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Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) · 179 of 225 · tr. Nicholas Bessaraboff and Claude Bragdon

Chapter XXII (part 7)

Now we have established that illogicality (from our standpoint) is the necessary condition of the knowledge of truth or of the real world. This does not mean that everything that is illogical is true and real, but it means absolutely, that everything true and real is illogical from our standpoint. We have established the fact that it is impossible to approach the truth with our logic, and we have also established the possibility of penetrating into these heretofore inaccessible regions by means of the new canon of thought . The consciousness of the necessity for such an instrument of thought undoubtedly existed from far back. For what, in substance, does the formula Tat twam asi represent if not THE FUNDAMENTAL AXIOM OF HIGHER LOGIC? Thou art That means: thou art both thou and not thou , and corresponds to the super-logical formula, A is both A and Not-A . If we examine ancient writings from this standpoint, then we shall understand that their authors were searching for a new logic , and were not satisfied with the logic of the things of the phenomenal world. The seeming illogicality of ancient philosophical systems, p. 279 which portrayed an ideal world, as it were, instead of an existing one, will then become comprehensible, for in these portrayals of an ideal world, systems of higher logic often lie concealed. ______ One of such misunderstood attempts to construe a system of higher logic, to give a precise instrument of thought, penetrating beyond the limits of the visible world, is the treatise by Plotinus On Intelligible Beauty . Describing HEAVEN and THE GODS, Plotinus says: All the gods are venerable and beautiful, and their beauty is immense. What else however is it but intellect through which they are such? And because intellect energizes in them in so great a degree as to render them visible (by its light)? For it is not because their bodies are beautiful. For these gods that have bodies do not through this derive their subsistence as gods; but these also are gods through intellect. For they are not at one time wise, and at another destitute of wisdom; but they are always wise, in an impassive, stable and pure intellect. They likewise know all things, not human concerns (precedaneously) but their own, which are divine, and such as intellect sees. . . . For all things there are heaven, and there the earth is heaven, as also are the sea, animals, plants, and men. The gods likewise that it contains do not think men undeserving of their regard, nor anything else that is there (because everything there is divine). And they occupy and pervade without ceasing the whole of that (blissful) region. For the life which is there is unattended with labor, and truth (as Plato says in the "Phædrus") is their generator, and nutriment, their essence and nurse. They likewise see all things, not those with which generation, but those with which essence is present. And they perceive themselves in others. For all things there are diaphanous; and nothing is dark and resisting, but everything is apparent to everyone internally and throughout. For light everywhere meets with light; since everything contains all things in itself and again sees all things in another. So that all things are everywhere , and all is all. Each thing likewise is everything . And the splendor there is infinite. For everything there is great, since even that which is small is great. The sun too which is there is all the stars; and again each star is the sun and all the stars. . . In each however, a different property predominates, but at the same time all things are visible in each . Motion likewise there is pure; for the motion is not confounded by a mover different from it.
Themes
◆Correspondencecosmology

The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.

The idea that 'everything contains all things in itself' implies a structural reflection of the whole within the part, consistent with correspondence principles.

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◆Infinite Cosmoscosmology

The doctrine of the universe as boundless and without center or circumference, populated by innumerable worlds — Bruno's rejection of the closed Aristotelian sphere; the divine and the cosmos as ontologically infinite.

The text describes the splendor of the higher realm as 'infinite' and states that 'everything there is great,' aligning with the concept of ontological infinity.

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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.

Intellect is described as the energizing principle that renders gods visible and wise, functioning as a divine ordering reason.

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◇Apophatic Theologytheology

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

[auto] The passage asserts that truth is 'illogical from our standpoint' and impossible to approach with ordinary logic, negating standard categories.

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◇Divine Lighttheology

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

[auto] The Plotinus excerpt describes a realm where 'light everywhere meets with light' and 'splendor there is infinite.'

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◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

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

[auto] The text emphasizes penetrating inaccessible regions of truth through a new instrument of thought rather than ordinary logic.

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◇Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

[auto] It suggests that ancient writings conceal systems of higher logic that are misunderstood by those using phenomenal world logic.

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◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] The assertion that 'everything contains all things in itself' and 'Thou art That' suggests the divine realm is internal.

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◇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.

