The Wisdom of Hypatia: Ancient Spiritual Practices for a More Meaningful Life (49 page)

236 the path of love

Invocation of Love:
You may find this exercise helpful in ascending through the degrees of Illumination toward Union. To practice it, you will need a name or

short phrase that calls your Ideal Beloved to mind. It could be the name of

a god or goddess (e.g., Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Eros, Sophia, Shekhinah,

Kuan Yin, Brigid, Mother Mary, Jesus), but you don’t need to use the Beloved’s

name. You can use a short phrase (an “arrow prayer”), such as these lines from

al-Hallaj: “I am He/She whom I love, and He/She whom I love is I.” Repeat

the name or prayer as a devotional practice, first out loud, and then in your

mind, while feeling genuine love for your Beloved. Repeat it incessantly, even

as a background to your other activities. Eventually the Lover and the Beloved,

and the Love between them, will unite into One, a state of bliss and ecstasy.

(See
Arrow Prayers and Invocation of the Name
in the next chapter for more

on this exercise.)

The Ascent by Love is summarized in the following table.

Structure of the Ascent by Love

Level of Reality

Love as Desire for … Mental Faculty

Stage of Ascent

vision

observed beauty

Awaken-

World Body

physical beauty

sensation imagin-

ing

imagined beauty

ation

calm lower soul

concept of perfect

beauty of soul

Purifica-

World Soul

universal beauty

reason

moral

tion

beautfi-

virtues

cation of

intel-

soul

lectual

virtues

Contemplation of

Being

Ideal Beauty

World

Illumina-

Ideal Beauty

nous

Nous

Good-

tion

The Good

Love of the Good

ness

The One

Divine Beauty

the god within

Perfection (Union)

Introduction

In this chapter you will learn the second path of ascent to The One, the Ascent by Truth, also known as the Philosophical or Contemplative Ascent.268 Like the Ascent by Love, it proceeds in four initiatory stages represented by the rows of the Tetractys (see fig.): Awakening, Purification, Illumination, and Perfection. As you will learn, each stage has its own distinct
virtues
or
excellences
, which you should practice. You could devote about a week to each of the stages as a focus for your practice. Along the way you will also learn the fivefold basis of understanding and the Neoplatonic practice of prayer.

The Tetractys

Hypatia’s students have gathered again, this time to learn the Ascent by Truth. The

chatter ceases as she enters and begins. “The second path of ascent rises on the ray 237

238 the path of truth

of Truth, which connects all things to the Wisdom of The One. Whereas the Ascent by

Love emphasizes the faculty of desire, the Ascent by Truth emphasizes the faculty of reason. The guides on this path are Athena, patroness of wisdom, and Hermes, the

guide of souls, messenger between gods and mortals, and patron of those who cross

the boundaries between different realms.”269

Aedesia raises her hand. “I am devoted to Athena, and in turn she cares for me and

helps me in many ways. Does that mean the Path of Truth is best for me?”

“It very well could be, especially for someone who is a thinker and nature lover, as I know you are, Aedesia. But you are also passionate.”

Hermias glances toward Aedesia, who blushes.

“So,” Hypatia continues, “the Ascent by Love might be easy for you as well. Don’t make the mistake of thinking there must be
one right way
. As a true philosopher you should learn and practice them all; know your way on all three paths. Different ascents will be easier at different times in your life or in different circumstances. Do you understand?”

Aedesia nods.

“Like the Ascent by Love,” Hypatia continues, “the Ascent by Truth is also symbol-

ized by the Pythagorean Tetractys, whose four rows correspond, from bottom up, to

the four levels of reality in the macrocosm and the microcosm: Body, Soul, Nous, and One, and to the four stages in the ascent. As you will see, the dots in each row symbolize separate steps or rungs of each stage, with the last step of each stage bringing your psyche into contact with the next level and forming the bridge to it. If you hang these ideas on the Tetractys they will be easier to remember and practice.”

