Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) · 175 of 225 · tr. Nicholas Bessaraboff and Claude Bragdon
Chapter XXII (part 3)
These Eleatic ideas—namely that there is and there can be only One Absolute Being, infinite., unchangeable, without a second, without parts and passions—are the same ideas which underlie the Upanishads and have been fully worked out in the Vedânta-Sutras .
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273 In most of the religions of the ancient world [says Müller] the relation between the soul and God has been represented as a return of the soul to God.
A yearning for God, a kind of divine home-sickness, finds expression in most religions, but the road that is to lead us home, and the reception which the soul may expect in the Father's house have been represented in very different ways in different religions.
According to some religious teachers, a return of the soul to God is possible after death only.
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According to other religious teachers, the final beatitude of the soul can be achieved in this life.
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That beatitude requires knowledge only, knowledge of the necessary unity of what is divine in man with what is divine in God.
The Brahmins call it self-knowledge, that is to say, the knowledge that our true self, if it is anything, can only be that Self which is All in All, and beside which there is nothing else.
Sometimes this conception of the intimate relation between the human and the divine natures comes suddenly, as the result of an unexplained intuition or self-recollection.
Sometimes, however, it seems as if the force of logic had driven the human mind to the same result.
If God had once been recognized as the Infinite in nature and the soul as the Infinite in man, it seemed to follow that there could not be two Infinites.
The Eleatics had clearly passed through a similar phase of thought in their own philosophy.
If there is an Infinite, they said, it is one, for if there were two they could not be In-finite, but would be finite one toward the other.
But that which exists is infinite, and there cannot be more such.
Therefore that which exists is one.
Nothing can be more definite than this Eleatic Monism, and with it the admission of a soul, the Infinite in man, as different from God, the Infinite in nature, would have been inconceivable.
In India it was so expressed that Brahman and Atman (the spirit) were in their nature one.
The early Christians also, at least those who had been brought up in the schools of Neo-platonist philosophy, had a clear perception that if the soul is infinite and immortal in its nature, it cannot be anything beside God, but that it must be of God and in God.
St.
Paul gave but his own bold expression to the same faith or knowledge, when he uttered the words which have startled so many theologians: In Him we live and move and have our being .
If anyone else had uttered these words they would at once have been condemned as pantheism.
No doubt they are pantheism, and yet they express the very key-note of Christianity.
The divine sonship of man is only a metaphorical expression but it was meant originally to embody the same idea.
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And when the question was asked how the consciousness of this divine sonship could ever have been lost, the answer given by Christianity was, by sin, the answer given by the Upanishads was, by avidya , nescience.
This marks the similarity, and at the same time the characteristic difference between these two religions.
The question how nescience laid hold on the human soul, and made it imagine that it could live or move or have its true p.
274 being anywhere but in Brahman , remains as unanswerable in Hindu philosophy as in Christianity the question how sin first came into the world.
Themes
◆Anamnesissoteriology
Platonic recollection: knowledge as the soul's recovery of what it knew before birth, with learning as remembering rather than acquisition.
The passage mentions 'self-recollection' as a means by which the conception of the divine relation comes suddenly.
All passages →◆Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The Absolute Being is defined by negations such as without parts, without passions, and without a second.
All passages →◆Inner Lightanthropology
The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.
The text refers to what is divine in man as the Infinite in man, suggesting an internal divine quality.
All passages →◆Microcosm Macrocosmcosmology
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The text contrasts the 'Infinite in nature' with the 'Infinite in man,' suggesting a structural identity between the human and the divine cosmos.
All passages →◆Opposites Transcendedanthropology
The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.
Logic drives the mind to conclude there cannot be two Infinites, transcending the duality of God and soul.
All passages →◆Separation From Sourcesoteriology
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
The text discusses how consciousness of divine sonship was lost through 'sin' or 'avidya' (nescience).
All passages →◆Theosis Deificationsoteriology
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
References to 'divine sonship' and being 'of God and in God' reflect the doctrine of humans partaking in the divine nature.
