January 2007

The following article is adapted from a talk , “The Kingdom of Human Speech,” presented at an interlodge symposium on “Universal Brotherhood and the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy”  held on June 10, 2006 in Philadelphia.

   The practical application of universal ideas is no better demonstrated than in the control of speech.  We communicate these ideas through speech; however, this faculty is one of the most difficult to control.  “Let us use with care those living messengers called words,” says W.Q. Judge.  The misuse of words is the origin of many frictions, obstacles and problems.  In order to control speech, it is important to know its origins.

   Everything springs from the unmanifested One Life.  The universal manifestation of the ever-concealed Deific Principle is motion or vibration.  All manifestation from the cosmic to the atomic is a focussing of vibratory motion.  Speech, as organized sound, is another manifestation and correlation of vibratory motion.  Hence it has creative power and force.  However, speech also has the capacity to convey ideas.

   “In the beginning was the Word.”  The Logos, or Word, is the outward expression of the effect of the cause which is ever- concealed.  With the ancient nations, the Logos was the Manifested Deity, the rendering into objective expression of the concealed divine thought.  Likewise, in the kingdom of human speech, the word, or speech, is the logos of
thought.  What we think is reflected in our speech.

   To pronounce a word is to evoke a thought and a potency.  Speech is a potent agent.  The words we speak are often unconsciously a blessing or a curse.  The science of mantras is based on a knowledge of the correspondences between sounds, numbers, figures and the superintending powers of nature, which in their combination and interaction make up
the forces of nature.

   One who truly understands and controls speech also realizes the importance of silence.  The soul abides in the silence.  One who lives according to the dictates of the soul learns to listen to the “Voice of the Silence.”  Out of the inner silence comes one’s strength.  There are secrets regarding invisible things which are perceptible to the spiritual mind, which cannot and should not be expressed by noisy or uttered speech.  Our thoughts gestate in the womb of silence.  They should not be brought forth into uttered speech until they have been fully matured.  Silence conserves the energy of speech and provides opportunity for deliberation and careful choice of words.

   How can we begin to control our speech? As with all human action, the proper control of speech begins in the mind with proper motive.

   “Words are things,” says W.Q. Judge;  “words become alive in proportion to the reality and purity of the thought that is behind
them.”  Unregulated thought leads to inaccurate speech.  This involves thinking about what we are going to say and the effect of those words.  Above all, refinement of mind produces refinement of speech and refinement of speech induces refinement of mind.  A daily reading aloud, in solitude, from a devotional book such as The Bhagavad- Gita may help prepare the proper mental atmosphere.

   “Gentle speech which causes no anxiety, which is truthful and friendly, and diligence in reading of the Scriptures, are said to be
austerities of speech.”     The Bhagavad-Gita

   “Sound, for one thing, is a tremendous Occult power; it is a stupendous force, of which the electricity generated by a million of
Niagaras could never counteract the smallest potentiality when directed with occult knowledge. Sound may be produced of such a nature that the pyramid of Cheops would be raised in the air, or that a dying man, nay, one at his last breath, would be revived and filled with new energy and vigour.

   “For Sound generates, or rather attracts together, the elements that produce an ozone, the fabrication of which is beyond chemistry, but within the limits of Alchemy.”         Secret Doctrine, I, page 555

   “If you find friction between yourself and another or others, never stop to think where they are wrong. Everybody is always wrong somewhere; and, apart from that, it would be easy enough to find their errors in your own imagination. Their errors, real or imaginary, are no concern of yours, are not your duty, and need not and should not be considered by you. For you to do so would be to make an occult ‘break.’ What concerns you and what is your duty is to discover wherein you have
been at fault. If, on finding friction of any sort, you will look back over your past thoughts and words and deeds, you will surely find you have erred, either directly or indirectly, by leaving something undone or unsaid. By living that way you will learn a good deal about yourself, while by looking for and noting the possible faults of others — no matter how greatly they have sinned, in your opinion — you will learn nothing and will merely prove yourself an ass.”
     

Letters That Have Helped Me

   “(Occult law) prescribes silence upon the knowledge of certain secret and invisible things perceptible only to the spiritual mind (the 6th sense), and which cannot be expressed by 'noisy' or uttered speech.”

      Secret Doctrine, I, page 95  

   “The first requirement of the spiritual life is to learn the value of silence. The conservation of spiritual energy demands that the
frittering away of soul-forces be stopped. There are very few avenues through which man's divinity goes to waste as through sound and speech. The dirt and dregs of our Kamic nature often find their outlet in useless or injurious speech....
In spiritual growth, learning and listening go together; they precede teaching and speaking.”
     

 Magazine Theosophy 46 page 320

   “Speech comes only with  knowledge. Attain to knowledge and you will attain to speech.”
    

Light on the Path

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