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Select Works of Plotinus · 713 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 680

Section 41 41. Intellection seems to have been given as an aid to the diviner but weaker beings, an eye to the blind. But the eye itself need not see Being since it is itself the light; what must take the light through the eye needs the light because of its darkness. If, then, intellection is the light and light does not need the light, surely that brilliance (The First) which does not need light can have no need of intellection, will not add this to its nature. What could it do with intellection? What could even intellection need and add to itself for the purpose of its act? It has no self-awareness; there is no need. It is no duality but, rather, a manifold, consisting of itself, its intellective act, distinct from itself, and the inevitable third, the object of intellection. No doubt since knower, knowing, and known, are identical, all merges into a unity: but the distinction has existed and, once more, such a unity cannot be the First; we must put away all otherness from the Supreme which can need no such support; anything we add is so much lessening of what lacks nothing. To us intellection is a boon since the soul needs it; to the Intellectual-Principle it is appropriate as being one thing with the very essence of the principle constituted by the intellectual Act so that principle and act coincide in a continuous self-consciousness carrying the assurance of identity, of the unity of the two. But pure unity must be independent, in need of no such assurance. "Know yourself" is a precept for those who, being manifold, have the task of appraising themselves so as to become aware of the number and nature of their constituents, some or all of which they ignore as they ignore their very principle and their manner of being. The First on the contrary if it have content must exist in a way too great to have any knowledge, intellection, perception of it. To itself it is nothing; accepting nothing, self-sufficing, it is not even a good to itself: to others it is good for they have need of it; but it could not lack itself: it would be absurd to suppose The Good standing in need of goodness. It does not see itself: seeing aims at acquisition: all this it abandons to the subsequent: in fact nothing found elsewhere can be There; even Being cannot be There. Nor therefore has it intellection which is a thing of the lower sphere where the first intellection, the only true, is identical with Being. Reason, perception, intelligence, none of these can have place in that Principle in which no presence can be affirmed.
Themes
◆Divine Lighttheology

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

References the 'splendour' and 'beauty' that emanate from the source over the universe.

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◆Living Godtheology

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

The Supreme is identified as the author of life and beauty, implying active generative 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.

Mentions the 'Intellectual' realm as distinct from the higher formless source, implying a mediating principle.

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◆Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

It describes a limitless love directed toward the divine object that transcends ordinary things.

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◆Return To Sourcesoteriology

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

The infinite love described suggests a drawing back toward the origin of beauty.

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◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis

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

Invites the mind to look beyond the universe to a source standing above all powers and patterns.

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◇Apophatic Theologytheology

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

[auto] The text defines the divine source primarily by negation, stating it is no shape, power, or existing thing.

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◇Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

[auto] Portrays the source as standing above all powers and patterns, distinct from existing things.

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◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] It explicitly argues the source cannot be a thing of parts and must be without magnitude or extension.

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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] Describes beauty and variety as begotten from Ideas flowing from a higher source standing above all powers.

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◇Ladder Of Lovesoteriology

Diotima's staged ascent from love of beautiful bodies → beautiful souls → beautiful pursuits → beautiful knowledge → Beauty itself; the canonical scala amoris that grounds Plotinus's On the Beautiful and Bruno's Eroici Furori — distinct from generic spiritual_ascent in that eros is the specific motive force.

[auto] The text traces an ascent from visible beauty to the infinite love of the ultimate source.

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◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The passage describes the source as the simple, undivided wellspring from which all existence flows without parts or extension.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

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

[auto] Describes the source as formless yet the source of shape, transcending the binary of form and formlessness.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

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

[auto] Uses contradictory statements like 'none... yet it is all' to describe the ineffable nature of the origin.

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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] States the source is 'all' as the wellspring from which beings flow, despite being 'none' of existing things.

