Select Works, Section 681

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

The dismissal of all visible shape and the descent from beauty implies that material form hinders true perception.

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

The instruction to strip away all shape given in thought suggests a practice of stilling mental constructs.

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

[auto] The passage explicitly describes the Supreme by negation, stating nothing visible is to be conceived and all shape must be dismissed.

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

[auto] The Supreme is described as standing beyond the all-lovely and being unable to be told why it stirs longing.

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

[auto] The text emphasizes the 'Formless Form' and a principle that stands beyond multiplicity, indicating an undivided nature.

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 distinguishes between the Intellectual-Principle and a Supreme being beyond it, implying a hierarchical structure of divine principles.

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

[auto] Reason urges the soul toward the Authentic Term despite being unable to tell why, pointing to knowledge beyond rational explanation.

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

[auto] The 'Supreme' described as beyond multiplicity and the source of longing aligns with the definition of the absolutely simple first principle.

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

[auto] The soul's longing for the 'Authentic Term' where the best Nature is found suggests a desire for reunification with the divine.

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

[auto] The text advocates stripping away shape and differences even in thought, such as the distinction between Justice and Sophrosyne.

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

[auto] The passage uses paradoxical phrases like 'Formless Form' and 'multiple and above multiplicity' to describe the divine.

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

[auto] The soul's hunger for the Supreme being implies a journey back to its divine origin or Authentic Term.

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

[auto] The passage contrasts descending from beauty with the soul's hunger for the Supreme, implying an upward journey toward the divine source.

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

[auto] The Intellectual-Principle is described as grasping multiple content in unity and dealing with variety as unity.