B A . .

,
D I !

LO N D O N

THEOS O PHICA L PU B LIS H IN G S O C IETY ,

7, D UKE S TREET, A D E LPH I, w . c .

IN D IA
MAD R A S TH E O S O PH I S T I
O F F CE , AD Y AR

BE N A R E S Z TH E TH E O S O PH I C A L PU B L I S H I N G S O C I E TY .
 [ 71 8 o llowin
f ay was wrz lzen as a Pre
'

7
‘

g ess

T o mas Ta lor s
fa to a f b ’
ce
o y

f Plotz mes, m
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!
S e lect o
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{ olds/z e d in

Me B o/ mL z oraries j
'
 CONTENTS .

PA GE

F O R EW O R D

N OW

TH E S Y S TE M O F PLO TIN U S

B IB LIO GR A PH Y
 PLO TIN U S .

F O R E WO R D .

IN presenting to the publi c a new edition of

Th o mas Taylor s S e leol Wo rks of Plo z z n a s it
'
’ ‘

will not be o ut o f place to sh o w cause for wh at

may be considered by many a somewhat
temerous proceeding What has the present
.

E nglish reading public to do with Ploti n us ;

-

what still further has it to do w ith th e

translations of Thomas Taylor
I n th e following paragraphs I hope to show
,

that the temper o f the publi c mind o f to day -

,

w ith regard to th e problems o f religion and

philosophy is v ery similar to that o f th e times
,

of Plotinus Th e public interest in the philo

.

sophy ofmysticism and th eosophical speculation

has so largely developed during the last t w enty
years that a demand fo r books treating o f
2 PLOTINU S

Neoplatonism and kindred subj ects i s steadily

increasing .

Now o f Neoplatonism Plotinus was the

coryph aeus if not th e founder What Plato
,
.

was to S ocrates Plotinus was to his master

, ,

A mm o n iu s S acc as N either S ocrates no r

.

A mm o niu s committ ed anything to writing ;

Plato and Plotinus were the great expounders
o f th e tenets o f their respecti v e schools and ,

as far as we can j udge far transcended their

,

teachers in brilliancy o f genius Therefore to

.
,

the student o f Neoplatonism the works o f ,

Plotinus are the most indispensable docum ent ,

and the basis o f the whole system Just as no .

Platonic philosopher t ran sc e nd e d th e genius

‘

o f Plato so n o N e o p lat o nic philosopher sur

,

passed the genius o f Plotinus .

The E nneads o f Plotin us are as Harnack ,

says,
!
the primary and classical docum ent o f
Neoplatonism ; o f that docum ent there is no
translation in the English langu age There .

are com p lete translations in L atin French and ,

German but E nglish scholarship has till no w

,

entirely neglect ed Plotinus who so far from

, ,

b eing inferior to his great m aster Plato was ,

thou gh t to b e a re in c arn atio n o f hi s genius

 FOREWORD 3

mz lz s j a a z oa la s
'
’
j
' ' '

[ ta esz , a t
‘
e a s sz
' ' '

lz o o t llo f e o z x z sse p a la na a s s z l — S t Au gustine

’
’

.
”
.
,

D e z v iii A glance at the

'

D e ,
.

B ibliography at the end o f this essay will sh o w

t h e reader that though French an d German

s cholars ha v e laboured in this field with marked

i ndustry and success E nglish scholarship has ,

l eft the pioneer work of Thomas Taylor ( in

the concluding years o f the past century and
t h e opening years o f the present ) entirely
unsupported Taylor devoted upwards of fifty
.

y ears of unremittin g toil to the restoration of

G reek philosophy especially that of Plato and ,

t h e Neoplatonists In the midst of great

.

o pposition and adverse criticism he laboured

o n single h anded
-
As Th M Johnson the
. . .
,

e ditor o f T/z e Pla z o n z sl and an enthusiastic

'
‘

a dmirer of Taylor says in the preface to his ,

t ranslation o f three treatises of Plotinus

!
This wonderful genius and profo und
p hilosopher devoted his whole life to the
e lucidation and propagation of the Platonic

p hilosophy . By his arduous labours modern

t imes became acquainted with many of the
works o f Plotinus Porphyry Proclus etc , , ,
.

S ince Taylor s time something has been kn o wn

’
 4 PL OTINUS

oPlotinus but he is still to many a mere

f ,

n am e
”
.

Taylor was a pioneer and o f pioneers we d o

,

not demand the building o fGovernment roads .

It is tr u e that the perfected scholarshi p o f o ur

o w n times d emands a hi gher standard o f
translation than Taylor presents ; but what
was true o f his critics then is tru e o f h is ,

critics to d ay : though th ey m ay know m ore

-

Greek he knew m o r e Plato The present

,
.

translation ne v erth eless is quite faithful

, ,

enough for all ordinary purposes Taylor w as .

more than a scholar h e was a philosoph er i n

,

th e Platonic sense o f th e word ; and the trans

latio n s o f Taylor are still in great request an d
~

command so high a pr i ce i n th e second hand -

market that sl ender purses cannot procur e _

them Th e exp ense a n d labour o f preparin g

.

a complete translation o fthe E nneads howe v er , ,

i s t o o great a ri sk without first testin g th e

public interest by a new edition o f the onl y
translation o f any size which we posse ss A .

new edition o fTaylor s S e leol Wo rks of Plolz m es

’
’
.

is therefore prese nted to th e public i n t h e

, ,

h op e th at it m ay pave the way to a co m plete

translation o f the w orks of the greatest o f th e
 FO REWORD 5

N eoplatonists That the signs O f the tim es

.

presage an e v er growing interest in such

s ubj ects and that it is o f great importance to
,

learn what solution one of the most penetrating

m inds O f antiquity had to O ffer Of problems in
religion and philosophy that are insistently
pressing upon us to day w ill be seen from th e
-
,

following considerations .
 THE N AND N OW .

TH E early centuries Of th e Christian era are

‘

p erhaps th e m ost interesting epoch that can

engage th e attention o f the student of history
The conquests Of R ome had opened up com
mu n icat io n with the most distant pa rts o f her
v ast empire and seemed to the conqueror s to
,

have united even the ends Of th e earth The .

thought Of th e O rient and O ccident met n o w ,

in conflict now in friendly e mbrac e a nd th e

, ,
'

chi ef arena for th e enactment Of this int e lle c

tual drama was at Alexandria As Vach e ro t
.

says
!
Alexandria at th e time wh en A mm o niu s
,

S a cc as began to teach had becom e th e

,

sanctuary Of universal wisdom The as y lu m

.

o f the o ld traditions o f th e E ast it was at th e

,

sam e time th e bi rthplace Of new doctrines It .

was at A le xan dria fth at the school o f Phil o

represented Hel len i zin g Judaism ; it w as at
Alexandria that the Gn osis synthesized all th e
traditions o f Syria , Of Ch ald aea o f Persia , ,
 THEN AN D N OW 7

blended with Judaism with Christianity and

, ,

even with Greek philosophy The S chool O f .

the Alexandrian fathers raised Christian

thought to a height which it w a s not to su rpass ,

and w hich w as to strike fear into the heart o f

the orthodoxy O f the C o uncils A strong life .

flo w ed in the v eins of all the s e schools and

v italized all their discussions Philo B asilid e s
.
, ,

Valentinus Saint Clement and O rigen opened

, ,

up fo r th e mind n e w v istas o f th ought and ,

u n v eiled for it mysteries which the genius of a

Plato or an Aristotle had ne v er fathomed ( i .