Awakening

Hypatia proceeds to the first stage. “As the Ascent by Love is awakened by love of

beauty (
philo-kalia
), the Ascent by Truth is awakened by love of wisdom (
philo-sophia
), which is why it’s also called the Philosophical Ascent. The first stage is called the
active
practice
, in contrast to the ascent proper, which is the
contemplative practice
. The active practice has four rungs, corresponding to the row of four in the Tetractys. These begin with a
change of mind
, which refers to your recognition that there is another, better way to live, namely philosophy, and to a commitment to follow it. This is the literal awakening of the soul. With opened eyes you can see a new path through life.

“Awakening leads to the second practice,
watchfulness
or
vigilance
, that is, to paying attention to each moment and to behaving philosophically in it. Since the change the path of truth 239

of mind is like waking up from a drunken stupor, and becoming aware of your drunk-

enness, this practice is also called
sobriety
, but this is a metaphor; it refers to the inebriation of thoughtlessness and the sobriety of self-awareness.”

Hermias, who is sitting beside Aedesia, raises his hand. “Master, I am confused be-

cause when you explained Illumination in the Path of Love, you said we could become

drunk on love for The One, which is good.”

“You are correct,” says Hypatia, “but why is it good?”

“Because it is the intoxication of a mind in contact with divinity?”

“Very good,” Hypatia smiles. “The sobriety I am discussing here is opposed to the

foggy thinking, blurred perception, and confused goals of someone who is not com-

pletely awake. Instead of wandering aimlessly, you have a purpose in each step. Thus vigilance applies to the choices you make in each moment, as you learned in the second degree of wisdom, the vigilance of the Porch. Conversely, it refers to the practice of being aware of the quality of each moment, so that you can recognize the best time for any action. In summary, vigilance consists being awake and paying attention.

“Awakening and watchfulness lead to the third practice,
discrimination
or
discernment
, which is remaining attuned to the rightness or wrongness of each situation and action. That is, having woken up and looked around carefully, now you must evaluate

what you see. The practices of the Garden and Porch provide a foundation for discernment, for they help you to separate what you should judge as good or evil from those things on which you should suspend judgment. Remember:

Virtue is a quality of the soul

that leads you by discernment

to bliss.”270

Olympius, a student wearing a large, golden cross, remarks, “This continual vigi-

lance and discernment seems like a burdensome way to live.”

“It’s not,” says Hypatia, “for discernment becomes a habit, and you will develop a

‘nose’ for good and evil, which becomes a guide to right action. This is supplemented by other spiritual practices, such as meditation, prayer, and contemplation, which lead to your attuning to the archetypal forces of human nature, the eternal spiritual principles.”

As I mentioned in chapter 9, Platonism includes the idea of a
guardian daimon
, which corresponds to the guardian angel of many religious traditions. This daimon is experienced 240 the path of truth

as a separate personality, which speaks in our minds or in other ways inclines us toward or away from actions. Psychologically, the guardian daimon is a complex that grows, through habitual judgment, around a moral archetype. When activated, it manifests in consciousness as an agent of moral evaluation. Although the guardian daimon originates in the Cosmic Nous or Angelic Mind, it will not develop unless it is cultivated, both by parents and society, but also by the individual, who must tend to their own guardian daimon. In a hymn, Hypatia’s disciple Synesius prays:

A holy angel mighty send

To be my guardian and guide—

In heaven-taught prayer to keep my soul,

And body in temptation’s tide.271

“Discrimination,” Hypatia continues, “leads to the fourth rung of active practice,

called
guarding the heart
(that is, the nous); its purpose is to protect your inner spiritual core or higher self (the nous and the god within). You want to be guided by the spirit, as opposed to being driven by the appetites and feelings of the body. The latter should not be repressed, but transfigured and recruited toward spiritual progress (as in the Ascent by Love). One technique is the Stoic practice of suspending judgment.

Your goal is joyful tranquility, as taught by the Porch, not absence of feeling. This state is called ‘purity of the heart (nous)’. Tranquility is achieved first on the level of the body, and later, through Purification, on the level of the soul. These are all practices you have learned in the first two degrees of wisdom, but now you have a name for them.”

the path of truth 241

Philosophical Awakening:
If you have read this far in this book, then that is good evidence that you have experienced a change of mind, the first step of Awaken-

ing. Nevertheless, you can practice the change of mind by reminding yourself