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Select Works of Plotinus · 486 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 461

Section 8 8. So that we are left wondering whence it came, from within or without; and when it has gone, we say, "It was here. Yet no; it was beyond!" But we ought not to question whence; there is no whence, no coming or going in place; now it is seen and now not seen. We must not run after it, but fit ourselves for the vision and then wait tranquilly for its appearance, as the eye waits on the rising of the sun, which in its own time appears above the horizon- out of the ocean, as the poets say- and gives itself to our sight. This Principle, of which the sun is an image, where has it its dawning, what horizon does it surmount to appear? It stands immediately above the contemplating Intellect which has held itself at rest towards the vision, looking to nothing else than the good and beautiful, setting its entire being to that in a perfect surrender, and now tranquilly filled with power and taking a new beauty to itself, gleaming in the light of that presence. This advent, still, is not by expectation: it is a coming without approach; the vision is not of something that must enter but of something present before all else, before the Intellect itself made any movement. Yet it is the Intellect that must move, to come and to go- going because it has not known where it should stay and where that presence stays, the nowhere contained. And if the Intellect, too, could hold itself in that nowhere- not that it is ever in place; it too is uncontained, utterly unplaced- it would remain for ever in the vision of its prior, or, indeed, not in vision but in identity, all duality annulled. But it is Intellect [having a sphere of its own] and, when it is to see, it must see by that in it which is not Intellect [by its divinest power]. No doubt it is wonderful that The First should thus be present without any coming, and that, while it is nowhere, nowhere is it not; but wonderful though this be in itself, the contrary would be more wonderful to those who know. Of course neither this contrary nor the wonder at it can be entertained. But we must explain:
Themes
◆Active Contemplationpraxis

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

The text explicitly mentions the Intellectual-Principle as it 'contemplates' the objects of intellection.

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◆Apophatic Theologytheology

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

The passage defines the nature of truth by negating external or material characteristics, stating what the Intellectual-Principle does not do.

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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.

Material substance is rejected as the proper nature of the objects of intellection, implying matter hinders true reality.

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◆Divine Simplicitytheology

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

The rejection of Forms as material figures or composite works of a sculptor supports the notion of divine reality as non-composite and simple.

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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.

The mention of the 'Intellectual-Principle' presupposes its position within a broader metaphysical structure of divine principles.

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◆Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

The passage explicitly contrasts 'authentic' truth with 'falsehood' and 'phantasms,' defining the latter as a lack of containing the authentic reality.

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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 functions here as the divine reason or ordering principle that contains truth and identity.

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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 text distinguishes between possessing authentic truth internally versus holding only external images or phantasms, defining a mode of direct intellectual knowledge.

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◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

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

[auto] The argument emphasizes that the authentic objects of intellection must be contained within the Intellectual-Principle rather than existing outside it.

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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 argues that true knowledge requires the Intellectual-Principle to contain the objects it knows, implying a fundamental unity between knower and known.

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Related passages · 8 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1d
“Nay, even the foundation and the boundaries of the heavens (as we forgot to say while 91 thinking of other matters) owe their origin to the Good. Such is this universe, which lessens not nor grows, and such the noiseless movements (if nois…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a transcendent principle (the Good) that is beyond place and time, and is the source of light and vision. They both emphasize the idea of a higher reality that is present yet beyond the ordinary perception of the intellect.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 4)
“Let them, therefore, again go out with their will from their wilful ignorance or malignity and enter again into the will of God." ( Menschwerdung , 3, 5.) All this goes to show that it is useless and vain to seek for divine wisdom, meaning…”
Both passages emphasize the importance of inner truth and the limitations of external perception. Plotinus discusses the Intellectual-Principle and its relationship to truth, while Boehme focuses on recognizing the divine within oneself, both highlighting the need to look beyond external appearances to grasp true reality.
◆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 discuss the nature of the divine and the limitations of human understanding in comprehending it. They emphasize the transcendence of the divine and the need for a higher, more purified state of being or consciousness to perceive or understand it.
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document FIRSTd
“It happened while I am sitting being distant from you [9 ] a little upon the mountain of the Olives, thinking of the arrangement of the service concerning which they sent me, that it was finished: and the Last mystery dispatched not to me m…”
Both passages describe a mystical experience of divine vision or presence. Plotinus discusses the Intellect's contemplation of the First Principle, while the second passage describes a mystical experience involving the First Mystery and the vesture of light. Both emphasize a transcendent reality that is beyond ordinary perception and understanding.
◆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 explore the nature of the Intellectual-Principle or Divine Mind and its relationship with the cosmos and reality. They discuss the concept of truth, perception, and the emanation of forms or elements from a higher principle, showing a genuine conceptual parallel.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialoguef
“Hence it follows that not less do we desire to see things unknown and unseen than those known and seen. And from this it does not follow that the desire does not proceed from cognition, and that we desire something that is not known; but I…”
Both passages discuss the nature of divine vision and the intellect's role in perceiving the divine. They explore the idea of the soul's desire to see and understand the divine, emphasizing the transcendence and immediacy of the divine presence.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter I (part 5)
“It is not true because our experimental knowledge is not a confused perception of a real world . It is a very acute perception of an entirely unreal world appearing round about us at the moment of our contact with the world of true causes,…”
Both passages explore the nature of perception and reality, questioning whether our sensory experiences reveal the true nature of things or merely our own subjective representations. They both delve into the limitations of human understanding and the distinction between appearances and true reality.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter IV (part 3)
“If, presupposing that we are moving upon a sphere, upon its equator or one of its parallels, then it will appear that we recognize as really existing only one meridian: those which are behind us have disappeared and those ahead of us have n…”
Both passages discuss the nature of perception and the limitations of human understanding, emphasizing the idea of a higher, transcendent reality that is beyond ordinary sensory experience. They both point towards a unified, eternal reality that is not bound by the constraints of time and space.