Dawn

18 November 2022

Dawn

“Just so Intellect, veiling itself from other things and drawing itself inward, when it is not looking at anything will see a light, not a distinct light in something different from itself, but suddenly appearing, alone by itself in independent purity, so that Intellect is at a loss to know whence it has appeared, whether it has come from outside or within, and after it has gone away will say ‘It was within, and yet it was not within.’

“But one should not enquire whence it comes, for there is no ‘whence’; for it does not really come or go away anywhere, but appears or does not appear.  So one must not chase after it, but wait quietly till it appears, preparing oneself to contemplate it, as the eye awaits the rising of the sun; and the sun rising over the horizon (‘from Ocean’, the poets say) gives itself to the eyes to see.”

(Plotinus, Ennead V.5.7 & 8, Plotinus: Ennead V, translated by A. H. Armstrong, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984, page 179.)

 

I think this is one of those passages where Plotinus is describing an actual contemplation that Platonists used.  I mean that they actually waited for the sunrise as a contemplative practice.  This idea is not original with me; it has also been a view held by some Plotinian scholars.  In contrast, other scholars argue that this passage is allegorical and does not refer to an actual type of contemplation.  Backing up this perspective is the fact that Platonic writing is filled with allegories and the idea is that this passage is also one of those allegories.

I don’t think it can be definitively determined which perspective is correct, one way or the other, although I think it is worthwhile pointing out that the two interpretations are not mutually exclusive or logically contradictory.  My own inclination to read this passage as an actual description of a Platonic contemplative practice is based on my own contemplative experience as well as the view that such practices were at the core of Platonism as it was practiced in the Classical world.

A few comments:

1. There is a practice in the Quaker tradition known as ‘waiting worship’.  It is the practice of waiting in silence, silence that is both exterior and interior.  In that waiting the light of the Lord may appear.  There are manuals in the Quaker tradition that outline this practice that are consistent with the outline given above.  One such manual is called ‘A Guide to True Peace’. 

2. Plotinus writes that ‘one must not chase after it’ but wait patiently for it, the transcendental light, to appear.  There is a kind of passivity in this type of contemplation; or perhaps a better word is ‘acceptance’.  I mean by this that with this kind of contemplation it is not a matter of doing something to cause the light to appear; one simply waits for it to appear.  It is like waiting for a guest whom you have invited to your home, but you don’t know exactly when they will arrive.  You remain attentive to signs of your guest appearing, but at the same time you are patient, you may even do some minimal or basic household chores while waiting.  But you don’t want to go too far away because you don’t want to miss the invited guest should the guest appear.

3. I connect this kind of contemplation to Platonic Grace (this kind of passage is one of the reasons I think that the idea of grace has its origin in Platonism and then was adopted and adapted by Christianity).  The light’s appearances is not due to causation or a predictable response to one’s efforts.  The light simply appears when it does; not as a reward for one’s efforts; this kind of contemplation is not about making effort, rather it is about a relaxation into spaciousness, like the sun at dawn rising in vast space.

4. In the pre-modern world the material sun was thought of as a symbol of the transcendental sun.  Just as the material sun gives light and warmth to all living things on Earth and is the progenitor to all things on earth, so the transcendental sun, what Platonists refer to as The Good, The One, and The Beautiful, is the source for all things in the cosmos, and for the cosmos itself.  Because of this I think that there is an intimate link between the practice of waiting for the sun at dawn and waiting for the transcendental sun to appear within.

5. Plotinus says we must ‘wait quietly’ for the transcendental sun, this light that is both inner and not inner, to appear.  This refers to interior silence, the quieting of the mind as a preparation for being able to perceive the subtle presence of eternity, manifesting as the transcendental sun.

6. I think this kind of contemplation could be a daily practice for the Platonist Contemplative.  It might not be the best contemplation to offer a beginner; I say this because though such a contemplation of waiting patiently for the transcendental sun is simple, the mind is easily distracted and runs off in many directions.  Until someone experiences interior silence, for example, it is difficult to understand exactly what is being pointed to.  I think this is because this kind of contemplation is not a concentration practice.  But a concentration practice can be a kind of platform from which to step gently into this kind of formless waiting. 

7. I understand this contemplation as outlining a practice that takes one past Being (and Intellect) to that which transcends Being, that which is beyond Being.

8. The experience of the transcendental sun is Great Peace.