THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE
73. Unless thou hear’st, thou canst not see. Unless thou
seest, thou canst not hear. To hear and see, this is the
second stage.
This is an obscure verse. It implies that the qualities of
fire and Spirit commingle to reach the second stage. There
is evidently a verse missing, or rather omitted, as may be
understood by the row of dots; this presumably refers to the
third stage. This third stage may be found by the discern-
ing in Liber 831.
74. When the Disciple sees and hears, and when he smells
and tastes, eyes closed, ears shut, with mouth and nostrils
stopped; when the four senses blend and ready are to pass
into the fifth, that of the inner touch—then into stage the
fourth he hath passed on.
The practice indicated in verse 74 is described in most
books upon the Tatwas. The orifices of the face being cov-
ered with the fingers, the senses take on a new shape.
75. And in the fifth, O slayer of thy thoughts, all these
have to be killed beyond re-animation.
It is not sufficient to get rid temporarily of one’s obstacles.
One must seek out their roots and destroy them, so that they
can never rise again. This involves a very deep psychologi-
cal investigation, as a preliminary. But the whole matter is
one between the Self and its modifications, not at all between
the Instrument and its gates. To kill out the sense of sight
is not achieved by removing the eyes. This mistake has done
more to obscure the Path than any other, and has been re-
sponsible for endless misery.
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