What is the Force

Yep, what is it? Lay it on me baby!!!!!!!!

I used to answer that question with one word; yes. Meaning the 'asking of what' is the Force

These days its more about being an epistemology then an ontology, as one of the 5 trials of being a Jedi Knight, to quantize perception to engineer deeper cognitive capabilities, a non-dual process of inner and outer.

The Force, the Path, the Way, the Art, the Craft.... of Insight, Courage, Skill, Spirit, and Flesh. This way the Force can be everything, and attributes of it reflect ones relation to it rather then it.

What a question...

I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me. I fear nothing, for all is as the Force wills it.

- Mantra of the Whills.

I think this mantra actually gives us a lot of insight into what the Force actually is. Obviously, this mantra implies that the Force is bigger than each of us. And yet, we are a part of it. If we trust this cosmic interconnectedness, then we can sit with whatever comes to us no matter how difficult.

The Force, then, is something we have faith in. It is something we come to know intimately through whispers of the soul. From our depths, we feel it churning and boiling from within. You may notice it when you are alone and particularly quiet.

Is it too cheesy to say that the Force is a "force"? It binds the universe together in a really forceful way.

Oh, and I don't try to discern its make up or prove its existence. It doesn't play ball with our limited understanding. An ant cannot comprehend the world. It just exists within it with trust and faith. When I let go of having to know what the Force is, I became a lot happier.

Hmm... Although we could just throw this very broad and vague question of "what is the force" out here and just throw subjective (or even objective) answers at it, I can't help but feel it will be very difficult for us to really take this much of anywhere due to the vague nature of the topic. I would like to suggest creating discussions (presenting questions) that tackle more specific ideas within the notion of the force. Scientific topics, psychological topics, spiritual topics, poetic topics and practical topics.

Also, how about we use some reference material such as a video, article, etc to present an idea or ask a question about it.

Well this is a funny question. What this question should say is what is the force to you? There is so many perspectives of the force. I would not be able to say what one is wrong or right.

The force for me is how it sounds. We see it everyday. Push, pull, Gravity ect. But there is another aspect of the force. For example when someone does something you don't like and it effects people this is a force as well. Some forces are stronger then others. The strongest force take over either way can have consequences. This is why balance is so important. Once you have balance I believe with knowledge one can tip the force for the greater good. But this is no easy feat. Even of the greatest of Jedi Masters. Or if you stray away from those terms the ones who understand the force the most.

"The Force is all things, and I am the Force"

That's my take on it.

When we applied for charity status in the UK back in 2016 we had to answer this question precisely.

This is based in part on what we wrote. It is necessarily ‘Light side’ heavy as we weren’t trying to explain the Dark side or the Sith. That would not have helped the application!

I’m not telling you what IT is (that isn’t possible) but this is the best signpost I could come up with:

“The Force is not a power you have. It’s the energy between all things, a tension, a balance, that binds the universe together.”

There are many different, and personal, views of The Force. The purpose of the essay isn’t to tell you what The Force ‘is’, rather, to outline some basic parameters. Much like photographs taken of a mountain from different places, in different conditions they will give you some idea of what The Force is like, but they will never tell the whole story – or ever be the mountain itself! To begin to know the mountain you must visit it yourself. Hopefully the following words will help you develop your own conception, and your own personal relationship.

The Force is as intrinsic to Jediism, as the Holy Spirit is to Christianity, as Brahman is to Hinduism, as the Tao is to Taoism, as the void is to Buddhism, and it shares similar facets to these spiritual principles. In this sense “The Force” is not a new spiritual principle – it is the ubiquitous and metaphysical power of the Universe – which humans have worshipped since before recorded history. What Jediism provides is a new way to worship, appreciate and integrate this spiritual principle into peoples’ lives. We call this spiritual principle by a different name to others before us, but as per a perennial analysis of world religion there is only one underlying, ubiquitous, uniting spiritual principle. We call it The Force.

As many others have said, within the context of many other faiths, The Force is ineffable – words will never do it justice. It is to this point that the first line of the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching (“The tao that can be spoken is not the Eternal Tao”) refers. A similar message is sent by St. Paul in the 2nd Letter to the Corinthians 3:6 “. . . a new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.”

Having said all of that, there are words we can use to describe aspects of The Force, these include, but are not limited to: omnipotent, omnipresent (therefore immanent), limitless, eternal, transcendent, creative and cyclic.

