVI (part 10)
“By trying to think out of the usual categories, by trying to look at things and at ourselves from a new angle and simultaneously from many sides, by trying to liberate our thinking from its accustomed categories of perception in space and t…”
Both passages explore the idea of the soul or psyche interacting with and perceiving the world through intermediaries or analogies. They discuss the nature of perception and the existence of a higher or different plane of existence, though from different philosophical and mystical traditions.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVIII (part 4)
“A man whose moral sense prompts him to overcome passion in himself, does so because the moral sense (i.e., emotion) is more powerful than all his other feelings, other emotions.
In substance p.
218 all this is perfectly clear and simple,…”
Both passages explore the interplay between intellect and emotion in the process of knowing and understanding. They discuss the role of higher emotions and intellect in spiritual growth and knowledge, though from different philosophical and mystical traditions.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVIII (part 5)
“If we consider the emotional nature of man as self-contained, as serving life and not serving knowledge we shall never understand its true content and significance.
Emotions serve knowledge.
There are things and relations which can be kno…”
Both passages discuss the role of emotions and sensory experiences in understanding and knowledge. Passage A emphasizes that emotions are essential for certain types of knowledge and understanding, while Passage B explores how the soul perceives and understands the external world through an intermediary, highlighting the necessity of bodily organs and sensory experiences.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XIX (part 4)
“We constantly observe the conditions of materiality in those cases in which we must create in our life a sequence of phenomena or are obliged to select , because our matter does not permit us to juxtapose in a definite interval of time more…”
Both passages explore the limitations of perception and knowledge within the constraints of materiality and the need for an intermediary or change in perception to transcend these limits. They discuss the relationship between the knower and the known, and the role of the psyche or soul in perception.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XIX (part 6)
“In the objective world, indeed, this "slipping of the dewdrop into the sea" leads to the annihilation of the drop, to the absorption of it by the sea.
We have never observed another order of things in the objective world and therefore cann…”
Both passages explore the nature of consciousness and the perception of reality, emphasizing the internal, subjective experience over external, objective appearances. They both discuss the idea of the mind's ability to perceive truth and the degrees of knowledge, with a focus on the higher, intuitive faculties.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXII (part 16)
“Having become indifferent to objects of perception, the pupil must seek out the Rajah of the senses, the Thought-Producer, him who awakes illusions.
The mind is the great slayer of the real.
Let the Disciple slay the Slayer.
For— When to…”
Both passages discuss the need to transcend sensory perception and the illusions of the mind to attain a higher state of being or understanding. They emphasize the importance of inner focus and the rejection of external distractions to achieve spiritual insight.
◆western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|21. The Science Of The Prophetsb
“The soul, scrutinizing by means of the whole nervous system the circle of the Astral Light, which influences a man and from him receives an influence; the soul of the diviner, we repeat, can comprehend by a single intuition all the loves an…”
Both passages explore the nature of perception and the soul's interaction with the external world. Passage A discusses the soul's inclination towards the Intellectual sphere and the distractions of sensory perception, while Passage B describes the soul's ability to perceive and influence the Astral Light through intuition and divination. Both emphasize the soul's higher faculties and the limitations of sensory or rational perception.