How did Plotinus describe the experience of mystical union?

For Plotinus, the mystical union is the culmination of a philosophical ascent, achieved when an individual—having completed their conversion and become Intellect—rises to experience the presence of the One, or the Good.1

Plotinus described this experience as follows:

• Absence of Duality: In this state, there is no consciousness of duality. The individual is not aware of themselves as a separate entity.1
• Preservation of Self: Despite the lack of self-awareness, the individual is neither destroyed nor dissolved into the One. They remain Intellect, though they are "out of themselves," transcending their normal nature and activity.1
• The Source of Union: This union is driven by the "surging current" of the return to the source, characterized as the pure love of Intellect for the Good from which it springs.1

For Plotinus, this union is not a matter of special revelation or external rites, but the result of rigorous moral purification and intellectual enlightenment, representing the ultimate goal of his philosophy.1