This oracle (pieced out of numerous quotations) says (in some now lost
lines, perhaps) that Plotinos was kindly, affable, indulgent, gentle,
such as, indeed we knew him in personal intercourse. It also mentions
that this philosopher slept little, that his soul was pure, ever
aspiring to the divinity that he loved whole-heartedly, and that he did
his utmost to liberate himself (from terrestrial domination) "to escape
the bitter waves of this cruel life."
That is how this divine man, who by his thoughts often aspired to the
first (principle), to the divinity superior (to intelligence), climbing
the degrees indicated by Plato (in his Banquet), beheld the vision
of the formless divinity, which is not merely an idea, being founded
on intelligence and the whole intelligible world. I, myself, had the
blessed privilege of approaching this divinity, uniting myself to him,
when I was about sixty-eight years of age.
That is how "the goal (that Plotinos sought to achieve) seemed to
him located near him." Indeed, his goal, his purpose, his end was to
approach the supreme divinity, and to unite himself with the divinity.
While I dwelt with him, he had four times the bliss of reaching that
goal, not merely potentially, but by a real and unspeakable experience.
The oracle adds that the divinities frequently restored Plotinos to the
right path when he strayed from it, "enlightening his eyes by radiant
splendor." That is why it may truthfully be said that Plotinos composed
his works while in contemplation of the divinities, and enjoying that
vision. "Thanks to this sight that your 'vigilant' eyes had of both
interior and exterior things, you have," in the words of the oracle,
"gazed at many beauties that would hardly be granted to many of those
who study philosophy." Indeed, the contemplation of men may be superior
to human contemplation; but, compared to divine knowledge, if it be of
any value whatever, it, nevertheless, could not penetrate the depths
reached by the glances of the divinities.
Till here the oracle had limited itself to indicating what Plotinos
had accomplished while enclosed in the vesture of the body. It then
proceeds to say that he arrived at the assembly of the divinities where
dwell friendship, delightful desire, joy, and love communing with the
divinity, where the sons of God, Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus are
established as the judges of souls. Plotinos joined them, not to be
judged, but to enjoy their intimacy, as did the higher divinities.
There indeed dwell Plato, Pythagoras, and the other sages who formed
the choir of immortal love. Reunited with their families, the blessed
angels spend their life "in continued festivals and joys," enjoying the
perpetual beatitude granted them by divine goodness.