33 1)
Indeed the time was one of great str ain
, ,

physical intellectual and spiritual ; it w as as

, , ,

Z eller says a time in which the n ations had

,

lost their independence the popular reli gi on s

,

their power the nati o nal fo rms o f culture

,

their peculiar stamp in part if not wholly ;

, ,

i n which the supports o f life on its material ,

as well as on its spiritual side had bee n ,

broken asunder and th e great civilizations O f

,

the world were impressed with the conscious

ness of their own d ownfall and with the ,

prophetic sense of th e approach o f a ne w era

a time in w hich the longing after a ne w and
8 P L OT I N U S

m ore satisfying form Of s piritual bein g , a

fellowshi p that s h ould embrace all peoples a ,

form o f belief that should bear men over all

the misery Of the p resent and tranquillise ,

th e desire O f the soul was uni v ersal ( v 3 9 1

,
”
.

39 ,
2 quoted b y Mozley )
-
.

Such was the state Of a ffairs then and v ery ,

similar is the condition Of things in o ur own

d ay. It requires no grea t e ffort o fthe imagin
a tion fo r even th e m ost superficial student o f

t h e history O f these times to see a marked

s imilarity between the general unrest and

s earchin g after a new ideal th at marked that

p eri od o f brilliant intellectual development ,

and th e uncertainty and eager curiosity o f the

public mind in the closing years o f the nine
t e e nth century .

The tendency is the same in kind but not ,

in degree . TO day life i s far m ore intense

-
,

t hought more active experience more ex

,

t en ded the need O fthe solution o fth e problem

,

more pressing It is not Rome who has

.

united th e nations under h er yoke it is the ,

conquests O f p h ysic al sc ie n c e that hav e in

’

truth unit e d the ends Of the earth and built ,

up an arterial and nerv ous system for our

 THEN AN D N OW 9 .

c ommon mother which she h a s never pre

v io u sly possessed . It is not the philosophy o f
G reece and R om e that are meeting together ;
i t is n o t even the philosophy o fthe then confined
O ccident meeting with the somewhat vague
and u nsyste m iz e d ideas o f the then O rient ; it
is the meetin g of the great waters the deve ,

loped thought and industrious Observation o f

t h e whole Western w o rld meeting with the Old

s lo w stream Of the ancient and modern E ast .

The great i mpetus that the study Of

o riental lan guages h as received during th e
last hundred years the radical changes that
,

th e study o f S anskrit has w rought in th e

whole domain o f philology hav e led to th e,

initiation Of a science o f comparative religion ,

which is slowly but surely m odifying all de

artm e n t s Of thought with whic h it comes i n
p
c ontact . TO day it is not a Marcion wh o
-

q ueries the a n t h e n t ic it y o f texts but,

the
”
higher criticism that has once for all
struck the death blo w to mere B ible fetishism
- -
.

T h e conflict between religion and science ,

w hich for more than tw o hundred years has

raged so fiercely h as produced a generation
,

t hat longs and searches for a reconc i liation .

IO PL OTINUS

The pendulum has swung fro m the extreme O f

blind and ignorant faith to the extreme of
pseudo s c ie nt ifi c materialism and negation ;
-

and now swings back again t o wards faith once

,

more but faith rationalized by a scientifi c

,

study o f the psych o logical problems which ,

after a couple of centuries Of denial once m ore

,

press upon the n otice O f th e western nations .

The pendulu m swings back towards b elief

once more : the ph enom ena Of spiritualism ,

hypnot ism and psychism generally are com ,

pellin g i nvestigation and that in v estigation

,

force s us to recognize tha t these factors mus t

b e taken into seriou s account if we are to
,

trace the sweep Of human evolut i on i n all it s

details and have a ri ght understandin g O f th e
history o f civilization The religious factor
.
,

which has bee n either entirely neglected by

scientific e v olution i sts or h as remained with
an explanation that is at best fantastically in
adequate must b e taken into primary account ;
,

and wi th it the psychic nature Of man must be

profoundly st udie d if th e proble m Of reli gio n
,

is t o receive any r eally s atis factory solution .

Thus it i s that there is a distinct tendency

in th e public th ou ght o f to d ay to w ards a
'

-
 T H EN AND N OW I:

modified mysticism It is a time also when.

the human heart questions as well the head

the great s o cial problems which cry out for
solution ( o v er population the sweating system
-
, ,

the slav ery of o v er competition ) breed strikes

-
,

—
socialism anarchy in brief the desire fo r ,
,

bette rment . Humanitarianism altruism , ,

fraternity the idea of a uni v ersal religion of

, ,

a l eague of peace such ideas appear beautiful

,

ideals to the sorely su fferin g and o v er dri ven -

men and women of to d ay Yes the times -

.
,

are v ery like then and now ; and once m o re

the hope th at mystic religion has e v er hel d
o ut is o f
,
fered B ut mysticism is not an u n
.

mixed blessing Psychism dogs its heels ;

.

and hence it is that the history of the pas t

sh o ws us that where v er mysticism h as arisen ,

there psychism with its dangers, errors and ,

insanities has obscured it Hav e w e not to day .

-

amongst us crowds of phenomenalists ,

searchers after strange arts diabolists sym , ,

bo lists etc a renaissance o f all that th e pas t

,
.
,

tells us to a v oid All these v agaries obscure

the true mysti c way and at no time ,
,

prev i o usly do w e find the va rious factors so

distinctly at w ork as in th e fi r st centuries o f
1 2 PL OTINUS

the Christian era I t was against all these

.

enormities and th e wild imaginings th at

i nvariably follow when the strong power of
,

mystic religion is poured into human thought ,

th at Plotinus arose to revive th e dialectic o f

Plato and rescue the realms o f pure philosophy
from the host o f disorderly speculation whil e
,

at the same time brilliantly defendin g the best

that mysticism o ffered It W ill therefore be
.
, ,

o f great interest for those who are inclined to

,

believe in mystical religion in the present day ,

to consider th e views o f perhaps the most

acute reasoner o f the Greek p hilosophers wh o ,

no t only combined the Aristotelean and

Platonic methods but also added a refined and
,

p ure mysticism o f his Ow n which the times of

Plato and Aristotle were unable to produce .

The reader will doubtless be anxious t o

l earn wh at was the attitude o f Plotinus to
Christianity , and whether the Christian d o c
trine had any influence o n th e teachings o f
the greatest o f the N e o p lato nists Much has
.

been written on th e in fluence o f Christianity

o n N e o p lat o nism and o f N e o p lat o n ism on
.

