Plotinus

Plotinus and his Life

Plotinus was a 3rd century Neoplatonist philosopher. He was not an adherent of any religious system but a follower of Plato. Central to his belief system is the concept of the One which he describes as the source of all being and the cause of all things. In his writings he suggests that every life and every form derive their being from the same One thing or process.

He also suggests that that union with with One is the ultimate goal of human existence. He calls this the 'ascent' and suggests it entails a surrender of the ego and the end of all multiplicities. it is 'the flight of the alone to the Alone'. As other mystics relate their experience of Oneness to their chosen religious system Plotinus references it as an impersonal absolute. 

Plotinus and his Words

'I am striving to give back the Divine in myself, to the Divine in the All'

'Each being contains within itself the whole intelligible world'

'You can only apprehend the infinite (the One).....by entering into a state in which your finite self is no longer'