#plotinus

[cryptotheism]

Plotinus wrote a lot, but his major work is called The Enneads, literally “the nine-nesses.” He wrote the material, but it was organized by his major student and biographer Porphyry, who did quite a bit of chopping and screwing to make it all fit into chunks of nine. One Ennead is even cut-and-pasted in the middle of a sentence. It is impossible to give a crash course in Plotinus. Or, it is impossible according to Plotinus. His philosophy is performative in the sense that you have to actually sit down, read the Enneads cover-to-cover, and puzzle it out for your damn self. That process of puzzling out is philosophically important to Plotinus. He refers to it as “noesis” literally “the process of knowing.” Therefore, there is no quick guide version of Plotinus that could accurately represent Plotinus’s actual philosophy. He would see such things as fundamentally incomplete. 

A QUICK GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF PLOTINUS:

All things arise from an infinite, ineffable, utterly and completely, hyper-transcendent philosophical concept called The One. The only true thing you can say about The One, is that it is The One. It is beyond language. Contemplation of The One can only be done through apophasis, un-saying. The One is beyond all thought, and not beyond all thought. The One is both beyond language, and not beyond language. Etc. It is sort of a philosophical singularity, a thinking man’s black hole that collapses all knowledge into itself. Infinite, unchanging, beyond time and quality, existing in a form of existence that is not existence, as a paradoxical superposition of all potential statements. 

Plotinus! The Philosopher Himself! Today on Patreon.

[nousrose]

What is meant by the purification of the soul is simply to allow it to be alone. It is pure when it keeps no company, entertains no alien thoughts; when it no longer sees images, much less elaborates them into veritable affections.

The Enneads

Plotinus

[filmcentury]

The stars are like letters that inscribe themselves at every moment in the sky. Everything in the world is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on each other. Everything breathes together.

― Plotinus (c. 204/5 – 270 CE), précis of Enneads, II.3.7

[perkwunos]

How, then, will someone be in beauty when he doesn’t see it?

In fact, seeing it as different from himself, he will no longer be in beauty, but will come to be it – ‘in it’ in this extreme way. If, then, seeing is of that which is external, there should not be seeing, or else only the seeing in which one is identical with that which is seen. This is, in a way, comprehension and self-awareness, though one is careful not to be separated from oneself by relying too much on sense-perception.

One should think about this: the perceptions of evils have greater impact, but lesser intellectual effects because these are driven out by the impact. For sickness is more of a disturbance, whereas health in its restful accompaniment would give us comprehension of itself. For it settles in inasmuch as it is akin to us and unites itself with us. Sickness is alien and not akin to us, and this seems clear by its being exceedingly different from us.

---

Plotinus, Enneads, 5.8.11, transl. Lloyd P. Gerson

[wayti-blog]

The stars are like letters that inscribe themselves at every moment in the sky. Everything in the world is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on each other. Everything breathes together.

- Plotinus

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Genius is nothing other than the ability to retrieve childhood at will.

Charles Baudelaire

Is this all there is to art? A kind of solipsism? An inability to get past the egoism of infancy?

In Fellini’s masterpiece 8+1/2 the answer seems to lie with unraveling the mysterious phrase ‘Asa Miso Nasa’. Up front I will admit the film is not easy to follow as it doesn't really have a great plot and it does feel like episodic that gives it a disjointed look. But that doesn't mean there are no grand narratives underpinning it because there is.

The film, released in 1963, is about a movie director named Guido. His latest project has stalled before filming has even begun. Played by the incomparable Marcello Mastroianni, Guido is suffering from anxiety and creative block. It’s no wonder. He has sown chaos in his love life, and his creative indecision is producing near-mutinous levels of angst among actors, agents and crew. But all of this is mere surface tumult. Guido is haunted by something deeper. Something to do with . . . what? His parents, his childhood, the Catholic church? Feelings of shame and bliss? Death? All he has to answer his question is the phrase 'Asa Miso Nasa' to unlock answers but something he doesn't quite get.

In many ways ‘Asa Miso Nasa’ is a red herring, a sort of wild goose chase to nowhere. Like "Rosebud" in Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, or the madeleine in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time, "Asa Nisi Masa" is a Hitchcockian ‘MacGuffin’ - a convenient object upon which the plot turns. In Fellini’s film it’s used as a gateway to crucial memories of the central character - even though it is itself peripheral to the central story.

