Printed in the Summer 2025 issue of Quest magazine.
Citation: Heubel, Peggy, "The Voice of the Silence as Yogic Discipline" Quest 113:3, pg 38-9
By Peggy Heubel
H.P. Blavatsky’s Voice of the Silence (VOS), a Theosophical classic first published in 1889, is a deeply mystical text that weaves together elements of raja yoga, Mahayana Buddhism, and Theosophical thought into a coherent spiritual discipline. More than just a book, the VOS presents a path—one that requires intense self-discipline, inner transformation, and an altruistic commitment to the enlightenment of all beings.
While the mental discipline of classical raja yoga, as outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, emphasizes mental purification and meditative absorption (samadhi) as a means of personal liberation, the VOS takes this foundation and expands it into a perspective spanning many lives, wherein the aspirant moves through successive incarnations in service to the world.
This vision of yoga, while rooted in raja yoga, is not confined to it. Instead, it modifies and extends the yogic ideal by incorporating the bodhisattva vow, a Mahayana Buddhist concept that prioritizes compassionate return to incarnation over final liberation. This vision also resonates with karma yoga, the yoga of selfless action, in insisting that true spiritual attainment does not consist of withdrawing from the world but transforming it through enlightened service.
To understand the VOS as a spiritual discipline, it is necessary to examine its relationship to these different yogic paths, determining how they align with and diverge from HPB’s unique vision.
In many ways, The Voice of the Silence functions as a manual of raja yoga, the “royal path” of meditation and self-mastery. Raja yoga’s ultimate aim is to still the “fluctuating mind” (citta-vṛtti-nirodha), bringing the practitioner into direct communion with higher consciousness. The rigorous control of thoughts, emotions, and sensory perceptions is central to this process, allowing the aspirant to move beyond mental distraction into deep states of meditative absorption (dhyana) and eventually spiritual liberation (samadhi).
Blavatsky’s text mirrors this trajectory but with a crucial distinction: the goal is not merely individual enlightenment but the attainment of wisdom in order to serve others. The three stages described in the VOS—the Hall of Ignorance, the Hall of Learning, and the Hall of Wisdom—are reminiscent of raja yoga’s progressive journey through mental purification, meditative absorption, and spiritual realization. Yet unlike with the kaivalya (absolute liberation) sought in classical raja yoga, Blavatsky’s aspirant does not dissolve into formless bliss but instead returns life after life to assist all beings on the path to enlightenment.
Moreover, the VOS aligns with raja yoga in its strict ethical discipline. As a manual of instructions, the text demands intense inner purification, which corresponds to the yamas (ethical restraints) and niyamas (spiritual observances) of Patanjali’s system. The aspirant must cultivate virtues such as truthfulness, self-restraint, and nonattachment, all of which are mandatory for deeper spiritual insight. However, Blavatsky’s inclusion of the paramitas (perfections) from Mahayana Buddhism expands this ethical framework beyond the self-focused morality of classical yoga, emphasizing altruism and self-sacrifice as fundamental components of spiritual progress.
In essence, The Voice of the Silence is a transformed raja yoga—one that does not end in isolated liberation but in many lifetimes of compassionate service. Meditation and self-mastery are still paramount, but they are placed within a larger spiritual mission, requiring the yogi to return to the world rather than escape from it.
While the VOS is grounded in raja yoga’s inner discipline, it is equally aligned with karma yoga, the yoga of action and selfless service. In Hindu philosophy, karma yoga is the path by which the practitioner performs all actions without attachment to personal reward, dedicating them instead to the divine or to the greater good. This selfless engagement with the world is precisely what the VOS demands of its aspirant.
The bodhisattva ideal in the VOS is, in many ways, the highest expression of karma yoga. Rather than seeking nirvana (final liberation) for oneself, the bodhisattva renounces it until all beings are free from suffering. Blavatsky’s text is unequivocal in rejecting the aim of the pratyeka-buddha—one who attains enlightenment but does not return to aid others. This, she suggests, is a lesser path, one rooted in a kind of spiritual selfishness rather than true wisdom. Instead, the ideal is the bodhisattva, who embodies both the detachment of a yogi and the active compassion of a servant-leader.
Here the VOS diverges significantly from the traditional goals of jnana yoga, which seeks absolute knowledge and final liberation from the cycle of rebirth (samsara). Classical jnana yoga often sees the world as illusory (maya). The highest realization comes in the form of transcending all identification with the body, mind, and personal existence.
The VOS, however, insists that the world—while impermanent—is not to be abandoned but transformed through wisdom and selfless, altruistic service. The true adept does not flee to the absolute but returns to guide others through the illusion, much like Avalokiteshvara, the compassionate bodhisattva of Mahayana Buddhism.
Therefore, while raja yoga provides the internal discipline, karma yoga provides the external expression. In the VOS, the true adept is both a master of meditation and a selfless servant of humanity.
Blavatsky’s Voice of the Silence offers a unique synthesis of raja yoga and karma yoga, reinterpreted through the many-lives framework of Theosophy and Mahayana Buddhism. While it retains the self-mastery and meditative depth of classical raja yoga, it transforms the end goal from personal liberation to compassionate return. Rather than seeking an escape from the cycle of birth and death, the true adept in the VOS embraces innumerable lifetimes of service, working tirelessly until all beings are free from suffering.
In this way, The Voice of the Silence can be seen as a new paradigm of yoga—one where enlightenment is not the end, but the beginning of a greater mission.
Peggy Heubel is secretary of the Theosophical Society in Oakland, California, and a member of the board of directors of the TSA.
Glossary of Yogic Terms
Bodhisattva (compassionate enlightened being). One who renounces personal nirvana to assist all sentient beings.
Buddhi-manas (higher mind and intuitive wisdom). The purified aspect of intellect that perceives truth beyond material knowledge.
Dhyana (meditative absorption). A state of deep concentration leading to higher awareness.
Kaivalya (detachment; separation). Spiritual liberation conceived as absolute isolation.
Niyamas (spiritual observances). Personal disciplines such as purity, contentment, self-study, spiritual effort, and surrender to the divine.
Paramitas (perfections). The virtues, such as generosity, discipline, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom, that are central to Mahayana Buddhist practice.
Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses). Turning inward to detach from external distractions and deepen meditative focus.
Pratyeka-buddha (“self-enlightened one”). A being who attains liberation but does not return to help others; criticized in The Voice of the Silence.
Samadhi (spiritual absorption or enlightenment). The culmination of meditation wherein the practitioner experiences union with the higher self or divine consciousness.
Yamas (ethical restraints). Principles of self-discipline, including nonviolence, truthfulness, nonstealing, moderation, celibacy, and nonpossessiveness.