Reflections on Phronesis

Reflections on Phronesis

About 40 plus years ago I wrote this work to share with a few friends. It basically represents my reflections on my explorations into my life experiences and to tie them back to my studies. A close friend Barbara Stecker once asked me "why are you doing all this research?", after asking her for a Greek translation. My reply to her was "I am going to do it". I never saw my studies as something outside of myself. I studied to understand the experiences I have had. In life the only time I was truly happy, when I was young, was reflecting on and re-experiencing these heightened states of consciousness.

I started early in life reflecting on heightened states of consciousness due to circumstances of my childhood. Realizing I couldn't talk to anyone about them because they wouldn't understand, in fact even I thought I was crazy. So in order to come to terms with my reality I found not to dismiss my experiences but rather to acknowledge them good or bad in order to preserve them in memory. So when I came across these states of mind being talked about in books they caught my interest and I was hooked.I have had many teachers in my life. I first started in my early twenties with a psychic named Marvine Lindberg and amazing woman who has worked with police departments and has had a TV show in Canada. At that time she was giving classes which she allowed me to attend for free. Then I moved on to the ever popular EST at its time, it was self improvement seminars in the 1970 & 80s. I started school at a Junior College where I met Pierre Grimes, founder of the Noetic Society, Pierre studies Plato. My expertise was Plotinus which is where I spent most of my time. I also practiced Zen Buddhism and studied with Mazumi Roshi, founder of the Zen Center of Los Angeles and was one of his monks. After Mazumi's death I moved to Washington State and decided to live a simple life. I am currently living in North Dakota with my husband and life partner of 20 plus years Pete Coffey Jr.

In April of 1981, reading Plato's Phaedo I came across the following quote at 108e from the Thomas Taylor translation. 

“ I am persuaded, therefore in the first place, that if the Earth is in the middle of the heavens, and  is of a spherical figure, it has no occasion of air, nor of any other such like necessity, to prevent  it from falling: but that the perfect similitude of the heavens to themselves, and the equilibrity of  the Earth, are sufficient causes of its support. For that which is equally inclined, when placed in  the middle of a similar nature, cannot tend more or less to one part than another; but subsisting  on all sides similarly affected, it will remain free from all inclination. This is the first thing of which  I am persuaded.” 

The Earth is "equally inclined" and placed in the middle of the heavens which is of "similar  nature," does not tend "more or less to one part than another: but subsisting on all sides  similarly affected, it will remain free from all inclination." 

I was puzzled. What was he saying? I would put it away, but I kept finding myself thinking about  the quote again. What was it about this quote? I couldn't leave it alone. Something bothered me.  I read it again. It was beautiful. Suddenly, I realized he was talking about a state of mind that I  was familiar with and have puzzled over for a long time. 

This brought my thoughts back to a sesshin, a Zen 7 day meditation retreat which was held at a Korean Chan center in March of 1988. During the sesshin I slipped  into a state of mind that I would have ignored if it had not been for a square flash of light. I have  found from the past that it is important to focus upon the state of mind and not the light. This is  because the state of mind leads you back to the experience. This state of mind was an ordinary  state, simple, nothing added to it; however, it was focused, pure, effortless, a place where  everything was at rest. I started to use the state as my practice during the rest of the sesshin  and I was able to hold the state for long periods of time. 

On the 5th day of the sesshin I went home and reflected upon a personal block that had  repeatedly interrupted my one-pointed focus. I could see how a scene from my past that I had  been exploring manifested the present problem. Why did it keep coming up? What was I not  seeing? Then it occurred to me for the first time that in this past scene my life was in danger.  This was a major insight which allowed me to be free of the problem in my present meditation. 

