Resident Aliens

22 July 2023

Resident Aliens

“But since here below (in the third hypostasis – my addition) also in the mixture and composition one element is body and the other soul -- for the All is a living thing – and the nature of soul is in that intelligible All and will not fit into the classification of what is called substance here below (in the material realm – my addition), we must, even if it is difficult to do so, all the same leave soul out of the investigation in which we are at present occupied; just as if someone wishing to classify the citizens of a city, by their property assessments or skills for instance, left the resident foreigners out of account.”

(Plotinus, Plotinus Ennead VI: 1-5, Ennead VI.3, “On the Kinds of Being III,”, translated by A. H. Armstrong, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1988, page 181, ISBN: 9780674994904)

“. . . it involves in its composite nature the parallel existence of Body and Soul, for the Universe is a living being: essentially, however, Soul is of the Intellectual (Noetic – my addition) and does not enter into the structure of what is called Sensible Being (the things of material existence – my addition).

“Remembering this fact, we must – however great the difficulty – exclude Soul from the present investigation, just as in a census of citizens, taken in the interests of commerce and taxation, we should ignore the alien population.”

(Plotinus, The Enneads, translated by Stephen MacKenna, Larson Publications, Burdett, New York, 1992, page 560, ISBN: 9780943914558)

1.  Plotinus uses the metaphor of a ‘resident foreigner’, or resident alien, to describe the soul’s presence in the third hypostasis, the world of becoming and begoning.  Plotinus has the view that the soul is more at home in the second hypostasis, ‘nous,’ usually known as Intellect, but also known as Mind.  Nous is the realm of Being, Life, and Intellect which are unchanging and eternal.  This is the realm that is the soul’s real home.  But because of the soul’s involvement with the body, it is focused on the material realm and fails to recollect noetic existence.

2.  At the same time, if the soul turns to Nous, it becomes aware that Nous is where it naturally resides and the soul feels at home there.

3.  Plotinus does not unpack the metaphor of a resident foreigner, or alien, because Ennead VI.3 is focused on a different topic.  The paragraph, along with the metaphor, is explaining why he won’t be discussing soul in this Ennead as some might expect Plotinus to do.  But I think it is an insightful metaphor and it makes a lot of sense; for this reason I think it is worth contemplating it.

4.  If someone moves to another country and takes up residence there, a period of adjustment ensues.  Learning the languages, becoming familiar with customs both overt and subtle, understanding social expectations, learning how the history of this new country shapes its views of the world, etc.  Over time some of these can be overcome, but for almost all resident aliens there is always an at least residual sense of not quite fitting in.  This is because the socialization process impacts people at a very early age and is never left completely behind, even if we want to do so.

5.  If the resident alien is a diplomat, the diplomat’s orders and tasks will always be arriving from the diplomat’s native land.  In this way the diplomat is persistently reminded of his origin and his connections to his native land.  In a sense you could say that the soul is a diplomatic representative of the noetic realm to those of us dwelling in becoming and begoning.

6.  The soul learns the habits and customs of the realm of materiality; these include that things happen in sequence, one at a time, that things are perishable and very fragile, that things are embedded in complex cyclic processes, as well as a host of minor things that need to be understood to negotiate this realm of becoming and begoning.  The soul learns about emotions, desires, and hopes and fears.  All of this is learned; it is not part of the soul’s nature which actually resides in the Noetic.

7.  Now and then, not very often, the soul has a glimpse of noetic realities; of being as being, of life as such, of mind as such.  Invariably these glimpses are soothing, peaceful, and uplifting; in a word, attractive.  They can happen spontaneously while watching the sun set, they can sometimes happen in a dream, through contemplative practices, or on other occasions.  The significance of these experiences is rarely understood and the soul soon turns its attention back to becoming and begoning.  But if, due to good karma, amd/or the grace of the One, the significance of the experience is understood, even to a small degree, that is the turning that will allow the soul to eventually return to its natural residence in the noetic realm.

8.  The recognition of the significance of such experiences is the recollection of our previous experience of residing in the noetic.  We find it restful just as we find it restful to speak our native tongue after a time away from our own language.  This understanding also provides the impetus for separating the soul from the body, the philosophical task, so that the soul can return to its natural home.  And the separation of the soul from the body is accomplished through the practice, over many lifetimes, of ascetic cultivation.