Henosis
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Henosis (
Etymology
The term is relatively common in classical texts, and has the meaning of "union" or "unity".[note 1]
Process of unification
Henosis, or primordial unity, is rational and deterministic, emanating from
Plotinus
Henosis for Plotinus (204/5–270 CE) was defined in his works as a reversing of the ontological process of consciousness via
Within the
Plotinus words his teachings to reconcile not only Plato with Aristotle, but also various world religions that he had personal contact with during his various travels. Plotinus' works have an
Phases
Plotinus' phases of "mystical union with the One" as given by Mazur (2021):[9]
- Phase 1, Catharsis: self-purification (aphairesis) from any contamination with multiplicity (of any thought, knowledge, or mental activity); "removing" Being itself (Enneads III.8.10)
- Phase 2, Mystical self-reversion: "The intellect ... must ‘withdraw backwards’ and surrender itself to what lies behind it" (Enneads III.8.9)
- Phase 3, Autophany: luminous vision of one's own self
- Phase 3.2, Self-unification: to "become one from many" (Enneads VI.9.3)
- Phase 4, Annihilation: discussed in the Enneads VI.9
- Phase 5, Union with the One
- Phase 5.2, Desubjectification
Passages in the Enneads describing the different stages of mystical union with the One can be found in I.6, IV.8, VI.9, III.8, V.3, V.5, V.8, and VI.7-8.[9]
Iamblichus of Chalcis
Within the works of
See also
- Absolute (philosophy)
- Apotheosis
- Fana (Sufism)
- Form of the Good
- Hesychasm
- Henology
- Henotheism
- Moksha
- Monolatrism
- Neoplatonism and Gnosticism
- Nondualism
- Rational mysticism
- Self-realization
- Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)
Notes
- ^ LSJ entry for enosis: ἕνωσις, -εως, ἡ, (from ἑνόω "Ι unite") A. combination into one, union, Philol.10, Archyt. ap.Stob.1.41.2, Arist.Ph.222a20, GC328b22, Phld.Po.2.17, Ph.1.45, al.; “τοῦ συμφραζομένου” A.D.Synt.175.16, cf. Hermog.Id.2.11: pl., Procl.Inst.63. II. compression, Heliod. ap. Orib.46.11.20.[4]
- ^ Plotinus:
* "Our thought cannot grasp the One as long as any other image remains active in the soul. To this end, you must set free your soul from all outward things and turn wholly within yourself, with no more leaning to what lies outside, and lay your mind bare of ideal forms, as before of the objects of sense, and forget even yourself, and so come within sight of that One. [6.9.7]
* "If he remembers who he became when he merged with the One, he will bear its image in himself. He was himself one, with no diversity in himself or his outward relations; for no movement was in him, no passion, no desire for another, once the ascent was accomplished. Nor indeed was there any reason or though, nor, if we dare say it, any trace of himself." [6.9.11.] - Neoplatonist philosopher: "With Plotinus there even appears, probably for the first time in Western philosophy, idealism that had long been current in the East even at that time, for it taught (Enneads, iii, lib. vii, c.10) that the soul has made the world by stepping from eternity into time, with the explanation: 'For there is for this universe no other place than the soul or mind' (neque est alter hujus universi locus quam anima), indeed the ideality of time is expressed in the words: 'We should not accept time outside the soul or mind' (oportet autem nequaquam extra animam tempus accipere)."[8]
References
- ^ Stamatellos 2007, p. 37.
- ^ Angus 1975, p. 52.
- ^ Gregorios 2002.
- ^ LSJ entry for enosis
- ^ Neoplatonism and Gnosticism By Richard T. Wallis, Jay Bregman, International Society for Neoplatonic Studies [1]
- ISBN 0-7914-1338-1[2]
- ^ Neoplatonism and Gnosticism By Richard T. Wallis, Jay Bregman, International Society for Neoplatonic Studies [3]
- ^ (Parerga and Paralipomena, Volume I, "Fragments for the History of Philosophy," § 7)
- ^ OCLC 1202732742.
Sources
- ISBN 0-486-23124-0
- Gregorios, Paulos (2002), Neoplatonism and Indian Philosophy, SUNY Press
- Stamatellos, Giannis (2007), Plotinus and the Presocratics: A Philosophical Study of Presocratic Influences in Plotinus' Enneads, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0791470626
External links
- "Iamblichus". The Encyclopedia of the Goddess Athena.