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Select Works of Plotinus · 531 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 510

Section 2 2. But are we really obliged to posit the existence of such genera? Take Substance, for Substance must certainly be our starting-point: what are the grounds for regarding Substance as one single genus? It has been remarked that Substance cannot be a single entity common to both the Intellectual and the Sensible worlds. We may add that such community would entail the existence of something prior to Intellectual and Sensible Substances alike, something distinct from both as predicated of both; and this prior would be neither body nor unembodied; for it were one or the other, body would be unembodied, or the unembodied would be the body. This conclusion must not however prevent our seeking in the actual substance of the Sensible world an element held in common by Matter, by Form and by their Composite, all of which are designated as substances, though it is not maintained that they are Substance in an equal degree; Form is usually held to be Substance in a higher degree than Matter, and rightly so, in spite of those who would have Matter to be the more truly real. There is further the distinction drawn between what are known as First and Second Substances. But what is their common basis, seeing that the First are the source from which the Second derive their right to be called substances? But, in sum, it is impossible to define Substance: determine its property, and still you have not attained to its essence. Even the definition, "That which, numerically one and the same, is receptive of contraries," will hardly be applicable to all substances alike.
Themes
◆Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

Earth-based arts are described as following sense models and unable to refer directly to the higher sphere without mediation.

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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.

Earthly music and crafts are described as representations or portions of the Power and rhythm existing in the Ideal Realm.

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◇Active Contemplationpraxis

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

[auto] The passage describes a skill that 'meditates the symmetry reigning among all beings' as a connection to the Power There.

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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 describes a structured descent from the 'Intellectual Kosmos' and 'Ideal Realm' down to 'earth-based' arts and sense-order.

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◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

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

[auto] The 'Reason-Principle' is located 'in humanity,' indicating the divine ordering principle resides within the individual.

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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 passage explicitly identifies the 'Reason-Principle in humanity' as the necessary mediator through which earthly arts connect to the higher Intellectual sphere.

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◇Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

[auto] Symmetry, rhythm, and melody are presented as the structural links between earthly crafts and the divine Ideal Realm.

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Related passages · 3 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 13, Section 1c
“Emily Brontë: “Every existence would exist in Thee.”) And if all things be conceived as being ultimately unified with each other, then all things taken as a whole are One. 507 507 All things possess the same Super-Essence, and that is why…”
Both passages explore the concept of unity and essence in their respective traditions. Plotinus discusses the nature of Substance and its unity across different realms, while the second passage delves into the Super-Essence and the unity of all things within a divine context. Both texts grapple with the idea of a fundamental, unifying principle that underlies all existence.
◆platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1t
“To which end we must consider the nature of fire, and water, and air, and earth, such as they were prior to the creation of the heaven, and what was happening to them in this previous state; for no one has as yet explained the manner of the…”
Both passages explore the nature of fundamental substances or elements in the universe. Plotinus discusses the nature of Substance and its classification, while the second passage delves into the nature of fire, water, air, and earth, and their transformations. Both seek to understand the underlying principles of reality, though from different philosophical and mystical traditions.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVI (part 9)
“In our language only an eternally becoming universe exists. The "Eternal Now" cannot be expressed in language. Thus our language pictures to us beforehand a false universe— dual , when in reality it is one ; and eternally becoming when it…”
Both passages explore the nature of reality and substance, questioning the fundamental categories and the limitations of human perception and language. Plotinus discusses the nature of Substance and its existence in different worlds, while the second passage delves into the unity of the universe and the nature of matter, highlighting the limitations of language in expressing reality.