All passages →◇Divine Simplicitytheology
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
[auto] The Absolute Being is described as infinite, unchangeable, and without parts or passions.
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 beatitude is described as requiring knowledge only, specifically of the unity between the divine in man and God.
All passages →◇Kingdom Withinanthropology
The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.
[auto] St. Paul's words In Him we live and move and have our being suggest the divine realm is present within the individual.
All passages →◇Monadcosmology
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
[auto] The Eleatic idea of One Absolute Being without parts serves as the undivided first principle underlying existence.
All passages →◇Mystical Unionsoteriology
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
[auto] The passage describes the intimate relation where the human and divine natures are one, such as Brahman and Atman.
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] Multiple religions are cited as representing the relation between soul and God as a return of the soul to its divine home.
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 text identifies self-knowledge as the specific knowledge required for beatitude, recognizing the true self as All in All.
All passages →◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
[auto] The text mentions a road that leads the soul home to God, implying a journey of return or ascent.
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 passage explicitly discusses Eleatic Monism and the identity of Brahman and Atman as a single divine reality.
All passages →Related passages · 25 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1c
“The Good is beyond this distinction, for nothing (on the ultimate plane) is outside It.
See Intr., p.
5.
and Lifelessness an excess of Life and Its Mindless state is an excess of Wisdom, 252 252 This apparently profitless speculation rea…”
Both passages explore the concept of the ultimate reality and the relationship between the divine and human nature. They discuss the idea of unity and the transcendence of the divine, as well as the human quest for union with the divine through knowledge or self-sacrifice.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1
“277 ἑνώσεις, διακρίσεις, ταὐτότητες, ἑτερότητες.
278 Hence parts are united into wholes and wholes articulated into parts, and hence each thing is identical with itself and distinct from everything else.
279 e.g.
Moisture interpenetrates…”
Both passages discuss the unity of the divine and the soul, emphasizing the concept of a universal harmony or oneness. Pseudo-Dionysius describes the soul's union with God through introversion and spiritual unity, while the Vedânta-Sutras and Upanishads discuss the soul's return to God and the knowledge of the unity between the human and divine natures.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1
“The types of things existent in the permanent spiritual world before the things were created in this transitory material world; the Platonic Ideas.
There was also a Jewish belief in such a pre-existence of things.
Cf.
Rev.
iv.
11 (R.…”
Both passages discuss the concept of unity and the relationship between the divine and the human soul. They explore the idea of the soul's return to God and the nature of divine perfection, showing a genuine conceptual parallel across different mystical traditions.
◆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 unity of the divine and the soul, emphasizing the concept of an infinite, unchangeable Absolute Being and the soul's return to or union with this divine essence. They also explore the limitations of human understanding in conceiving the infinite and the use of metaphorical language to describe divine truths.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 4)
“She is passive, but the Spirit of God is active, like the soul in the body." ( Clavis , v.
18.) This eternal Trinity is inconceivable in its aspect as a spiritual potentiality, in the same sense as a fire is inconceivable if it does not bu…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a singular, divine essence that manifests in a trinity or unity, emphasizing the incomprehensibility of the divine nature and the idea of self-revelation or self-knowledge as a path to understanding the divine.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 1)
“p.
180 CHAPTER IX.
GENERATION.
"Let every Brahman, with fixed attention, consider all nature, both visible and invisible, as existing in the Divine Spirit.
For when he contemplates the boundless universe in the Divine Spirit, he cannot…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the human soul and the divine, emphasizing the unity and the return of the soul to God. They share the concept of the divine nature within man and the idea of achieving beatitude or divine connection through knowledge or surrender.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 10 (part 1)
“p.
198 CHAPTER X.
THE CHRIST.
"The inner element which holds the whole body of this world has become the eternal body of Christ; for the whole of Divinity in the word and heart of God has entered therein in eternity; and the same Divinit…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the divine and the human soul, emphasizing the unity and the need for divine intervention or knowledge for salvation or liberation. They share the concept of a divine principle that interacts with the human soul to achieve a state of unity or redemption.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 1)
“p.
