The Soul and the Image of God.
"Whoever then looks at himself will see within himself that
which he has desired because in looking at his own purity he will see the image
of his Archetype. If you look at the sun in a mirror, even though you have not
turned your eyes to heaven you still see its radiance no less than those who
look at its actual orb. In this same way the Lord tells you that, although you
do not have the power to look directly at the light, by returning to the
original state of grace in which your image was given to you at the beginning
you will have what you seek within yourself. Purity, impassivity, and avoidance
of all evil are Divine, and if all of these are present in you then there is no
doubt that God is also in you. When your thoughts are purged of vice, free from
passion, and far removed from profanity, you will be blessed with keen sight
because in purifying yourself you have seen what is invisible for the impure and
when you have removed the mists of the material world from the eyes of your
spirit, you will clearly see bliss in the pure heaven of your heart. What will
you see? Purity, sanctity, simplicity, and all the other radiant reflections of
the Divinity, and in these you will see God." This is not only a vision of God,
but true communion with Him. "It is not like some spectacle that God is offered
to the purified soul."
The Platonic and Plotinian Influence.
Gregory's ideas show the influence of Plotinus, who taught that
man can know God only through knowing himself. The soul must gather itself up,
concentrate on itself, and come to a knowledge of itself, and through this it
will come to a knowledge of God. The mind must be purified in order to become
similar to God and return to its original likeness to Him. This likeness is the
means by which the mind knows God because, as Plato has written in Meno
(80 E), "that which is similar is recognized by that which is like it."
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