In Plato’s philosophy and Islamic gnostic tradition, the world and Man enjoy two corporeal and spiritual dimensions. Man’s spiritual dimension can have ascending and descending journeys in the worlds of being. In Islamic gnosis, going through the levels of being – the f
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In Plato’s philosophy and Islamic gnostic tradition, the world and Man enjoy two corporeal and spiritual dimensions. Man’s spiritual dimension can have ascending and descending journeys in the worlds of being. In Islamic gnosis, going through the levels of being – the five divine presences – has been explained by resorting to the four-fold journeys, which include moving from the creature to the truth, traversing the truth, moving from the truth to the creature and, finally, travelling with the truth in the creature. The spiritual journey in Plato’s philosophy can be explained by using the dialectical wayfaring, analogy of the divided line, and the allegory of the cave. Plato generally dealt with this spiritual journey and did not intend to classify its levels. However, his views can be formulated in a way to conform to these four journeys. In this way, spiritual journey in Plato’s philosophy will include the following four stages: moving from shadows to the world of Ideas, traveling through the Ideas, moving from the world of Ideas to the world of sensibles and, finally, traveling with the Ideas in shadows. Therefore, given the differences between these two schools of thought regarding their views of the highest levels of being and the perfect Man, the first, second, and fourth journeys can be more clearly matched with each other. The third journey can also be matched with one of them but not as clearly as the other three. Gnostics’ religious views, their emphasis on ascetic practice and purification of the soul, and the long time interval between these two systems of thought have resulted in a number of great differences between them.
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