Fellini’s answer is, I think, with his apprehension that the urge to make art is connected to a time in our lives when we were lifted and carried about, lowered into baths, tucked into bed; when we first used our lips to suck and to kiss; when we flapped our arms and kicked our legs; or when we danced without unrestrained joy. In other words, when we felt ourselves to be unique in our childhood.

Why should that be so? James Fenton, the great poet and critic, provided a plausible answer, even if he was writing about something else.

“Because,” wrote Fenton - and here comes the part that Guido, the anxious, grown-up filmmaker, must reckon with - “there follows the primal erasure, when we forget all those early experiences, and it is rather as if there is some mercy in this, since if we could remember the intensity of such pleasure it might spoil us for anything else. We forget what happened exactly, but we know that there was something, something to do with music and praise and everyone talking, something to do with flying through the air, something to do with dance.”

Something Fellini-esque, you might say.

Art is more than a pathetic desire to revert to childhood bliss. It’s true that the self-centredness of great artists - and by no means just male artists - is bound up with their desire to find again the treasure in the corner of the childhood bedroom, and the only sound is the children’s chant: “Asa Nisi Masa.” But what do all artists want if not to be understood.

But here we run into a problem. For all the attention artists seek, there is a kind of shame for them in being “understood.” Being “explained” is never more than an inch from being “explained away,” rendered redundant, losing the vital quality that makes one unique. Their egos can't handle that. So we can never judge beauty in art if we limit ourselves to just the life and meaning of an artist. If anyone ever says they don't like this art because of this artist was not nice or was abusive or held questionable beliefs then they are either illiterate fools or as shallow as the unfunny Hannah Gadsby is about Picasso.

There is much, much more to art, which, at its best, is always about transcending solipsism and reaching for beauty.

For Roger Scruton, the great philosopher of aesthetics, “Beauty is an ultimate value - something that we pursue for its own sake, and for the pursuit of which no further reason need be given. Beauty should therefore be compared to truth and goodness, one member of a trio of ultimate values which justify our rational inclinations,” Scruton developed a largely metaphysical aspect to understanding standards of art and beauty. For Scruton, the purpose of art is to save the sacred - the beautiful.

For Scruton, beauty is wrapped up in his view of the sacred. The sacred begins with the fundamental nature of man as an end, not merely a means - here childhood memories are a means not an end. Scruton then, is able to apply this concept of ends to beauty. The ability to place meaning on things is what gives man his sacredness and makes him an end unto himself. The sacred gives us a glimpse into eternity, and provides man with the cure to his temporal misery. In a manner almost Platonic, Scruton describes the sacred as pulling man out of the world of things and into the transcendental realm. It is an attempt not so much to find a glimpse of our childhood so much as to find Eden again, even if only in a finite temporal way, and to “prefigure our eternal home.”

Thus, it is this sacred nature of ends, not means, that Scruton puts forth in his understanding of beauty. In this Scruton echoes those philosophers of that past. Some like the Greek philosopher, Plotinus, beauty is seen as an ultimate value, pursued for its own sake, and the way in which the “divine unity makes itself known to the soul.”

Beauty is the glue that holds cultures together. It transcends individual places and ages. Light shining through stained glass in the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the face of Mary in Michelangelo’s La Pietà, a Bach orchestral suite, or a Frederico Fellini film (and none more so than the playful but sublime 8+1/2). Our experiences of these things connect us to the experiences of so many others over the decades and centuries since their creation. The beauty links us with a sense of profoundness and awe.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

perseid meteor shower :: [Ignacio Municio :: Refugios en las Alturas]

* * * * "The stars are like letters which inscribe themselves at every moment in the sky. Everything in the world is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on each other; as has been said, "Everything breathes together.""

~ Plotinus

[the-purple-heaven]

[quotessentially]

From Plotinus’s The Enneads

[porphurios]

The World Soul of Plotinus. Paul Laffoley. 1972-75.

[notasfilosoficas]

“Tres cosas conducen a Dios: la música, el amor y la filosofía”

Plotino

Fue un filósofo helenístico autor de las Enéadas y fundador del neoplatonismo junto con otros filósofos como Numenio de Apamea, Porfirio, Jámblico y Proclo.

