Plotino - Tratado 49,9 (V, 3, 9) — A alma pode se liberar de tudo

9. Conviene, pues, según parece, que contemplemos el alma, y de ella la parte más divina, si queremos saber realmente lo que es la Inteligencia. Lo cual no es posible si no separáis del hombre que vosotros formáis, en primer lugar el cuerpo, a continuación el alma que lo modela, luego la sensación, los deseos, los impulsos del ánimo y todas las demás bagatelas que nos hacen inclinar por completo hacia la vida perecedera. Lo que queda de todo esto es lo que nosotros llamábamos la imagen de la Inteligencia, que conserva la luz de la Inteligencia, lo mismo que después de la esfera por la que se extiende el sol encontramos todo lo que la rodea y lo que recibe de ella su luz. No podríamos aceptar en modo alguno que la luz que rodea el sol exista en sí misma, pues, es claro que ha salido de él y permanece alrededor de él. Y, sin embargo, decimos que de una luz primera proviene otra y así sucesivamente, en cadena ininterrumpida, hasta que la luz llega a nosotros y a la tierra; con lo que toda la luz que rodea el sol es colocada en un sujeto diferente a fin de no mantener vacío de cuerpo el espacio que está más allá del sol. Pero el alma, en cambio, que proviene de la Inteligencia, es como una luz que la rodea y que depende de ella, luz que, ciertamente, no se vincula a sujeto alguno, ni tampoco a un determinado lugar, como ocurre con la Inteligencia. Porque si la luz del sol se encuentra en el aire, el alma por su parte se mantiene pura de todo contacto con el cuerpo, lo que explica que sea vista por ella misma y por las demás almas como algo existente en sí mismo.

El alma tiene que proceder por razonamiento para considerar por sí misma lo que es la Inteligencia; en tanto la Inteligencia se ve a sí misma sin necesidad del razonamiento, puesto que siempre está presente a sí misma. En cuanto a nosotros, la vemos verdaderamente cuando nos volvemos hacia ella, porque nuestra vida se halla dividida y constituye en realidad varias vidas. La Inteligencia, por el contrario, no necesita de otra vida ni de otras cosas, y las vidas de que hace donación las entrega siempre a otros seres, pero no a ella misma. No necesita igualmente de los seres inferiores a ella y, teniéndolo todo, no se hace donación de lo que es menos. No se entrega, pues, imágenes de los seres, porque ella misma posee los seres primeros y, mejor aún, no los posee, sino que ella misma constituye una sola cosa con ellos.

Quien se sienta incapaz de alcanzar la primera actividad, que es la del pensamiento puro, que haga uso de la facultad de opinión, por la cual ascenderá a la Inteligencia. Y si no puede partir de ella, que tome la sensación plenamente desplegada en sus formas; esto es, tanto la sensación en sí misma con sus potencias como la sensación en acto manifiesta en las formas. Si lo desea, que descienda, incluso, a la potencia generadora y a las cosas que esta potencia produce; luego, que ascienda desde las últimas formas a las que también son últimas pero en sentido inverso, mejor dicho, a las formas primeras.