C hristianity e specially by German scholars ;

,

but it is safer to a v oid all ext re me opinions ,

 THE N A ND N OW 1
3

and be content with th e moderate v iew of

!
Harnack that the i nfluence of Christianity
,

— whether Gnostic or C atholic— o n N e o p la

t o nis m was at n o time very considerable and ”
,

w ith regard to the first teachers of the school

entirely unnoticeable Ne v ertheless . sin ce ,
!

Neoplatonism originated in Alexandria where ,

O riental modes of worship were accessible t o

e v eryone and since the Jewish phi losophy
,

had also taken its place in the literary circle s

o f Alexandria we may safely assume that even
,

the earliest o f the Neoplatonists possessed an

acquaintance with Judaism and Christianity .

B ut if w e search Plotinus for evidence o f any

actual influence o f Jewish and Christian
phraseology we search in vain ; and the e xis
,

tence o f any such influence is all the m ore

unlikely because it is only th e later N e o p la
t o n ism that o ffers strikin g and deep roote d -

parallels to Philo and the Gnostics and ,

”

Porphy ry ( c xvi ) distinctly states that th e

. .

Gnostics against w hom Plotinus w rote wer e

C hristi ans .

And yet there can be no doubt that th e

strong spiritual life and hope w hich the
teaching of the Christ inspired in th e hearts o f
I4 P L OTI NU S

his hearers brought a reality in to men s lives

,
’

that would n o t be content with the mere

envisagement o f a cold ideal Those wh o .

w ere fired with this ho p e taught that this ideal

was realizable n ay that it had already been
, ,

realized With such a fervid spirit o f hope and

.

enthusiasm aroused philosophy had to look ,

to its laurels And i n th e words o f Mozley

.
,

based on Va ch e ro t the philosophers were

,
!

kindled by a sense o f rival ry ; they felt present ,

in the world and actually workin g a power ,

such as they themselves sought to exercise ,

moralizi ng and ordering the hea rts o f men

'

and this stirred them to find a parallel power

o n their o w n side and the nearest approach to
,

it both i n chara cter a rid degree was found i n

, ,

Plato To Plato they tur ned themselves with

.

th e fe rv our o f pupils towards an almost u n

erring master ; but they selected from Plato
those elements which lay o n the same line as
that Christian teachin g whose power e licite d
their rivalry .
”

N o r were th e better instructed of t h e Chris

!

tian fathers free ! from a like r i valry with th e

philosophers ; and from this rival ry arose the
symbols o f the Church and th e s ubtleties of an
 THEN AN D N OW 5

Athanasius . C uriously enough in our own

d ays we notice a like rivalry i n C hristian
apologetics in contact with the great eastern
reli gious systems ; a number of th e most
enlightened Christian writers striving to sh ow
that Christianity in its purest and best sense
, ,

rises superior to what is best i n the O rient .

The theory of direct b orrowin g o n eith er side ,

h o w e v er has to b e abandoned indirect infl u

,

ence is a thing that cannot b e denied but ,

direct plagiarism IS unsupported by any

evidence that has yet been disco v ered As .

Max M uller says

!
The di fficulty of admitting any borrowin g
o n the par t of one religion from another is
much greater than is commonly supposed and ,

if it has taken place there seems to m e only

,

one way i n which it can b e satisfactorily

established namely by th e actual occurrence
, ,

of foreign words which retain a certain u n id io

matic appearance in the language to which
they have been transferred It seems impossible
.

that any religious c o mmunity s houl d hav e

adopted fundamental principles of religion
from another unless their intercourse was
,

i ntimate and continu o us ; in fact u nless th ey

,
I6 P LOTINUS

could freely express their thoughts in a ,

common language .

!
N o r should we forget that most religion s
h a v e a feeling o f hostility towards oth e r
religions and that they are not likely t o
,

borrow from others which in their m ost im

portant and fundamental doctrines they
consider erroneous ( Tlz eoso /z
.
”
p y or P s
y c/z o

logica l R e ligio n L ondon 1 893 pp 3 6 7

, , ,
.

And though Plotinus cannot be said to hav e

borrowed directly either from Christianity o r
other oriental ideas ne v ertheless it is beyon d
,

doubt that he was acquainted with them an d ,

that t o o most intimately By birth h e was .

an E gyptian O fLyc o p Olis ( S iv o uth ) for ele v en

years h e attended the school o f A m mo niu s at
Alexa ndria ; his interest in the systems o f th e
further E as t was so gr eat that he j oined the ,

expedition o f Gordian in order to learn th e

reli gio philosophy o fthe P ersians and Indians
-

his pupils , A me liu s and P orphyry were filled ,

with oriental teachi ng and it was in answe r

,

to their questioning that Plotinus wr o te th e

most p o w e rful b o o ks o f th e Enneads P or
‘

h m oreo v er e long treatise f

‘

p y yr ,
e,
t a o a

v ery learned nature A ga insl z fi e Car islia ns ‘

,
 THE N AND NOW 1 7

s o that it cannot ha v e been that the maste r

should hav e been unacquainted with the views
of the pupil Numeni us again w as highly
.

esteemed by Plotinus and his school and thi s ,

Pyth a go re o Platonic philosopher was satura

-

ted with oriental ideas as Vach e ro t tells us

,

( 3 )
i . 1 8
Numenius a Syrian by origi n and livin g
,

i n the O rient is not less deeply versed in the

,

rel i gi ous traditions of Syria Jud aea and Persia

,

than i n the philosophical doctrines of Greece .

He is perfectly familiar w ith the w orks of

Philo and his admirati o n g o es so far as to
,

ask whether it is Philo who platonizes or ,

Plato who p h ilo niz e s he dubs Plato the Attic

Moses If the doctrines of Philo ha v e at all
.

influenced the philosophy of Greece it is owin g ,

to Numenius the father of this Syri an S chool

, ,

out of which A me liu s and Porphyry came into

Neoplatonism .

!
The oriental tendency of the philosopher is
shown by the followin g words of E usebius
‘
It must be th at h e who treats o f the Good ,

and who has aflirme d his doctrine with th e

witness of Plato shoul d go e v en fu rth er back
,

and take h old of the d o ctrines o f Pythagoras .

B
 PL OTINUS

I t must be that h e should appeal to the most

renowned o f th e nations and that he sh ould
,

present the rituals dogm as and institutions

,

—
which originally established by the B rah
m ans Jews Magians and E gyptians are in
, ,
—
a greement w ith the doctrines o f Plato ( D ’
. e

B ono VI I I
,
.

We therefore find in Plotinus two marked

, ,

c haracteristics ; the method o f stern dialectic

o n the o n e hand and a rational and practical

,

mysticism o n the other that reminds us very

strongly o fthe best phase of th e yoga systems -

o f anci e nt India A s Brandis remarks

.

!
The endeav our which as far as we can
,

j udge characterised Plotinus more than any

,

other philosopher o fh isage w as to pa v e

t h e way to the solution o f any question by a ,

careful discussion o fthe di ffi culties of the case .

