The Spiritual Sun

30 March 2023

The Spiritual Sun

1.  In Platonism the metaphysical description of the cosmos is that everything emanates from a primal source that is beyond predication, beyond name and form.  It is most often referred to as the One, because it is pure unity and the source of the thingness of things.  It is often called the Good, because it is the source of all that is good in the cosmos, it is the reason that there anything that is good.  I often refer to it as the Eternal, because it is the reason that things endure, even if they last for only a brief moment in time.

2.  This way of sketching the metaphysical layout of existence can lead to the feeling that the One, the source of all that exists, is very far away.  Sometimes the material realm is spoken of as metaphysically distant from the transcendental One; and although the modifier ‘metaphysical’ helps us to understand that ‘distant’ is not meant in terms of miles or light years, the metaphor of distance naturally leans to a kind of geographical understanding.

3.  At the same time the human soul is said to be, in some sense, connected to the One, that an aspect of the One is also an aspect of the human soul.  In this sense the soul is very close to the One.

4.  How does this work?  It has helped me to use the metaphor of the sun to clarify the metaphysical icon which Platonism uses to teach its understanding of spirituality and the Way to Return to the One.  We can look at it this way: all life on earth is connected to the sun, depends upon the sun for its existence.  It is the sun that provides the energy, warmth, and light that are necessary for life to exist on earth.  And this is true even when we cannot see the sun; I mean that this is true even at night, after the sun has set.  Even when we cannot perceive the sun with our senses the sun nevertheless pours its life-giving energy on the earth; I think of this as a kind of grace. 

5.  In a similar way, the One is a spiritual sun that is the source for all things in the cosmos, as well as those things in the realm of mind (nous) that are transcendental to the material realm in which we dwell.  And like the material sun, the spiritual sun, the Good and the One, does this even when we are unable to perceive the spiritual sun.  The spiritual sun continuously nourishes all things just as the physical sun nourishes all things on earth.

6.  The physical sun’s presence on earth is everywhere.  Similarly, the spiritual sun’s presence is everywhere; both in the world around us and when we turn within to find it in our souls.

7.  The physical sun’s presence on earth nourishes everything.  Similarly, the spiritual sun’s presence nourishes all things.  Nothing would exist without the spiritual sun’s permeating presence.

8.  The physical sun’s presence is everywhen, it is felt at all times of our lives; past, present, and future.  Similarly, the spiritual sun’s presence is felt at all times and beyond time.  The spiritual sun’s presence is the everywhen of eternity. 

9.  Everywhere, everything, and everywhen; the One is located everywhere in particular.

10.  This means that the spiritual sun’s presence is always near, never far.  Our inability to perceive the spiritual sun is due to our limitations.  During the day we cannot look directly at the sun for it will blind us.  During the night the sun is absent from the sky and so we cannot find it or perceive its presence.  It is only at sunrise and sunset, a few minutes each day, that we can perceive the sun.

The presence of the spiritual sun within resembles the material sun at sunrise or sunset.  It is beautiful.  But unlike the material sun, the spiritual sun within, is available to us at all times.  We simply need to turn to it, to turn to the heart of our soul, and we find its light guiding us to the Good, and the One.

However, if we are distracted by material manifestations, this distraction functions to keep us unaware of the spiritual sun within.  Most of us miss both sunrise and sunset because we have other concerns.  In a similar way, most of us, most of the time, are unaware of the spiritual sun within because we have other concerns.  This is where asceticism assists us by limiting our material involvements and concerns.  When these concerns diminish, through our ascetic practices, it is easier to turn to the spiritual sun within and allow it to guide us on the spiritual path.