[auto] The text describes a state where 'everything contains all things in itself and again sees all things in another,' reflecting the part-whole identity.

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◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

[auto] The formula 'Tat twam asi' (Thou art That) and the statement 'each thing is everything' imply a merging of individual identity with the divine whole.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

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

[auto] The text introduces the super-logical formula 'A is both A and Not-A' as a condition for knowing truth, dissolving binary logic.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

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

[auto] Ouspensky argues that 'illogicality' is the necessary condition for truth, using paradoxical statements to destabilize ordinary understanding.

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◇Pleromacosmology

The divine fullness or totality of the highest realm, populated by aeons and divine attributes, contrasted with the deficient material world.

[auto] The description of the intelligible realm where 'light everywhere meets with light' and 'everything contains all things' aligns with the concept of divine fullness.

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◇Self Knowledgesoteriology

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

[auto] The interpretation of 'Thou art That' and the ability to 'perceive themselves in others' points to knowing one's divine nature as central.

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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] The passage explicitly states 'all things are everywhere,' 'each thing is everything,' and 'all is all,' emphasizing non-dualistic oneness.

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Related passages · 8 parallels
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XIa
“In what follows, in which you think that ignorance and deception about these things are impiety and impurity, and in which you exhort us to the true developement of these particulars, is not, indeed, attended with any ambiguity, but is ackn…”
Both passages discuss the limitations of human logic in understanding higher truths and the need for a different, more elevated form of logic or understanding to grasp the divine or real world. They both reference ancient philosophical systems and the idea that the divine is beyond ordinary human comprehension.
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXVI
“There are many other contentious innovations also, which may be the subject of wonder. But some one may justly be astonished at the contrariety of opinions produced by admitting either that the truth of divination is with enchanters, the wh…”
Both passages explore the limitations of conventional logic and the need for a higher or super-logical understanding to grasp ultimate reality. They both reference ancient philosophical systems and the idea of a unified, interconnected reality beyond the phenomenal world.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 157 (part 2)
“If we are answered that the distinction is merely a process of our thought, then, at once, the theory of a plurality in the Divine Hypostasis is abandoned: further, the question is opened whether our thought can entertain a knowing principl…”
Both passages explore the nature of divine intellect and the limitations of human logic in understanding it. Passage A discusses the unity of the Divine Mind and its self-knowing nature, while Passage B introduces the concept of higher logic and the illogicality of the real world from a human standpoint, referencing Plotinus' work.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 424
“Section 8 8. This is the explanation of Plato's Triplicity, in the passage where he names as the Primals the Beings gathered about the King of All, and establishes a Secondary containing the Secondaries, and a Third containing the Tertiarie…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a higher, super-logical reality where traditional logic does not apply. They explore the idea of an intellectual or divine realm that transcends the phenomenal world, emphasizing the unity and interconnectedness of all things within this realm.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 491
“Section 13 13. The God fettered [as in the Kronos Myth] to an unchanging identity leaves the ordering of this universe to his son (to Zeus), for it could not be in his character to neglect his rule within the divine sphere, and, as though s…”
Both passages explore the idea of a higher logic or wisdom that transcends ordinary reasoning. They discuss how ancient texts and traditions sought to convey truths that go beyond the phenomenal world, using symbols and images to represent unified, non-discursive knowledge.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 506
“Section 14 14. There is, thus, a Nature comprehending in the Intellectual all that exists, and this Principle must be the source of all. But how, seeing that the veritable source must be a unity, simplex utterly? The mode by which from the…”
Both passages discuss the limitations of ordinary logic and the need for a higher logic or intellectual principle to understand the true nature of reality. They both reference ancient philosophical systems and the idea of a higher, more comprehensive understanding of existence.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 656
“Section 17 17. But in what mode are these secondaries, and Intellectual-Principle itself, within the First? They are not in the Filling Principle; they are not in the filled since before that moment it did not contain them. Giving need not…”
Both passages explore the concept of higher logic and the nature of divine intellect, emphasizing the limitations of ordinary logic in understanding higher realities. They both discuss the idea that the divine contains all things and that the intelligible world operates on a different logical plane.
◆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 explore the limitations of human logic and reason in understanding higher truths or realities. They also discuss the role of intellect and the need for a higher logic or understanding to comprehend the divine or the real world.