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Select Works of Plotinus · 520 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 497 (part 2)

This universe, characteristically participant in images, shows how the image differs from the authentic beings: against the variability of the one order, there stands the unchanging quality of the other, self-situate, not needing space because having no magnitude, holding an existent intellective and self-sufficing. The body-kind seeks its endurance in another kind; the Intellectual-Principle, sustaining by its marvellous Being, the things which of themselves must fall, does not itself need to look for a staying ground.
Themes
◆Divine Simplicitytheology

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

The supreme God is described as having an 'unchanging identity,' implying a lack of composition or division.

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◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis

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

The passage mentions an 'upward-tending' movement between the levels of divinity.

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◇Anthropomorphismtheology

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

[auto] The text utilizes mythological figures like Kronos and Zeus to allegorically represent abstract divine principles.

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◇Apophatic Theologytheology

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

[auto] It states the Father is 'too lofty to be thought of under the name of Beauty,' employing negative description for the supreme principle.

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◇Demiurgecosmology

A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God.

[auto] Zeus (the All-Soul) is described as receiving the ordering of the universe from the higher God, functioning as a secondary creator distinct from the supreme.

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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 passage explicitly describes a descending chain of divine principles from the One (Father) through Intellect (Kronos) to Soul (Zeus).

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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 Intellectual-Principle acts as the mediating reason between the Absolute and the ordering Soul.

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◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The text identifies 'Ouranoo, the Absolute, or One' as the supreme father principle from which others derive.

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Related passages · 8 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 5)
“13.) Man can attain real similarity to God and perfect beatitude only by decisively willing to put his will into the Son, as the Heart or Light of the Father. "God has the eternal and unchangeable will to generate His Heart and his Son, an…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the divine and the soul, emphasizing the soul's connection to a higher, more beautiful, and divine reality. They both highlight the idea of the soul's beauty and its connection to the divine, though they use different metaphors and frameworks.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Front Matter, p. 4 (part 2)
“For a self-motive being, is the cause of motion to those, which are moved by another, in the same manner as that which is immovable, inserts in all beings the power of moving. And again, that which is moved only, must depend on those natur…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a hierarchical structure of divine beings and intelligences governing the universe. Passage A from Plotinus describes the Intellectual-Principle (Kronos) and the All-Soul (Zeus) as part of a divine hierarchy, while Passage B from the Hymn 5 discusses the Platonic doctrine of subordinate intelligences and the universal soul. Both passages emphasize the role of these divine beings in maintaining order and life in the universe.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Hymn IX. NATURE (part 2)
“And Proclus in forms us, that she connects all the parts of the universe together: containing in herself intellectual life, by which she illuminates the whole, and unifying powers by which she superintends all the opposing natures of the wo…”
Both passages explore the concept of a divine, creative force that governs the universe. Passage A discusses the Intellectual-Principle (Kronos) and the All-Soul (Zeus) in the context of Neoplatonism, while Passage B describes Nature as a divine, all-encompassing entity in Orphic theology. Both texts emphasize the beauty, power, and primal nature of these forces.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Hymn XI. HERCULES (part 2)
“127 hence the reason is obvious why Hercules is called "earth's best blossom." And we shall find that Saturn in the following hymn is called "blossom of the earth;" and Themis, in Hymn 78, "young blossom of the earth;" and the Titans, in Hy…”
Both passages discuss the hierarchical structure of divine beings and the nature of beauty and divinity. Passage A from Plotinus describes the Intellectual Sphere and the hierarchy of divine entities, while Passage B from the Orphic Hymn also discusses the divine hierarchy and the attributes of Hercules, who is equated with the Sun and Hyperion. Both texts explore the concept of a higher, intellectual realm and its relationship to the lower, sensible world.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 13: The Discourse of Hermes to Tat|Section 1d
“<lacuna in text>, though this Sermon (Logos) on Rebirth, on which I did not comment - in order that we may not be calumniators of the All unto the multitude, to whom indeed God Himself doth will we should not. 14. Tat: Tell me, O father:…”
Both passages explore the concept of divine beauty and the hierarchy of being within a mystical framework. They discuss the relationship between the divine and the soul, emphasizing the transcendent nature of the divine and the soul's connection to it.
◆platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1w
“in space ], grasping existence in some way or other, or it could not be at all. But true and exact reason, vindicating the nature of true being, maintains that while two things [i.e. the image and space] are different they cannot exist on…”
Both passages discuss the nature of being and the distinction between authentic beings and images or appearances. They explore the concepts of stability, change, and the fundamental principles underlying reality, though from different philosophical and mystical traditions.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|Second Dialoguee
“Now, it must be said that the outcome of the mind is that alone which is always by it desired, sought for, and embraced, and that which is more enjoyed than anything else, with which it is filled, comforted and becomes better,—that is Truth…”
Both passages discuss the nature of authentic being or truth as incorporeal and unchanging, contrasting it with the mutable and corporeal. They emphasize the need to rise above physical reality to grasp these higher truths.
◆taoism|Tao Te Ching|Chapter 39
“The things which from of old have got the One (the Tao) are-- Heaven which by it is bright and pure; Earth rendered thereby firm and sure; Spirits with powers by it supplied; Valleys kept full throughout their void All creatures which throu…”
Both passages discuss the hierarchical structure of reality and the source of beauty and order in the universe. They describe a divine principle that is the origin of all things and emphasize the importance of recognizing one's place within this hierarchy.