IX. Il faut donc contempler l’âme et sa partie la plus divine afin de savoir ce qu’est l’Intelligence. Pour y arriver, voici ce que tu dois faire : sépare de l’homme, c’est-à-dire de toi-même, d’abord le corps, puis la puissance de l’âme qui le façonne (πλᾶττουσα ψυχή), ensuite la sensation, la concupiscence, la colère, toutes les passions basses qui t’inclinent vers la terre. Ce qui reste alors de l’âme, c’est ce que nous nommons l’image de l’Intelligence, image qui rayonne d’elle, comme du globe immense du soleil rayonne la sphère de lumière qui l’entoure (16). On ne saurait accorder que toute la lumière qui rayonne du soleil demeure en elle-même autour de lui : une partie seulement de cette lumière reste autour du soleil dont elle émane; une autre, se propageant de proche en proche, descend jusqu’à nous sur la terre. Hais on regarde la lumière., même celle qui entoure le soleil, comme placée dans une autre chose, pour ne pas être obligé de concevoir comme vide de tout corps l’espace qui s’étend entre le soleil et nous. L’âme au contraire est une lumière qui reste attachée à l’Intelligence dont elle rayonne; elle n’est pas placée dans une autre chose, mais demeure suspendue a l’Intelligence, et elle n’est pas dans un lieu, parce que l’intelligence n’est point dans un lieu. Tandis que la lumière du soleil est dans l’air, l’âme, au contraire, dans l’état où nous la considérons ici, est si pure qu’elle peut être vue en elle-même par elle-même et par toute autre âme qui est dans le même état. Elle a besoin de raisonner pour concevoir d’après elle-même ce qu’est l’Intelligence; mais l’Intelligence se conçoit elle-même sans raisonner parce qu’elle est toujours présente à elle-même. Quant à nous, nous sommes présents à nous-mêmes et à l’Intelligence quand nous nous tournons vers elle, parce que notre vie est divisée en plusieurs vies (17). L’Intelligence, au contraire, n’a pas besoin d’une autre vie, ni des autres choses ; ce qu’elle donne, ce n’est pas à elle-même qu’elle le donne, c’est aux autres choses : elle n’a pas en effet besoin de ce qui est inférieur ; elle ne saurait se donner à elle-même rien d’inférieur, puisqu’elle possède toutes choses; au lieu d’avoir en elle-même les premières images des choses [comme l’âme], l’Intelligence est ces choses mêmes.

Si l’on ne peut s’élever immédiatement à la pensée pure, qui est la première partie de l’âme, qu’on prenne l’opinion et qu’on passe d’elle à l’intelligence. Si l’on ne peut encore s’élever à l’opinion, qu’on prenne alors la sensation qui nous représente déjà des formes générales, la sensation, dis-je, qui contient en puissance les formes, qui les possède même en acte. Si l’on veut descendre, qu’on s’abaisse à la puissance générative et aux choses qu’elle produit ; et qu’ensuite, des dernières formes on remonte aux formes qui sont placées à l’autre extrémité, aux formes premières.

WE CAN REACH A CONCEPTION OF INTELLIGENCE BY STRIPPING THE SOUL OF EVERY FACULTY EXCEPT HER INTELLECTUAL PART.

9. We must, therefore, contemplate the soul and her divinest part in order to discover the nature of Intelligence. This is how we may accomplish it: From man, that is from yourself, strip off the body; then that power of the soul that fashions the body; then sensation, appetite, and anger, and all the lower passions that incline you towards the earth. What then remains of the soul is what we call the "image of intelligence," an image that radiates from Intelligence, as from the immense globe of the sun radiates the surrounding luminary sphere. Of course, we would not say that all the light that radiates from the sun remains within itself around the sun; only a part of this light remains around the sun from which it emanates; another part, spreading by relays, descends to us on the earth. But we consider light, even that which surrounds the sun, as located in something else, so as not to be forced to consider the whole space between the sun and us as empty of all bodies. On the contrary, the soul is a light which remains attached to Intelligence, and she is not located in any space because Intelligence itself is not spatially located. While the light of the sun is in the air, on the contrary the soul, in the state in which we consider her here, is so pure that she can be seen in herself by herself, and by any other soul that is in the same condition. The soul needs to reason, in order to conceive of the nature of Intelligence according to her own nature; but Intelligence conceives of itself without reasoning because it is always present to itself. We, on the contrary, are present both to ourselves and to Intelligence when we turn towards it, because our life is divided into several lives. On the contrary, Intelligence has no need of any other life, nor of anything else; what Intelligence gives is not given to itself, but to other things; neither does Intelligence have any need of what is inferior to it; nor could Intelligence give itself anything inferior, since Intelligence’possesses all things; instead of possessing in itself the primary images of things fas in the case of the soul), Intelligence is these things themselves.

ELEVATION OF THE SOUL MAY BE GRADUAL, IF UNABLE TO ATTAIN IMMEDIATE ELEVATION.

If one should find himself unable to rise immediately to pure thought, which is the highest, or first, part of the soul, he may begin by opinion, and from it rise to Intelligence. If even opinion be out of the reach of his ability, he may begin with sensation, which already represents general forms; for sensation which contains the forms potentially may possess them even in actualization. If, on the contrary, the best he can do is to descend, let him descend to the generative power, and to the things it produces; then, from the last forms, one may rise again to the higher forms, and so on to the primary forms.

