weights will not fall; though they will lend to fall, they will balance each other. Now,
if we take off the smallest weight from one end of the board, the other end will
overbalance and the board will tip over, i.e. the force of gravity, which existed before
as an invisible tendency, will become a visible driving force. But
if we place the
board with the weights on the ground, the force of gravity will no longer have an
effect. Yet it will not be eliminated; it will merely be translated into other forces. The
forces which are only
tending to
produce motion are called
constrained
or
dead
forces. The forces which are actually manifesting themselves in definite movements
are called free or living forces. But, among the free forces it is necessary to dis
tinguish the releasing, liberating forces from the forces which are released, liberated.
There is an enormous difference between the
liberation
of a
force and its
transformation
into another force.
If one form of movement passes into another, the amount of free force remains the
same. But, when one force
liberates
another, the amount of free force changes. The
free force of irritation releases the constrained forces of a nerve. And this liberation
of the constrained forces of a nerve lakes place at every point of the nerve. The first
motion grows, like a fire, like an avalanche, bearing along with it new and ever new
drifts of snow. This is why the action (phenomenon) of sensation need not be exactly
equal to the action of irritation.
Let us look more broadly at the relation of the freed and the freeing forces in
different kinds of phenomena.
We shall see that, at times, an insignificant amount of physical force can set free an
enormous, colossal amount of energy, also physical. But
all the amount of physical
force we can gather together
will not set free a single drop of
life energy necessary for
the independent existence of a microscopic living organism.
The force contained in
living organisms,
the force of life, is capable of liberating
infinitely great quantities of energy (compared with the force of motion), both life
energy and simply physical energy.
A microscopic living cell is capable of infinite dissemination, of developing into
new forms, of covering continents with vegetation,
of filling oceans with seaweed, of
building islands out of coral, of leaving behind itself vast layers of coal, and so on.
Concerning the latent energy contained in the
phenomena of consciousness,
i.e. in
thoughts, in
feelings, in desires, we see that the potentiality is still more immeasurable,
still more limitless.
From personal experience, from observation, from history we know
that an idea, a feeling or a desire can, in manifesting, release boundless quantities of
energy, create infinite series of phenomena. An idea may act for hundreds and
thousands of years
and only grow and deepen, producing ever-new series of
phenomena, liberating ever-new energy. We know that
thoughts
continue to act and
live when the very name of
the man who produced them has become a myth, such as the names of the
founders of ancient religions, the creators of immortal poetical works of
antiquity, heroes, leaders, prophets. Their works are repeated by innumerable
lips, their ideas are analysed, commented on. The works which have been
preserved
are translated, published, read, learnt by heart, recited, staged,
illustrated. And this is so not only with the great masterpieces of universal
geniuses. A single little verse may live for thousands of years, making
hundreds of men work for it, serve it in order to transmit it further.
Look how much potential energy there is in some small verse of Pushkin or
Lermontoff. This energy affects not only men's feelings, but, by its very
existence, it affects their will. Look how the words, thoughts and feelings of
the semi-mythical Homer go on living - refusing to die - and how much
'motion' each of his words has produced in the course of its existence.
It is quite clear that each thought of a poet contains enormous potential
force, similar to the potential power contained in a chunk of coal or in a
living cell, but infinitely more subtle, imponderable and potent.
This remarkable correlation of phenomena may be expressed in the
following formulation: the further a given phenomenon is removed from the
visible and the tangible - from the physical -
the further it is from matter, the
more it contains of hidden force, the greater the number of phenomena it can
produce and involve, the greater the amount of energy it can liberate, and the
less it is dependent upon time.
If we connect all the above with the principle of physics that the
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