Enneads VI 9: On the Good, or the One
May. 18th, 2023 11:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdiTHE PLACE IS HERE
THE TIME IS NOW
LET'S DO THIS
Though It seems so alien to us, the One isn't something "out there"—rather we are like children who left home, got lost, and became so distraught that we don't even recognize our own Father. Philosophy points the way back, but that final leap can only be made by you, yourself, gathered into a microcosmic One.
The One is thus the great Mystery, because it can only be experienced but not understood or even spoken about. It is in mimicry of this that the lesser mysteries would not divulge their secrets to the uninitiated. Things here in this world such as these are like the signs written upon the walls of the great Temple, where those who are taught to read the signs may enter the holy place and commune with God.
The One is not to be made a common story—only those worthy are enabled to go behind the curtain and See. To those who have Seen, they are forever impressed by that Image—no sensation, no movement, no desire, no self, only Love and Contentment and Rest. This is the life of the gods, and this is the life of the saints: the flight of the alone to the Alone.
This is a short and moving tractate and another of those worth reading in full. For some sightseeing:
The first few paragraphs of §1 describe a theoretical principle important beyond the realms of mysticism. Mages and suppliants, take note!
§9 has beautiful observations of the myths of Aphrodite and the myth of Eros and Psyche. "There, the soul is the Aphrodite Ourania; here, the soul turns harlot, Aphrodite Pandemos; but the soul is always Aphrodite." This meshes with my understanding of the myths going back all the way to Innana. Is there a Love Principle? Of course—but do not forget that you are She, for it is by forgetting that you end up here in the first place.
§11 is a very beautiful summation and conclusion to Plotinus' life and thought—a very good place to end his writings on.
And with that, we have completed the Enneads! Back when I had started, my angel had urged me to try and average one tractate a week, but I just missed doing so by (exactly) two weeks. Considering that I got a concussion, that my wife was in the ICU, and that we had a baby in the last year, I suppose that's not too bad.
I think it's going to take me some time to gather up and set into order all of my thoughts about Plotinus and do a proper retrospective, but let me say this: Mabel Collins wrote in her Light on the Path that "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear," and Xenophon wrote in his Memorabilia that "students get nothing from a teacher with whom they are not in sympathy." So in that sense it is not surprising that when I asked my angel, "why Plotinus?" they responded, "because you will find nothing better suited to your disposition in English." I was simply ready to hear.
I recognize Plotinus isn't for everyone. Indeed, Neoplatonism is so obviously not a religion for most people that it's no wonder at all to me that it died out and was replaced with one that was! No, this is a very peculiar way of understanding the cosmos, only really suited to peculiar people. I have found it tremendously valuable and hope that you've gotten something out of following along—but you should not feel bad if you did not, since Plotinus assumes a worldview and a model that was very foreign to most people in his time and is only more so today.
But no matter what your disposition, keep growing, keep seeking, keep praying: Providence is just, and a teacher will be made available for you.
Enormous gratitude for sharing what (for me) is a most beneficial series of meditations
Date: 2023-05-18 05:39 pm (UTC)Having been a (clearly very poor) student of philosophy for pretty much as long as I can remember,
have found some wry humor in the fact that in all those years I failed to discover Plotinus or ever look into much any Neoplatonist thought (with the exception of what CS Lewis shares in his works.)
Have you any intent of gathering your meditations into a volume? If not, I'm minded to collect your public posts here into a document to aid in my personal further exploration of this rich field.
Re: Enormous gratitude for sharing what (for me) is a most beneficial series of meditations
Date: 2023-05-18 07:01 pm (UTC)Regarding a collection, I may! It's certainly something I've thought about. I think I've got another few years of hard work ahead of me before I can venture it properly—I made a bunch of errors in my earlier summaries that only became clear in light of the later ones, there are some gaps in my understanding, and I'm not 100% sure all the pieces I do have fit together exactly. My plan is to try and tackle some of Proclus next to see if I can improve my understanding, and I'll reassess after that.
In the meantime, I consider everything I post to be public domain—you are more than welcome to do whatever you like with any of it. I hope it is helpful, despite my misgivings!
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Date: 2023-05-18 11:56 pm (UTC)Anyway, thank you for sharing this all publicly. It's been useful for others.
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Date: 2023-05-19 12:55 am (UTC)Regarding dogma, I absolutely believe it: I made the conscious decision in my summaries to state conclusions and not the process of coming to those conclusions, except when the process is necessary for explanation. As a result, five or six sections of meandering considerations, trying to carefully look at something from all angles or respond to objections, get squished down into a single sentence that comes off as a statement of fact!
Do you happen to remember which two you discussed? I'm curious!
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Date: 2023-05-20 05:31 pm (UTC)It went okay, but it was basically mostly resulted in bemused smiles. Of course, it's a mixed group, some of whom don't even think there is any life for us at all beyond the one we are experiencing right now. So Plotinus going on about what memories the inhabitants of the spiritual realms retain of their material existence, which was BLOWING my MIND, was to them more or less the equivalent of theologians arguing about how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. Ironically the coda on magic ended up producing slightly more useful discussion, which I found intersting but which sometimes required a bit of patience, as the other members really were coming at it from the perspective of folks who had no idea that anybody besides cult members or poseurs actually take such things seriously in this day and age.
The other one, I'm sorry, I can't remember which one it was right now. On that day, nobody ended up coming except me and one other, so I just shared it one on one, and I no longer can find a record.
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Date: 2023-05-20 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-20 06:06 pm (UTC)https://sdi.dreamwidth.org/82558.html
You may also be interested to know that in both cases, we took turns reading portions out loud, before discussing it.
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Date: 2023-05-20 06:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-20 06:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-19 05:41 pm (UTC)Good luck with Proclus, or wherever next your angel next guides you. I mentally categorize them as: If Plotinus is the refined, dignified, high-water mark of the late Neoplatonists, a kind of respectable professor of theory who nonetheless has practical experience (that is more or less veiled), Iamblichus is the guy with the backstreets garage welding together magnificent occult devices, all the while explaining the nitty-gritty of the theory behind them. Proclus seems to be the great systematizer of the group, the neat protege tidying up the master's shop after he blew it up. :) At least that's how they seem to me...
Axé!
Fra' Lupo
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Date: 2023-05-19 09:46 pm (UTC)