I got into bed and quietly slipped into a one-pointed state. Suddenly I saw a state of mind arise  which appeared much like a wall. Realizing I did not have to participate in the state, it drops  away. Another thought-wall state appeared again, and again I let it drop away. Again it would  rise and fall repeatedly by the same method. Suddenly, appearing before my mind's eye was  blackness, nothing else but blackness; it was me and I was it. I was empty of sensation and in  effortless thought. I was not being pulled in any direction, but I was totally at rest in that which  is the same; seeing at the same time I was not the walls I had cold real before. No, the walls are nothing but empty feeling states formed by a body of discursive thought. These bodies of  discursive thought walls or something other than what I was. 

Returning to the present moment, I found I was in the one pointed state. As I focused upon the  state, I could feel my soul gathering into a concentrated unity of thought, letting go of all that  was of the body. (Note 1) Seeing I was "alone by myself," I rested there, finding I was not  being pulled in one direction or another by the senses but being totally at rest in that which  was the same; pure concentrated thought resting quietly upon itself. 

While resting in this quietude and reflecting upon it I was reminded of another experience I had  in that same year. It was in March at the Zen Center of Los Angeles. During this sesshin, I made  the one pointed state of mind my practice. Every time my thoughts would stray, I would come  back to this simple state of one pointed concentration with the word quiet. I used the word quiet because of a childhood experience where that word was used for the first time to bring  me to the state.  (Note 2)

Towards the end of the sesshin, I had become one with my lover just before this sitting period.  Walking into the zendo, I felt beautiful. As I walked through the zendo to my seat, I noticed my state of mind. I focused upon it, everything dropped away and I was alone by myself. I had no  thoughts, only a one pointed concentration, all was quiet. I sat down and immediately had a feeling of my head rising up, and a sensation of something passing over my face. I entered into intelligence (Note 3), effortless thought. I was seeing each thought as a concentrated unity, each  thought could be unfolded into language. For example, a sentence or a paragraph would have  to be said for each thought. It was beautiful, as Plotinus described at V8,6: 

“The Egyptians... But by drawing images and inscribing in their temples one particular image of  each particular thing, they manifested the non-disclersiveness of the intelligible world, that is  that every image is a kind of knowledge and wisdom and is a subject of statements, all together  in one, and not discourse or deliberation... That, then, which is beautiful in this way, and which is  with difficulty or not at all discovered by research to be necessarily like this, if one were to find it  out, exist before research and before reasoning… “1

(Armstrong translation) 

In recalling this quote from Plotinus, I could see how clearly and simply he had stated it. By  using an image for each particular thing, the Egyptians manifested the non-disclersiveness of  the intelligible world. Just as each thought I had was a concentrated unity, so too Plotinus  described each image is a kind of knowledge and wisdom and is a subject of statements, all  together in one, and not discourse or deliberation. Everything was clear both in respect to  myself and to everything I perceived. 

The meditation bell rang and an announcement for a Dharma talk was made. I turned around  and made my bows, I then sat down and entered quietly back into intellect. Momentarily I looked  up and saw the speaker was in a one-pointed state and our eyes met. Suddenly, my vision was  filled with a light brighter than the sun. I lowered my gaze and found myself once again in the  intelligible. Again I raised my gaze to the speaker and the light appeared again, I was totally  absorbed into it with no thought. It appeared as the sun came up over the horizon. I lowered my eyes once again and I saw it as the sun setting. I continued lowering and raising my gaze  until the talk was over. 

Drawing from these experiences, I saw that during both sesshins and in quietude during the  second sesshin, I found that I rose to another level of which I have referred to as intellect. 

Plato as well describes a state of mind (Phaedo 108e): 

“The fish... By rising and lifting his head out of the sea into our upper world, and should never  have heard from anyone who had seen, how much pure and fairer it is than the world he lived  in... For those very hollows of the Earth which are full of water and air, present an appearance of  color as they glisten amid the variety of the other colors, so that the whole produces one  continuous effect of variety. And in this Fair Earth the things that grow, the trees, and flowers  and fruits, are correspondingly beautiful; and so too the mountains and the stones are smoother,  and more transparent and more lovely in color than ours.”