”

A n d though the method is somewhat tedious ,

ne v ertheles s the philosophy of Plotinus is one

o f remarkable power and symmet ry . In the
opinion of M ozley :
!
There is a real soberness in the mind
~

o f its author ; th e d ifli c ult ie s connected w ith

the divine self substance and uni v ersality in

-
,

relati o n to the indi v iduality o f man though

,
 THEN AN D NOW 19

they cannot be said to be sol v ed are presented

,

in a manner to which little obj ection can be

taken intellectually and against w hich n o
,
”
se ri ous charge of irre v erence can be br o ught .

This is a great admission for a man w riting

i n a dictionary of Ch ristian biography and ,

th e word serious might w ell be omitted

!

from the last line as totally unnecessa ry , if n o t

supremely ridiculous w hen applied to such a
,

man as Plotinus .

The part of the system o f our great Neo

platonist that has been and w ill be the least
understood is that connected w ith the pract i ce
,

o f theurgy which consummates itself in ecstasy

, ,

the Sam adhi of the yoga art of Indian mystics

-
.

For years Plotinus kept secret the teachings

o f his master A mmo niu s S ac c as and not till,

his fellow pupils H e re nniu s and O rigen ( not

-

the Church father) broke the compact did h e

begi n to expound the tenets publicly It is .

cu rious to notice that though this ecstasy w as

,

the consummation of the w hole system no ,

w here does Plotinus enter into any details of

the methods by which this supreme state of
consci o usness is to be reached and I cannot
,

but think that he still kept silence deliberately

o n this all impo rtant point
-
.
20 PLOTI NUS

the master mad e s uc h an im

A m mo niu s , ,
'

pression o n his times by his great wisdom and

kno wledge that he was known as the god !

taught ( 0 8f8 x s) ; he was more than a mere

”
e0 a ro

eclectic he himself attained to spiritual in

,

sight The pupil Plotinus also shows all

.

th e signs o f a stu dent o f eastern R aj a Yoga ,

”
the kingly a rt of the science of the soul
!
.

In his attitude to th e astrologers magicians ,

and phenomena mongers of the time he sho w s -

,

a thorough contempt for such magic a rts ,

th o ugh if we are to belie v e Porphy ry his own

, ,

spiritual power w as great The gods and .

d aemons and p o wers were to b e c o mmand e d _

and not obeyed Those g o ds of yours must .

come to me not I t o them ( x vo vs 3 ? main

”
,
’

. e
’
ec
’
6

e0 9a t , 3 é p OS l )
’
3
’

é
’

px 01 K e
p W e xe vo vs. X
e
p i
.

And indeed h e e nd e d his life in the w ay

, ,

that Yogi ns in the East are said t o pass out of

the body When the h o ur o f death appr o aches
.

they perform Tapas or in o ther w ords enter ,

int o a deep state of contemplation This was

'

evidently th e mode o f leav ing the w orld

follo w ed by o u r p h ilo so p h e r fo rhis last words
'

.
,

w ere : N ow I seek t o lead back the self

!

w ithin me t o the All self ( TO i v fip iv 9 2 1 p g -

6 0 /

7 5 71 9 r a w i eate n
- —Porphyry ,
 THEN AND NOW 21

Indeed Plotinus in s o far as w e ha v e

,

records of him w as in his personal character

,

one of the purest and most pleasing of all

philosophers ancient or modern ( Mozley)
,
”
.

It is therefore of great interest for us t o learn

, ,

his opinions on the thought of his own time ,

a nd what solution he o ffered o f the problems

which are again presented to us but w ith ,

even greater insistence in o ur o w n days We

,
.

w ill therefore take a glance at the main

, ,

features of his system .

 TH E SYST E M O F P L O TI N U S .

TH E whole system o fPlo tin u s revolves round

the idea o f a threefold principle trichotomy , ,

o r trinity and o f pure i ntuition In thes e

, .

respects it bears a re m arkable similarity t o

,

the gr eat Ved antic system o f Indian philo

sophy D eity spirit soul body macroc o smi c
.
, , , ,

and microcosmic and the essential i dentity

,

o f th e divine in man with the di vine in th e

—
uni v erse th e TO 5 3p 955 W ith the T O 7 2;
1/ 7 0 11 - 0

m w i 6 E v o r o f the J iv at man with the Param

’

e o
,

atman — are th e m ain subj ects o f his system .

T h u s from the p oint o f view o f th e gr eat .

uni v erse we h a v e the O ne R eality or th e

, ,

R eal the O ne the Good (TOOv TO zv TO dy fldv) ;

, ,
’

, ,
a

this is the All self o f th e Upanishads Brah

-
,

man o r Param atman .

Plotinus bestows much labour o n the pro

blem o f the Absolute and rea ches the o nly ,

conclusion possib le V iz th at it is i nexpressible ;

,
.
,

or in the w ord sof th e Upanishads the mind ,

!

falls back from it unable to reach it ,

It .
”
 SYSTE M 23

must ne v ertheless produce everythin g out o f

, ,

it self w ithout su ffering any diminution or b e

,

coming w eaker ( VI viii essences must . .

flow from it and yet it experiences no change ;

it is immanent in all existences ( IV iii 1 7 ; . .

VI xi 1 )
.
—.
!
the self hidden in the heart of
”
all say the Upanishads ; it is the Absolute
,

as result for as absolutely perfect it must be

,
'

the goal not the operatin g cause of all bein g

'

( VI .ix 8 as
. say s B randis
, ; and Ha r nack
!
dubs the system of Plotinus dynamic Pan
theism wh ate v er that may mean But we
”
,
.

are in the regi on of paradox and in e xp re ssi

bility and so had better hasten o n to t h e
first stage of emanation .

,
—
First then there a rises ( h o w Plotinu s
, ,

does n o t say for that question n o man can

,

s ol v e ; the primal w ays of the O ne are known

—
'

to the O m niscient alone ) th e U niv e rsal Mind ,

or ideal uni v erse ( V 89 or é f ws v nr é s) th e0 K cr e

Ish v ara or L ord of the Ve dantins It is by .

the thought (Aé yo s) of th e Uni v e rsal Mind ,

that th e World Soul To ?) T u 69 o r r aw6v

-
) a /7

is brought into bein g As Te nn e mann say s .

20 7 )
!
In as much as Intelligence (w as) [ Uni v e r
24 PLOTINUS

sal Mind ] contemplates in Unity that which

is poss ible th e latter acquires the character
,

o f something determined and limited ; and

s o becomes th e A ctu a l a n d R e a l ( a ) Co n v .

sequently Intelligence is the primal reality

, ,

t h e base o f all the rest and inseparably united ,

to real B eing [This resembles the Sach .

Chid An an d am o f the Ve d an tin s o r B eing

-
, ,

Thought Bliss ] Th e obj ect contemplated

,
.

and the thinking subj ect are identical ; and ,

that which Intelligence thinks it at the same ,

tim e crea tes By always thinkin g and always

.
,

in the sam e manner yet co ntinually w i th ne w ,

dif ference , it produces all things [the logos

'

i dea] : it is the essence o f all i mperishable

essences [ th e b ase o f all th e worlds of th e
‘ ’

Upanishads ; o n it all worlds rest ‘

the sum
total o finfinite life ( See E n V I v iii 1 6 ; IV
.
”
. . . .

iii 1 7 ; VI v ii 5 9 ; viii 1 6 ; V i 4 6 ; iii 5

. . .
,
. . .
,
.
,

7 ; v
. 2 ; ix 5; VI vii 1 2 .1 3 And for an . .
,
.

exposition of th e logos th eory in Plotinus see ,

V a c h e ro t i
,
.

