Dancing towards the One | Plotinus

Life is like a dance, where we keep moving and turning. Like a Greek chorus we keep together by watching the dance leader, the One. In the dance we face away, but keep together by turning back towards the One.

Graham Blackbourn explores Plotinus.

Plotinus said:
"That One… has not otherness, is always present, and we are present to it when we have no otherness… And we are always around it, but do not always look to it; it is like a choral dance: in the order of its singing the choir keeps round its leader but it may sometimes turn away, so that he is out of their sight; but when they turn back to him they sing beautifully and are truly with him: so we too are always around him… but not always turned to him; but when we do look to him, then we are at our goal and at rest and do not sing out of tune, as we truly dance our god-inspired dance around him."
From Ennead 9 “On the Good or the One”

Plotinus lived until AD 204-270, and was the founder of Neoplatonism. As a young man, Plotinus went to Alexandria to study philosophy; here he found inspiration in Ammonius Saccas.

The philosophy which Plotinus taught, based on his understanding of Plato, considered ultimate truth to be in the form of what became known as the Good or the One. According to Plotinus, all else somehow emanates from this One Good, is never separate from it and depends entirely upon it – so that only the One has any reality and is worth seeking or knowing, everything else is just a poor reflection of it.

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#plotinus #greekphilosophy #neoplatonism

You may find this video also relates to The Good, Ammonius Saccas, Platonic Academy, practicalphilosophy, spirituality, philosophy, porphyry, beauty

[Phorquieu]

To my mind, this is the clearest and most informative discussion that I have heard in regard to Plotinus and Plotinus's beliefs. Very well done!

[philkelly]

Very informative, enjoyable and inspiring. Will be turning in my dance towards the One more. Thank you 🙏

[sunnyboy]

So beautiful. I wish you had an academy here in upstate New York I could attend. I was greatly moved by that last idea of Plotinus you shared, that we must return to our own center, to "flee to our own dear country" as he put it quoting Homer. "Escape from the alone, to the All One." I've been doing exactly that in my spiritual practice of prayer and contemplation, and feel I was guided by The Holy Spirit to find this very beautiful inspiration from you to validate my path. Liked and subbed. Looking forward to more of your much appreciated livestreams. Thank you.

[loge]

Nice brief summary of Plotinus and his history and philosophy. Plotinus has been a primary spiritual mentor for almost 30 years now - and I have felt about him as he felt about Ammonius Saccas - both his character and his philosophy have explained my own experience, which is sadly severely challenged in our present culture.

[PuppetMasterdaath]

This aligned with my own personal beliefs for ages, now it is time that I study it, and yes I have experienced real awakening. It is not a feeling based experience but a consciousness experience where the brain is able to access a higher resolution image of reality, filled with intricateness, well its quite similar to how the superego is a filter that removes unnecessary noise to focus on survival. so basically, its getting your DNA (adaptive) to transcript the idea that you are not survival mode, by entering bliss trough thriving, thriving is the key, not meditation per say, now thriving is impossible lol so nobody attains it, basically the false self is just needed in survival, so basically you combine the non-usefulness of a fake ego construct because of thriving with the imprint of agape trough the chakra symbol and the constant" I love you mantra", during gnostic sex and you will transmute the alchemy of synthesis, from tryptophan to dimethyltryptamine and open the flower high energy antenna