Enneads IV 6: Perception and Memory

[sdi]

IV 6: Perception and Memory

We are used to thinking of perception as a passive ability, but it is not: rather, it is the sensation occurring within the body itself that is passive, but the perception of that sensation is an active power of the soul. The things perceived exist within the mind—that is, are Intellectual—and thus already exist within the soul. By moving ones inner focus towards the perception—that is, remembering it—one brings the soul closer to its native province, and thus it makes greater power of it's innate ability to Know, and so the memory becomes more vivid.

As evidence of this, consider that the memory is exercised in just the same way as any other active power: those who memorize much, making use of mnemonics and the like, find it easier and easier to remember things even without the use of such tools. If the memory were passive, then those of the weakest mental faculty would be the ones who had the best memory, and we don't see this at all: rather, the use of memory fades just as the use of muscle does, in the sick or the lazy or the elderly.