Plotinus lived about 600 years after Plato, the famous student of Socrates. He lived an austere and highly disciplined life centered on philosophy and inner contemplation. He was said to eat very little—often only one meal a day or even less—avoided luxuries and bodily indulgence, and spent much of his time in quiet reflection, teaching, and conversation with students rather than pursuing public life.
This unusual man became the founding figure in synthesizing the insights of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics into what we now call Neoplatonism—a vision of reality that offers a coherent metaphysical path back to the One.
The Foundations of Henayana
Neoplatonism is foundational to Henayana, the Path to the One, in shaping both our metaphysics and our soteriology. Metaphysics, in this context, concerns the philosophical study of the fundamental nature of reality—existence, being, and first causes.
The historical Buddha, Gotama, tended to avoid metaphysical questions and focused instead on the practical path of Liberation. His followers, however, were never satisfied with this, which is why Mahayana emerged. Mahayana filled in the metaphysical gaps with innovations such as Buddha‑nature, pure lands, celestial bodhisattvas, and the erasing of the Gotama’s distinction between samsara and Nirvana.
Henayana, by contrast, seeks to augment rather than contradict the historical teachings of Gotama. It does this by bringing in the best insights from science, psychology, and Western philosophy.
The Neoplatonic Structure of Reality
Neoplatonism presents a metaphysical framework in which the structure of the universe corresponds to that of the human psyche. The macrocosm of the cosmos is reflected in the microcosm of the inner life.
Following Plotinus, reality has three major divisions:
– At the highest level, the One is the eternal, ineffable source or Ground of Being.
– The first emanation is the nous, the organizing principle of reality—the demiurge of Plato and the Logos of Stoicism.
– At the lowest level is the physical world.
Our internal psychological makeup mirrors this external order. The One is reflected in consciousness, which is my interpretation of psyche. The nous is reflected in cognition, the information‑processing aspect of the mind. And the physical corresponds to our brain and body.
Descent, Ascent, and Liberation
Another important aspect of Neoplatonism is the idea of descent and ascent. Our consciousness descended from the One into the physical and must now ascend and return to the One. Salvation or liberation is attained through union with the One.
Neoplatonism fills in the gap that Gotama left concerning the nature of reality. Yet it remains incomplete without the addition of process philosophy, which teaches that the world is a matrix of becoming—not of substances but of events.
Neoplatonism, like Buddhism, also accepts karma and rebirth. Most people are not aware that reincarnation was taught by Plato and Plotinus. Philosophers often ignore this inconvenient truth, but reincarnation was at the heart of Western philosophy.
Even more interesting—and rarely discussed—is that Neoplatonism taught a version of Nirvana. If the One is beyond becoming, and we return and are rejoined to the One, we enter into “the unborn, unformed, unmade, unconditioned” (Udāna 8.3). Liberation is attained by ascending out of the conditioned realm. The One is the only reality beyond the conditioned realm. Therefore, union with God is Nirvana. This is Henayana.
A Brief Glimpse into a Vast System
Neoplatonism is a very complex and detailed system subject to various interpretations. This is only the briefest introduction.