Whilst such descriptions can impart certain ideas of what The Force is, Jediism (in agreement with many other faiths) proposes that mere understanding and academic knowledge are not sufficient, as compared with a genuine, visceral human experience of this spiritual principle. We recommend and teach two complementary paths that allow this experience to blossom within individual consciousness. One is through collective (group) worship during Live Services. The second is through meditation (or contemplation) conducted on an individual basis or in a group setting.

Our practice of worship and meditation discipline are designed to shift a person’s consciousness away from the so-called ‘Ego’. As individual emphasis on the personal ego diminishes, space (or bandwidth) emerges for us to allow “that still small voice of calm” with which The Force speaks, to guide and animate us. While each individual person will develop their own unique appreciation of their connection with The Force (everyone has different needs, strengths, weaknesses and hang-ups) the actual connection is the same for everyone.

We can use different metaphors to describe this connection: we are all children of The Force, The Force sustains us all, it gives us the strength to take the sometimes difficult but morally right decisions, it is the source of true empathy and it is the comradeship each individual shares that is the source of selflessness and inspiration for mortification and sacrifice. It is the Ground of All Being, the Source of Beauty, and it is the player of all the parts.

To paraphrase Ibn al’Arabi, the Sufi poet, “The Force sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirs in the animal . . . and awakens in Man”.

a) As Jedi we worship and venerate The Force.

b) The Force is ineffable but it is the ubiquitous and metaphysical power that is the underlying, fundamental nature of the Universe, The Ground of All Being and Manifestation.

c) It is omnipotent, omnipresent (therefore immanent), limitless, eternal, transcendent, creative and cyclic.

d) As human beings we are all embedded and imbued with this power but in modern society we do not typically even notice it. We ignore it – much like a fish is ignorant of the water in which it lives.

e) Union with the Force is achieved through worship and contemplation (meditation): the direction of conscious attention away from the self, and towards The Force.

f) The effect of this Union is profound. Our energies cease to be limited to our meagre individual will, The Force is released to act through us. This energy does not manifest in the form of ‘supernatural’ power but in a resolute and perpetual drive to empathy and love for all sentient beings, and in a drive to bring them into that same Union that we experience.

g) The Maxims and Teachings in the TOTJO doctrine (https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/doctrine-of-the-order) are the behaviours and actions that are manifestations, and evidence of this Union. These behaviours and actions include, but are not limited to: empathy, generosity, patience, peace, compassion, loyalty, commitment, courage, humility, fearlessness, honesty, discipline, integrity and harmony.

h) The ethical and moral frameworks outlined above are the simplest ways to summarise the net effect of this Union with The Force.

i) The Force does not compete, dwell on its goodness, or bathe in the light that it brings - and neither do the Jedi. We let go and move on.
Union with The Force will not look identical for all individuals. Particularly in the early stages of this awakening, it will be in the form of a unique transformation for each individual, and yet, Kabir, in his old age would say “To whom shall I preach” because he saw the divine in all.

The Force manifests all things, and through it all things come to pass. You can feel it when you hold hands with a loved one, smell it in the fragrance of a flower, taste it in choicest morsel, hear it in your favourite music and see it in all, across Nature.

The trick is to feel it when your hand is dropped, when the smell is rotten, when the taste makes you wretch, when the sounds are screams, and the vision is concrete sprawl. The Force is there too.

Force is live, vital energy
and the process of life itself.

It is an essence, through we are able to exist, devlop and change ourselves in consciousness of Universal mind.
Connection between all things and process of life hold the all lifes/things and events together.

Something like one substance from which is Force manifest to other forms.

Stormcaller wrote: "The Force is all things, and I am the Force"

That's my take on it.

Well said, Stormcaller.

Sometimes a simple answer for a complex issue is best. One can wax poetic for eternity about the infinitely intricate nature of the Force. The Force is, and the Force is all things.

Loudzoo wrote: I’m not telling you what IT is (that isn’t possible) but this is the best signpost I could come up with:

This is where I was going to go with this I just figured I would give some time for responses instead of turning this into a journal thread engaging only myself (not that I do not enjoy reading my own error laden typing....)

The Force just is. I could have asked the question is so many forms; but I chose the simplest in least categorized place I could with intent.

Is the energy involved in you pulling up this on a screen, the light of it hitting your eye, to the synapses firing as the words are processed by the super computer that is your brain. Is that transfer of energy not pretty epic and spiritual in a sense?