On one occasion during a sesshin over a decade ago, I was in unbearable pain. Sweat was  rolling down my forehead and I felt as though I was going to faint. At this point I tightened my  focus with a one pointed concentration and let everything go. Suddenly, there was a sensation  of popping up much like a fish rising his head above the surface of the water. As I looked  around, the colors appeared transparent, not like the colors normally seen, which in comparison  seemed dark and opaque. These colors were beautiful and glowing. Listening, I felt as though I  could hear a pin drop a mile away. Everything was at rest. 

A description of this state of mind can be found in Plotinus' Intelligible Beauty (V8,3,28) 

“The gods who are in heaven, since they are free for contemplation, continually contemplate, but  as if at a distance, the things in that higher heaven into which they raise their heads: but the  gods in that higher heaven, all those who dwell upon it and in it, contemplate through their  abiding in the whole of that heaven. For all things there are heaven, and Earth and sea and  plants and animals and Men are heaven, everything which belongs to that higher heaven is  heavenly. The gods in it do not reject as unworthy men or anything else that is there; it is worthy  because it is there, and they travel, always at rest, through all that higher country and region...  They see themselves in other things; for all things there are transparent, and there is nothing  dark or opaque: everything and all things are clear to the innermost part to everything; for light is  transparent to light.”

In this quote, even the gods raise their heads into that higher heaven. They contemplate  through their abiding in the whole of that heaven. They travel at rest and their perception is that  of light. To them all things are clear both in respect to themselves and everything that they  perceive. 

Later, when paging through Plato’s Phaedo, I came upon the word wisdom which I had written in  the margin sometime before. I wondered, "why did I write that?" I read the quote at 79d and said  to myself, "it's the same state!" Phaedo 108e: subsisting on all sides similarly affected will  remain free from all inclination. However I could not make a definite conclusion because there was not enough information in the flower translation. So I turned to the Thomas Taylor  translation of the quote at 79d where he translates the word for wisdom as prudence. 

“But when it speculates anything, itself subsisting by itself then it departs to that which is pure,  eternal, and immortal, and which possesses of subsistence: and, as being allied to such a  nature, it perpetually becomes united with it, when it subsists alone by itself, and as often as it is  lawful for it to obtain such a conjunction: and then, too, it rests from its wanderings, and  perpetually subsists similarly according to the same, about such natures, as passing into  contact with them; and this Passion of the soul is denominated prudence (φρονεσις).”

But Plato is referring to the realm of the mind not the body. Soul possesses a sameness to that  which is pure, eternal, and immortal and it is allied to this nature and perpetually becomes  united with it when it subsists alone by itself. As long as it obtains this it rests and perpetually  subsists according to the same and through the sameness of nature the soul passes into contact  with the pure, eternal and immortal. 

This state of the soul is what Taylor translates as prudence. The Greek word is phronesis  (φρονεσις). It is translated by Flower as wisdom. The same word is translated by Shorey as  excellence of thought at 518e in The Republic my intention is not to translate the term but to  show they all refer to a state of mind. 

Let us focus upon sections of the quotes in Plato’s Phaedo at 108e and 79d respectively: the first at  108e, subsisting on all sides similarly affected will bring about, remaining free from all  inclination. Again, at 79d, the soul subsists similarly according to the same when it subsists  alone by itself it rests from its wanderings. As you can see, Plato is referring to the same state of  mind. If we were to push this one step further and say if it subsists similarly according to the  same then there are two: that which subsists and that which is similar to. As a contrast, in  Intelligible Beauty Plotinus states, all those who dwell upon it and in it, contemplate through their  abiding in the whole of that heaven. Here there is no distinction between the gods (subject) and  the higher heaven (object). This is because everything which belongs to that higher heaven is  heavenly, and they have become one with that higher heaven. 

