← Home
Select Works of Plotinus · 469 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 445

Section 13 13. Thus The One is in truth beyond all statement: any affirmation is of a thing; but the all-transcending, resting above even the most august divine Mind, possesses alone of all true being, and is not a thing among things; we can give it no name because that would imply predication: we can but try to indicate, in our own feeble way, something concerning it: when in our perplexity we object, "Then it is without self-perception, without self-consciousness, ignorant of itself"; we must remember that we have been considering it only in its opposites. If we make it knowable, an object of affirmation, we make it a manifold; and if we allow intellection in it we make it at that point indigent: supposing that in fact intellection accompanies it, intellection by it must be superfluous. Self-intellection- which is the truest- implies the entire perception of a total self formed from a variety converging into an integral; but the Transcendent knows neither separation of part nor any such enquiry; if its intellectual act were directed upon something outside, then, the Transcendent would be deficient and the intellection faulty. The wholly simplex and veritable self-sufficing can be lacking at no point: self-intellection begins in that principle which, secondarily self-sufficing, yet needs itself and therefore needs to know itself: this principle, by its self-presence, achieves its sufficiency in virtue of its entire content [it is the all]: it becomes thus competent from the total of its being, in the act of living towards itself and looking upon itself. Consciousness, as the very word indicates, is a conperception, an act exercised upon a manifold: and even intellection, earlier [nearer to the divine] though it is, implies that the agent turns back upon itself, upon a manifold, then. If that agent says no more than "I am a being," it speaks [by the implied dualism] as a discoverer of the extern; and rightly so, for being is a manifold; when it faces towards the unmanifold and says, "I am that being," it misses both itself and the being [since the simplex cannot be thus divided into knower and known]: if it is [to utter] truth it cannot indicate by "being" something like a stone; in the one phrase multiplicity is asserted; for the being thus affirmed- [even] the veritable, as distinguished from such a mere container of some trace of being as ought not to be called a being since it stands merely as image to archetype- even this must possess multiplicity. But will not each item in that multiplicity be an object of intellection to us? Taken bare and single, no: but Being itself is manifold within itself, and whatever else you may name has Being. This accepted, it follows that anything that is to be thought of as the most utterly simplex of all cannot have self-intellection; to have that would mean being multiple. The Transcendent, thus, neither knows itself nor is known in itself.
Themes
◇Active Contemplationpraxis

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

[auto] The life in the Divine Intellect is described as an Act and a vision requiring engagement.

All passages →
◇Apophatic Theologytheology

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

[auto] The text states that there is no other means of telling of the Divine than through itself, suggesting ineffability.

All passages →
◇Divine Lighttheology

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

[auto] Light is the central metaphor used to describe the Divine Intellect as a torch, light-giver, and medium of vision.

All passages →
◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] The Divine Intellect is described as self-sufficing where the seer and the seen are identical.

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 movement of the soul upward to the Divine Intellect implies a hierarchical structure of being.

All passages →
◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

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

[auto] The passage emphasizes knowledge attained through the divine light itself, where knowing and being known are simultaneous acts.

All passages →
◇Inner Lightanthropology

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

[auto] The human soul uses the Divine light as a medium to see, implying an internal luminous quality.

All passages →
◇Inner Silencepraxis

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

[auto] The soul is instructed to sink all its activity into the Principle, implying a cessation of discursive thought.

All passages →
◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

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

[auto] The soul enters the Principle and shows possession of priors within itself, indicating the divine is internal.

All passages →
◇Living Godtheology

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

[auto] The Divine Intellect is characterized by life and Act rather than static abstraction.

All passages →
◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The Intellectual-Principle is described as primal, self-sufficing, and the source of vision.

All passages →
◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

[auto] The soul is described as posing itself as an image of the Being and entering into the Principle to become one with it.

All passages →
◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

[auto] The Divine is described as both light-giver and lit, and knowing and known simultaneously.

All passages →
◇Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The text uses paradoxical descriptions like 'light-giver and lit at once' to convey the nature of the Divine.

All passages →
◇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 text explicitly describes leading the soul up to the Divine and entering into the Intellectual-Principle.

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 Divine Intellect is characterized as the 'primal self-knower' and the soul recovers memory of priors it never lost.

All passages →
◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

[auto] The passage details the process of leading the soul upward to the Divine and sinking activity into the Principle.