We thence pass o n to the W o rld So u l the -

,

H iranya garbh a ( resp lendent germ or shinin g

!

sphere o r envelope ) o f the U panis hads

The image and product of the moti o n
 SYSTE M 25

less nous i s the soul which according to

, ,

Plotinus is like the nous i mmaterial Its

, , ,
.

relation to th e nous is the same as that o f the

nous to the O ne It stands between the nous
.
'

and the phenomenal world is perm eated and,

illuminated by the form er but is also in con

,

tact with the latter The nous is indi v isible

[ the root of monadic individuality the Sattva
of the Buddhist theory o f E ko tibh av a as
applied to man] ; the soul may preserve its
unity and remain in the nous but at the sam e ,

time it has the powe rof unitin g with the cor

re al w orld and thus being disintegrated It
p o ,
.

therefore o ccupies an intermediate position .

As a single soul ( world soul ) it belongs in

-

e ssence and destination to the intelligible

w orld ; but it also embraces innumerable in
dividual souls and these can either submit to
be ruled by the nous or turn aside to th e
,
”
sensual and lose themselves in the finite
,

( Harnack ) .

This is precisely the same idea as that of

the H iranya garbh a the indi v idual souls arising
,

by a proces s o f di fferentiation ( Pan ch ikarana ,

o r quintuplication o f the primary elements ) ”

from it Its nature and function are thus sum

.
26 PLOTINUS

mariz e d by Te nne mann ) from E n 2 0 8, 2 0 9 .

V i 6 7, and v i 4 ; VI ii
. .
, 2 2 ; and I I I viii
. . . .

!
The S oul the S o u l of t/z e Wo rla) i s ’

the o ffspring o f I ntelligence [w as] and th e ,

thought ( Aé y s) o f Intelligence being itself

o
,

also productive and creati v e It is therefore .

Intelligence but with a more Obscure v ision

,

and less perfect knowledge ; inasmuch as it

does not itself directly contemplate obj ects but ,

through the medium o f intelligence bein g e m ,

dowed w ith an energeti c force which carries

its perceptions b eyond itself It is not an .

ori ginal b ut a reflected light the principle o f ,

action and o f external N ature Its proper .

acti v ity consists in contemplation ( Hwpl ) and e a

i n the production of objects by means o f thi s

contemplation In this manner it produces in
.
,

its turn di fferent classes o f souls and amon g

,
'

others th e human th e faculties of which ha v e ,

a tendency t o ele v ation or debasement Its .

energy o f the lo w est order creati v e and c o n

'

, ,

n e c t e d with matter is Nature ( Oé m s) ,

.

!
N ature is a contemplati v e and creati v e
energy which gi v es form to matter (A y s
,
o o

m n ) ; for form ( J 8 9 p pqSfi) and th o ught

a y 0 ,
o

( Aé y s ) are
o one and the same All that takes .
 SYSTE M 27

place in the world around us is the work o f

”
contemplation .

It is h ere that the system o f Plotinus i s

somewhat weak ; it is true that he has a
strong admiration for the beauties o f Nature ,

but in dealing with the problem o f matter h e

scarcely a v oids stumbling and though h e ,

criticises the v ie w o f ce rtain Gnostic schools

which made matter the root o f all e v il he ,

does not entirely clear himself from a similar

misconception It is the obj ect o f the World
.

S oul so to perv ade the natural world that all

its parts shall be i n perfect harmony — but !

in the actual phenomenal world unity and har

mony are replaced by strife an d discord ; the
r esult is a conflict a becoming and v anishing
, ,

an illusi v e existence And the reason for .

this state of things i s that bodies rest on a

substratum of matter Matter i s the base w o rk
.

O f each
( TOBde s é d
o T f
] it is the
ov dark
principle the indeterminate that which has
, ,

no qualities the M
, ; 6v D estitute of form and
’
.

idea it i s evil ; as capable of form it is neutral .

The Ve d ant ins o n the contrary pair the

, ,

root o f matter ( Asat Prakriti M ay a) with the

, ,

Uni v ersal M ind and make it of like di gnity

, .
28 PLOTINUS

It i s by the removal o f this primal v eil that

th e great secret o f the S elf is revealed .

Attempts have been made to trace corres

p o n d e n c e s between the three first principles of

Plotinus and the Christian Trinity : God the

Father and the O ne Absolute Jesus Christ and ,

the First Intelligenc e o r U niversal Mind and ,

the Holy Spirit and the World Soul (Jules -

.

Simon i ,
.

S o much for the macrocosmic side Th e .

microcosmic is necessarily to a large extent in

t e rble n d e d with the abo v e and also views ,

man by means of a trichotomy into spirit ( v fs) o i

,

soul ( rp xfi) and body

v
,
by which prism
the rays o f the primal unity are deflected .

This again is precisely the same division as

, ,

that o f th e Ve d antins : viz K aran o p adh i the

.
, ,

causal vesture o r spiritual v eil o r impedi

,

ment o f th e S elf ; S fi ksh m o p ad h i the subtle ,

vesture o r psychic v eil or impediment of the

, ,

S elf ; and S th fi lo p ad h i th e gross v esture or

,

physical body The remarkable agr eement

.

between the V ie w of Plotinus as to the three

spheres o f existence o r states of consciousness
, ,

o r hy p ostases of bein g i n man and th e uni

,

verse the o n e being but a reflect ion o f the

,
 SYSTE M 29

other and that o f Shankarach arya the great

, ,

master o f the Advaita Ve d antin school o f

ancient India may be seen from the following
,

brilliant ré sm ne from the point of view of a

’

mystic It is based o n the Ta tto aooa na o r

.
’
,

!
Awakenin g t o Reality one o f the m ost re ,
”

markable of Shankara s small treatises so far ’

, ,

unfortunately not translated into any E uropean

,

language and is taken from th e work of a

,

mystic entitled Tne D rea m of R ao an ( a

,

reprint from Tne D u blin Un iversity Maga

z in e of 1 85 3 1 854 ; L ondon 1 89 5 pp
, , ,
.

21 1
!
Man is represented as a pris matic trinity ,

v eiling and looked through by a primordial

—
unity of light gross outward body [S th fi lo
p adhi subtle internal body o r soul
,

[ S fi k sh mO p ad h i— i/
xx fi ] a vbeing neither body
nor soul bu t absolute self forgetfulness
,
-
,

—
'

called the c o y [ a a hi ]
’
a u se o a K ra n o p d v fis o
,

because it is the original sin o f ignorance of

his t r ue nature which precipitates him from
the spirit into the life condition These three
-
.

bodies existing in the waking dreaming

, , ,

sleeping states are all kno w n w itnessed and

, ,

watched by the s p irit which standeth behind

3 0 PL OTIN US

and apart from th em in the unwinking v igi ,

l ance o f ecstasy o r spirit waking ,

-
.
”

The writer then goes o n to speak o f fo u r

! ”
spheres but the innermost is i n reality no
,

sphere but the state o f simplicity o r oneness

,

n Mm s v m s This is the state f ecstasy of

( f
i )
-
o , . o

Plotinus .

