Physical matter

Physical matter is the term used in Martinus’s cosmology for the material aspect of the physical plane of existence. Martinus describes it not as an independent reality, but as material in which thoughts can be manifested and experienced. In this view, physical matter belongs to the created, changing part of existence, while the living being’s consciousness and spiritual structure are more fundamental.

The concept is presented in relation to the analyses of Livets Bog and to the symbols and explanations collected in The Eternal World Picture. The following account describes Martinus’s analysis rather than presenting it as a claim of contemporary physical science.

Physical matter as manifested thought

Martinus calls the physical plane a world of thought because its details are thoughts manifested in physical matter. Cities, buildings, machines and other produced objects are therefore described as thought-constructions: physical matter is the material through which beings create and express models already formed in consciousness or “spiritual matter”.

This does not mean, in Martinus’s terminology, that physical objects are unreal in ordinary experience. Rather, their physical form is understood as a copy or manifestation of mental construction. The physical organism and its sensory faculties provide the means by which a being transfers thought into physical manifestation and receives the resulting impressions back into consciousness.

Movement, states and cycles

In Martinus’s broader analysis, matter or substance is identified with movement. Solid, liquid, gaseous and ray-formed phenomena are treated as different forms of movement, and the physical structure of the universe is consequently understood as a changing process rather than as something static.

Physical matter can appear in different states and pass from one state to another. Martinus uses the familiar transitions between ice, water, steam and air as an illustration of a general principle of material cycles. He further relates these cycles to physical organisms, whose solid, liquid and gaseous components make bodily life possible.

The physical organism and the living being

Martinus distinguishes between the living being’s primary spiritual structure and its physical body. Physical matter does not, in his account, automatically obey spiritual impulses; it must be handled through borrowed physical forces and an appropriate physical instrument. The physical organism is therefore described as a temporary extension that enables the being to experience and create on the physical plane.

At a larger cosmic scale, Martinus describes physical particles as temporary crystallisations of thought energies and as results of a living being’s consciousness-energy and creative ability. This places physical matter within a hierarchy of living systems: beings may constitute universes and matter for one another, while physical forms remain temporary expressions within cycles of creation and experience.

See also

• Livets Bog
• The Eternal World Picture
• Martinus