The Voice of the Silence: Being Extracts from The Book of the Golden Precepts

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE

TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED

BY

H. P. Blavatsky

A publication supported by

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Copyright © 1992 by the Theosophical Publishing House

Second Quest Edition 1992

Quest Books

Theosophical Publishing House

PO Box 270

Wheaton, IL 60187-0270

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Blavatsky. H. P. (Helena Petrovna), 1831-1891.

The Voice of the Silence / translated and annotated

by H. P. Blavatsky.

p.   cm.

ISBN 978-0-8356-0680-6

1. Theosophy. 2. Title.

ISBN for electronic edition, e-pub format: 978-0-8356-2182-3

Third Printing 2007

CONTENTS

___♦___

Publisher’s Preface to the 1991 Edition

Introductory: How The Voice of the Silence Was Written, Boris de Zirkoff

Facsimile Reprint of the 1889 Edition

Preface

Contents

The Voice of the Silence

The Two Paths

The Seven Portals

Glossary to Part I: The Voice of the Silence

Glossary to Part II: The Two Paths

Glossary to Part III: The Seven Portals

PUBLISHER’S PREFACE TO THE 1991 EDITION

The Voice of the Silence was the last major work to come from the pen of H. P. Blavatsky before her death in 1891. It is also one of her most important writings, being a guidebook for those dedicated to achieving enlightenment through altruistic service to humanity. As one of the three great spiritual classics in the modern Theosophical tradition, alongside At the Feet of the Master and Light on the Path, this book speaks most eloquently of the Bodhisattva ideal of finding the SELF by forgetting the self in service to other Selves. The three short fragments that make up this book speak in the timeless and universal language of compassion and thereby give the message that the writer dedicated her life to proclaiming.

Because this little book marks the culmination of the earthly career of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, it is fitting that a new edition should appear in commemoration of the centennial year of her death. The text of this edition is faithful to that of the original publication, being a facsimile reprint of the 1889 version. A few obvious typographical errors that might confuse the reader have been corrected.

The editorial apparatus is that prepared by Boris de Zirkoff for the Collected Writings edition of Blavatsky’s works. It consists of an introduction explaining in detail the circumstances under which The Voice was written and treating other matters essential to a full understanding of the work, as well as an index of terms used in the book.

It is intended that the Collected Writings series will eventually contain a volume including The Key to Theosophy and The Voice of the Silence, which were originally published in the same year, indeed, within a short time of each other. However, because de Zirkoff had himself at one time prepared a separate edition of The Voice, which unfortunately never appeared, it seems appropriate to publish this edition to remember the tenth anniversary of his death and the one-hundredth of Blavatsky’s.

Theosophical Publishing House

Wheaton, Illinois, 1991

INTRODUCTORY:

HOW THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE

WAS WRITTEN

Two minor cycles of seven years had passed since the foundation of the Theosophical Society in New York in the autumn of 1875. H. P. Blavatsky had given to the world her two monumental works, Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine, which outlined in masterly fashion the basic postulates of the esoteric philosophy. Three outstanding journals were in publication: The Theosophist in India, Lucifer in England, and The Path in the United States. The Society was growing in various parts of the world, and its teachings were spreading far and wide.

A twofold need arose to guide the development of the movement and help seekers in their spiritual search: a simpler compendium of the Theosophical teachings was required, a work easier to understand than were the large volumes published to date; and a guide in practical life, a devotional text which would create the proper spiritual atmosphere in the mind of students and help them to transform their thought into action, their aspirations into compassionate deeds.

These needs were met by the publication of The Key to Theosophy and The Voice of the Silence, both appearing within the same year of 1889, only a few months apart from each other. These were the last efforts of H.P.B. along literary lines, and they crowned her previous efforts with thoughts and ideals of enduring spiritual worth, a legacy of both depth and grandeur bequeathed to humanity at large.

H.P.B. was then in London, living at 17 Lansdowne Road, surrounded by a few of her best and most devoted friends and disciples. Being rather tired and in bad health, she finally yielded to the entreaties of some of them to allow herself a little change, and to take a trip abroad into more pleasant surroundings. She went to stay for a while at Fontainebleau, in the vicinity of Paris, and was joined there by Mrs. Ida Garrison Candler¹ of Brookline, Massachusetts, a close friend of hers who was in Europe at the time with her daughter. H.P.B. must