← Home
Select Works of Plotinus · 750 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 714

Section 10 10. But how comes the soul not to keep that ground? Because it has not yet escaped wholly: but there will be the time of vision unbroken, the self hindered no longer by any hindrance of body. Not that those hindrances beset that in us which has veritably seen; it is the other phase of the soul that suffers and that only when we withdraw from vision and take to knowing by proof, by evidence, by the reasoning processes of the mental habit. Such logic is not to be confounded with that act of ours in the vision; it is not our reason that has seen; it is something greater than reason, reason's Prior, as far above reason as the very object of that thought must be. In our self-seeing There, the self is seen as belonging to that order, or rather we are merged into that self in us which has the quality of that order. It is a knowing of the self restored to its purity. No doubt we should not speak of seeing; but we cannot help talking in dualities, seen and seer, instead of, boldly, the achievement of unity. In this seeing, we neither hold an object nor trace distinction; there is no two. The man is changed, no longer himself nor self-belonging; he is merged with the Supreme, sunken into it, one with it: centre coincides with centre, for on this higher plane things that touch at all are one; only in separation is there duality; by our holding away, the Supreme is set outside. This is why the vision baffles telling; we cannot detach the Supreme to state it; if we have seen something thus detached we have failed of the Supreme which is to be known only as one with ourselves.
Themes
◆Body As Obstacleanthropology

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

The soul retreats to the 'region of sense' for relief from the formless, implying the sensory/material realm is a lower state than the divine.

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.

The mention of the 'realm of Firsts' and the soul reaching towards a higher principle implies a hierarchical structure of being.

All passages →
◇Active Contemplationpraxis

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

[auto] The text states 'Soul must see in its own way', describing a specific mode of contemplative vision or intuition.

All passages →
◇Apophatic Theologytheology

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

[auto] The passage emphasizes that stating the Unity is 'not easy', it is 'formless', and nothing bounds it, relying on negation to describe the divine.

All passages →
◇Divine Hiddennesstheology

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

[auto] The passage notes that stating the Unity is difficult and the soul often slips away in dread of nothingness, indicating radical concealment.

All passages →
◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] The Unity is described as 'formless' and without bounds, indicating a lack of parts or composite attributes.

All passages →
◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

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

[auto] The text refers to 'knowledge of The Unity' achieved through 'intuition' and direct experience rather than discursive reasoning.

All passages →
◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The passage centrally discusses 'The Unity' as the 'principle of all' and the 'Good and First', which aligns with the definition of the absolutely simple first principle.

All passages →
◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

[auto] The text describes the soul's knowledge of the Unity through 'coalescence, unification' where it cannot distinguish itself from the object.

All passages →
◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

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

[auto] The distinction between the knower and the known dissolves in the state of unification described.

All passages →
◇Paradox As Teachingethics

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

[auto] The text presents the paradox that the soul is prevented by unification from recognizing that it has found the Unity.

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 soul is described as 'reaching towards' the principle of all and seeking to come to know the First, implying a journey back to origin.

All passages →
◇Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

[auto] The soul cannot distinguish itself from the object of intuition, implying that knowing the Unity is simultaneously knowing one's true nature.

All passages →
◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

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

[auto] The passage depicts the soul moving from the region of sense towards the 'realm of Firsts' and the formless Unity.

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 identifies the Unity as the 'principle of all', suggesting all existence flows from this single divine reality.

All passages →
Related passages · 7 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation)|VIIa
“OUTWARD AND INWARD MORALITY I Cor. xv. 10 .—“The Grace of God.” Grace is from God, and works in the depth of the soul whose powers it employs. It is a light which issues forth to do service under the guidance of the Spirit. The Divine L…”
Both passages describe a mystical union with the divine, where the individual self is transcended and merged with a higher reality. They emphasize the limitations of rational thought in achieving this union and the transformative nature of the experience.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 3 (part 4)
“The will cannot attain this light, and the more it desires for freedom the greater will be the attraction caused by the desire." ( Six Theosophical Points , i, 38.) "There must be au opposition, for the will desires not to be dark, and this…”
Both passages explore the concept of the soul or will striving towards a higher, formless unity or light, encountering difficulties and internal struggles in the process. They both describe a journey from multiplicity to unity, though within different mystical frameworks.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Front Matter, p. 4 (part 3)
“Because it is also necessary that the soul, essentially rational, should receive intellect by participation, and that intellectual energy should be of p. 22 two kinds; one primarily subsisting in the divine intellect; but the other subsist…”
Both passages explore the nature of the divine and the soul's relationship to it. Passage A discusses the hierarchy of beings and the self-motive nature of the soul, while Passage B describes the soul's ascent to understand the Unity, which is beyond being and form. Both emphasize the transcendence of the divine and the soul's role in comprehending it.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount|Section 1c
“For that the soul who hath no knowledge of the things that are, or knowledge of their nature, or of Good, is blinded by the body's passions and tossed about. This wretched soul, not knowing what she is, becomes the slave of bodies of stran…”
Both passages discuss the soul's relationship with the divine and the concept of unity. Plotinus describes a state of pure vision where the soul merges with the Supreme, while Hermes Trismegistus talks about Gnosis as the virtue of the soul that leads to divine knowledge and unity with the Good.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 15: The Hymn of Hermes|Section 1b
“It sendeth forth of its 4 abundance, and in the place [of what it sendeth forth] receiveth the subsistence from above. 5 For thus the Demiurge 6 —I mean the Sun—eternally doth order Heaven and Earth, pouring down Essence, 7 and taking Matt…”
Both passages discuss the nature of a transcendent unity or principle that is beyond being and form. They explore the difficulty of comprehending this principle and the need for purification and unification to approach it, though they use different metaphors and frameworks.
◆platonism|Plato: Phaedo|Section 1q
“Then reflect, Cebes: is not the conclusion of the whole matter this?-that the soul is in the very likeness of the divine, and immortal, and intelligible, and uniform, and indissoluble, and unchangeable; and the body is in the very likeness…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the divine or higher reality. They emphasize the soul's purity and its ability to transcend the physical body to achieve a state of unity with the divine, highlighting the transformative experience of the soul's ascent.
◆platonism|Plato: Republic|Section 1c
“Moreover, I said, you must not wonder that those who attain to this beatific vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their souls are ever hastening into the upper world where they desire to dwell; which desire of theirs is ver…”
Both passages describe a mystical experience of unity with the divine, where the individual transcends the limitations of the physical world and reason to achieve a state of pure being and oneness. They also discuss the difficulty of conveying this experience to those who have not had it.