!
There are four spheres o f existence o ne ,

—
enfolding the other the inm ost sphere of
Turiya in which the indi v idualised spirit lives
,

th e ecstatic life ; th e sphere o f transition or ,

L ethe in which the spirit plunged in the

, ,

ocean o f Ajfi an a or total u nconsciousness

,
, ,

and utterly forgetting its real self, undergoes

a change o f gnostic tendency [polarity and
from not knowing at all o r absolute nu '

consciousness emerges o n the hithe r side of

,

that L ethean b o undary to a false or re v ersed

knowledge o f things (v ip arita jfi ana) under ,

th e in fl u e n c e o f an illusi v e Pr aj na or belief ,

in and tendency to knowledge outward from

, ,

itself in which delusion it thoroughly b e

,

lie v e s and now endeavours to realise ; Whereas

,

th e true kn o w led ge w hich it h ad in the state

o f Turiya o r the ecstatic li f e was all within
'

, ,

itself in which it intuiti v ely kne w and e xp e ri

,
 SYSTE M 3 1

e nc e d all things And from the sphere of

.

—
Prajfi a o r out knowing this struggling to
-
,

reach and reco v er outside itself all that it

once possessed within itself and lost to — ,

regain for the lost intuition an obj ecti v e per

c e p t io n through the senses and understand

—
ing in which the spirit became an int e lli
—
gence it merges into the third sphere which ,

is the sphere of dreams where it belie v es in a

'

universe of light and shade and w here all ,

existence is in the way o fAbh as a o r phantasm , .

There it imagi nes itself into th e Linga deha -

( Psyche ) or subtle
,
semi material
,
ethereal -
,

soul .

!
From this subtle personification and phan
t asm al sphere in due time it progresses into
, ,

the first or outermost sphere where matter ,

a n d sense are triumphant where the universe is ,

.

belie v ed a solid reality where all things exist

,

in the mode o f Ak ara or substantial form , ,

and where that which successi v ely forgot

itself from sp irit into absolute unconsciousness ,

and awoke o n this side o f that boundary of

o bli v ion into an intelligence struggling o ut

ward and from this outward stru ggling in

,

t e llige n c e imagined itself into a conscious

,
3 2 P LOTIN U S

feeling breathing nerv ous soul prepared for

, , ,

fu rther clothin g now o u t realises itself from

,
-

soul into a body

!
Th e first o r spiritual state was ecstasy ,

from ecstasy it forgot itself into deep sleep ;

from profound sleep it awoke o u t o f u nc o n
s c io u s n e s s but still within itself into th e in
, ,

ternal world o f dreams ; from dreaming it

passed finally into the thoroughly wakin g
state and the outer world o f sense
,
.
’

These idea s will help us exceedingly in

studying o ur philosopher and in trying to
understand what he meant by ecstasy and ,

why there are three di v isions i n th e morals of

Plotinus and h ow the metempsychosis in
,

which h e b elieved w as neither for him the ,

caressing of a dream nor the actualising of a ,

m etaphor Th e most sympathetic notice of

.

the latter tenet is to be found in Jules Simon s ’

H isto ire a e PEco le cl A lexa na r ie ( I 5 88 so )

’ ’ ’
.
, ,

based for the most part o n E n I i 1 2 I I ix . . . . .

6 ; IV iii 9 ; V ii 2 ; and on F ic in u s com

’
. . . .

mentary p 5 0 8 o f C re uz e r s edition
,
.
’
.

!
There are t wo degrees o f reward ; pure
souls whose Simplification is not yet aecom
,

lish e d return to a star [the sid ereal regi o n

p ,
 SYSTEM 33

rather] to li v e as they were before the fall

o f sense ]
[ into the world ( E n I I I iv . . .

souls that are perfectly pure [or simplified]

gain union [or at one ment] with D eity Bu t
- -
.

what o f retribution ? Here comes i n the doc

trine o f metempsychosis which Plotinus met
,

with every where around him amon gst th e ,

E gyptians the Jews and his forerunners i n

, ,

N e o plat o nism [ Potamon and A mm o niu s Sac

cas] D oes Plato really take the doctrine o f
.

m etempsychosis seriously as th e R epa olic ,

would have us belie v e ? D oes h e not speak

of it merely to banter contemporary super
st it io n as
,
seems e v ident from the Tin z a a s ?

O r is it not rather o n e o f those dreams which

Plato loved to fondle without entirely castin g
,

them aside o r admitting them and in which ,

h e a llowed his imagination to stray when

knowledge failed him ? Whatever m ay have
been the importance of metempsychosis fo r
Plato we can hardly suppose that Plotinus
,

did not take it seriously H e rehabilitates all

.

the ironical and strange transformations o f

the Timoens and the myth of E r the Armenian , .

S ouls that have failed to raise themselves above

[ the ordinary level of ] humanity but wh o have ,
34 P L O TI N U S

neverth eless res p ected that characteristic in

themselves are reborn into a h uman body ;
,

those who have only lived a life o f sen sa t ion ,

p a ss into ani mal bodies o r even if t hey have , ,

been e n t ire lv wi t hout ener gy if they have lived ,

an entirely vege ta tive existence are c o n ,

dem med to live the life o f a plant Th e e xe r .

cise o f the merely p olitical virtues [t h e lowest

cl ass] which do not deserve rebi rth in t o a
,

h uman form bestows the privilege of inhabit

,

ing the body o f a sociable animal wo k m a -

,
y

for instance that o fa bee wh ile tyrants and men

,

notorious fo r the ir cruelty an im ate wild beas ts .

Those who have err e d through a too great

l ove of music become sin ging birds and t o o
, ,

speculative philosophe rs are transformed into

eagles and oth er birds of soaring flight ( E n .

