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Select Works of Plotinus · 446 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 424

Section 8 8. This is the explanation of Plato's Triplicity, in the passage where he names as the Primals the Beings gathered about the King of All, and establishes a Secondary containing the Secondaries, and a Third containing the Tertiaries. He teaches, also, that there is an author of the Cause, that is of the Intellectual-Principle, which to him is the Creator who made the Soul, as he tells us, in the famous mixing bowl. This author of the causing principle, of the divine mind, is to him the Good, that which transcends the Intellectual-Principle and transcends Being: often too he uses the term "The Idea" to indicate Being and the Divine Mind. Thus Plato knows the order of generation- from the Good, the Intellectual-Principle; from the Intellectual-Principle, the Soul. These teachings are, therefore, no novelties, no inventions of today, but long since stated, if not stressed; our doctrine here is the explanation of an earlier and can show the antiquity of these opinions on the testimony of Plato himself. Earlier, Parmenides made some approach to the doctrine in identifying Being with Intellectual-Principle while separating Real Being from the realm of sense. "Knowing and Being are one thing he says, and this unity is to him motionless in spite of the intellection he attributes to it: to preserve its unchanging identity he excludes all bodily movement from it; and he compares it to a huge sphere in that it holds and envelops all existence and that its intellection is not an outgoing act but internal. Still, with all his affirmation of unity, his own writings lay him open to the reproach that his unity turns out to be a multiplicity. The Platonic Parmenides is more exact; the distinction is made between the Primal One, a strictly pure Unity, and a secondary One which is a One-Many and a third which is a One-and-many; thus he too is in accordance with our thesis of the Three Kinds.
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Themes
Active Contemplationpraxis

A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.

[auto] The text instructs the reader to 'contemplate all things as members of the Intellectual', utilizing symbolic thought.

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Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The wisdom presiding over the Intellectual sphere is described as 'unapproachable', hinting at transcendence beyond concepts.

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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.

The contrast between the 'world of sense' and the 'more authentic sphere' implies the material realm is inferior to the divine.

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Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The text mentions 'gods within it, seen and hidden' and 'unapproachable wisdom', indicating aspects of divine concealment.

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Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] The realm is described as 'perfect throughout' and holding 'nothing that is less', suggesting an undivided divine reality.

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Divine Sparkscosmology

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

The text states the Intellectual realm is 'the place of every soul', implying souls originate from or belong to this divine source.

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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 describes the Intellectual-Principle as the 'offspring or exuberance of God', indicating a flow from a higher source.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] The passage presents 'another way to this knowledge' through contemplation of the archetype rather than ritual or faith.

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Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

The description of 'self-springing consciousness' within the Intellectual sphere suggests an internal divine illumination.

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Inner Silencepraxis

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

The archetypal world is characterized by 'rest unbroken' where there is no need to seek change or increase.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

[auto] The Intellectual sphere is described as vested with 'self-springing consciousness and life', portraying the divine as dynamic.

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Logoscosmology

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

The 'Intellectual-Principle' and the 'order of its eternal march' function as the divine reason ordering the universe.

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Monadcosmology

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

[auto] God is referenced as the singular source from which the Intellectual-Principle flows as an offspring.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

[auto] The description of the soul's place in the Intellectual realm where 'all is God' implies a merging with the divine nature.

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Pleromacosmology

The divine fullness or totality of the highest realm, populated by aeons and divine attributes, contrasted with the deficient material world.

[auto] The 'Archetypal world' is depicted as containing 'all that is immortal' and divine fullness contrasted with the sense world.

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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 passage explicitly describes the soul's journey to 'mount to its archetype' and identifies the Intellectual realm as the 'place of every soul'.

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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 text outlines a staged journey from admiring the sensible world to contemplating the Intellectual sphere and unapproachable wisdom.

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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.

[auto] The passage asserts that in the archetypal world 'all is God' and 'nothing here but is Divine Mind', emphasizing non-dual perfection.

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