A silent voice

It seems a very long time ago now, before the launch of the Silent Eye, that I wrote “Coming Through”, about the way we are sometimes guided by unseen hands. It was an attempt to describe what drives the work forward and how we experience that. Not just within the School, but all of us, throughout our lives, will feel that touch. There are many names and expressions used for this experience, perhaps the most frequent and generic term is ‘contact’ and while the Silent Eye is a ‘contacted school’, those words mean nothing to those outside of the esoteric world.

It is an awkward subject to address, as those who have not consciously felt that touch may well look askance at the weirdos and dismiss the whole concept as lunacy. Those who have felt it may have formed their own theories and come to a personal understanding, couched within a frame of reference that accords with their own belief system. It is, unquestionably, an intimate and subjective process that can neither be proved nor shared… except, perhaps, by the eventual results and in esoteric terms, that is always a good measure. It is one where only the individual can really ‘Know’ the truth of the experience.

For most of us contact is simply that… a Knowing. An imperative, a touch on mind, heart and soul. For many it is felt as ‘inspiration’. There are seldom visions or voices… few, indeed, are those who have these. Even among those who do feel that touch in this way, it may be simply the mind’s ability to rationalise the incredible by drawing pictures. It actually doesn’t matter. To those who feel that touch and recognise it, the ‘how’ is unimportant…it is perhaps the most real thing they will ever know.

Even for those who walk with that contact as part of their daily lives there is that balance of utter certainty on a level difficult to explain… and the occasional doubtful questioning of sanity or self-delusion. This, I think, is a good thing. A necessary one.

It can be the most uncomfortable thing in the world to look at oneself with absolute honesty, yet it is one of the prime requirements in the Mysteries… ‘Know Thyself’. It would be easy to simply say, especially to oneself, “I was told to…”. It can be an abrogation of responsibility as much as a statement of truth. The sanity in these things lies with discernment, honesty and self-knowledge. For those who are in any position of authority, personal or public, how easy it could be to mould events to the desires of the personality, justifying actions by ascribing them to that inner, higher ‘voice’… when in reality it is the voice of the ego.

For most people, however, ‘contact’ is a deeply personal thing and never manifests beyond the private confines of the mind and heart. Many may never be aware of it at a level more conscious than conscience, inspiration or the touch of a comforting, ethereal hand. For those who are plucked from their cherished normality by this inner imperative and driven to take unexpected directions in their lives there is no question of the reality involved.

Looking at those I know who have felt and accepted this inner call, some of them decades ago, there are a few things all seem to have in common. It is primarily a call to service. If accepted, it seems to turn lives upside down and inside out. From the profound changes in perspective at a very personal level, to the outer, sometimes more visible, changes that may occur. Many are, in one way or another, put ‘through the mill’ … as if through the fires of a forge and under the hammer of the smith that shapes the blade or tool for purpose. All, I think, share a common commitment and are willing to lay all that they are before the Light they serve, by whatever name they know It. And although sacrifice is not always required, the willingness, I think, is.

In the Silent Eye we teach that the student should accept nothing just because it is told or taught. The acceptance must be based on personal experience. Some things are so abstract that this might seem a tall order, but sometimes that personal experience is very simple. When that certainty comes from nowhere, irrational, perhaps, seemingly illogical… the  intimate touch of infinity in heart and mind… you just Know.