IX. It is necessary, therefore, as it seems, that the soul in order that it may see the most divine part of soul, ought to consider what that is which intellect may know. Perhaps, however, this may be effected, if you first separate body from the man, viz. from yourself. And if after this, you separate the soul which fashions the body, and as much as possible take away sense, desire and anger, and other trifles of this kind, as very much verging to the mortal nature. For then, that which remains of the soul, is what we have denominated the image of intellect, and which preserves something of its light; so as to resemble the light proximate to the sphere of the sun which emanating from, diffuses its light about the sun. No one therefore, will admit that light to be the sun, which proceeds from, and shines about it. For this light originates from the sun, and permanently surrounds it; but another light always proceeds from another prior to it, until it arrives as far as to us and the earth. All the light, however, which is about the sun, must be admitted to be situated in something else, in order that there may be no interval void of body after the sun. But soul is a light derived from, and subsisting about intellect. It also is suspended from intellect, which it surrounds, and is not in any other thing. Nor is there any place in which it is received ; for neither is intellect in place. Hence, the light of the sun indeed, is in the air; but soul of this kind is so pure, that it is visible of itself, so that it is seen by itself, and by another soul similarly pure. Soul indeed, must reason about [in order to perceive] intellect, and must investigate from itself what the nature of it is. But intellect beholds itself without reasoning about itself. For it is always present with itself. But we are present with ourselves and with intellect when we tend to it. For our life is divided, and consists of many lives. But intellect is not at all in want of another life, or of other things; but what it imparts, it imparts to others, and not to itself. For it is not indigent of things inferior to itself; nor, since it possesses the universe, does it confer on itself that which is less. Nor does it contain first natures in itself as vestiges; or rather, it does not contain, but is itself these very things. If, however, some one is incapable of having such a primary soul, which perceives intellectually with purity, let him assume a doxastic soul, and afterwards, from this ascend [to intellect]. But if he cannot even assume this, let him employ sense, bringing with itself more dilated forms: I mean sense in itself, together with the things which it is able to contain, and which now exists in forms. If some one however, wishes to descend, let him proceed to the generative power, and as far as to its effects. Afterwards, let him from hence ascend from the last to the last forms, or rather to those that are the first.

9. In order, then, to know what the Divine Mind is, we must observe soul and especially its most God-like phase.

One certain way to this knowledge is to separate first, the man from the body - yourself, that is, from your body - next to put aside that soul which moulded the body, and, very earnestly, the system of sense with desires and impulses and every such futility, all setting definitely towards the mortal: what is left is the phase of the soul which we have declared to be an image of the Divine Intellect, retaining some light from that sun, while it pours downward upon the sphere of magnitudes [that is, of Matter] the light playing about itself which is generated from its own nature.

Of course we do not pretend that the sun’s light [as the analogy might imply] remains a self-gathered and sun-centred thing: it is at once outrushing and indwelling; it strikes outward continuously, lap after lap, until it reaches us upon our earth: we must take it that all the light, including that which plays about the sun’s orb, has travelled; otherwise we would have a void expanse, that of the space - which is material - next to the sun’s orb. The Soul, on the contrary - a light springing from the Divine Mind and shining about it - is in closest touch with that source; it is not in transit but remains centred there, and, in likeness to that principle, it has no place: the light of the sun is actually in the air, but the soul is clean of all such contact so that its immunity is patent to itself and to any other of the same order.

And by its own characteristic act, though not without reasoning process, it knows the nature of the Intellectual-Principle which, on its side, knows itself without need of reasoning, for it is ever self-present whereas we become so by directing our soul towards it; our life is broken and there are many lives, but that principle needs no changings of life or of things; the lives it brings to being are for others not for itself: it cannot need the inferior; nor does it for itself produce the less when it possesses or is the all, nor the images when it possesses or is the prototype.

Anyone not of the strength to lay hold of the first soul, that possessing pure intellection, must grasp that which has to do with our ordinary thinking and thence ascend: if even this prove too hard, let him turn to account the sensitive phase which carries the ideal forms of the less fine degree, that phase which, too, with its powers, is immaterial and lies just within the realm of Ideal-principles.

One may even, if it seem necessary, begin as low as the reproductive soul and its very production and thence make the ascent, mounting from those ultimate ideal principles to the ultimates in the higher sense, that is to the primals.