[Buddha-l] Withdrawal of the senses

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

James Ward schreef:
>
> Am I a quibbling pedant to shrink from thinking of Neoplatonism and 
> Gnosticism as being cut from the same cloth?  Plotinus seems pretty 
> adamant in his rejection of the idea that the world and its maker are 
> not good.  Surely that's not just a superficial difference?
>
It's a bit off topic, but maybe just a quick remark would be at place.
Neoplatonism is a philosohpical-mystical movement containing 
Aristotelic, Sceptical and Stoic components tought in learning centres 
called 'academia'. Main figures are of course Plotinos and Augustine. 
Gnostics were groups of theosophists avant la lettre, living originally 
mainly in North-Egypt, they were a kind of philosophical alchimists, 
mixing all kinds of exotic ideas and theories and experimenting with the 
results. Compare them with Bhagavan (Rajneesh), Free John (or whatever 
he calls himself), Michael Roach, etc.

I cannot understand what givies you the idea that Plotinus has a beef 
with the Logos which he longed to see whole his life. You mnust confuse 
him with someone else.

Erik


www.xs4all.nl/~jehms
weblog http://www.volkskrantblog.nl/pub/blogs/blog.php?uid=2950