224 CHAPTER XI.
INCARNATION—THE CELESTIAL VIRGIN.
The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ, or, to express it in other words, of the awakening of the germ of divine self-knowledge in man, is so grand, that it is impossible to form a…”
Both passages discuss the union or connection between the divine and human realms, with Passage A focusing on the incarnation of Christ as a means to unite the divine and human, and Passage B exploring the concept of the soul's return to or union with the divine, as seen in various religious traditions. Both emphasize the idea of a fundamental unity between the divine and human natures.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 7)
“48.) "The soul and the Word are not one or one being.
The soul is born from the centre of nature, from the essences, and belongs to the body, for she issues from the essences of the body, and attracts to herself the body; but the Word is f…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the soul and the divine, exploring themes of unity and the nature of the divine within humanity. They share a mystical perspective on the connection between the human soul and the divine, though they come from different religious traditions.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 10)
“"Human reason can understand nothing about the kingdom of Christ, nor about His person or office, because the testament of Christ is celestial, and human reasoning is terrestrial; the latter seeks Christ in time, while He can only be found…”
Both passages discuss the unity of the divine and human nature, emphasizing that the divine is within the individual. They also touch on the idea of self-knowledge and the realization of the divine within, though they come from different mystical traditions.
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◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 13 (part 14)
“It would then be easy for us to grant our own desires, if in that divine state there could be room for personal desires of any kind.
268:1 True prayer is the bringing of will, thought, and word into one Δ by the power of the Spirit of God.…”
Both passages discuss the unity of the divine and human nature, emphasizing the need for self-knowledge and the realization of the divine within. They also touch on the idea of overcoming personal desires and achieving a state of divine enlightenment or union with the divine.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 14 (part 12)
“Certainly, from the point of view of the divine spirit, all forms are merely illusive, and as long as man is rooted within that spirit he may recognise them as such; but for the godless they are horrible realities, as real as the images of…”
Both passages discuss the concept of the divine within the self and the journey of the soul towards union with the divine. They share the idea that true realization and salvation come from within, emphasizing self-knowledge and the divine nature inherent in the individual.
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 69)
“xcii} unity of a supreme and self-existent being, his eternity, his almightiness, and external reproduction thereby as God; the attributing of the creation of the world and of all living beings to this supreme God; the immortality of the so…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a supreme, singular, and self-existent being who is the creator of all things and the immortality of the soul. They also explore the idea of the unity of the divine and the human spirit, though in different cultural and religious contexts.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 285 (part 1)
“Section 1 1.
In our attempt to elucidate the Essence of the soul, we show it to be neither a material fabric nor, among immaterial things, a harmony.
The theory that it is some final development, some entelechy, we pass by, holding this t…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to a higher, indivisible essence or being. Passage A explores the soul's place in the Intellectual Kind and its connection to an unparted, impartible Essence, while Passage B discusses the unity of the soul with the divine, emphasizing the idea that the true self is one with the Absolute Being.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 286 (part 1)
“Section 2 2.
It can be demonstrated that soul must, necessarily, be of just this nature and that there can be no other soul than such a being, one neither wholly partible but both at once.
If it had the nature of body it would consist of…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its unity. Plotinus argues for the soul as a unified, indivisible entity that encapsulates multiplicity, while the second passage discusses the unity of the soul with the divine, emphasizing the concept of a single, infinite being. Both traditions explore the idea of a singular, all-encompassing principle that governs existence.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 286 (part 2)
“In the case of things not endowed with intelligence, the "leading-principle" is their mere unity- a lower reproduction of the soul's efficiency.
