Thus the Supreme as containing no otherness is ever present with us; we with it when we put otherness away. It is not that the Supreme reaches out to us seeking our communion: we reach towards the Supreme; it is we that become present. We are always before it: but we do not always look: thus a choir, singing set in due order about the conductor, may turn away from that centre to which all should attend: let it but face aright and it sings with beauty, present effectively. We are ever before the Supreme- cut off is utter dissolution; we can no longer be- but we do not always attend: when we look, our Term is attained; this is rest; this is the end of singing ill; effectively before Him, we lift a choral song full of God.

In this choiring, the soul looks upon the wellspring of Life, wellspring also of Intellect, beginning of Being, fount of Good, root of Soul. It is not that these are poured out from the Supreme lessening it as if it were a thing of mass. At that the emanants would be perishable; but they are eternal; they spring from an eternal principle, which produces them not by its fragmentation but in virtue of its intact identity: therefore they too hold firm; so long as the sun shines, so long there will be light.

Ἐκεῖνο μὲν οὖν μὴ ἔχον ἑτερότητα ἀεὶ πάρεστιν͵ ἡμεῖς δ΄ ὅταν μὴ ἔχωμεν· κἀκεῖνο μὲν ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐφίεται͵ ὥστε περὶ ἡμᾶς εἶναι͵ ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐκείνου͵ ὥστε ἡμεῖς περὶ ἐκεῖνο. Καὶ ἀεὶ μὲν περὶ αὐτό͵ οὐκ ἀεὶ δὲ εἰς αὐτὸ βλέπομεν͵ ἀλλ΄ οἷον χορὸς ἐξᾴδων καίπερ ἔχων περὶ τὸν κορυφαῖον τραπείη ἂν εἰς τὸ ἔξω τῆς θέας͵ ὅταν δὲ ἐπιστρέψῃ͵ ᾄδει τε καλῶς καὶ ὄντως περὶ αὐτὸν ἔχει͵ οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀεὶ μὲν περὶ αὐτόν͵ καὶ ὅταν μή͵ λύσις ἡμῖν παντελὴς ἔσται καὶ οὐκέτι ἐσόμεθα· οὐκ ἀεὶ δὲ εἰς αὐτόν͵ ἀλλ΄ ὅταν εἰς αὐτὸν ἴδωμεν͵ τότε ἡμῖν τέλος καὶ ἀνάπαυλα καὶ τὸ μὴ ἀπᾴδειν χορεύουσιν ὄντως περὶ αὐτὸν χορείαν ἔνθεον.

Ἐν δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ χορείᾳ καθορᾷ πηγὴν μὲν ζωῆς͵ πηγὴν δὲ νοῦ͵ ἀρχὴν ὄντος͵ ἀγαθοῦ αἰτίαν͵ ῥίζαν ψυχῆς· οὐκ ἐκχεομένων ἀπ΄ αὐτοῦ͵ εἶτ΄ ἐκεῖνον ἐλαττούντων· οὐ γὰρ ὄγκος· ἢ φθαρτὰ ἂν ἦν τὰ γεννώμενα. Νῦν δ΄ ἐστὶν ἀίδια͵ ὅτι ἡ ἀρχὴ αὐτῶν ὡσαύτως μένει οὐ μεμερισμένη εἰς αὐτά͵ ἀλλ΄ ὅλη μένουσα. Διὸ κἀκεῖνα μένει· οἷον εἰ μένοντος ἡλίου καὶ τὸ φῶς μένοι.