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L. Gerson edited this new translation of Plotinus' Enneads, from Cambridge U. Press. Here is a sample:
Quote:
Plotinus on Voluntary Death, by Elias
Plotinus writes a treatise in one book on the reasonableness of exiting
from life and does not accept any one of the five reasons given for this.*
For he says that just as god does not stop being providential for us, but
we make ourselves unfit and believe that god is far from us when he is
equally present to us, as those who are purified make clear, having seen
god themselves and consorted with him; and just as the sun shines its
light equally to all, although bats, unfit for the light, flee it and are not
illuminated by it, believing that the sun is darkness and not the source of
light, so the philosopher should imitate god and the sun, not being
careless of the body just because they care for the soul, but taking
providential care of it until such time as it becomes unfit, distancing
itself from its association with the soul. For it is absurd to exit before
one’s time, which is when the one who joined the body and soul together
loosens the bond.
All I can do is to urge on you to regard friendship as the greatest thing in the world; for there is nothing which so fits in with our nature, or is so exactly what we want in prosperity or adversity.
But I must at the very beginning lay down this principle — friendship can only exist between good men.
[...]
We mean then by the "good" those whose actions and lives leave no question as to their honour, purity, equity, and liberality; who are free from greed, lust, and violence; and who have the courage of their convictions.
Quarrelsome tendencies are growing nowadays. Here is Maximus of Tyre with a reason to avoid such arguments:
He seems to be saying that mental and/or verbal exchanges with a depraved person will not help him, but will harm you.
Of course if both are twisted characters - carry on in the mud.
I partly agree, because while its true that negative thinking is infectious. How are we supposed to change mentality and provide comfort and inspiration without first seeing a depraved mind for what it is. The essence of spirituality and sin is depravity, going onto divine thinking.
American Esoteric is a YouTube channel that uses ancient wisdom to inspire us. This 30 minute video is on inner guidance that every individual has, whether we pay attention to it or not:
My grandfather always said that if the cows are lying down, it's a bad fishing day. He was from Georgia and lived either in Georgia or Florida (except for the time he was in the US Army - WWII vet). Anyways, he swore by that wisdom. Around here if the cows are lying down, they're usually under a shade tree, which means it's hot. From what the park rangers at one of the state parks around here told us is that the fish hide in the deeper parts of the lakes when it's hot so the fishing isn't as good. I suppose you can catch them if you're in a boat, but fishing from the shore won't be as productive.
That's interesting that the fish know about the cold fronts approaching - wouldn't it be awesome to have the same awareness the fish do when it comes to weather and stuff?
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New version of Enneads