As a Jedi, I learn about the Force in many forms to try and act with in it for good purposes. I could probably type pages on how, or what to do, to the way I see it, but that's all in my journals (feel free to have look). I saw someone say this is a discussion that is sorely missing figured this was as good of solution as any. Maybe I picked up on the wrong aspect and acted accordingly with the Force as I perceived it (maybe that's wrong). But, that's what these dialogs are for.

Much Love, Respect and Peace,
Kobos

What is the Force not?

The force is not something I have faith in. Faith is not a path to truth. The force is not something I worship. Worship implies blind dogmatic obedience. The force is not connection. I am a separate sentient individual connected to the universe only through the fact that I am made of the same star dust. In fact the force is not a "thing" at all. It has no will or sentience and it does not possess lightness or darkness any other such attributes. The force is experience. Every "thing" that exists has experience whether that thing is aware of that experience or not. All things are connected in this simple idea. However that experience for any thing that exists is unique. Because of this we all perceive the force in a singularly unique way. To say the force is the human condition is a failure of the human ego in arrogance. Because the force is the universal condition.

My question is: Do we want to contemplate this or do we want to dictate this?

Shepherd wrote: What is the Force not?

an interesting question.

How is the Force described to us? "An energy field that surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together".

Now, does that mean it is all things? Is a glass of water all water? Or is it a glass that happens to have water in it? Are things just things, connected by the Force, or are they that Force to begin with?

Proteus wrote: My question is: Do we want to contemplate this or do we want to dictate this?

I'm not sure what you mean? Has someone dictated something instead of contemplated it? You have posted in here twice now and neither time have you addressed the OP subject question. Instead you suggested a more narrowly defined set of topics and now this. But even though you made the suggestion to narrow the field, you have failed to actually follow through and do this. So Exactly what are your thoughts?

Kyrin Wyldstar wrote:

Proteus wrote: My question is: Do we want to contemplate this or do we want to dictate this?

I'm not sure what you mean? Has someone dictated something instead of contemplated it? You have posted in here twice now and neither time have you addressed the OP subject question. Instead you suggested a more narrowly defined set of topics and now this. But even though you made the suggestion to narrow the field, you have failed to actually follow through and do this. So Exactly what are your thoughts?

I do believe he means that, so far, this has been a 'what it is to you' rather than a discussion as to what it could be.

Essentially, people doing statements, rather than asking questions (though there have been a few questions, which I hope bring forth greater discussion.

I guess I don't really know what the force is. I'm just enjoying reading people's thoughts (whether they are statements or questions), and at least hoping to contribute with some ideas on how we could approach this subject. It's pretty heavy yet intangible a topic. At least at some point here I hope to have arrived at a concrete enough thought (question or statement) of my own.

If I'm intruding by sharing ideas on approach, I apologize. I try to be a bit careful and mindful lately about how I talk about it.

Kobos wrote: Yep, what is it? Lay it on me baby!!!!!!!!

One of the most interesting things about my modern day Jeddism is that we as a Jeddist can (CAN- not all of us do and truthfully we don’t have to) identify for ourselfs what we define as the Force. Funny thing - being human we can define our faith - paths - ideas- deity’s - pretty much anytime we want and at any depth we like as well. When you ask for such a request - expect there to be as many definitions as there are Jedi.

Edit add:
To me and my practice : the Force is that small voice that sways my character to act as character, rather than impulse or instinct. It’s the whisper to connect or that reminder to. When I sit by a tree- it’s the constant - from the sun - it’s the life from the rain it’s the flow. It’s the ebb of things. It is neither specific or general. It can be named but it will differ - it must. The Force is personal for and to me. It can be the same for some one else or ... nothing like.
Thanks for the question.

I feel like this question is like asking to write out π (Pi) in totality. We can continue to figure out more and more of it, but it seemingly continues forever. So rather than try to answer what it is in it's totality, I think it's reasonable to settle with describing what we have discovered so far.

But even in the discovering, the experience is subjective and will be different for all. To take Proteus's lead and try and get past everyone describing what the force means to them maybe we need to explore what is the common thread that we all agree upon that connects us. The force is different for everyone, but there must be a common concept at the core of that idea that is the same for everyone. I describe it as experience itself. The act of existing so to speak. So is there some common concept we can all agree upon in that regard?