“Even in the superior phase of the Soul—that which proceeds the impressionable faculty and any sensation—how can we reconcile immunity with the indwelling of vice, false notions, ignorance? …
“If the Soul were material and had magnitude, it would be difficult, indeed quite impossible, to make it appear to be immune, unchangeable, when any of such emotions lodge in it. And even considered as an Authentic Being, devoid of magnitude and necessarily indestructible, we must be very careful how we attribute any such experiences to it or we will find ourselves unconsciously making it subject to dissolution.” ~Plotinus
The Immune Soul
The soul is immune from many things, but Plotinus is primarily telling us that it is immune to having negative emotions. It is immune in that it cannot experience for itself such emotions, or for that matter, most positive emotions. The Soul cannot be jealous, angry, vengeful, or hateful. It cannot even be happy, sad, joyful, or friendly. All such emotions are experienced by the body and the mind, not the Soul. But there is one cautionary message that needs to go with this idea. While the soul can’t experience such emotions directly, it can be affected by them indirectly.
The soul cannot experience hate, envy, or prejudice, but it’s existence in the person in which that soul dwells can prevent, or at least limit, the ability of that person to develop his Soul. The Immune Soul is not actually harmed by this, but you are since you do not have a full awakened Soul to guide you.
The Immune Soul is Not Material
Plotinus is correct in saying that the Soul is not material and has no “magnitude”. The Soul is pure spirit and, while linked to the body, is not part of it, or an offshoot of it as many think. In short, the Soul existed long before the material body, long before the material world, so cannot be generated by something younger than itself.
The immune Soul has no “magnitude” because is has no size, no physical presence. It is bigger than the universe, smaller than an atom. Size has no meaning in the spiritual realms where space doesn’t exist. And it doesn’t age, get sick, or change at all because the spiritual realms are also devoid of time—a difficult concept to grasp for those of us trapped in a realm of time and space.
The Immune Soul as Authentic Being
Plotinus refers to this immune Soul as an “Authentic Being”. By that statement he is telling us two things. He is telling us that the soul is “Authentic’ meaning that it is real, not illusion. It is not, as are material objects, hidden by the veils of matter, opinion, beliefs, and other falsehoods. It is what it is and our opinions of it do not change it for it is not governed by he rules of the material plane in which the observed is changed by the very act of observing it. Second, he is reminding us that the soul is a being in its own right. It is not simply a piece of us. It can exist without us and sometimes does so. If we die without having awakened our soul and developing it, it will separate from us and return to spiritual realms without us. It can also separate from us while still alive if we commit heinous acts like murder. So while the immune soul cannot actually be “infected” by this negativity, it can choose to leave the place where it dwells and not swim in muddy waters.
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