All passages →
◇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 Divine Intellect, 'what it sees it is', indicating a non-dual identity.

All passages →
Related passages · 12 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1c
“The Good is beyond this distinction, for nothing (on the ultimate plane) is outside It. See Intr., p. 5. and Lifelessness an excess of Life and Its Mindless state is an excess of Wisdom, 252 252 This apparently profitless speculation rea…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine as transcending human understanding and language. They explore the idea of a supreme, simple, and self-sufficient reality that is beyond intellectual comprehension and dualistic distinctions.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter IIa
“How it is necessary to be united with and render praise to Him Who is the cause of all and above all. Unto this Darkness which is beyond Light we pray that we may come, and may attain unto vision through the loss of sight and knowledge, an…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a transcendent, ineffable divine reality that is beyond human comprehension and cannot be known through ordinary intellectual processes. They both emphasize the limitations of human understanding and the need to move beyond conventional thought to approach the divine.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter Va
“That He Who is the Pre-eminent Cause of everything intelligibly perceived is not Himself any one of the things intelligibly perceived. Once more, ascending yet higher we maintain 537 537 It is not (1) a Thinking Subject; nor (2) an Act or…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the ultimate reality or divine principle as being beyond human comprehension, language, and categorization. They emphasize the transcendence and simplicity of the divine, which cannot be known or described in human terms.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter Vb
“The ultimate truth about God and our relation to Him is held to be that He is a “Person” and that He has “made” the world. (This attitude is seen at its worst in Unitarian theology. Bradley’s criticisms on Lotze show how this fails on the…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine as transcending human comprehension and the limitations of human language and thought in describing it. They both emphasize the ineffable and incomprehensible nature of the ultimate reality.
◆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 discuss the nature of the divine and its relationship with creation and self-awareness. They explore the idea of a transcendent, simple, and self-sufficient divine principle that is beyond human comprehension and intellection.
◆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 concept of divine intellect or light and the soul's relationship to it. They describe a process where the soul can attain a higher state of understanding or vision through its connection to the divine, highlighting the self-sufficiency and clarity of the divine intellect.
◆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 a divine light or power that is the source of all life and existence. Boehme's passage focuses on the sun as a symbol of God's heart and the source of life, while Plotinus' passage discusses the Divine Intellect as the primal light and self-knowing source of all knowledge. Both emphasize the self-sufficiency and all-pervading nature of this divine principle.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 8 (part 9)
“Little would it benefit the blind to know of the light merely from hearsay. Little would it profit the "Christian" if he knew of a historical Christ, and could not perceive the glory and majesty of the Atma Buddhi within his own soul. Boe…”
Both passages emphasize the inner light or divine intellect within the individual, highlighting the importance of inner realization and self-knowledge as a path to understanding the divine. They both discuss the relationship between the individual and the universal, and the nature of consciousness and its manifestations.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 1)
“p. 180 CHAPTER IX. GENERATION. "Let every Brahman, with fixed attention, consider all nature, both visible and invisible, as existing in the Divine Spirit. For when he contemplates the boundless universe in the Divine Spirit, he cannot…”
Both passages discuss the soul's relationship with the divine intellect or spirit, emphasizing the soul's ability to attain a higher state of being through contemplation and surrender to the divine. They share the concept of the soul's potential to reflect or become one with the divine intellect or spirit.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 2)
“If the soul does not do this, but imagines within herself, in her own fierce forms or states conducive to the fire-torture (passion), and not in the fountain of love, then will her self-torture arise from her harshness, acridity, and bitter…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the human soul and the divine, emphasizing the soul's potential to reflect or connect with the divine nature. They explore the consequences of the soul's deviation from the divine, though they use different metaphors and frameworks.
2 more
◆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 the divine and human, focusing on the role of a central figure (Mary in Passage A and the Divine Intellect in Passage B) as a conduit for divine light and knowledge. They share the theme of transformation and elevation through divine connection.
◆taoism|The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters)|Book 124 (part 3)
“For one who has not this determined mind, to have his affirmations and negations is like the case described in the saying, 'He went to Yüeh to-day, and arrived at it yesterday 2 .' It would be making what was not a fact to be a fact. But e…”
Both passages explore the limitations of language and human understanding in describing ultimate reality or the Tao. They discuss the inadequacy of affirmations and negations in capturing the true nature of the transcendent, emphasizing the need for a higher perspective or divine understanding.