26 May 2025
Brief Notes on Various Topics – 48
1. Most people who align with a spiritual tradition do not live in accordance with the ethical demands, embodied in precepts or vows or commandments for that tradition. This is well known, an often-observed truth. And this applies equally to Platonism. The ethical restraints that are brought up in dialogues like Phaedo and the Republic are not taken to heart, and it is rare to find someone who strives to embody them. I think that part of the reason this is true for Platonism is that the idea of ethical commitments, or ethical restraints, being a part of a philosophical tradition is, in a modern context, strange. In today’s conception of philosophy the emphasis is almost entirely mental and analytical. It is religions that have these kinds of ethical commitments, not philosophies. Even if an academic philosopher sees that Classical Platonism contains ethical commitments, such as non-harming or sexual restraint, and so forth, those restraints would not be taken seriously; I mean they would not be considered part of Platonist philosophy.
2. “ . . . from the start the terms of life are harsh for every living thing.”
(Plato, Epinomis, translated by Richard D. McKirahan, Jr., Plato: Complete Works, edited by John M. Cooper, Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis, 1997, page 1618, 973d, ISBN: 9780872203495)
The above quote is just a passing comment in the dialogue (whose authorship is disputed). From my perspective that makes it more, rather than less, significant. It indicates that the harshness of life is a widely understood reality of the tradition, an observation that does not need spending a lot of time on because it is so widely known and its implications understood.
3. Plato leaves his hermitage in the late morning light of early summer. He likes to stretch his legs and get in a bit of exercise as part of his morning routine and a morning walk is a good way to do this. Plato is headed for an oak tree that he likes to sit under and lean against during his morning contemplations. Plato and the oak tree have been companions over many lifetimes and have learned a great deal from each other. As Plato settles into interior silence he follows the lead of the oak tree, finding there the path of silence, stillness, and transcendence.
4. In some ways Platonism is simple; at the same time, in some ways Platonism is complex. The simplicity of Platonism emerges from grasping a few basic principles. One of these is the principle of Asceticism and its applications in daily life. As a guiding principle, Asceticism, once understood, is not difficult to understand, though putting it into practice does have its challenges.
The difficult aspect of Platonism is found in its metaphysical cosmology, what it consists of (for example, the hypostases or levels of existence), how its different parts are related to each other, how soul and body are related to each other, and so forth. There is a tendency among some Platonists to make this part of Platonism very complex indeed and when that happens it becomes difficult to access. Plotinus has, I think, struck just the right balance in his presentations of these complexities. Plotinus seems to be aware of how the tendency to add unnecessary complexities to the metaphysical cosmology of Platonism is a temptation that would be good to resist (I am thinking in particular of “Against the Gnostics”). This is one reason, among many, why I prefer Plotinus over some of his successors.
5. Every morning I read from Platonic literature. In my case this is either the Dialogues of Plato or the Enneads of Plotinus. There is something soothing, restful, and spacious about this practice. Doing it in the morning sets the tone for the day which I think has to do with being reminded of the transcendental early in the morning keeps the demands of daily life in perspective.
6. I received some feedback on my post from last week; specifically regarding 47.1 where I talk about contemplation in a value free context that is void of ethical restraints. The basic criticism, which I have heard often before, is that contemplation is itself transformative in a way that aligns with ethical teachings. The implication here is that someone who exhibits anti-ethical behavior, no matter what their claims, cannot have had a genuine experience of contemplation.
I understand this criticism and it intuitively makes sense. Nevertheless, I don’t think it is accurate, or to put it another way, such a view does not seem to align with what I have observed in the practice of spiritualities that I have observed.
In response I would suggest for consideration that it is not possible for a human being to reach a state of perfection. I mean that the body always pulls the practitioner in negative directions and that is one reason why ascetic practice is a lifelong commitment. In the Dialogues Socrates suggests to his students that they should practice the separation of the soul from the body to the best of their ability, which I take as meaning that as long as we have a body the capacity for such a separation will never be perfect.
In a similar vein, Plotinus writes about the feeling he experienced when returning to bodily awareness after residing in the transcendental for a period of time. Plotinus writes that this was always a difficult transition, this return to the body’s material consciousness. Again, I think this indicates that perfect realization of the transcendental is not possible for a human being who is embodied.
These kinds of teachings align with my observations of a large number of spiritual teachers as well as my own experience. I don’t think this should come as a surprise because such an interpretation of spiritual experience resembles many other experiences. For example, a baker may want to make a perfect muffin, or a potter might want to make a perfect mug, or a quilter might want to make a perfect quilt, or a physicist might want to find a perfect equation. Yet in all of these examples there will be flaws and I think that is because ‘having flaws’ is part of what it means to be a material thing and to reside in materiality.
Looking at contemplation, ‘being flawed’ means that the transformative range of contemplation will always be incomplete as long as one has a body. That is, again, why I think that ascetic practice is necessary as a basis for contemplation.
I realize that this view differs from what a lot (perhaps a majority) of spiritual teachers present today. And it might be the case that I am simply justifying my own less than perfect practice. On the other hand, I have found that Platonism offers clear and cogent reasons for why contemplation in the context of a human body will always have its limitations.