The collective effort of Jonathon Shackleton (Antarctic special and a cousin of the famed explorer) and biographer John Mackenna, Shackleton: An Irishman In Antarctica is an informed and informative portrayal of Ernest Shackleton's historic, dramatic, highly dangerous South Pole expedition. Even though the voyage's ultimately failed to achieve it's stated goal, and Shackleton's crew were stranded on ice floes, all hands worked together to survive for a year before the perilous return to civilization could be made. Not a single man died in Shackleton's expedition, a credit to Shackleton's leadership and determination. His is a profound, inspirational, and keenly engaging story which is very highly recommended reading.

More than six centuries of Greco-Roman intellection culminate in ... monotheism. "Anything existing after The First must necessarily arise from that First, whether immediately or as tracing back to it," says Plotinus, 'the last great philosopher of antiquity' and the first of the "neo-Platonists." Drawing on the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and centuries of Hellenistic scholarship, Plotinus (AD204-270), presents an epistemology and mysticism that has obvious and fundamental similarities to Judeo-Christian theology. Plotinus offers a single but triune deity, One God in three persons. Interestingly similar to Trinitarian theology, but there are huge differences in Plotinus' theology and that of Christianity. Recall that in Plotinus' day, Christianity was viewed as an indefatigable social pariah, an anti-establishment cult. For Plotinus, man was reconciled with the divine by means of diligent intellection, discernment, and imitation of the Absolute and immaterial consciousness (God). In other words, man may reconcile himself with God by virtue of his own will and effort. By contrast, in Christian doctrine reconciliation is a divine gift which man can accept, but could never earn by virtue of his own efforts toward the Right. And yet Plotinus approaches more closely to a Christian understanding of ethics than he himself could have known, stating that if the aspiration towards logic and virtue "which is in our nature exists also in this Ruling-Power, then we need not look elsewhere for the source of order and of the virtues in ourselves."
The Enneads is a collection of six sets of treatises compiled by Porphyry, a student and confidant of Plotinus. Although they are not presented in the order in which Plotinus produced them (and MacKenna omitted a few), the tractates embody Plotinus' system, which he held to be an advancement of Plato's system and one wholly superior to Aristotle's.
Plotinus' theology seems inadequate when compared to that of Augustine a century and a half later. But his logic is interesting -- Augustine cited him often -- and his understanding of the primacy of "the One" is something that readers will recognize as resembling the theology of monotheism:
"This Highest cannot be divided and allotted, must remain intangible but not bound to space, it may be present at many points, wheresoever there is anything capable of accepting one of its manifestations. ... It is precisely because there is nothing within the One that all things are from it: ... Seeking nothing ... lacking nothing, the One is perfect ... and in its exuberance has produced the new; this product has turned again to its begetter and been filled and has become its contemplator..."

The Enneads (the Nines) is the greatest surviving work of spiritual philosophy of late antiquity.

Here we have expounded Plotinus' interpretation of the perennial philosophy. We are shown that the material world has a spiritual origin, for all of creation emanates down from the divine Source, through the various levels of manifestation, to our own world. Moreover, we are shown that mankind's ultimate goal is to turn away from the distractions of this lower material creation and seek union with this divine Source (God, the One, the Good.)

While Plotinus critised the Gnostic sects of his day, it is obvious that his own idea of intuitive intellectual knowlege, where subject and object unite in perfect understanding, is pure gnosis. The main disagreement seems to have been on the nature of the material world: The Gnostics held it to be inherently evil, while Plotinus saw it as simply lower and inferior, yet basically good.

This Penguin edition has a large and informative introductory section. It includes an excellent biography of Stephen Mackenna, the translator, who gave his life and health to this work. There is also a good brief historical sketch of late historical times to help the reader to understand the period in which Plotinus wrote. Plus, the brief, condensed, well-structured, outline of Plotinus' system of Philosophy is invaluable in getting an initial grip on the concepts that are expanded upon in the main work. Finally, Porphyry's brief contemporary biographical sketch of Plotinus is included.

There is great wisdom in this book for those who can penetrate the traditional intuitive mindset. This only to be expected since Plotinus studied the perennial philosophy at the great library of Alexandria for over a decade. There is also the fact that Plotinus admitted to three episodes of enlightenment, epiphany, or cosmic consciousness in his life. Like all true masters, he was more of a reciever of timeless divine truths than an originator of anything new and contrived.

The Enneads is a staggering vision of unity. The concept of the soul plays a central part. Here's my take at a very brief summation:

1. The source of the soul ... and of everything else lies in a oneness (the One) that can be inferred but never contacted. So the One isn't a personal God. It isn't aware of us, so it doesn't intervene in our affairs.

2. What the soul receives ... are the goodness and intelligence that emanated from the source and are the principal characteristics of our cosmos. We exist in a cosmos that is fundamentally good and intelligent and we can sense and see that.

3. The mixed blessing for the soul ... is embodiment in matter, which, on the positive side, provides a context for helping and for personal growth. In a world of many, the one soul appears as many souls.

4. The downside of that blessing ... are pain, isolation, and the suffering and distraction caused by attachment to material things. Evil is real but we're created in a fundamentally good and intelligent place and with powers to deal with it.

5. The way to live ... includes recognizing that the many souls are in fact one. Individuality is the reward and the price the soul paid to become embodied. Just as the One gives richly via its emanations, so we should give to the cosmos. Enjoy and feel awed by the beauty around and within you.

6. We're no small things ... but a product of the One, of its Intelligence and Soul... each of our souls linked to each other via that one soul.

7. Soul and body go well together. The individual body being material isn't permanent. But the soul and the cosmos are, so the soul re-enters material life via a new body.

Unlike some religious positions that may seem similar, all of this and more can be demonstrated in a rational presentation that begins with just a few stated assumptions. That's what you'll find in The Enneads, a culmination of centuries of ancient Greek philosophy. As much a treasure as a book can be.