Why did Plotinus say that spiritual ascent is not a journey through physical space?

For Plotinus, spiritual ascent is not a journey through physical space because the various levels of being—Soul, Intellect, and the One—are not spatially separated. Instead, these levels are intimately present everywhere and in everyone.1

Plotinus taught that the universe is a hierarchy where each level of reality is derived from a superior one through a timeless process. Because these levels are not distinct locations, ascending from the Soul through the Intellect to the One does not involve physical movement. Rather, this ascent is an internal process of "waking to a new kind of awareness".12

Philosophical conversion requires turning away from the desires and concerns of the body—which Plotinus viewed as a hindrance—to focus on intellectual and moral self-discipline. By rising above sense perception and discursive reasoning, the individual becomes aware of their true intellectual nature, ultimately enabling a mystical union with the One. Thus, the journey is an inward transformation of the self rather than a traversal of distance.1