Nació alrededor del año 205 d.C. en Licópolis Egipto. Su vida y filosofía fueron muy importantes en el pensamiento occidental y a pesar de haber vivido en una época llena de agitación política, Plotino centró su atención en el mundo de las ideas y en la filosofía.

Durante su juventud estudió con varios maestros filosóficos, desarrollando un carácter melancólico y reflexivo. A la edad de 28 años encontró a Ammonio, un maestro que le brindó paz espiritual y que durante 11 años lo marcó en un punto de inflexión filosófica y en su propia forma de vida.

No obstante, en un giro inesperado, Plotino se unió al ejército bajo las ordenes del general Gordiano quien planeaba una expedición a Persia. El fracaso de esta campaña hizo que a duras penas lograra salvar su vida, quien derivado de lo anterior, decidió abrazar completamente la filosofía y a desarrollar su propio sistema de pensamiento.

Durante su vida en Roma, Plotino llevó una vida inusual, se abstuvo de comer carne y realizó frecuentes ayunos, siguiendo algunos de los principios pitagóricos antiguos. Sin embargo a pesar de ello Plotino logró ganar gran prestigio como maestro público en Roma en donde sus enseñanzas atrajeron a estudiantes de diversas clases sociales.

El emperador Galeano y su esposa le tenían alta estima y estaban dispuestos a otorgar a Plotino una ciudad en la Campania para establecer una república platónica, sin embargo, los ministros imperiales se opusieron a esa idea argumentando ser inapropiado en el contexto del imperio Romano.

La propuesta central de Plotino consistía en en que existe una realidad que funda cualquier otra existencia en donde el principio básico es solamente lo “Uno”, la unidad, lo más grande, como un Dios único e infinito. De donde se funda la existencia de todas las cosas, en donde el uno está mas allá del ser.

El Uno representa la realidad inmejorable y suprema de la cual el nous y el alma provienen.

El Nous no tiene una traducción adecuada pero algunos autores lo traducen como el espíritu, mientras que otros prefieren hablar de inteligencia, mas esta vez no con un sentido místico sino intelectual. En la explicación del Nous, Plotino parte de la semejanza entre el Sol y la Luz. El Uno sería el sol y la luz como el Nous. La función del Nous como luz es la de que el Uno pueda verse a si mismo, pero como es imagen del Uno, es la puerta por donde nosotros podemos ver al Uno. Plotino manifiesta que el nous es el resultante del “contacto” con el Uno.

El tercer elemento es el alma, el cual en un extremo está ligada el Nous y tira de él, y en el otro extremo esta asociado al mundo de los sentidos del cual es creadora, es decir, el gobernante de todos los objetos y pensamientos en el mundo tangible, es decir, el nuestro, el cual se encarga de generar materia debido a la insuficiencia de producir ideas y ejecutarlas.

El enfoque filosófico de Plotino se caracteriza por su estilo razonador y dialéctico en donde cada tema se reduce a una idea fundamental. Siendo sus escritos, referentes de estudio y admiración en el mundo académico.

Plotino murió en Roma, a la edad de 66 años en el año 270 d.C. Sus obras, conocidas como la Enéadas, son una síntesis de la filosofía, y se inspira en gran medida en el pensamiento de Platón, pero también incorpora elementos del aristotelismo y el estoicismo.

Fuente: Wikipedia.

[hiding1ntheforest]

Plotinus: Father of Neoplatonism

Plotinus is arguably one of the most influential figures of the occult mysteries, having inspired early church fathers, gnostic sects and polytheists alike. A pupil of Ammonius Saccas, he later went on to futher the ideas of Plato with his own profound insight. Having garnered the support of both emperors and religious authorities from a plethora of traditions, the thoughts of Plotinus still shape mystical practices today. Moreover, Plotinus was not just a great philosopher, but an experienced mystic and friend to many all over Rome, promoting education as well as generosity. The teachings of Plotinus are perhaps the most inspiring and thought-provoking works that have shaped my own understanding of cosmology. Still, there are many facets of Plotinus that are vastly under discussed within esotericism. This post will delve into the life, the works, and the legacy of Plotinus.

