Select Works of Plotinus · 638 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 611

Section 4 4. Then consider this god [in man] whom we cannot think to be absent at some point and present at another. All that have insight into the nature of the divine beings hold the omnipresence of this god and of all the gods, and reason assures us that so it must be. Now all-pervasion is inconsistent with partition; that would mean no longer the god throughout but part of the god at one point and part at another; the god ceases to be one god, just as a mass cut up ceases to be a mass, the parts no longer giving the first total. Further, the god becomes corporeal. If all this is impossible, the disputed doctrine presents itself again; holding the god to pervade the Being of man, we hold the omnipresence of an integral identity. Again, if we think of the divine nature as infinite- and certainly it is confined by no bounds- this must mean that it nowhere fails; its presence must reach to everything; at the point to which it does not reach, there it has failed; something exists in which it is not. Now, admitting any sequent to the absolute unity, that sequent must be bound up with the absolute; any third will be about that second and move towards it, linked to it as its offspring. In this way all participants in the Later will have share in the First. The Beings of the Intellectual are thus a plurality of firsts and seconds and thirds attached like one sphere to one centre, not separated by interval but mutually present; where, therefore, the Intellectual tertiaries are present, the secondaries and firsts are present too.

Themes

◇Divine Lighttheology

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

[auto] Presence is analogized to light shining differently on transparent versus opaque objects based on adequacy.

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◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] The text asserts that diversity remains 'simplex still' and that the multiple is ultimately one.

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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] It explicitly questions and explains the existence of 'firsts, seconds, thirds' in participation determined by rank and power.

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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] It identifies a 'Reason-Principle' that constitutes a unity in variety within the Intellectual Order.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

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

[auto] It states that difference is no bar to coexistence, allowing soul and Intellectual-Principle to exist together.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

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

[auto] The passage employs the apparent contradiction that diversity is simplex and the multiple is one to convey ontological truth.

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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 concludes that despite apparent diversity, 'all Being is one' and the multiple is fundamentally simplex.

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Related passages · 5 parallels

◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 11, Section 1b

“Plotinus says the Godhead is indivisibly divided. doth not leave Its own Unity, but, even in the act of going forth to all things, remains entirely within Itself through the excess of that all-transcendent Unity: concerning these things ‘t…”

Both passages discuss the omnipresence and unity of the divine, emphasizing that the divine nature is indivisible and pervades all things without losing its integral identity. They share a conceptual parallel in their exploration of the divine unity and its relationship with creation.

◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 1)

“p. 33 THE DOCTRINES OF JACOB BOEHME. "Our whole doctrine is nothing else but an instruction to show how man may create a kingdom of light within himself. . . . He in whom this spring of divine power flows, carries within himself the d…”

Both passages discuss the omnipresence of the divine within the individual. Plotinus emphasizes the integral identity of the divine pervading all of existence, while Boehme focuses on the divine principle within man leading to self-knowledge and the creation of an inner kingdom of light.

◆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 omnipresence and unity of the divine, emphasizing that the divine is not limited by space or time and is inherently one. They also explore the limitations of human understanding in comprehending the infinite nature of the divine.

◆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 omnipresence and nature of the divine, exploring how the divine pervades all existence. However, they come from different mystical traditions, with Passage A rooted in Neoplatonism and Passage B in Christian mysticism.

◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 7)

“48.) "The soul and the Word are not one or one being. The soul is born from the centre of nature, from the essences, and belongs to the body, for she issues from the essences of the body, and attracts to herself the body; but the Word is f…”

Both passages discuss the relationship between different levels of existence or being, emphasizing the unity and differentiation within the divine and its interaction with the soul or intellectual principles. They explore how the divine presence permeates various levels of reality while maintaining its unity and distinctness.