Henosis


Henosis is the classical Greek word for mystical "oneness", "union" or "unity". In Neoplatonism, henosis refers to the unification with what is fundamental in reality: the One, the Source, or Monad. The Neoplatonic concept has precedents in the Greek mystery religions as well as parallels in Eastern philosophy. It is further developed in the Corpus Hermeticum, in Christian theology, Islamic Mysticism, soteriology and mysticism. Henosis is also an important factor in the historical development of monotheism during Late Antiquity.

Etymology

The term is relatively common in classical texts, and has the meaning of "union" or "unity".

Process of unification

Henosis, or primordial unity, is rational and deterministic, emanating from indeterminism, an uncaused cause. Each individual as a microcosm reflects the gradual ordering of the universe referred to as the macrocosm. In mimicking the demiurge, one unites with The One or Monad. Thus the process of unification, of "The Being" and "The One", is called henosis, the culmination of which is deification.

Plotinus

Henosis for Plotinus was defined in his works as a reversing of the ontological process of consciousness via meditation toward no thought and no division within the individual. As is specified in the writings of Plotinus on Henology, one can reach a tabula rasa, a blank state where the individual may grasp or merge with The One. This absolute simplicity means that the nous or the person is then dissolved, completely absorbed back into the Monad.
Within the Enneads of Plotinus, the Monad can be referred to as the Good above the demiurge. The Monad or dynamis is of one singular expression, all is contained in the Monad and the Monad is all and in all. All division is reconciled in the one, the final stage before reaching singularity, and what is called duality is completely reconciled in the Monad, Source or One. As the source or substance of all things, the Monad is all encompassing. As infinite and indeterminate, all is reconciled in the dynamis or one. It is the demiurge or second emanation that is the nous in Plotinus. It is the demiurge or nous that "perceives," and therefore causes the force to manifest as energy, or the dyad, called the material world. Nous as being, being and perception manifest what is called soul.
Plotinus words his teachings to reconcile not only Plato with Aristotle, but also various world religions that he had personal contact with during his various travels. Plotinus' works have an ascetic character in that they reject matter as an illusion. Matter was strictly treated as immanent, with matter as essential to its being, having no true or transcendental character or essence, substance or ousia. This approach is called philosophical Idealism.

Phases

Plotinus' phases of "mystical union with the One" as given by Mazur :
  • Phase 1, Catharsis: self-purification from any contamination with multiplicity ; "removing" Being itself
  • Phase 2, Mystical self-reversion: "The intellect... must ‘withdraw backwards’ and surrender itself to what lies behind it"
  • Phase 3, Autophany: luminous vision of one's own self
  • *Phase 3.2, Self-unification: to "become one from many"
  • Phase 4, Annihilation: discussed in the Enneads VI.9
  • Phase 5, Union with the One
  • *Phase 5.2, Desubjectification
Passages in the Enneads describing the different stages of mystical union with the One can be found in I.6, IV.8, VI.9, III.8, V.3, V.5, V.8, and VI.7-8.

Iamblichus of Chalcis

Within the works of Iamblichus of Chalcis, the process of achieving henosis—union with the divine—is not accomplished through contemplation alone, as in the teachings of Plotinus, but through the ritual practice of theurgy. By reenacting the creative ordering of the cosmos, initiates mimic the actions of the demiurge and align themselves with the divine order. These rituals, drawn in part from the mystery religions, serve to unite the inner and outer aspects of the self, restoring harmony and opening the way to divine union. Central to this process is the assumption of divine forms—a kind of divine embodiment—through which the practitioner ritually identifies with higher beings or intelligences. Through these embodied enactments, the soul ascends the hierarchy of being and is gradually reintegrated into the divine source, culminating in henosis.