introduction

there are questions we will never be able to answer. where do we come from? where are we going? how did it all begin? and how will it all end? there will never be any definitive answers, let alone a scientific consensus. nevertheless, if you look deeply within yourself, there are universal truths to be found. the details will vary from person to person and especially from one doctrine to another, but in general terms, they will be correct.

plotinus

the person who, in my opinion, has come closest to understanding the true nature of existence is the platonic philosopher plotinus. i do not call myself a (neo)platonist, although i enjoy reading plato and (especially neo)platonists, because i do not want to push myself into a corner and have to adhere to dogmas and restrictions. although, of course, maneuvering through restrictions can also help you generate new ideas and delve deeper into yourself than ever before.

plotinus, a student of the mysterious ammonius saccas, built upon the works of platonists before him to redefine platonism. most inspired by plato's timaeus and parmenides, he built a metaphysical system that influenced almost all platonists after him.

the one

according to plotinus, it all began with what he called the one. totally transcendent, containing no division, multiplicity, or distinction. beyond all categories of being and non-being. the one is the source of the universe, but not through any act of creation, but through emanation.

imagine a ray radiating from a light source, heat spreading from fire, cold issuing from snow, or a scent wafting from an odorous substance. the one is like a spring from which water eternally gushes out. the one remains in itself, in its perfection. yet, from it, from this overflowing perfection, something else proceeds. the one overflows, and its superabundance makes something other than itself. just like a fire, for instance, from whose inner activity (burning) the activity of warming the surrounding environment necessarily derives.

this procession finds its counterpart in a movement of return towards the source and cause. according to plotinus, the true cause is always the final one. it is by reuniting with its cause that that which issues from it, and which is, as it is, deficient, can truly realize its own nature. and it is this desire to realize one's own nature that leads to this reuniting.

given that this movement of return springs from a desire and sense of deficiency, the thing generated must somehow be aware of its separation and acknowledge itself as distinct from its source. and at the moment of return, the thing generated thus produces its own interpretation of the generating cause. it is at this stage that a new order of reality is produced.

the intellect

out of the overflowing potential of the one comes something, which becomes the intellect. the one does not generate the intellect. the one gives birth to something undifferentiated, which therefore is not the intellect yet, but will become it. not by virtue or arbitrary activity, but because it constitutes itself as the intellect through a movement of return to its own origin.

the intellect fragments the original simplicity into the multiplicity of forms. the multiplicity of forms that constitute the intellect (and which forms the model for physical reality) is not something inherent in the one, but something that is produced by the act of the intellect to return to its source.

the soul

in relation to the intellect, the hypostasis of the soul marks a further descent into multiplicity and fragmentation. as something intelligible, the soul remains immaterial, unextended, and free from spatial conditioning. however, its activity unfolds in the world of matter.

the soul therefore forms the link between the intelligible realm of forms and the sensible world. it represents the intelligible plane responsible for the sensible world and ensures the unity of all. therefore, we should not think that the soul is locked up in bodies, for it is the bodies that are locked up in the soul.

the sensible world

after the soul comes the world of matter, the lowest point in the plotinian system. the physical universe, however, is still produced by the soul. and its agency makes the universe something harmonious and partaker of a higher beauty. however imperfect, the physical universe is still an image of the divine realm. it remains a reflection of higher realities.