Tributes by Eminent Theosophists on the Paradigm of Mahayana Buddhism. The Voice of The Silence, though it does not claim to be the utterance of a Buddha, is nevertheless akin to the sutra rather to the śāstra group of texts. . . . It seeks more to inspire than to instruct, appeals to the heart rather than to the head. To make use of De Quincey’s classification, it belongs not to the literature of information, the purpose of which is to augment knowledge, but to the literature of power, the aim of which is to move. So important is a clear understanding of the difference not merely between the kinds of effect they are calculated to produce and the organs upon which they are intended to act, that, according to The Voice of The Silence itself, the disciple at the very outset of his quest is admonished, “Learn above all to separate Head-learning from Soul-wisdom, the ‘Eye’ from the ‘Heart doctrine.’” — Bhikshu Sangarakshita All being desire liberation from misery. Seek, therefore, for the causes of misery and expunge them. By entering on the path, liberation from misery is attained. Exhort, then, all beings to enter the path. — IXth Panchen Lama Madame Blavatsky had a profound knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, and the doctrines she promulgated were those of many great teachers. This book is like a call to men to forsake desire, dispel every evil thought, and enter the true Path. — B.T .Chang The only true exposition in English of the Heart Doctrine of the Mahāyāna and its noble ideal of self-sacrifice for humanity. — Alice Leighton Cleather & Basil Crump Here is the real Mahāyāna Buddhism. — D.T. Suzuki It gave us a blazing vision of the immensity of Mahāyāna Buddhism when our knowledge so far was exclusively of the Theravada, excepting HPB’s Voice of The Silence. — Christmas Humphreys There is a verge of the mind which these things haunt; and whispers therefrom mingle with the operations of our understanding, even as the waters of the infinite ocean send their waves to break among the pebbles that lie upon our shores. . . . We recognize the passwords to the mystical region as we hear them, but we cannot use them ourselves; it alone has the keeping of “the password primeval.” — William James [Having] bathed in these I marvelled what I could have done to merit birth in an age wherein such wisdom was on offer to all who could beg, borrow or steal a copy of those works. — George W. Russell I believe that this book has strongly influenced many sincere seekers and aspirants to the wisdom and compassion of the Bodhisattva Path. — XIVth Dalai Lama. It is also one of her (H.P. Blavatsky’s) most important writings, being a guidebook for those dedicated to achieving enlightenment through altruistic service to humanity. — Boris de Zirkoff This is a work intended for the aspirant after true, or self, knowledge, aiming to play a significant part in helping mankind along its arduous evolutionary path to ultimate self-redemption and liberation. — Geoffrey A. Farthing Pledge of Kwan Yin,” the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. Never will I seek nor perceive private individual salvation; Never will I enter into final peace alone; But forever and everywhere will I live and strive For the redemption of every creature throughout the world. — Sylvia Cranston

THE following pages are derived from "The Book of the Golden Precepts," one of the works put into the hands of mystic students in the East. The knowledge of them is obligatory in that school, the teachings of which are accepted by many Theosophists. Therefore, as I know many of these Precepts by heart, the work of translating has been relatively an easy task for me. It is well known that, in India, the methods of psychic development differ with the Gurus (teachers or masters), not only because of their belonging to different schools of philosophy, of which there are six, but because every Guru has his own system, which he generally keeps very secret. But beyond the Himalayas the method in the Esoteric Schools does not differ, unless the Guru is simply a Lama, but little more learned than those he teaches. The work from which I here translate forms part of the same series as that from which the "Stanzas" of the Book of Dzyan were taken, on which the Secret Doctrine is based. Together with the great mystic work called Paramartha, which, the legend of Nagarjuna tells us, was delivered to the great Arhat by the Nagas or "Serpents" (in truth a name given to the ancient Initiates), the Book of the Golden Precepts claims the same origin. Yet its maxims and ideas, however noble and original, are often found under different forms in Sanskrit works, such as the Dnyaneshvari, that superb mystic treatise in which Krishna describes to Arjuna in glowing colors the condition of a fully illumined Yogi; and again in certain Upanishads. This is but natural, since most, if not all, of the greatest Arhats, the first followers of Gautama Buddha were Hindus and Aryans, not Mongolians, especially those who emigrated into Tibet. The works left by Aryasanga alone are very numerous.