The Wisdom of Hypatia: Ancient Spiritual Practices for a More Meaningful Life

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About the Author

Bruce J. MacLennan, PhD, is a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

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The Wisdom of Hypatia: Ancient Spiritual Practices for a More Meaningful Life
© 2013 by Bruce J. MacLennan PhD.

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Contents

Acknowledgments xv

Part I. Preliminaries

Chapter One: Introduction . . . 3

An Ancient Path for Modern Times 3

Three Degrees of Wisdom 4

A Nine-Month Program 6

Hypatia, the Most Holy and Revered Philosopher 8

Why Hypatia’s Philosophy is Important Today 11

Chapter Two: Spiritual Practices . . . 15

Philosophy as a Way of Life 15

Concentrating Inward 18

Expanding Outward 23

Additional Practices 24

Living Philosophically 26

Chapter Three: Sources for Hypatia’s Philosophy . . . 27

Pythagoras and Plato 27

Plotinus 34

Porphyry and Iamblichus 35

Hypatia’s Philosophy 36

Later Neoplatonism 38

Part II. The First Degree

of Wisdom

Chapter Four: Seeking Tranquility in the Garden . . . 43

Goals of the First Degree 43

The Garden 44

x contents

Atoms and the Void 46

Classifying Desires 47

Tranquility 51

Sufficiency 53

Pain 56

Fear of the Gods 57

Fear of Death 59

The Fourfold Cure 61

Live Hidden 62

Justice 64

Friendship 66

The Death of Epicurus 68

Miscellaneous Maxims 68

Part III. The Second Degree

of Wisdom

Chapter Five: The Discipline of Assent . . . 73

Goals of the Second Degree 73

Historical Background 74

Goals of Wisdom 78

Nature 79

Human Nature 81

Three Fundamental Disciplines 83

The Discipline of Assent 84

Practicing the Discipline of Assent 88

Chapter Six: The Discipline of Desire . . . 91

Good, Evil, and Indifferent 92

Circumscribing the Self 94

contents xi

Indifference to Misfortune 97

Personal and Transpersonal Guides 100

The View from Above 102

Providence or Chaos? 103

Consent to Destiny 104

Universal Love 108

The Stoic God 109

Chapter Seven: The Discipline of Impulse . . . 113

Criterion I, First Standard: Altruism 116

Criterion I, Second Standard: Difficult People 119

Criterion I, Third Standard: Friends 125

Criterion II: Worth and Justice 126

Criterion III: Reservation 129

Nature’s Sympathy 134

Part IV. The Third Degree

of Wisdom

Chapter Eight: The Macrocosm . . . 139

The World Mind 142

The Platonic Forms 146

Being and Becoming 147

Truth, Beauty, and Justice 150

The World Soul 151

Nature, Wisdom, and Daimons 153

The Inexpressible One 155

The God of the Philosophers 160

xii contents

Images of the Cosmos 161

The Geocentric Image 164

The Central Light 166

The Golden Chain 170

Chapter Nine: The Microcosm and the Archetypes . . . 173

Microcosm: The Tripartite Soul 173

Polytheistic Pagan Interpretation 176

Monotheistic Interpretation 179

Evolutionary Jungian Psychology 185

The Archetypes 186

Evolutionary Neuropsychology and the Archetypes 189

Complexes and Daimons 191

The Shadow 194

The Evolution of the Archetypes 196

The Self and the Inexpressible One 199

Individuation 200

Chapter Ten: The Path of Love . . . 203

Three Paths of Ascent 203

History of the Ascent by Love 206

Purpose of the Ascent by Love 211

Awakening—The Body 216

Interlude—Gaius’ Story 222

Purification—The Soul 224

Illumination—The Nous 228

Perfection—The One 232

Chapter Eleven: The Path of Truth . . . 237

Purification 1: The Purifying Virtues 243

contents xiii

Purification 2: Dialectics 244

Purification 3: The Contemplation of Nature 248

Interlude—The Five Things 253

Illumination 255

Arrow Prayers and Invocation of the Name 257

Four Degrees of Prayer 261

Perfection—Union 263

Chapter Twelve: The Path of Trust . . . 267

Symbols 272

Invocation 276

Animation 277

Incubation 280

Alliance 286

Deification 292

Individuation 298

Endnotes 299

Additional Reading 315

Glossary 319

Bibliography 325

Index 335

Acknowledgments

In writing this book on practical Neoplatonic philosophy, I am standing on the shoulders of giants indeed. In particular, it would have been impossible without the enormous efforts of many philosophers and historians of philosophy, both living and deceased, who have investigated and explicated ancient philosophy, and in particular Neoplatonism. Many of their works are cited in the Endnotes and Bibliography, although neither is comprehensive. I have also benefited from discussions with scholars at conferences of the International Society of Neoplatonic Studies, where I have presented some of these ideas. In particular I am grateful to Drs. Crystal Addey and Danielle Layne for valuable discussions and advice.

Nevertheless, I take full responsibility for my misunderstandings and for the inevitable simplifications required by a book such as this. In addition I am grateful to Drs. Michael Betz, Gene Bocknek, Gordon M. Burghardt, Jo Lynn Cunningham, Neil Greenberg, Doris Ivie,

Sandra J. McEntire, and other members of the “Spirituality and Critical Inquiry” colloquy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who carefully read an earlier draft of this book.

Our discussions and their comments and criticisms gave me valuable feedback, which has improved this book. Finally, I cannot adequately express my gratitude to Elysia Gallo, Se-nior Acquisitions Editor at Llewellyn, whose suggestions have enormously improved the readability and accessibility of this book. While I took all of this valuable advice seriously, I did not always follow it, and so I must accept final responsibility for the result.

xv

chapter one

If you are like me, you have a range of spiritual aspirations. As a start, you would like to live a joyous, peaceful, and fulfilling life, regardless of circumstances (health, wealth, etc.).

Beyond this, you would like to be able to be tranquil in the face of life’s pain and disappointment, and to know how to respond wisely to these circumstances. But these are only a beginning. Most people discover sooner or later that to live a truly fulfilling life, they need to live with purpose. But how do you discover the purpose of your life, not in vague generalities, but specifically? As you will discover in this book, there is a little-known ancient spiritual path that can help you to live a meaningful life in joy, freedom, and tranquility.