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have been living in this cave from birth, chained so that we cannot move, able to look only at the far wall of the cavern.
    On this wall we see shadows dancing. A shadow may be our own, that of another person, or of an object that is being carried along a low wall behind us, behind which a fire burns, enabling the shadow of the object to be seen. These substantial objects, the spiritual forms, are real; their shadows are much less real. So the basic message of this metaphor is that what we are aware of now, physical existence, is smoke and mirrors, while the unseen mystery of spiritual existence is the solid truth behind appearances.
    What we generally consider to be beautiful and good, then, isn’t real. This world is like a dream, illusory and ephemeral. Whatever beauty and goodness it seems to possess is a shadow of true beauty and goodness. Hence, it is supremely important to pursue wisdom above all else. If we don’t know what really is, how can we make the correct choice about what to do? Right living flows naturally from knowledge of real being.
    Love is wonderful but our love should be directed toward what is most real. Otherwise, our situation is akin to that of a man who embraces his lover’s shadow when she enters his bedroom. How senseless it would be for him to cast himself upon the floor, passionately grasping at a vague image of the beautiful woman standing before him. He will never enjoy the delight of her company, nor will he be able to know and love her as she truly is, until he turns from her shadow to the reality.
    Nothing in this world can fully satisfy us because nothing here truly is. And the farther away we are from consciousness of the One, the less being we ourselves possess. We are shadows trying to drink from a mirage. We’re in love with reflections. We’re starving for reality but continue to devour illusion. Not surprisingly, we’re never satiated.
    From this perspective, it’s time to stop trying to squeeze more happiness out of the things, thoughts, and people of this world. We need to recognize that we’re living in a desert—our arid consciousness of physical reality alone—that is almost completely devoid of sustenance for the soul, the enduring essence of us that feels spiritual hunger and thirst. We have to start moving toward the One, for this is our source and it alone will satisfy.
    Where is the One?
    T HE PROBLEM, though, is knowing which direction to go. Parts of reality are lying around all over the place in plain view. But the wholeness of reality is well-hidden. If this weren’t the case, there would be no need for scientists to labor so mightily to discover a theory of everything that explains the fundamental nature of the universe, nor for mystics to undergo such arduous disciplines to realize God. The soul needs a guide to the realm of ultimate truth and well-being, the One. Plotinus says:
We must not look, but must, as it were, close our eyes and exchange our faculty of vision for another. We must awaken this faculty which everyone possesses, but few people ever use. [I-6-8] 4
     
    Plotinus taught that anyone in love with wisdom (namely, a philosopher) has to undertake a quest to find his or her beloved, for truth resides at the summit of the spiritual mountain that is the cosmos. The path leads the soul from its current immersion in the depths of materiality and sensual pursuits to the more ethereal heights of mind and intuitive intelligence, and then to the spiritual pinnacle of reality, the One.
    Plotinus invites us to enter an unfamiliar domain of consciousness that is beyond matter, sensation, reason, and all that is known now. As was noted earlier, this truly would be “a bracing and perhaps dangerous enterprise,” for journeying to an unknown higher level of consciousness obviously is a much more adventurous move than simply rearranging the familiar thoughts that comprise the contents of one’s present level of consciousness.
    Simply put, actually returning