I I I iv
. .
[ Th e i
p w é o r ironical vein
e of
ve a
, ,

Plato is more th an apparent in the above ] A .

more terrible punishment is rese rved for great

crimes Hardened crim inals descend to the
.

hells 6 58 M w ( E n I viii
,
1 01 »
'

o and undergo
a . . .

those terrible p unishments which P lato sets

fo rth in t h e R ejfizcolic ( Bk [ This r e minds
'

u s of the Pat alas o f the Br ahman s and the

A vichi o f the B uddhists ]
 S Y S T E M: 35

E ven though admitting that this doctrine

o f metempsychosis is taken literally by Plo

t inus we should still have to ask for him as

,

fo r Plato whether th e human soul really in

,

h abits the body o f an animal and wheth er it ,

is not reborn only into a human body which

reflects the nature of a certain animal by the
c haracter o fits passions The commentators of .

the Alexandrian school sometimes interpreted

Plato in this sense Thus according to Pro .

c lus ,
Plato in the P/ ma r ns condemns th e ’
,

wicked to live as brutes and not to becom e

t hem n v c is Blo w Gi i flfip
' ’
Ka e ov
a O s is a ov i Ka IJ K
, p
e s r ,

( Proclus Co mm T
,
im p C h alc id ius
. .
,
.

g i v es th e same interpretation for h e distin ,

u ish e s between the doctrines o f Plato and

g
t hose of Pythagoras and Empedocles gn i no n ,

n a tu ra m moao fe ra m sea e tia mfo r/nas Hermes

‘
’ ’
.
,

o mm o f C h alc id iu s on Timozns ed Fabric

( C .
,
. .
,

p 35 )
'

. 0 declares in unmistakable terms that

a human soul can never return to the body
o f an animal and that the will o f th e gods
,

for e v er prese rv es it from such disgrace ( G ?) eo

og oii dvflp wm m ¢
’
‘
O
y p
L w ip r o s,
'
( fi v kdo v ew v U;
XI V dTrO
'

1 779 fifip e ws)

7 00 04 5 .

M o reo v er ,
Marinus tells us that Proclus ,
3 6 PLOTINUS

th e last great master o f N e o p lato nis m was ,

persuaded that h e p ossessed the soul of

N ich o m ach u s th e Pythagorean and Proclus
, ,
”
,

in his C ommentaries o n th e Tima ns vindi ’

cates th e te n et with his usual acuteness

, ,

as follows ( V 3 2 9 )
.

!
It i s usual ,
says h e
”
to enquire h o w
,
!

human souls can descend into brute animals .

And some indeed think that there are certai n

, ,

similitudes o f m en to brutes which they call ,

savage lives ; for they by no means think it

possible that the rational essence can becom e
th e soul o f a savage an i mal O n th e contrary
.
,

oth ers allow it may b e sent into b rutes becaus e ,

all souls are o f o n e and th e sam e kind ; so

that they m ay b ecome wolves and panthers '

and ichneumons But tru e reason indeed

.
, ,

asserts that th e human soul m ay b e lodged

i n brutes yet in such a m anner as that it may
, ,

obtain its o w n proper life and that th e de ,

graded soul may as it were b e carried abov e

, ,

it and b e b ound to th e baser natur e by a pro

p f
e n sity and similitude o f a f ection A n d that .

this is th e Only mode o f in sin u atio n we h av e ,

proved by a multitude o f argume nts i n o ur ,

C ommentaries o n th e P/z ma mt s I f however ’

.
, ,
 SYSTE M 37

it be requisite to take notice that this is th e ,

o pinion o f Plato we add that i n his R epu blic

,

h e says that the soul of Thersites assumed

,

a n ape but not the body o f an ape

,
and in th e
Pne a r a s that the soul descends into a sa v age
’
,

life but not into a savage body F o r life is

,
.

conj oined with its proper soul An d in this .

place he says it is chan ged into a brutal

nature For a brutal nature is not a brutal
b ody b ut a b ru tal life ( S ee Tne S
. ix
”
B oo ks
f
o

Procla s o n tae Tli eo logy ofPla to Taylor s trans ,

’

lation ; L ondon 1 81 6 ; p 7,
.
,

To return to the view of Jules Simon ,

t h e distinguished Academician concludes his

d issertation with the following words

!
These contradictory interpretations have
v ery little interest fo r the history of th e philo

s ophy o f Plato but we can conclude from the

c are which the o ld commentators h a v e taken

t o tone down th e strangeness of the dogma

o f m etempsychosis in Plato that it was not ,

a literal doctrine with Plotinus .

I would v enture to di ffer somewhat from

M Jules S imon and to suggest that the con
.
,

t ra d ic t o ry interpretations o f commentators and

t he d ifli c ult ie s of mode rn criticism o n this im

3 8 PL OTINUS

portant tenet have arisen because su ffi cien t

distinction has not been drawn between the
spiritual and psychi c envelopes o f man Th e .

idea o f union runs through the wh ole doctrine ,

and if the Psyche does not centre itself in the

Nous it risks to pass through the Cycle o f
,

Necessity ( m xxs t fY fl G) But the Psyche o r

f o K .
,

soul vesture is n o t the real man The doc

,
.

trine o f metempsychosis with its twin doctrine

,

o f reincarnation o r Pu n arja nm an is arousin g

, ,

much i nterest in o ur times and it m ay be ,

possible ere long to reconcile much that ap

pears contradictory i n these doctrines by a ,

more profound study o f the psychi c an d

S piritual nature o f m an than has as yet been

attempted i n th e western world Speaking o f .

reincarnation Max M uller goes so far as t o

,

say : It is well known that this dogm a has

! -

been accepted by the greatest philosophers o f

all centuries .Tli rce L ectu res on the Vea an ta ’

P/i ilosop/iy L ondon 1 89 4 p

, ,
and quotin g
,
.

th e well known lines o f Wordsworth o n th e !

'

soul that rises with us o u r life s st ar h e ’ ”

’

, ,

endorses them and adds tent atively

,
'

tha t ,
!

o ur star in this life is w hat we made it in a

fo rmer life w ould probably sound stran ge as
,
 SYSTE M 39

yet to many ears in the West ( p Thi s .

brings us t o th e consideration whether or not

Plotinus also put forw ard the doctrine of
K arma which is the complementary doctrine
of rebirth That he did so i s e v ident from the
.

summary of Te n ne ma nn 2 1 3 )
!
E v erything that takes place is the resul t
of Necessity and of a principle identified w ith
,

all its consequences ( in this we see th e rudi

ments of Spinozism and the Th e o d ic é e o f,

L eibnitz ) All things are connected together

.

by a pe rpetual dependency ; ( a system of

uni v ersal D eterminism from which there i s
only one exception and that rather apparent
,

than real of Un ity) O ut of this concatena

,
.

tion of things arise th e principles of natural

Magic and D i v ination ( S ee E n I I
. I ii . . .

1 6 ; IV i v
.
3 2 4 0
.
4 5;
1 ,
VI,
v ii 8 1 0 ; VI I . .
-
.

ii.

Though the doct ri ne is not su ffi ciently

insisted upon in its moral bearings by Plotinus ,

and as applied to the theory of rebirth ne v er ,

t h e le ss the general idea i s there .

This next b rings us to speak of the pra e

tical ethic of Plotinus which w as based o n ,

his trich o t o my o f man and reminds us o f ,

 4 0 PLOTINUS

the Gnostic division into psychics ( t/ xx i) and fv c o

p neumatics ( m p n x i)
evand thea
p erfected
o Christ .

