Force

Force, in physics, is any influence that causes an object to undergo a certain change, either concerning its movement, direction, or geometrical construction. In particle physics, any of the fundamental interactions of nature is mediated by a particle known as gauge boson, which acts as a "force carrier".

Theosophical view

At the end of the nineteenth century matter and force were thought to be two different principles, the former being absolutely inert, and the latter the source of motion. Referring to this notion, Master K.H. talked about "the absurd and tacitly accepted idea, that force is capable of existing per se, or of acting any more than life, outside, independent of, or in any other wise than through matter." He also affirmed that force is "but matter in one of her highest states".

H. P. Blavatsky also stated that forces had a material basis, although she clarified that she was not referring to "matter, as defined by Science—i.e., matter in any of its known states". It must be noticed that, at this time, the divisibility of the atom and the existence of electrons were unknown to Science. She wrote:

In 1882 the President of the Theosophical Society, Col. Olcott, was taken to task for asserting in one of his lectures that Electricity is matter. Such, nevertheless, is the teaching of the Occult Doctrine. “Force,” “Energy,” may be a better name for it, so long as European Science knows so little about its true nature; yet matter it is.

. . . it is not in the least unscientific to speak of the substantiality of the so-called Forces. Subject to some future specific name, this force is substance of some kind, and can be nothing else; and perhaps one day Science will be the first to re-adopt the derided name of phlogiston. Whatever may be the future name given to it, to maintain that force does not reside in the atoms, but only in “space between them,” may be scientific enough; nevertheless it is not true.

. . . force as manifested on this plane is a state of matter. What would you call radiant matter, if not a state of matter? But the energy which produces the state of matter is perfectly the same as force. Call it force or energy, we consider it as a state of matter on this plane, for it cannot act without matter being present. . .

Because "forces" have a material nature and are always moving, force, matter, and motion form "the trinity of physical objective nature"

The knowledge of forces and their laws is central to Occultism. In one of his letters, Mahatma K.H. wrote to ornithologist A. O. Hume:

The world of force, is the world of Occultism and the only one whither the highest initiate goes to probe the secrets of being. . . . He sees how to guide force in this direction or that — to produce desirable effects. The secret chemical, electric or odic properties of plants, herbs, roots, minerals, animal tissue, are as familiar to him as the feathers of your birds are to you.

The cause of force

In the Theosophical view, the forces we perceive on the physical plane are the effects of the action of Ākāśa:

Expressed in occult language it might be said with more correctness that this “force-substance” is the ever-active phenomenal positive æther—prakriti; while the omnipresent all pervading ether is the noumenon of the former, the substratum of all, or Akâsa. . . . For ÆTHER, in Esotericism, is the very quintessence of all possible energy, and it is certainly to this universal agent (composed of many agents) that all the manifestations of energy in the material, psychic and spiritual worlds are due.

Online resources

Articles

• What is Matter and What is Force? by Mahatma KH
• The Masks of Science by H. P. Blavatsky in The Secret Doctrine vol. I