← Home
Select Works of Plotinus · 695 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 663

Section 24 24. But ourselves- how does it touch us? We may recall what we have said of the nature of the light shining from it into Intellectual-Principle and so by participation into the soul. But for the moment let us leave that aside and put another question: Does The Good hold that nature and name because some outside thing finds it desirable? May we put it that a thing desirable to one is good to that one and that what is desirable to all is to be recognised as The Good? No doubt this universal questing would make the goodness evident but still there must be in the nature something to earn that name. Further, is the questing determined by the hope of some acquisition or by sheer delight? If there is acquisition, what is it? If it is a matter of delight, why here rather than in something else? The question comes to this: Is goodness in the appropriate or in something apart, and is The Good good as regards itself also or good only as possessed? Any good is such, necessarily, not for itself but for something outside. But to what nature is This good? There is a nature to which nothing is good. And we must not overlook what some surly critic will surely bring up against us: What's all this: you scatter praises here, there and everywhere: Life is good, Intellectual-Principle is good: and yet The Good is above them; how then can Intellectual-Principle itself be good? Or what do we gain by seeing the Ideas themselves if we see only a particular Idea and nothing else [nothing "substantial"]? If we are happy here we may be deceived into thinking life a good when it is merely pleasant; but suppose our lot unhappy, why should we speak of good? Is mere personal existence good? What profit is there in it? What is the advantage in existence over utter non-existence- unless goodness is to be founded upon our love of self? It is the deception rooted in the nature of things and our dread of dissolution that lead to all the "goods" of your positing.
Themes
◆Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

The capacity to 'see' the primal life suggests an internal luminous faculty within the seeker.

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.

The Intellectual-Principle functions as a mediating ordering principle that produces objects through vision.

All passages →
◇Active Contemplationpraxis

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

[auto] The Intellectual-Principle produces objects 'by its vision There' and through 'contemplation of the archetype.'

All passages →
◇Body As Obstacleanthropology

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

[auto] Other life is described as 'darkness, petty and dim... unclean and polluting,' contrasting with the pure higher life.

All passages →
◇Divine Lighttheology

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

[auto] The passage contrasts the primal Life with 'darkness, petty and dim,' using light imagery to denote divine purity.

All passages →
◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] The Archetype is described as 'good in the very Idea' and 'pure Idea,' implying an undivided nature.

All passages →
◇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 flow from the Archetype/Good to Intellectual-Principle to copies, outlining a descending order of being.

All passages →
◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] Salvation or understanding is framed through 'contemplation of the archetype' and 'vision There' rather than external ritual.

All passages →
◇Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

[auto] The divine is characterized as 'Life' that includes all living and is active in contemplation and production.

All passages →
◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The text refers to 'Life, the various, the all-including, the primal and one,' aligning with the concept of a singular first principle.

All passages →
◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The desire to 'be of it' and the description of a life that includes all living suggests a merging with the divine source.

All passages →
◇Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

[auto] The text expresses a strong longing to be of the primal Life and disdaining other life, indicating a desire for reunion with the origin.

All passages →
◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

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

[auto] The movement of 'looking to That' and longing for the primal Life implies an upward journey of the soul.

All passages →
◇Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

[auto] The text describes a life 'in which there is nothing that does not live,' suggesting an all-encompassing unity.

All passages →
Related passages · 8 parallels
◆buddhism|Vajrakkhedika (Diamond Cutter)|Section 1q
“Free from self, free from being, free from life, free from personality, that highest perfect knowledge is always the same, and thus known with all good things. And why? Because, what were preached as good things, good things indeed, O Sub…”
Both passages explore the nature of ultimate reality and goodness, questioning the conventional understanding of these concepts. Plotinus delves into the nature of The Good and its relationship with Intellectual-Principle and the soul, while the Buddhist text discusses the emptiness of all things, including the Tathāgata, and the nature of good deeds and merit. Both texts challenge the conventional understanding of goodness and reality, emphasizing a deeper, more abstract understanding.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 3, Section 1a
“CHAPTER III What is the power of Prayer? Also concerning the Blessed Hierotheus and concerning Reverence and the Writing of Divinity. 1. And first of all, if it like thee, let us consider the highest Name, even “Goodness,” by which all t…”
Both passages explore the nature of The Good or Goodness as a transcendent concept. They discuss the relationship between The Good and other aspects of existence, such as Intellectual-Principle in Plotinus and the Trinity in the Christian mystical tradition. Both texts also consider the nature of desire and the quest for The Good.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1r
“Now we will bid the questioner look towards the truth of things, and in the first place we will venture thus to answer: “Evil cometh not of the Good; and if it cometh therefrom it is not evil. For even as fire cannot cool us, so Good canno…”
Both passages explore the nature of The Good and its relationship to existence and evil. They share a philosophical inquiry into the essence of goodness, its origin, and its role in the universe, reflecting a genuine conceptual parallel across different mystical traditions.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 6)
“2.) "If there is to be a light, there must be a fire. The fire produces the light, and the light renders the fire manifest; it receives the nature of the fire within itself and resides in the fire." ( Mysterium , xl. 2.) "Joy enters the s…”
Both passages explore the relationship between unity and multiplicity, and the nature of the divine. Passage A discusses the primal unity and its manifestation in multiplicity, while Passage B describes the interplay between the 'Yes' and the 'No,' and the dynamic between light and darkness in the divine realm. Both texts emphasize the interdependence of these concepts.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 3 (part 7)
“171.) When the power of the light becomes revealed it manifests its activity first of all in the Fifth Quality , which is evolved by means of the preceding four as sweet love, or a luminous water-spirit. "The first three principles are mer…”
Both passages describe a mystical ascent to a higher, unified reality. Plotinus discusses the primal, all-including Life and Intellectual-Principle, while the second passage describes the revelation of divine powers and the evolution of spiritual qualities leading to a unified, divine state.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 12)
“145:1 This was the divine Man, out of whom the world was created, while the natural man is a product of the world. 145:2 Because everything was within his own will, within himself. 145:3 This celestial Adam has not died, but still exists…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a divine or primal life that humans can aspire to, emphasizing the purity and goodness of this higher state. They also explore the idea of human degeneration and the need to return to a divine state through self-knowledge and contemplation.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Hymn X (part 2)
“For the World is one, and only-begotten. Opusc. Mythol. p. 203. 131:17 Ver. 17] The sportive nymphs . This is because Pan rejoices in the exhalations produced from humid substances; without which the world cannot subsist. Phurnutus…”
Both passages describe a unifying, all-encompassing divine principle that encompasses and sustains the entire cosmos. Plotinus' passage discusses the primal, all-including Life and Intellectual-Principle, while the Hymn to Pan describes Pan as the substance of the whole, the general soul, and the ruler of the world. Both texts emphasize the unity and interconnectedness of all things within this divine principle.
◆platonism|Plato: Republic|Section 1a
“GLAUCON - SOCRATES Still, I must implore you, Socrates, said Glaucon, not to turn away just as you are reaching the goal; if you will only give such an explanation of the good as you have already given of justice and temperance and the othe…”
Both passages explore the nature of the Good, discussing its universality and its relationship to other concepts such as Intellectual-Principle in Plotinus and the Forms in Plato. They both delve into the metaphysical and epistemological aspects of goodness, though from different philosophical traditions.