Friday, March 12th, 1982

One Outline

by Anthony J. Damiani

Paper V09MP

3-LETTER CODE: ASN

TOPIC: Astronoesis

SUBJECT: One

ORIGINAL LOCATION & FILE NAME (of PDF used for typing): 1982 0312a V12rp. Plotinus - One.DOC & PDF

BOOKS QUOTED FROM OR REFERENCED:

• Plotinus, The Enneads (MacKenna translation, 4th ed.)

PLOTINUS QUOTES REFERENCED: See Astronoesis, Chapter One, "The One, for Plotinus references.

AD HANDWRITING: This retyped version is almost exactly the same (with a few minor variations) as all the alternate versions mentioned below; both PDFs are typewriter typed and have AD edits

COMPLETENESS: Full Paper

PUBLISHABILITY: No, already published in Astronoesis in a different form

ALTERNATE VERSIONS: ASN ALT The One Outline AD Hand.PDF (pp. 1-2) (typewriter typed with extensive AD edits); AD SUPPG 1-10.PDF (pp. 1-2) (typewriter typed with a few AD edits); One Outline as read in WG Class 1982 0402a

DATES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PAPER: 1982 0312, 0402

VERSION OF PAPER IN ASTRONOESIS: This outline per se is not in Astronoesis but the ideas in it are scattered throughout the chapter on The One

RETYPED AND REFORMATTED by IT 2024

NOTES:

• RETYPED AD PAPER presented in class (V09MP).

• This is 1982 03/12b, One Outline, and the second entry associated with this date. 1982 03/12a = Plotinus; One Class. 1982 03/12c = Intellectual-Principle Outline.

ONE OUTLINE

[Paper as read by LR in WG Class 1982 0312a Begins]

--The Philosopher's wisdom-knowledge first expresses to us a view of the Supreme Reality as a simplex, the Absolute, the Alone, the utterly Self-sufficing.

--This simplicity is not that of a spatial point or a blank homogeneity, nor a numerical one to be numbered in with the others.

--It is the Highest Good, Pure Intelligence, and it is so complex in Its undifferentiated simplicity so as to include all and everything within It.

--Plotinus identifies the infinite and indeterminate power of the One as not distinct or apart from the pure Undifferenced Knowledge itself. It must remain a simplex, and yet be the source of all distinctions.

--This power is spoken of as the indeterminate Dyad and it is the basis, or the indeterminate "matter," or substratum of all the Unities. It is what imparts to each of the Unities their characteristic uniqueness and being-form in a distinctionless mode within the One. They are therefore super-essential, super-gnostic, and super-vital. To elicit the distinctions within metaphysical infinity requires this power (the Shakti of Brahman).

--The One in its interaction with the Dyad exhibits Infinity and Bound, or Repose and Act. The double act in the Divine Mind is non-dual. The Unities which express or constitute the inner nature of One are no new production.

--The totality of all possible arrangements and combinations of these Unities, which are rooted in the One, still leave the oneness untouched. This view of the One as the Unity of Unities established in and by the power of the One, in the One, leaves intact the One. This is the basis for the Platonic theory of participation.

--So in the Unity of Unities are the transcendental principles of Nous and Being, of Ideas and Numbers, the totality of infinite possibilities. The power of the One establishes distinct real principles, levels of Being, or a variety of spiritual principles, yet not separated from their source. We must repeat that this power when identified with the One, or as extending from the One, this sheer indeterminacy, forces us into the perception of the One as transcendent and immanent.

[Paper as read by LR in WG Class 1982 0312a Ends]