Select Works of Plotinus · 640 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor
Select Works, Section 613
Section 6 6. The Intellectual Beings, thus, are multiple and one; in virtue of their infinite nature their unity is a multiplicity, many in one and one over many, a unit-plurality. They act as entire upon entire; even upon the partial thing they act as entire; but there is the difference that at first the partial accepts this working only partially though the entire enters later. Thus, when Man enters into human form there exists a particular man who, however, is still Man. From the one thing Man- man in the Idea- material man has come to constitute many individual men: the one identical thing is present in multiplicity, in multi-impression, so to speak, from the one seal. This does not mean that Man Absolute, or any Absolute, or the Universe in the sense of a Whole, is absorbed by multiplicity; on the contrary, the multiplicity is absorbed by the Absolute, or rather is bound up with it. There is a difference between the mode in which a colour may be absorbed by a substance entire and that in which the soul of the individual is identically present in every part of the body: it is in this latter mode that Being is omnipresent.
Themes
◆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 discussion of participation implies a hierarchical relationship where the extended cosmos derives from a higher, unextended principle.
All passages →◆Logoscosmology
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
Reason is invoked to certify truths about the principle that sense-perception cannot grasp.
All passages →◆Paradox As Teachingethics
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
The passage resolves the apparent contradiction of how an unextended principle can be present throughout extended matter.
All passages →◆Unity Of Beingtheology
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
It asserts that a single soul is present entire at every point of the universe, emphasizing ontological unity over multiplicity.
All passages →◇Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
[auto] The text employs negation to describe the principle, stating that spatial categories like 'Here and There' do not attach to it.
All passages →◇Divine Simplicitytheology
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
[auto] The passage centrally argues that the divine principle has no extension or parts, defining it as an undivided reality distinct from the composite material world.
All passages →◇Monadcosmology
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
[auto] The passage describes a singular, unextended principle that serves as the source for the extended cosmos and living beings.
All passages →Related passages · 12 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 concept of unity and multiplicity within a divine or absolute context, emphasizing how the one can manifest as many without losing its unity. They share a similar metaphysical insight into the nature of being and existence.
◆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 discuss the concept of unity and multiplicity, exploring how the One encompasses the many without being absorbed by it. They share a mystical perspective on the nature of existence and the interconnectedness of all things.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 2, Section 1f
“Yea, ‘tis a common and undifferenced activity of the whole Godhead that It is wholly and entirely communicated unto each of them that share It and unto none merely in part; 197 197 D.
here touches on the fundamental difference between spir…”
Both passages discuss the concept of unity and multiplicity, using the metaphor of a seal and its impressions to illustrate how a single, undivided essence can manifest in multiple forms without being diminished or divided. They explore the idea of an absolute or divine unity that is present in all things, yet remains transcendent.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 2, Section 1k
“Indeed, He is not an unity in this sense, and doth not participate in unity nor possess it; 224 224 These two phrases well express the meaning of the title “Beyond things and supernally infusing Unity” (ὑπερηνωμένη), which I have generally…”
Both passages discuss the concept of unity and multiplicity within a divine context, exploring how the one can manifest as many without losing its unity. They share a mystical perspective on the omnipresence of the divine.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 5, Section 1e
“And if these Universals exist by participating in Existence, far more is this true of the things which participate in them.
6.
Thus the first gift which the Absolute and Transcendent Goodness bestows is that of mere Existence, and so It d…”
Both passages discuss the concept of unity and multiplicity within a divine or absolute framework, exploring how the one can manifest as many while retaining its unity. They share a mystical perspective on the nature of being and existence.
◆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 its relationship to the physical world, emphasizing the indivisible and omnipresent nature of the divine principle. They explore the limitations of human perception and understanding in grasping the infinite and eternal aspects of the divine.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 2)
“That Will, by conceiving of its own self, thereby creates a mirror within its own self.
The same takes place in the microcosm of man.
By conceiving of his own self man creates a mirror in which he " feels " his own self, and thereby he be…”
Both passages discuss the nature of a divine principle that is indivisible and omnipresent. Plotinus describes the One as an undivided, unextended principle that is present in all things, while the second passage describes God as an infinite Will that conceives of itself, creating a mirror within itself, and is present in all things through divine self-consciousness.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 6 (part 10)
“126:1 The six "days" are the activities of the seven forms of eternal nature, the seventh is their centre or rest, or the "temperature." In the seventh, "God" appears as the "Christ." (See Grace , iii.
39.) 128:1 Three is the number of for…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine or universal principle and its relationship to the material world. Passage A from Plotinus explores the idea of an undivided, unextended principle that is omnipresent, while Passage B from Theosophical texts describes the universal consciousness that manifests in all forms. Both texts emphasize the transcendence of the divine principle beyond physical dimensions and its immanence in all creation.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 8)
“Neither is God measurable, and there has no place of residence been discovered in Him, unless He should establish for Himself such a dwelling in one of His creatures; but even then He remains a whole apart from and beyond such a created bei…”
Both passages discuss the concept of an indivisible, omnipresent principle that transcends physical dimensions and extension. Plotinus describes the soul as an indivisible entity present at every point in the universe, while the second passage discusses God's omnipresence and the nature of Christ as a manifestation of divine love that is everywhere present.
◆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 universal soul or divine principle that permeates and animates the universe. They both describe a hierarchy of beings and natures, from those that move only to those that are moved, and emphasize the interconnectedness and order of the cosmos.
2 more
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XX (part 6)
“Were our space-sense more perfect in relation to any given object, say to the body of a given man, we could embrace all his life in time, from birth to death.
Then within the limits of this embrace that life would be for us a constant magn…”
Both passages explore the limitations of human perception and the nature of reality. They argue that what we perceive as three-dimensional and extended is a limited and imperfect representation of a higher, more complex reality. Both texts emphasize the idea that true reality is not divisible or extended in the way we commonly understand it.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXI (part 2)
“Science cannot deny the fact that mathematics grows, expands, and escapes from the limits of the visible and measurable world.
Entire departments of mathematics take into consideration quantitative relations which did not and do not exist…”
Both passages explore the idea of transcending the limitations of the physical, three-dimensional world to access a higher or more fundamental reality. Passage A discusses the expansion of mathematics beyond the visible world, suggesting a 'world of many dimensions,' while Passage B discusses the participation of the extended world in an undivided, unextended principle, suggesting an omnipresent indivisible soul.