Let's consider the quote regarding Plato’s Phaedo again at 79d. If the soul departs, does it not do so from speculation to phronesis? Plotinus on Difficulties about the Soul says: (II, IV,12, 15 Armstrong) 

“The man who has been calculating is himself a witness to this; for when he finds what is needed, he stops calculating; and he comes to rest because he has entered into intelligence  (Greek: phronesis).”

When the soul has finished speculating because it finds what is needed, it comes to rest in  phronesis; it has come into contact with the pure, eternal and immortal. This is much like when  the lover comes to rest in the arms of his beloved; all is quiet. The soul of the lover passes into  a unity both in respect to itself and the beloved, all is one and in the same. 

With reference to the lover let's examine how Plotinus uses phronesis in Intelligible Beauty.  Taylor translates as follows:

“But that there is something else which allures followers to itself, and that beauty does not  consist in magnitude, is sufficiently testified by the beauty inherent in disciplines (i.e., studies),  offices (i.e., ways of life), and the soul: where certainly a more true beauty flourishes; which is  then manifest, when we contemplate the wisdom (phronesis) in a worthy mind, when we are  delighted with the contemplation, and in love with its beauty; face, which perhaps is not  beautiful, but neglecting the whole form of the body and pursuing inward beauty to its most  sacred and profound retreats. But if such a soul does not yet insight you to denominate it  beautiful, neither on surveying yourself inwardly, will you be delighted with yourself as with  something beautiful. Hence, while so affected you will vainly investigate true and intimate  beauty: for you will seek after the purity of beauty, not with something pure, but with that which  is base; and hence, too, a discourse on things of this kind is not to be addressed to all men.  Because if you behold yourself beautiful you may obtain a reminiscence of Beauty Itself.”

It is phronesis you see in another when you are delighted with the contemplation, and in love  with its beauty and it is phronesis you are pursuing when pursuing inward Beauty to its most  sacred and profound retreats. Also, it is because through seeing phronesis in yourself you are  able to behold yourself beautiful and then you may obtain a reminiscence of Beauty Itself. 

When with a lover, the love brings about a unity with respect to yourself and the beloved. When  you see yourself beautiful, the love brings about a unity and respect to yourself; however, the  beauty seen within yourself is phronesis, which is similar to the nature in which it rests; and the  nature in which it rests is intellect. 

I would like to return to the process of becoming one where there is no distinction between  subject and object,as discussed by Plotinus in Intelligible Beauty V8,11,5. Taylor translates: 

“But if any one of us who is not able to proceed himself entirely comprehended by this Divinity  should produce a spectacle into his view for the purpose of assisting his vision, he should  produce himself; and he will then perceive an image of the Intelligible World, now become more  beautiful and divine. But afterwards neglecting the image although beautiful, and conspiring with  himself into one, and no longer separating his essence, he will become one altogether with that  Deity, Who silently flows into his soul; and he will be present with him as far as he is able, and  as much as he desires. But if he should return from this divine union into two, and is in the  meantime pure, he will nevertheless dwell proximate to its essence; so that by conversion he  may again be present and become united with his Divinity. But the gain of soul will consist in this  ineffable conversion. Indeed, when it first attempts this union, it perceives itself, as long as it is  different from the God: but when it has penetrated into its most intimate recesses, it will then  find itself in possession of the Intelligible Universe; and casting sense behind, fearing less it  should become different, it will be one with this Divine World.”

In order to follow what Plotinus is exploring, we need to keep duality in view because he weaves  in and out of it. He starts with one, in perceiving himself entirely comprehended by this Divinity. Now he moves to two as he is to produce a spectacle at this point we have subject and object.  Now he moves back to one... He works this way all the way through the passage to enable us to  see the whole process, and view it from all sides. And then it perceives itself, as long as it is  different from the God, as two. Then returning back to one: it will be one with this Divine World. He is producing a spectacle to assist his vision. He produces himself. This enables him to  perceive an image of the Intelligible World. Then he makes the image of himself more beautiful  and divine. This is the first step. In the prior quote from Plotinus, it has been shown, it is  phronesis you see when you behold yourself beautiful. We can conclude from this, that by  making himself more beautiful and divine should culminate in phronesis. Next, conspiring himself  into one, not spiriting his essence, he becomes one with that Deity Who silently flows into his  soul. He is no longer making a distinction between himself (subject) and his Deity (object), and  is present with the Deity as far as he is able, and as much as he desires. If he returns into two  and is pure, he will dwell proximate to the deities' essence. 

