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Select Works of Plotinus · 451 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 430

Section 1 1. The One is all things and no one of them; the source of all things is not all things; all things are its possession- running back, so to speak, to it- or, more correctly, not yet so, they will be. But a universe from an unbroken unity, in which there appears no diversity, not even duality? It is precisely because that is nothing within the One that all things are from it: in order that Being may be brought about, the source must be no Being but Being's generator, in what is to be thought of as the primal act of generation. Seeking nothing, possessing nothing, lacking nothing, the One is perfect and, in our metaphor, has overflowed, and its exuberance has produced the new: this product has turned again to its begetter and been filled and has become its contemplator and so an Intellectual-Principle. That station towards the one [the fact that something exists in presence of the One] establishes Being; that vision directed upon the One establishes the Intellectual-Principle; standing towards the One to the end of vision, it is simultaneously Intellectual-Principle and Being; and, attaining resemblance in virtue of this vision, it repeats the act of the One in pouring forth a vast power. This second outflow is a Form or Idea representing the Divine Intellect as the Divine Intellect represented its own prior, The One. This active power sprung from essence [from the Intellectual-Principle considered as Being] is Soul. Soul arises as the idea and act of the motionless Intellectual-Principle- which itself sprang from its own motionless prior- but the soul's operation is not similarly motionless; its image is generated from its movement. It takes fulness by looking to its source; but it generates its image by adopting another, a downward, movement. This image of Soul is Sense and Nature, the vegetal principle. Nothing, however, is completely severed from its prior. Thus the human Soul appears to reach away as far down as to the vegetal order: in some sense it does, since the life of growing things is within its province; but it is not present entire; when it has reached the vegetal order it is there in the sense that having moved thus far downwards it produces- by its outgoing and its tendency towards the less good- another hypostasis or form of being just as its prior (the loftier phase of the Soul) is produced from the Intellectual-Principle which yet remains in untroubled self-possession.
Themes
◆Active Contemplationpraxis

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

The Soul is described as 'intellective with it,' indicating an active state of intellectual engagement with the Divine.

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◆Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

Familial metaphors such as 'engendered,' 'offspring,' and 'progenitor' are used to describe divine generation.

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◆Apophatic Theologytheology

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

The Divine is characterized as 'undetermined,' suggesting it transcends specific categories of definition.

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◆Divine Simplicitytheology

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

Describing the Divine as 'undetermined' aligns with the doctrine of God having no composite attributes or divisions.

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◆Monadcosmology

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

The reference to the 'very highest' source implies a simple first principle from which determination flows.

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◆Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

The passage states that the Soul is a 'participant in its nature' of the Divine Mind, indicating deification through participation.

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◆Tripartite Soulanthropology

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

The passage outlines a structure involving the Intellectual-Principle, the Soul, and a lower realm beneath, mirroring the tripartite division of reality.

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◇Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

[auto] The passage refers to the Soul as the 'light' and 'image' of the Divine Mind, inseparably attached to it.

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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 explicitly outlines a descending chain from the Divine to the Intellectual-Principle to Soul, noting each level is lesser than the progenitor.

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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] It identifies the offspring of the Intellectual-Principle as a 'Reason-Principle' that acts as a substantial existence mediating between levels.

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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 on the upper level as 'united with it, filled from it... participant in its nature'.

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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] It emphasizes the Soul's participation in the Divine nature and its unity with the Intellectual-Principle on the upper level.

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Related passages · 9 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 8, Section 1a
“CHAPTER VIII Concerning ” Power ,” ” Righteousness ,” ” Salvation ,” ” Redemption “; and also concerning ” Inequality .” 1. Now since the Sacred Writers speak of the Divine Truthfulness and Supra-Sapient Wisdom as Power, and as Righteousne…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine as a source of all power and being, emphasizing the transcendence and ineffability of the divine. They also explore the concept of divine overflow or emanation, leading to the creation of all things.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 4)
“She is passive, but the Spirit of God is active, like the soul in the body." ( Clavis , v. 18.) This eternal Trinity is inconceivable in its aspect as a spiritual potentiality, in the same sense as a fire is inconceivable if it does not bu…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between a divine progenitor and its offspring, emphasizing the idea of emanation and the hierarchy within the divine realm. They share a conceptual parallel in describing the process of divine generation and the nature of the divine intellect and soul.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 6)
“2.) "If there is to be a light, there must be a fire. The fire produces the light, and the light renders the fire manifest; it receives the nature of the fire within itself and resides in the fire." ( Mysterium , xl. 2.) "Joy enters the s…”
Both passages explore the relationship between unity and multiplicity, light and darkness, and the interplay between different states of being. They both describe a dynamic interplay between opposing forces that are interdependent and necessary for the existence of each other, reflecting a deep conceptual parallel in their mystical insights.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 3)
“2.) "The inner man stood in heaven; his essences were the Paradise; his body was indestructible. He knew the language of God and the angels, and the language of nature, as may be seen by Adam giving names to all creatures, to each accordin…”
Both passages explore the concept of a primordial unity or divine source from which all things emanate and to which they are connected. Passage A discusses the One and its emanations in Neoplatonism, while Passage B describes Adam's divine state and his connection to all creation in a mystical Christian context.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 8 (part 2)
“31.) "This terrestrial world is based upon the world of darkness, and if the good bad not been also embodied therein, there would be in it no other doing than that of the world of darkness; but this is prevented by the divine power and by t…”
Both passages discuss the interplay between opposing forces in the universe. Boehme's text describes the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, while Plotinus' text discusses the emanation of the One into Being, Intellectual-Principle, and Soul, highlighting the hierarchical and generative relationships between these entities. Both explore the dynamic interplay of forces within a cosmic framework.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 8 (part 6)
“1.) "The terrestrial consciousness corrupted the celestial one, and the former became the Turba of the latter. Likewise, the Fiat made the earth and stones out of the eternal essentiality." ( Menschwerdung , i. 9.) "But in the earth we fi…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the divine and the material world, discussing how the divine essence is reflected in the natural world. Boehme's passage delves into the corruption of celestial consciousness by the terrestrial, and the hidden divine qualities in minerals, plants, and animals. Plotinus' passage discusses the emanation of all things from the One, and the hierarchical structure of reality, from the Intellectual-Principle to Soul and Nature. Both highlight the interplay between the eternal and the temporal, the divine and the material.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 10 (part 6)
“"The configuration of Sem descended upon Abraham and Isaac, for there the Word of the covenant was manifested and contained within the sound; but Japhet's configuration went through the wisdom of nature in the realm of nature, and from that…”
Both passages discuss the concept of divine emanation and the relationship between a higher divine principle and its lesser, derived forms. They explore the idea of an image or reflection of the divine in a lower realm, though they use different metaphors and contexts.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 5)
“If, then, the soul of the child is in the Holy Trinity, do you then not think that its glorious light beautifully illuminates the mother, and does not that mother rightfully put her feet upon the Moon, 1 as being exalted above all that is o…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between a divine being and its offspring, emphasizing the idea of an image or reflection of the divine in the created being. They explore the concept of a higher divine principle giving rise to a lower, yet still divine, entity.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 2: The Serapeum|Section 1c
“H: Alack, Asclepius, for thy far-wandering from the truth! Think'st thou that things most full and most replete are void? 11. A: How meanest thou, Thrice-greatest one? H: Is not air body? A: It is. H: And doth this body not pervade al…”
Both passages explore the nature of the divine and the relationship between the ultimate reality and the manifest world. They discuss the concept of the One or the Good as the source of all things, and the nature of being and non-being.