The Life of Plotinus

Plotinus was born in 204 CE in Roman Egypt, either in Asyut or modern day Segin al-Kom according to the Greek historian Eunapius, though this is not confirmed by the documenter of Plotinus’s life, Porphyry. It is likely that he was of Greek descent and he wrote as well as spoke Greek primarily. Few details about Plotinus’s early life are confirmed by him or Porphyry as he preferred to remain mostly unperceived. In 232, Plotinus began his philosophical studies in Alexandria. He did not particularly enjoy his time here, not exactly finding the teachings of any of the scholars he encountered very agreeable. Taking up the suggestion of a fellow pupil, he began to study the teachings of Ammonius Saccas, a significant philosopher of early Platonism. For the next 11 years, Plotinus would dedicate himself to the teachings of Saccas while also growing influenced by Aristotle, Heraclitus, and Stoicism. After his studies had ended, Plotinus decided to join Emperor Gordian’s journey to Persia, most likely to study the philosophies of the Eastern scholars. However, the expedition did not go as planned when Gordion was killed in Mesopotamia. Plotinus was left with no choice but to flee to Antioch after being stranded in perilous and unknown territory. At the age of 40, Plotinus traveled to Rome where he would spend the rest of his life teaching and compiling various metaphysical writings. It is around this age that he began to write his first works on the spirit which would later become the third and fourth tractates of the Enneads. In Rome, Plotinus gained a number of followers including Senators and doctors, as well as his life-long friend Porphyry. A woman named Gemina was also a pupil and dear friend of Plotinus. The teachings of Plotinus at this time were based heavily on contemplation, a stoic mindset, and detachment from the material realm. These sentiments are also strongly reflected in the Enneads. Porphyry wrote that he was essentially a friend to everyone in his community, assisting families and teaching children. Despite his view of the material as “lower,” he still strongly valued those around him. However, not all took a liking to him; it is reported by Porphyry that an individual known as Olympius attempted to cast harmful spells upon him, though quickly found that the spells seemed to be reflected back to him with much more power. Emperor Gallienus was so fond of Plotinus that he considered building a Platonic city in a region of Campania, though ultimately declined due to issues with Rome’s Senate. Another brief tale of Plotinus that illustrates his altrusim that I wish to include is an incident recorded by Porphyry in which he was considering suicide, but was sent out of Rome by Plotinus, ultimately saving his life. Plotinus would later die in a Sicilian estate, his last words being “I long been waiting for you; I am striving to give back the divine to the divine in the All” as attested by Eustochius.” He was 66 years old.

The One, The Nous, The Soul

The One, the Nous and the Soul are very complex concepts integral to Neoplatonism, and it is unlikely that my summaries will do them justice. I simply suggest reading the works of Plotinus, but I may create a more in depth post on these ideas in the future. According to Plotinus, the One is both undefinable and unknowable. It is beyond human comprehension. In fact, to name it is somewhat innaccurate because the One cannot be indentified by reason. It cannot be differentiated or distinguished because it is beyond both. However, it is possible to know the unknowable One through contemplation. The One is often regarded as the source, a somewhat accurate word due to it’s emanationist nature, but also misleading. It is not the source because it is not a being, though other things come into being through imperfect contemplation of it. The One is mostly an omnipotent active force. Secondly, the Nous is regarded as the Intellect. It is the transcendent force of a contemplative nature. The Nous is the greatest power and gives differing identities to things. Primarily, the Nous is the cognitive force of the Cosmos, operating like the mind (and also referred to as such.) It is both thought and the generator of thought, unified as both. Lastly, the Soul gives more objective, tangible shape. It generates the material, more specifically the material image of the inteligible. There are two parts of the soul, the higher and the lower. The higher part of the Soul is closer to the noetic, and one’s soul may ascend through noetic activities. The lower part is what gives shape to the cosmos and is closely associated with the senses. The lower part may be corrupted while the higher is untouchable.

