HENOSIS

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Henosis (Ancient Greek: ἕνωσις) is the classical Greek word for mystical "oneness", "union" or "unity". In Neoplatonism, henosis is unification with what is fundamental in reality: the One (Τὸ Ἕν), the Source, or Monad. Systematized by the philosopher Plotinus , which charts the soul's return from a state of fragmentation back to its divine source.

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The Neoplatonic concept has precedents in the Greek mystery religions as well as parallels in Eastern philosophy —including Advaita Vedanta , Buddhism , Christian mysticism , and Sufism —revealing the universal spiritual quest to transcend the illusion of separateness and realize that we are not just a part of the whole, but the whole itself.

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Plotinus' phases of "mystical union with the One" as given by Mazur :

• Phase 1, Catharsis: self-purification (aphairesis) from any contamination with multiplicity (of any thought, knowledge, or mental activity); "removing" Being itself (Enneads III.8.10)

• Phase 2, Mystical self-reversion: "The intellect ... must ‘withdraw backwards’ and surrender itself to what lies behind it" (Enneads III.8.9)

• Phase 3, Autophany: luminous vision of one's own self

  • Phase 3.2, Self-unification: to "become one from many" (Enneads VI.9.3)

• 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.

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