Neoplatonism in Three Minutes

Plotinus (205 - 70 BCE)

a) Mind (nous)--thought thinking itself, “the one” or “the good”: forms are contemplated in unity in a timeless way.
b) Soul (psyche): forms are contemplated separately and successively: space and time.
c) Nature (physis): forms are seen in a dream-like way, and which projects dreams as the material world.
d) The universe is a process of successive emanations:

Nous
↓
Psyche
↓
Physis

e) A human being is the microcosm of a process of successive emanations:

The ONE, the GOD
↓
The Spirit
↓
The Soul
↓
Matter & Nature

Body/Matter/Nature—are farthest from the ONE, and are thus the most formless, shapeless and imperfect things.

“The supreme achievement of the intellect is to leave itself behind.”

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For now, one remark will suffice:

The Greek language uses the article "the" with greater frequency than does English.  This has the effect of reifying abstractions. Thus the existence of "The One" is enhanced in the conceptions of those speaking of it. Indeed, the abstract One (no definite article) is enhanced conceptually without the, insofar as the absence of the article underscores the "figurative", "speculative" and "tentative" nature of the ineffable subject One. If humans can indeed philosophically contemplate the one, it is properly done so from a position of an agnostic "nuanced intuition" (again, sans the definite article).  Compare viewing the Pleiades in our peripheral vision.  Here the stars of this august system are seen most clearly, while direct observation within the binocular visual field renders the Pleiades unclear and indistinct.