The Works of Plotinus

Plotinus is mostly known for his Enneads. The third and fourth tractates, or Our Tutelary Spirit, discusses the generative soul in every form of life. He states that everything begins formless, and that there is a duality between things on the further side of the soul, the imageless, and those nearer that have more form. The lower soul is primarily driven by the material and the senses while the higher soul is comprised of a divine intellectual nature. The tutelary spirit is rational, and it is stated that the spirit behind man is the secondary spirit, which is guided by this higher spirit. The Enneads also heavily focuses on the aforementioned One, Nous, and Soul. It discusses emanationism, as well as the metaphysics of love and virtue, reason, and evil. This work is very complex and again, I cannot even attempt to give a thorough summary. Plotinus also wrote a treatise against the Gnostics, essentially arguing against Gnostic philosophy and cosmogoly. For instance, Plotinus advocated for spiritual ascent through purification rather than ritual. He also did not view the material world as inherently evil and disagreed with the Gnostics on the number of principles of origin. Plotinus argued that the Gnostics confuse the functions of each principle and that they view the generative functions of the One very shallowly. Of course, there are many conflicts between the Abrahamic and Polytheist worldviews.

Mysticism

Aside from being a skilled philosopher, Plotinus was also an experienced mystic. He discusses his experiences with ascension in the Enneads. Meditation and moral virtue are methods Plotinus advocated for as well as participated in, and he further develops the Platonic methods of ascent. His last words also reflect his spiritual experiences.

Conclusion

Plotinus is not only a significant figure of the esoteric due to his development of Platonic thought, but his promotion of education as well as philosophy during his time in Rome. He also partially shaped the culture of Rome through his interactions with political figures. Lastly, his personal anecdotes of mysticism demonstrates the practicality of his teachings and informed a number of religions today.

“ℌ𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔩𝔢, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔩𝔴𝔞𝔶𝔰 𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔠𝔮𝔲𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔥𝔦𝔪. 𝔄𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔶-𝔰𝔦𝔵 𝔶𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔦𝔫 ℜ𝔬𝔪𝔢, 𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔱𝔬𝔬, 𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔟𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔡𝔦𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔰, 𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔪𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔪𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔠𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔷𝔢𝔫.” - 𝔓𝔬𝔯𝔭𝔥𝔶𝔯𝔶

[allyouknowisalie]

This would be similar to two people who lived in the same house and one of them despises the structure and the person who built it but still stays there any way. The other does not hate it but claims that the builder made it most skillfully, even though he longs for the time when he can leave because he will no longer need a house. The first person thinks he is wiser and more prepared to leave because he knows how to claim that the walls are made of lifeless stone and wood and lack much in comparison to the true home. He does not understand, however, that he is only special because he cannot endure what he must—unless he admits that he is upset even though he secretly delights in the beauty of the stone. As long as we have a body, we must remain in the homes which have been made for us by that good sister of a soul who has the power to build without effort. Τοῦτο δὲ ὅμοιον ἂν εἴη, ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ δύο οἶκον καλὸν τὸν αὐτὸν οἰκούντων, τοῦ μὲν ψέγοντος τὴν κατασκευὴν καὶ τὸν ποιήσαντα καὶ μένοντος οὐχ ἧττον ἐν αὐτῷ, τοῦ δὲ μὴ ψέγοντος, ἀλλὰ τὸν ποιήσαντα τεχνικώτατα πεποιηκέναι λέγοντος, τὸν δὲ χρόνον ἀναμένοντος ἕως ἂν ἥκῃ, ἐν ᾧ ἀπαλλάξεται, οὗ μηκέτι οἴκου δεήσοιτο, ὁ δὲ σοφώτερος οἴοιτο εἶναι καὶ ἑτοιμότερος ἐξελθεῖν, ὅτι οἶδε λέγειν ἐκ λίθων ἀψύχων τοὺς τοίχους καὶ ξύλων συνεστάναι καὶ πολλοῦ δεῖν τῆς ἀληθινῆς οἰκήσεως, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι τῷ μὴ φέρειν τὰ ἀναγκαῖα διαφέρει, εἴπερ καὶ μὴ ποιεῖται δυσχεραίνειν ἀγαπῶν ἡσυχῇ τὸ κάλλος τῶν λίθων. Δεῖ δὲ μένειν μὲν ἐν οἴκοις σῶμα ἔχοντας κατασκευασθεῖσιν ὑπὸ ψυχῆς ἀδελφῆς ἀγαθῆς πολλὴν δύναμιν εἰς τὸ δημιουργεῖν ἀπόνως ἐχούσης.

Plotinus, Ennead 2.9

[perkwunos]

Plotinus, Ennead III.2.2, transl. Stephen MacKenna

[wayti-blog]

"You can only apprehend the Infinite by a faculty that is superior to reason."

- Plotinus

[omgndp]

MONAD by Plotinus, Porphyry, and Proclus – Gallowglass Books