Summary of Awakening from the Meaning Crisis by John Vervaeke, Chapter 18: Plotinus and Neoplatonism
The previous lecture introduced gnosticism as a set of practices intended to bring about transformation via higher states of consciousness embedded in a ritual framework and supportive community. This lecture expands on its belief system and historical influence.
The gnostic tradition is grounded in a mythological scaffold. It inferred the existence of a being called the demiurge which acted as a kind of “evil overlord” that crafted the (imperfect) material world out of the eternal world of the forms, and which also kept people trapped within its illusion (along with other Aeons or lesser gods). The goal of the gnostic is ultimately to transcend the illusion of the physical world and reunite with the God beyond all gods (the Monad).
Gnostic beliefs are typically non-doctrinal, emphasizing personal spiritual knowledge and relationship with the divine. They viewed religion not as statements of absolute truth, but as narrative examples of how to achieve freedom. Gnostic Christians in particular saw the teachings of Jesus and the concept of agape as helping us to realize our own gnostic potential. Historically, Gnostic Christianity was driven underground by the more widespread Apostolic Christianity.
Vervaeke emphasizes that there is also a dark side to Gnosticism, in that it is basically the ultimate conspiracy theory (and has had associations with Nazism). Nonetheless, as a system of thought, Gnosticism contains many potent ideas in the service of self-transcendence and transformation that are worth salvaging. Jung in particular was heavily influenced by Gnosticism, and Jungian psychology can be considered Gnosticism’s modern expression in therapeutic form.
Around this time in history also saw the emergence of Neoplatonism, founded by Plotinus. Plotinus can be thought of as combining Plato and Aristotle with Stoicism, creating a metaphysical system that integrated the best of spirituality, science, and therapy.
Specifically taking Plato’s concept of anagoge and Aristotle’s hierarchy of being, Plotinus inferred that there were different levels of reality, some of which were more real by virtue of being more integrated (that is, organized in an intelligible way). By conforming to higher levels of reality, we also increase the level of the self (self-realization). Understanding something means knowing how it is integrated (literally by standing underneath it). According to Neoplatonism, at the core of being is the One, the principle by which everything is known.
Collectively, the way of thinking brought about by Christianity, Gnosticism, and Neoplatonism deeply informed the grammar of meaning that Western culture has inherited (and arguably has lost touch with).