This is the deeper meaning of the profound passage [in the Timaeus], where we read "By blendin…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the divine, emphasizing the unity and indivisibility of the divine essence. They explore the idea that the soul is of the divine order and that true knowledge or understanding leads to the realization of this unity.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 288
“Section 1 1. The soul: what dubious questions concerning it admit of solution, or where we must abide our doubt- with, at least, the gain of recognizing the problem that confronts us- this is matter well worth attention. On what subject can…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the divine, emphasizing the unity and indivisibility of the soul and its connection to the infinite. They draw from different philosophical and religious traditions but share a core insight about the oneness of the divine and the soul.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 295 (part 1)
“Section 8 8.
These considerations, amounting to the settlement of the question, are not countered by the phenomenon of sympathy; the response between soul and soul is due to the mere fact that all spring from that self-same soul [the next…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to a higher, divine reality. They explore the unity and infinity of the soul and its connection to the divine, albeit within different philosophical and religious frameworks.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 314
“Section 27 27. But of what soul; of that which we envisage as the more divine, by which we are human beings, or that other which springs from the All? Memory must be admitted in both of these, personal memories and shared memories; and when…”
Both passages explore the nature of the soul and its relationship to the divine, with Passage A discussing the soul's memory and its connection to both personal and shared experiences, and Passage B discussing the soul's return to God and the unity of the human and divine natures. Both texts delve into mystical concepts of the soul's journey and its ultimate connection to the divine.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 412
“Section 3 3. Yet, looking at another set of facts, reflection tells us that we are in sympathetic relation to each other, suffering, overcome, at the sight of pain, naturally drawn to forming attachments; and all this can be due only to som…”
Both passages discuss the concept of unity and oneness, with Passage A focusing on the unity of souls within the one soul and Passage B exploring the unity of the divine and the human soul. Both traditions share the insight that there is an underlying unity that connects all things.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 475
“Section 1 1. We have to examine the question whether there exists an ideal archetype of individuals, in other words whether I and every other human being go back to the Intellectual, every [living] thing having origin and principle There. I…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the individual soul and the divine, with Passage A discussing the existence of individual souls in the Intellectual realm and Passage B discussing the unity of the soul with the divine in various religious traditions. Both texts delve into the nature of the soul's connection to the divine, albeit from different philosophical and religious perspectives.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 505
“Section 13 13. It remains to decide whether only what is known in sense exists There or whether, on the contrary, as Absolute-Man differs from individual man, so there is in the Supreme an Absolute-Soul differing from Soul and an Absolute-I…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to a higher, absolute reality. Passage A from Plotinus explores the concept of Absolute-Soul and Intellectual-Principle, while Passage B from the Upanishads and Vedânta-Sutras discusses the unity of Brahman and Atman. Both texts emphasize the idea of an ultimate, unchangeable reality and the soul's connection to it.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 591
“Section 1 1. How are we to explain the omnipresence of the soul? Does it depend upon the definite magnitude of the material universe coupled with some native tendency in soul to distribute itself over material mass, or is it a characteristi…”
Both passages explore the nature of the soul and its relationship to the divine or the absolute. Passage A discusses the omnipresence of the soul and its relationship to the material universe, while Passage B explores the unity of the soul with the divine, drawing on various religious traditions. Both passages grapple with the concept of the soul's nature and its connection to a higher reality.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 604
“Section 14 14. But, admitting this one soul at every point, how is there a particular soul of the individual and how the good soul and the bad? The one soul reaches to the individual but nonetheless contains all souls and all intelligences;…”
Both passages discuss the unity and infinity of the soul and its relationship to a higher, divine reality. They explore the concept of the individual soul as part of a greater whole, with Plotinus discussing the primal Man and the Vedânta-Sutras discussing Brahman and Atman.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 623
“Section 3 3. And there is the question How can the infinite have existence and remain unlimited: whatever is in actual existence is by that very fact determined numerically. But, first, if multiplicity holds a true place among Beings, how c…”
Both passages explore the concept of the infinite and the unity of being, with Passage A discussing the nature of the unlimited and Passage B discussing the Eleatic ideas of a single, infinite Absolute Being and its relation to the soul. Both traditions grapple with the idea of unity and the nature of the infinite.