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The Voice of the Silence

By Helena P. Blavatsky

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Foreword

OF all the transmissions from East to West pertaining to the spiritual reality within which we exist, none has been more pervasive than the concept of Karma and reincarnation. No two Eastern ideas have found a more permanent home in the minds of Westerners since they were re-introduced over a century ago during the heyday of the Theosophical movement. The concepts of Karma and reincarnation are inexorably intertwined, the former being the criteria by which the latter is made manifest across time and space. 

There exists a peculiar distinction in how these ideas are perceived by their Western adopters as opposed to their Eastern originators. In the West these truths are taken to be a fundamental reality of our existence, that no matter what we do, a Karmic record will exist, and that the cycle of reincarnation shall not be and is not meant to be broken. In the East, however, these two functions of the Universe are regarded as the greatest challenge faced by humanity, the overcoming and eventual defeat of which is the ultimate spiritual aim of human life. To the Eastern mind the bonds of Karma and rebirth are shackles that hold humanity in a world of misery and pain and it is the duty of all to escape this prison that we may see an end to the continuous cycles of suffering.

In The Voice of The Silence, Blavatsky details not only the path that leads to freedom from the constantly revolving wheel of earthly life but also the choice that one is presented with upon attaining liberation. Drawing from her initiation into Mahayana Buddhism, Blavatsky details the divergent paths that lead onward from the state of samadhi - the oneness with existence that is said to arise from a diligent practice of meditation. From here the adept is able to enter into the realm of nirvana or, if he or she so chooses, return to the world as a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who wishes for all sentient beings to join them in their enlightenment and who are unable to move without laboring to achieve this result.

In the bodhisattva, we find the most transcendent expression of human service ever conceived. It is here that we can see the very human roots of the Theosophical Masters and all of the mythology that has been built up around them over the years. A bodhisattva is neither God nor demi-god but rather is Man perfected. They are the only fully human beings that can be said to exist for they reach the summit of the human spirit only to look back, longing to share the wonder they have experienced with their fellow creatures, volunteering to re-enter a world of torment and agony so that all may reach the heights to which they have climbed. 

In The Voice of the Silence, we find the Path laid out before us, if only we had eyes to see its simplicity and the ears to hear its message we too might become as those who assist us in our efforts. May this book provide the light by which to guide us to the true freedom of humanity and may every blade of grass sing together in harmony when the work of the bodhisattva is complete.

To the Glory of God

And the Perfection of Humanity