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Related passages · 10 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 7, Section 1c
“And in the same way we attribute lack of Reason to Him that is above Reason, and Imperfectibility to Him that is above and before Perfection; and Intangible and Invisible Darkness we attribute to that Light which is Unapproachable because I…”
Both passages discuss the nature of divine knowledge and its relationship to creation, emphasizing the unity and self-sufficiency of the divine mind. They explore how the divine essence transcends human understanding and how the divine knowledge encompasses all things without needing external reference.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 7, Section 1f
“The angels are conceived of as being always in such a state of contemplation. 408 God is the Manifested Absolute. Hence qua Absolute He is supra-sapient, qua Manifested He is wise (cf. ch. i, § 1). The Persons of the Trinity possess on…”
Both passages explore the nature of divine knowledge and the limitations of human understanding in comprehending the divine. They discuss the concept of the divine as both knowable and unknowable, and the relationship between the divine and human intellect.
◆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 explore the nature of the divine and the limitations of human intellect in comprehending it. They emphasize the transcendence of the divine beyond human understanding and the need for a higher form of knowledge or awareness.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 3 (part 8)
“Without it the form of the spirit would not be knowable; it is the corporeity of the spirit. To be sure, it is not a bodily, tangible substance, like the bodies of men, but has nevertheless substantial and visible qualities which the spiri…”
Both passages explore the concept of a transcendent, formless source of beauty and life that is beyond human comprehension and language. They describe this source as the origin of all beauty and existence, emphasizing its uniqueness and the inability of human language to fully capture its essence.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 6 (part 1)
“p. 122 CHAPTER VI. THE RESTORATION OF NATURE AND THE GENERATION OF MAN. " If we speak about heaven and the birth of the elements, we are then not telling of things that are far away or foreign to us, but of that which is taking place wit…”
Both passages explore the concept of a transcendent, formless source of beauty and life. Plotinus describes the formless origin of all beauty and life, while Boehme discusses the restoration of nature and the generation of man, emphasizing the divine illumination and the renewal of the natural world.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 8 (part 9)
“Little would it benefit the blind to know of the light merely from hearsay. Little would it profit the "Christian" if he knew of a historical Christ, and could not perceive the glory and majesty of the Atma Buddhi within his own soul. Boe…”
Both passages discuss the nature of inner light or divine consciousness within the individual. Boehme emphasizes the inner light of Christ within the soul, while Plotinus explores the nature of the Intellectual-Principle and its relationship to intellection and self-awareness. Both texts delve into the concept of inner divine presence and the limitations of intellectual understanding in grasping the ultimate reality.
◆platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1s
“But they are not so, for they are incapable of reason or intellect; the only being which can properly have mind is the invisible soul, whereas fire and water, and earth and air, are all of them visible bodies. The lover of intellect and kn…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and the role of intellect or reason. Plotinus emphasizes the self-sufficiency and unity of the First Principle, while the second passage highlights the divine gift of sight and intellect for understanding the universe and regulating human behavior. Both explore the relationship between the divine and human intellect.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fifth Dialoguei
“It seems to me, that it means that his particular intelligence is to the universal intelligence ever the same—that is to say, the one is ever illuminated by the other, over the whole hemisphere; notwithstanding that to the inferior powers,…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the human intellect and a higher, divine intelligence. They discuss the nature of intellection and the interaction between the human mind and the divine, though from different philosophical and mystical perspectives.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialogueg
“The fifth results from the disproportion of the means of our cognition to the knowable; seeing that in order to contemplate Divine things, the eyes must be opened by means of images, analogies and other reasonings which by the Peripatetics…”
Both passages discuss the limitations of human cognition in understanding the divine or the First Principle. They explore the idea that the divine is beyond human comprehension and that our means of knowing are insufficient to grasp its true nature.
◆taoism|Tao Te Ching|Chapter 2
“All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is. So it is that existe…”
Both passages explore the concept of a transcendent source of beauty and existence. Plotinus describes the formless source of all beauty and life, while Laozi discusses the interplay of opposites and the sage who acts without action, both pointing to a fundamental, ineffable reality.