The Soul in Plato.

Understanding the nature of our soul is important because Philosophy is the art of removing
the soul from the body our most important study, (Phaedo 67d).

All this is taken from the book “Plato for everyone”, which you can only get on Amazon.
Amazon allows you to self-publish and because I’m just a poor Soap Joe it’s cheap. Which is
why I can never understand why some eBooks are expensive.

Firstly, allow me to introduce you to the pranic body.

Pranic Body Udana

Vyana harmonises
and regulates the
body

prana

Samana

Apana

Prana is life force; without prana we would be dead.

Around the body there are five types of pranas. They are all parts of the Great Prana the
cosmic Prana. (Capital B).
These pranas look after our daily bodily functions, very briefly: -

• Udana controls the upper limbs arms and head importantly it controls speech.
• prana (lowercase p) is surrounded by the other pranas, and it looks after the heart.
• Samana looks after the digestive organs, fire in the belly.
• Apana gets what it deserves it is responsible for taking care of all the waste products.
• Vyana is distributed throughout the body and gives us balance and coordination.

The heart rules everything, however, you can see it is reliant on the accuracy of the other
pranas telling it the truth of what is going on.
In simplicity the yogi raises the pranas till they become united with the cosmic Prana - The
yogi removes the pranas from the body.

What does Socrates say about the soul?

"And does not the purification consist in this which has been mentioned long ago in our
discourse, in separating, so far as possible, the soul from the body and teaching the soul the
habit of collecting and bringing itself together from all parts of the body, and living, so far as
it can, both now and here- after, alone by itself, freed from the body as from fetters?"
Phaedo 67c

This suggest soul and prana must be the same.

Without question Prana and Being are the same, its life force. Being is a triad of power
(vitality), intellect, and Being.

The soul is a triad of three parts Appetitive, Spirited, and Rational. When these three mind
their own business i.e., when they do their proper jobs then the soul becomes just. Republic
443d.
A just soul is when these three do their proper jobs i.e. the appetitive part does not behave
like a multiheaded beast and make ape out of the lion.
Now we are going to change the names of the soul components to those from the Timaeus:
- Other, Mixture, and Same. Timaeus 35.

The terms differ, but the relationships are constant = Appetitive is the Other, Reason is the
Same, and Spirited is the mean between the two - the Mixture. (The analogy in the
Phaedrus is bad horse, good horse, and the charioteer).

• Although the soul contains three parts there are five regimes (types) of soul.
Socrates says only one of these is just. Adding one of these regimes can be described
in two ways - monarchy or when there are more than one - aristocracy (therefore
aristocracy is many or multitude). Republic 445d.

• There are four afflictions of the soul which correspond with the Divided Line, which
is first divided into two the visible and intelligible. These two are again divided into
two the visible is opinion and belief, the intelligible understanding and knowing. The
Good or the One stands apart from the Divided Line this is intellected. Republic 506+
to the end of book six.

Now you can see there is a possible multitude of personality types depending upon the
dominance of the mixture of three parts of soul, five regimes, and four afflictions.
Therefore, Socrates says they must do their proper jobs i.e., mind their own business, stop
making an ape out of the lion.

The four afflictions of soul on the Divided Line each contain three parts - Other, Same, and
the Mixture. Each affliction in turn must become just then the whole Line syncs, the whole
Line becomes “just” which creates the fifth the Monarchy. But if for instance any one of the
afflictions is still unjust the whole Line remains unjust. The numerous combinations of this
make up the multitude of Aristocratic regimes, Tyranny, Democracy, Oligarchy, and
Laconian.

Each one of these regimes is a son of Zeus in the same order, Hermes, Dionysius (lacerated),
Ares and Hephaestus.
These are the characters in the plot: -

• Hermes - Adimantus the sooth singer(sophist) – Udana prana.

• Lacerated Dionysus – Isocrates/ Dionysus Socrates the master of life – prana.
• Ares - Polemarchus warlord – samana prana.
• Hephaestus - Cephalus he made his wealth from manufacturing arms he is the Head
– Apana prana.
• Pan the son of Hermes this character is Thrasymachus the rash fighter – Vayana
prana.

The full combination is our body, we are Pan son of Hermes, but we are unjust we let the
multiheaded beast rule the rust.

We all contain the lacerated parts of Dionysus after the tyrants scatter him, but Athena kept
the heart safe. When the Line becomes totally just it is Dionysus a monad united with Zeus: -
Cosmic Pan.
Poor old Hephaestus he’s the top man, but he spends is whole life in a complete mess. he
should never have fallen for carnal Aphrodite.
 The arch of heaven
Sahasrara Chakra The King
The Good or the One; Ouranos or Brahman

Ajna Chakra [Idea of the Good; Aphrodite]

Vishuddha Chakra Moon Garden of Zeus – Plenty;

Realm of Philosopher King
Queen of Intellect.
Heaven

Anahata Chakra - Love is Born between Poverty and Plenty

Going to the deep

sleep of Hades
Manipura Chakra – Sun; King of
the Physical
Realm of Generation
Svadhisthana Chakra – Moon; [birth, life and death]
Queen of the Physical - Poverty.
Soul in Body - Kali

Muladhara Chakra – The Pit

Plato’s divided line as a pillar of consiousness

The Sovereign Rulers from Plato’s

Republic [509d and 517b]

The arch of heaven see Phaedrus 247b ὑπουράνιον ἁψῖδα, from here the soul leaves the heavens
via a circumvolution to the intelligible place νοητός τόπος (intellected) which is beyond the heavens
- colourless, formless, and intangible, the plain of truth.

For a human being must understand a general conception formed by collecting into a unity by means
second reason the many perceptions of the senses; and this is a recollection of those things which our
soul once beheld, when it journeyed with Theo and, lifting its vision above the things which we now
say exist, lifted into real Being.

Socrates Phaedrus 249c.

Enjoy.

The link to the book Plato for everyone

https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Everyone-commentary-Republic-goddesses-
ebook/dp/B098BM2LJK/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1T9EI3G5H4WY1&keywords=plato+for+everyone&qid=167
3952217&sprefix=plato+for+everyone%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-3