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Select Works of Plotinus · 462 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 440 (part 2)

The life in the Divine Intellect is also an Act: it is the primal light outlamping to itself primarily, its own torch; light-giver and lit at once; the authentic intellectual object, knowing at once and known, seen to itself and needing no other than itself to see by, self-sufficing to the vision, since what it sees it is; known to us by that very same light, our knowledge of it attained through itself, for from nowhere else could we find the means of telling of it. By its nature, its self-vision is the clearer but, using it as our medium, we too may come to see by it. In the strength of such considerations we lead up our own soul to the Divine, so that it poses itself as an image of that Being, its life becoming an imprint and a likeness of the Highest, its every act of thought making it over into the Divine and the Intellectual. If the soul is questioned as to the nature of that Intellectual-Principle- the perfect and all-embracing, the primal self-knower- it has but to enter into that Principle, or to sink all its activity into that, and at once it shows itself to be in effective possession of those priors whose memory it never lost: thus, as an image of the Intellectual-Principle, it can make itself the medium by which to attain some vision of it; it draws upon that within itself which is most closely resemblant, as far as resemblance is possible between divine Intellect and any phase of soul.
Themes
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 sensitive principle, the reasoning faculty of the soul, and the superior Intellectual-Principle.

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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 outlines a descending order from the Intellectual-Principle through understanding to sense perception.

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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 centrally debates whether self-observation belongs to the reasoning soul or the Intellectual-Principle.

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Related passages · 7 parallels
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 3)
7.) "I do not wish to divert men from the Word as it is written and taught; but my writings are intended to lead them from a merely historical belief to a living faith, even to Jesus Christ (the Light and Truth) Himself. All preaching and…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the human soul or spirit and a higher, divine principle. They discuss the idea of inner knowledge and the connection to a transcendent reality, though they come from different mystical traditions.
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 discuss the nature of the divine intellect or light and the soul's relationship to it. They emphasize the self-sufficiency and self-knowledge of the divine intellect and the soul's ability to attain a vision of the divine through its own nature.
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 nature of human consciousness and its relationship to higher principles. Plotinus describes the interaction between sense perception, understanding, and the Intellectual-Principle, while the second passage discusses the three principles in man and their relationship to divine and worldly influences. Both explore the idea of higher consciousness guiding lower faculties.
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 8 (part 3)
Thereby it receives the form of the latter as a light and power, without, however, being able to grasp the interior spirit itself; for the spirit does not dwell in the exterior, but has possession of its own self in its own interior state."…”
Both passages discuss the concept of divine light and its manifestation in the world. Boehme emphasizes the sun as a symbol of God's heart and the source of life, while Plotinus describes the Divine Intellect as a primal light that is self-sufficient and self-knowing. Both texts explore the relationship between the divine and the material world through the metaphor of light.
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 explore the relationship between the divine and human elements in significant figures (Mary in Passage A and the soul in Passage B). They discuss the transformation and elevation of these figures through divine interaction, highlighting the concept of divine light and perfection.
greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Hymn LXXVI. MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY
LXXVI. To MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY * . The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. THE consort I invoke of Jove divine, Source of the holy, sweetly-speaking Nine; p. 215 Free from th' oblivion of the fallen mind, By whom the soul with inte…”
Both passages discuss the concept of the soul's connection to a higher intellectual or divine principle, emphasizing the soul's ability to perceive and remember this connection. They share the idea of the soul's transformation and purification to achieve a higher state of understanding.
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 ascent of the soul or mind to a higher, divine intellect or principle through contemplation and self-awareness. They emphasize the self-sufficiency and clarity of this higher principle and the transformative effect of aligning oneself with it.