 At this point we can ask, if he has returned to phronesis, because of the return to two, and did  we not show earlier that for phronesis is a two, by virtue of that which subsist and that which it is  similar to) so by conversion he may again be united to his divinity. Phronesis is prior to this  divine union, but is it also a consequence of it? This is the gain of the Soul, this ineffable  conversion. Again, first he perceives himself as different from God but when it has penetrated  into its most intimate recesses it is in possession of the Intelligible universe leaving sense behind  so not to be different it will be one with this Divine World. 

In March of 1988, after I had unified with my lover, I walked into the zendo feeling beautiful as I  walked through the zendo to my seat, I became more beautiful and divine through this one  pointed focus. This was the first step next, and sitting down on my cushion, I became one with  intellect, seeing what intelligence contains, everything was clear both in respect to myself and  intellect. In coming out of my sitting position I would drop out of intellect and back to discursive  thought only to find as soon as I sat down again, I would return once more to intellect. This  meant I had returned to two but in the meantime was pure, pure in the sense that the object of  thought was itself. 

Phronesis is a duality, a duality that is similar to the nature in which it rests, and that in which it  rests is the intelligence. By becoming one with intelligence there is no longer a duality, no longer  a separation between subject and object. They are one. Thus, it is through our similitude to that  intelligence, that we become one with the Divine world of intellect. 

Note 1: letting go of all that is body includes all bodies of discursive thought as well as  sensation. This is letting go of what I had called thought-walls in the January 1988 experience. 

Note 2: I was about 4 years old. My parents had left me in the car along with my three brothers  and sister. I was angry at what they had done. I could feel the anger building, I was just about to  explode; when out of nowhere a voice said to me "quiet." I looked around and I could see no one. I could not figure out where the voice came from. But I did know I had not imagined it. I took the advice and dropped everything. I found I have come to rest in a peaceful and tranquil state of mind where everything was at rest. As a consequence I came to see I was separate  from my emotions. 

Note 3: A description of Intelligence from Plotinus in The Three Prime Hypostases V,1,4. O'Brien  translates:

“Greatness of the Intelligence may also be seen in this: We marvel at the magnitude and beauty  of the sense world, the eternal regularity of its movement, the divine -visible and invisible- that it  contains, its daimons, animals, plants. Let us then rise to the model, to the higher reality from  which this world derives, and let us there contemplate the whole array of intelligibles that  possess eternally and inalienable intelligence and life. Over them presides pure Intelligence,  unapproachable wisdom. That world is the true realm of Cronus, whose very name suggests  both abundance (koros) and intelligence (nous). There is contained all that is immortal, intelligent, divine. There is the place of every soul. There is eternal rest.  

Since it is in a state of bliss, why should the Intelligence seek change? Since it contains  everything, why should it aspire to anything? Since it is perfect, what need has it of development? All its content is perfect, too, so that it is perfect throughout. It contains nothing that  is not of the nature of thought - of thought, however, that is not a search but a possession. Its  happiness does not depend on something else. It is eternally all things in that eternity of which  time, which abandons one moment for the next, is only a fleeting image upon the level of the  Soul. The Soul's action is successive, divided by the various objects that draw its attention -  now Socrates, now a horse, always some particular. The Intelligence, however, embraces all,  possesses all in unchanging identity. It is alone. And it always has this character of presentness.  Future it has not; already it is all it could ever later become. Past it has not; no intelligible entity  ever passes away. All it contains exists in an eternal present because they remain identical with  themselves, contented, you might say, with their present condition.”