There are says Jules Simon ( i

,
three .
!

d ivisions in the ethic o f Plotinus : the poli

tical virtues necessary for all men whose sole ,

aim is the negative avoidance o f evil ; th e

h igher o r catharti c virtues ( edp m s) which Ka c
,

can only be attained t o by philoso p hers and ,

whose aim is the destruction o f the passions

a n d the p reparation o f th e soul for mystic
union ; and lastly the at o n e ment o f the soul - -

with Go d .
’

Thus it will be seen that the political virtues

'

rt in d t o the S oul the cathartic to the Nous

p e a e , ,

and th e consummation of v irtue w as the union

with the O ne It was by the practice o f these
.

virtues that the end o f true philosophy was to

b e reached As Te n n e m annsays
. 2 0 4)

Plotinus assumes as his principle that , ,

philosophy can have no place except in propor

tion as knowledge and th e thing known th e —
S ubj ective and O bj ective are ide ntified .

Th e employment o f philosophy is to acquire

a knowledg e o f th e Unity th e essence and
'

first p rinciple o f all thin gs : and that n o t

m ediately by thought and meditation but by ,
 SYSTE M 4 1

a more exalted method by direct intuition ,

anticipatin g the progress o f re fl e c

( E v
”
t ion . See n V iii 8 .
7 o ;
s . VI ix
.
3 ,
.
,
. . .
,

This i s put very clumsily by Te nne ma nn

and with a far from careful selection of terms ,

but the idea is clear enough for th e student

o f mysticism especially that o f the E ast
,
.

Meditation is a means whereby the soul i s

p repared to receive flashes o f !
the suprem e ”

wisdom It is not the gaining o f something

.

n e w but the rega i n i n g o f wh at has been lost

, ,

and abo v e all the realization o f the ever present

D eity This is precisely the sam e view as
.

t hat enshrined i n the great logion o f the

Upanishads Tna t art tao zi
,
The divine in .
”

m an is th e divine in the universe nay is in ,

r eality th e D ivinity in all its fullness We .

h a v e to realize the truth by getting rid of the

i gnorance which hides it from us It is here .

t hat the doctrines o f reminiscence ( dvdp vnm s)

a nd ecstasy ( Exm n s) come in These are

ac .

a dmirably set forth by Jules Simon ( i 549 ) .

!
Reminiscence is a natural consequence of
t h e dogma o f a past life The Nous [the spirit.

o r ro o t O f indi viduality] has had no begin

~

[
n i n g ; the man o f the present l i fe
] h a s had a
42 P L O TI N U S

b e gi n nin g ; th e pr e se nt life is the refore a new

sit u ation for th e spirit ; it h as lived els ewhere
and under different conditio ns .

It h as liv e d in hi gher realms and therefore ,

( p . it conceives for the world of in t e lli

gibl es [n uma ‘

p s vmr é s th e proper habita t

z p
,
K OO
’
’
r
,

o f th e ts
] a p
veowerful love which no longer
allows it to turn away it s thought This love .

[ 395 5
]
60 i s rath er a part than a con s equence
o f re m ini scence But ecstasy is the c o n sum
”
.

m ation o f reminiscence (p 5 5 3) E cstasy i s .

n o t a faculty properly s o called it is a state of ,

th e so ul whi ch transforms it in such a way

,

that it then perceives wh at w as previ ously

hidden from it The s ta te will n Ot be perma.

nent until o ur union w ith Go d i s irr ev o cabl e ;

h ere in earth l ife ecstasy is but a fla sh I t is
'

.
, ,

a b rief respite bestowed by th e favo ur o f D eity ‘

'

[ Such flash es are resting pl a ces o n o ur lon g

j ourney d i vk u v xp wj Man can cease
,
vc rr a c
’
e
'
o vo

to b ecom e m an and becom e God ; but man

cannot b e Go d and man at the same time .
”

And that Plotinus w as n ot a m ere theo rist '

b ut did actually attain unto such a state o f

con s ci ousn e s s is testified to by P orphy ry ( c '

xxiii) Plotin us also treats o f this in the l ast

.
 SYSTE M 43

B ook o f the E n ii e ad s ( see also E n V v . . .

but as he says it can hardly be described

, ,

( Ow i
KaBf p
i o c
p T O
ac Q é
ov p ) aThus
a we
. reach
the borderland o f philoso p hy as we understand
it B eyond this re gi on lie the realms o f pure
.

mysticism and the gr eat unknown And i f .

any one can lead us by a safe path to those

supern al realms avoiding the many dangers
,

o f th e way and in a manner suited to western

,

needs Plotinus is a guide that can b e highly

,

recommended .
 B I B L I O G RAP HY

Co mp le te E d itio ns .

P e r n a ( P e t ru s ) ; B a sl e 1 5 80 in fol io A fa ul ty Gr e e k
, ,
- .

te xt t o w h ic h t h e La t in t r n sl a t io n of F ic inu s
,
a

( Flor e n c e 1 4 9 2 ) w a
, s a pp e n d e d Tit l e : Plo t z n i Pla to .
'

Op erzu n O mn im n Ph ilosop h ico rzcm L ibri LIV

'

n ici .

C re u z er ( Frid e ric us ) xfo rd 1 83 5 4 t o 3 v o ls C e r

; O , , , .

t a inly t h e b e s t t e xt ye t prod u c e d w it h t h e t ra n sla ,

t io n a n d c o m me n t a rie s of F ic in u s pp e n d ed ; an d a

w it h a dd it io n a l n o t e s b y W yt t e nb a c h a n d a n a pp a ,

r at u s c rit ic us by Mos e r It giv e s all t h e v a riae

'

le c t io n e s fro m t h e c od ic e s a n d is a n a d m ir a b le ,
-

produ c t io n Tit l e Plo tini Op era Omn ia

. : .

D ubne r P ris 1 855 8y o In M F D id o t s Libr ary

a , ,
’

. . .
’

o f Gr e e k Au t h o rs Th is is m e r e l y a r e p rodu c t io n o f
.

C re u e r s t e x t Tit l e Plo tini E nn ea a es

’ ’
z . : .

K irc ho f f Le ip ig ( B G Te u b n e r) 1 85 6 8v o
z Eu
. .
, , .

d e av o u rs t o c orr e c t th e fau l ty p u nc t u atio n o f

C re u e r ; a b a n do n s Po rph yry s o rd e r o f t h e B o o k s
’
z ,

and a do p t s a c hro n o gr a ph ic al o rd e r ; t h e r e are

n e it h e r n o t e s n o r a nn o t a t io n s .

Mi lle r ( H B e rl in 1 878 (W e id m ann ) 8vo B as e d

’

i .
, , .

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V o lk m a n n Leip ig ( Te u b n e ) 1 883 1 884 8v o 2z r , , , ,

v ols Te x t s im pl y w it h o u t v ario u s re a d ings Tit l e

.
, .
'

’
F lo tta i E nnea a es .
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 45

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-
,

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 4 6 PLOTINUS
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’
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'

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’
VVin z er .
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m Plo tz n i m
’
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'
’
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'
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,
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,
”

B erline r A ka a emie
’ ' ’
t h e A blz a na l . a er

Ki rc h e r ; H all e 1 85 4 Tit l e D ie P/z ilo sop /z ie aer Plo tin

, . :
’
.

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‘

Princip iis R a t io na zn Plz ilo sop lz ica i w n Py thag o rx , ,

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 BIB LIOGRAPHY 47

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!
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.
’ ’ ’
.