Reflections on The Voice of the Silence: Fragment One, Part One

Reflections on The Voice of the Silence: Fragment One, Part One

The challenges, the rewards, and the disciplines of the Spiritual Path are beautifully and aptly described in H.P.B.’s classic, a comprehensive manual of spiritual instruction — The Voice of the Silence. In this, the first of two presentations, Gary emphasises that spiritual growth is related to the unfolding of consciousness. This culminates in the realisation of our essential nature in accord with the famous aphorism Tat Tvam Asi (“thou art that”) found within the Chandogya Upanishad. Utilising spiritual writings including The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali; The Bhagavad Gita; and the symbolism of myth, Gary illustrates how one’s consciousness expands as one engages with the symbolic content of The Voice of the Silence. On this basis, one unravels increasingly deeper layers of symbolic meaning as the text reciprocates as part of an ongoing symbiotic relationship. Included in this presentation is a consideration of the passage of the aspirant through the ‘Three Halls’ of Ignorance; Learning; and Wisdom before one may enter the fourth state of pure consciousness described by Advaita Vedanta teachings as turiya. Then, and only then, may one ‘repose between the wings of the GREAT BIRD’ Kala-Hamsa, symbolising the AUM and whose the flight represents liberation from the Wheel of Rebirth.