The Voice of the Silence

Long ago, St Paul, writing to disciples in Thessalonia, used the unusual and striking phrase, 'Study to be quiet'. It is an injunction disciples of the present day, beset by noise on the physical plane, and plagued by manifold emotional and mental stresses, might well take to heart, especially when pondering on the significance of the familiar but not always understood phrase, The Voice of the Silence.

It is a phrase with which most students of occult and esoteric teaching are familiar. It is possibly this very familiarity which leads to that non-recognition of its importance in the art of spiritual living. That is a paradox is obvious, since the two key words contradict each other. But what does the paradox imply? Let the mind glide swiftly over the words, and deep and hidden possibilities are suggested. But when the mind is brought to bear on them, one is led into a cul-de-sac; a dead-end blocked by irreconcilable opportunities. Which bears out a conclusion presented by Elizabeth Haich in her book Sexual Energy and Yoga when she says the intellect cannot provide direct experience of anything. To discover the possibilities hidden in these potent words it is needful to go exploring beyond the scope of the mind alone, intuiting - pressing into and precipitating some of that 'raincloud of knowable things' of which the Indian sage Patanjali speaks. The Voice of the Silence needs to be considered, not as something meant for the ears to hear and the mind to interpret, but as an inner experience: an experience to be caught in the net of language or trapped subtleties of reason or logic.

The Master Djwhal Khul, known to students around the world as The Tibetan, emphasizes and expands the ancient injunction concerning quiet which he discusses repeatedly in his teachings, looking at it from many angles and levels. He says, for instance, '...learn to function in quietness...develop restraint of speech and that calm poise that comes from an unselfish life motive'. In another place he points out that that 'Aspirants to this difficult work must watch themselves with infinite care and keep the inner serenity and peace...They must have the ability to enter the silence of the high places.'

One reason why such clear directives do not always receive the attention they merit is that those who read do not think of themselves as aspirants, students or disciples. They are, in the words of an old nursery rhyme, 'butchers and bakers and candlestick makers' - in other words, tradesmen, artists or craftsmen: anything and everything except seekers of the values of the Spirit. So, they fail to realize that quiet is indispensable component of spiritual living - of that life of discipleship which beckons and calls them even as it elides immediate grasp.

The Voice of the Silence becomes more meaningful when the ground for understanding is prepared by considering, and discarding, some of the irrelevant demonstrations frequently associated with it. It is not the voice of our sub-conscious desires - of our secret wish life. Most people can recall moments when they experienced an overwhelming urge to conduct which runs counter to all accepted canons of common sense.

In such situations there is a tendency to proclaim positively that guidance from spiritual sources has been received. But has it? Examine the experience dispassionately, with detachment, and possibly, even probably, it will emerge that the experience had merely brought to the surface of consciousness a hitherto unacknowledged desire to act along the lines of the so-called inspired directive.

Another possible glamour associated with the Voice of Silence is concerned with psychic phenomena. Here there is need to use extreme caution. Genuine guidance is sometimes vouch-safed by this means. Often, however, directions supposed to have been given, or information imparted convey little of true spiritual import. The call to a level of understanding beyond present capacity, the indications of newer or higher approaches to Truth, are all too often missing from such supposedly divine communications.

There is also that inner prompting known as conscience. This comes closer to that inner illumination which the Voice of the Silence brings but falls far short of the actual experience. Conscience does little except to indicate which of two lines of action should be followed because it is what is labelled as 'right' as against a possibly more attractive action labelled 'wrong'. Here, again, it is easy to make mistakes. What appears as right action may well be merely action in conformity in which one lives, or with codes of conduct which receive general acceptance.

An invocative suggestion which throws light on this problem of the Voice of the Silence is given by the theosophical leader, teacher and writer, Mr. C.W. Leadbeater, who opened up expanding vistas when he said: "The Voice of the Silence is, for anyone, that which comes from the part of himself which is higher than his normal consciousness can reach."

Since the unreachable point changes, extending into even subtler regions as the individual progresses into his unfoldment, it is obvious that the guiding Voice recedes as one approaches its immediate source. The Voice of the Silence, considered in this way, begins to emerge as a guiding Energy which increases in intensity as capacity to respond increases.

Even in our modern world of strident noise, it need not be so very difficult to achieve this heightened state of responsive awareness. The silence from which the Voice emanates is ever self-created; not really concerned with the actual absence of outer sound, desirable as that condition may be. Further words of the Tibetan indicate moves that need to be made, and attributes that need to be adopted, as endeavor is made to hear this voiceless Voice. He says: 'Men deaden the inner voice that bears witness to the life hereafter, and they drown the words that echo in the silence by the noise and whirl of business, pleasure and excitement.'

He emphasizes the 'power is grown and developed in silence' and gives the matter group application by the clear statement: 'An important factor in group training for initiation is the cultivation of silence.'

With such recognition alive in consciousness, it becomes possible rightly to evaluate the efforts that must be made in order to hear the Voice of the Silence - efforts which include creating a space of time when outer demands are gently but firmly laid aside, and attention is directed entirely to listening, with intensity of purpose and undeviating concentration, to catching the faintest whisper of the Inner Voice which is trying to make itself heard: The Voice of our own unrecognized, unrealized, but ever existent divine Self. The Voice of the Silence is universal, though it demonstrates as an individual experience: it is the voice of God deep-hidden in every human heart. It is a voice of infinite possibility. It invites those who hear it to penetrate through appearance to Reality. It calls them to shift the focus of their lives from the outer, transitory world of phenomena to their inner world of meaning and significance which is the true home of the human spirit. It is a voice proclaiming the possibility of moving, here and now from gloom to joy; and of exchanging chaos for ordered purpose, and of moving from the limitations of personality into the ever-intensifying growth and glory of the Soul.

(by Margaret Haselhurst)