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Select Works of Plotinus · 448 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 426

Section 10 10. We have shown the inevitability of certain convictions as to the scheme of things: There exists a Principle which transcends Being; this is The One, whose nature we have sought to establish in so far as such matters lend themselves to proof. Upon The One follows immediately the Principle which is at once Being and the Intellectual-Principle. Third comes the Principle, Soul. Now just as these three exist for the system of Nature, so, we must hold, they exist for ourselves. I am not speaking of the material order- all that is separable- but of what lies beyond the sense realm in the same way as the Primals are beyond all the heavens; I mean the corresponding aspect of man, what Plato calls the Interior Man. Thus our soul, too, is a divine thing, belonging to another order than sense; such is all that holds the rank of soul, but [above the life-principle] there is the soul perfected as containing Intellectual-Principle with its double phase, reasoning and giving the power to reason. The reasoning phase of the soul, needing no bodily organ for its thinking but maintaining, in purity, its distinctive Act that its thought may be uncontaminated- this we cannot err in placing, separate and not mingled into body, within the first Intellectual. We may not seek any point of space in which to seat it; it must be set outside of all space: its distinct quality, its separateness, its immateriality, demand that it be a thing alone, untouched by all of the bodily order. This is why we read of the universe that the Demiurge cast the soul around it from without- understand that phase of soul which is permanently seated in the Intellectual- and of ourselves that the charioteer's head reaches upwards towards the heights. The admonition to sever soul from body is not, of course, to be understood spatially- that separation stands made in Nature- the reference is to holding our rank, to use of our thinking, to an attitude of alienation from the body in the effort to lead up and attach to the over-world, equally with the other, that phase of soul seated here and, alone, having to do with body, creating, moulding, spending its care upon it.
Themes
◆Divine Sparkscosmology

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

The Soul is described as standing linked as a member of the divine.

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◇Apophatic Theologytheology

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

[auto] It defines Primals by negation, stating they are not masses or magnitudes.

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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] It characterizes the gross order of masses and magnitudes as later and real only to sense-thought.

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◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] It explicitly describes the primal cause as a 'Simplex' without parts, contrasting it with the manifold.

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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] It outlines a descending order from the Simplex to the Intellectual-Principle and then to the Soul.

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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 Soul seeks knowledge of the Being that engendered the God within it.

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◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

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

[auto] The text states that God, the Intellectual-Principle, exists within the Soul here.

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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.

[auto] The passage identifies the unseen effective reality as Number and Reason-Principle.

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◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The passage centrally focuses on the 'Simplex' and 'Unity' as the primal source preceding all multiplicity.

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◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

[auto] The Soul is described as seeking to become 'one with' the divine Intellect.

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◇Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

[auto] The text extensively analyzes Number, Quantity, Unity, and Dyad as the underlying ontological structure of reality.

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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 Soul seeks the cause and source that engendered the God within it.

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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 Soul is described as bringing itself close to the divine Intellect and seeking further.

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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 goal described is becoming one with the divine Intellect, transcending multiplicity.

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Related passages · 10 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 7, Section 1b
“(2) Wisdom as a whole = Wisdom embodied in the universe as a whole. (3) Wisdom in each individual instance = Wisdom as shown in the structure of some particular plant or animal, or part of a plant or animal. (1) Is an Emanation; (2) and (…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to higher principles, emphasizing the immaterial and intellectual aspects of the soul. They also explore the idea of a transcendent principle that is beyond being and intellect.
◆christian_mysticism|Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation)|VIIa
“OUTWARD AND INWARD MORALITY I Cor. xv. 10 .—“The Grace of God.” Grace is from God, and works in the depth of the soul whose powers it employs. It is a light which issues forth to do service under the guidance of the Spirit. The Divine L…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the divine, emphasizing the transcendence of the soul and its connection to a higher intellectual or spiritual principle. They also highlight the importance of inner transformation and alignment with the divine will.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 1)
“p. 58 CHAPTER II. THE UNITY OF THE ALL. "We are all one body in Christ, and have all the Spirit of Christ within our reach. If, then, we enter into the Christ, we may see and know everything by the power of His Spirit." ( Forty Question…”
Both passages explore the concept of the divine unity and the difficulty of human comprehension of the infinite. They discuss the relationship between the One (or Unity) and the manifold, using different terminology but sharing a similar mystical insight.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 4 (part 1)
“p. 89 CHAPTER IV. CREATION. Everything we see in nature is manifested truth; only we are not able to recognise it as such, unless the truth is manifest within ourselves. God is the supreme, fundamental, universal, self-existent eternal…”
Both passages explore the relationship between a divine unity and the multiplicity of creation. Plotinus discusses the Intellectual-Principle and its relationship to The One, while Boehme describes the divine powers created by God and their relationship to the divine centre. Both texts delve into the nature of divine emanation and the hierarchy of existence.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 1)
“p. 224 CHAPTER XI. INCARNATION—THE CELESTIAL VIRGIN. The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ, or, to express it in other words, of the awakening of the germ of divine self-knowledge in man, is so grand, that it is impossible to form a…”
Both passages explore the concept of divine emanation and the relationship between the divine and the material world. Passage A discusses the Intellectual-Principle and its relationship to The One, while Passage B talks about the incarnation of the Logos and its role in humanity. Both texts delve into the metaphysical principles underlying the creation and manifestation of divine qualities in the material realm.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres|Section 1b
“But when He raised His head, I see in Mind the Light, [but] now in Powers no man could number, and Cosmos grown beyond all bounds, and that the Fire was compassed round about by a most mighty Power, and [now] subdued had come unto a stand.…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine intellect and its relationship to the soul and the material world. They explore concepts of unity, multiplicity, and the origin of existence, though within different mystical traditions.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 9: The Decalogue|Section 1c
“This is God's sense-and-thought, ever to move all things. And never time shall be when e'en a whit of things that are shall cease; and when I say "a whit of things that are", I mean a whit of God. For thigs that are, God hath; nor aught […”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and its relationship to the world and the individual. They emphasize the transcendence and immanence of the divine principle, as well as the importance of understanding and belief in achieving spiritual insight.
◆jewish_mysticism|Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation)|Section 1g
“The Eighteenth Path is called the House of Influence (by the greatness of whose abundance the influx of good things upon created beings is increased) and from the midst of the investigation the arcana and hidden senses are drawn forth, whic…”
Both passages discuss the nature of divine intellect and the emanation of being from a higher unity. Passage A from Plotinus explores the Intellectual-Principle and its relationship to the One, while Passage B from the Sepher Yetzirah describes the various paths of divine influence and intelligence. Both texts delve into the metaphysical structure of reality and the process of creation through intellectual and divine principles.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialoguej
“This I understand right well, and also that which you would infer about the principal intention; that is to say, that these are the degrees of the loves, of the affections, and of the enthusiasms, according to the degrees of greater and les…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to higher principles and the material world. They share a conceptual parallel in their exploration of the soul's ascent and its connection to intellectual and divine realms, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Tree of the Sephirothb
“The ten Sephiroth composing the body of the prototypic Adam, the numbers related to them, and the parts of the universe to which they correspond are as follows: No.: 1 THE SEPHIROTH: Kether--the Crown THE UNIVERSE: Primum Mobile ALTERNATIVE…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a divine or cosmic structure that corresponds to human understanding and existence. Passage A describes the Sephiroth as a symbolic representation of the cosmic system and the human body, while Passage B discusses the principles of Being, Intellectual-Principle, and Soul, and their correspondence to human nature and the universe. Both emphasize the transcendence of these principles and their role in understanding the divine and the self.