To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silent - Occultist Motto, Kabalist Axiom

This axiom, which Eliphas Levi wrote about, is quite prevalent in various contemporary occult schools. Blavatsky was one of the first to adopt it. I think that it is possible to draw a parallel with the four basic paths of yoga: Jnana Yoga (To Know), Karma Yoga (To dare), Bhakti Yoga (To will, follow, obey the divine will) and Raja Yoga (To be silent), see Yoga.)

 

“In order to DARE we must KNOW; in order to WILL, we must DARE; we must WILL to possess empire and to reign we must BE SILENT.” (Dogme et rituel de la haute magie, chapter 1)

I order to arrive at the sanctum regnum, that is at the science and the power of the mages, four things are indispensable: an intelligence enlightened by study, an audacity which nothing can stop, a will that nothing can break and a discretion that nothing can corrupt or intoxicate. (Le Grand Arcane ou l’occultisme dévoilé, 2, 6)

Let him remember the universal Kabalistic axiom. “To know, to dare, to will and be silent.” Let him read the impressive phrase translated by Eliphas Levi from the Book of Numbers in Vol. I of “Dogme de la Haute Magie,” p. 115. (Blavatsky, H. P.  The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett, T. Fisher Unwin ltd. London : Adelphi Terrace, 1925, p. 17)

 ’To dare, to will, to act and remain silent’’ is our motto as that of every Kabalist and Occultist (Jinarajadasa, C., ed. Letters from the Masters of Wisdom 1881-1888. Theosophical Publishing House. Adyar. 1919, letter 66).

Men possessed of such knowledge and exercising such powers patiently toiled for something better than the vain glory of a passing fame. Seeking it not, they became immortal, as do all who labor for the good of the race, forgetful of mean self. Illuminated with the light of eternal truth, these rich-poor alchemists fixed their attention upon the things that lie beyond the common ken, recognizing nothing inscrutable but the First Cause, and finding no question unsolvable. To dare, to know, to will, and remain silent, was their constant rule; to be beneficent, unselfish, and unpretending, were, with them, spontaneous impulses. Disdaining the rewards of petty traffic, spurning wealth, luxury, pomp, and worldly power, they aspired to knowledge as the most satisfying of all acquisitions. They esteemed poverty, hunger, toil, and the evil report of men, as none too great a price to pay for its achievement. They, who might have lain on downy, velvet-covered beds, suffered themselves to die in hospitals and by the wayside, rather than debase their souls and allow the profane cupidity of those who tempted them to triumph over their sacred vows. The lives of Paracelsus, Cornelius Agrippa, and Philalethes are too well known to repeat the old, sad story. (Blavatsky, H. P. Isis Unveiled I, 66-67)

TO DARE, TO WILL, TO ACHIEVE AND KEEP SILENT is the motto of the true Occultist, from the first adept of our fifth Race down to the last Rosecroix. True Occultism, i.e., genuine Raj-Yoga powers, are not pompously boasted of, and advertised in “Dailies” and monthlies, like Beecham’s pills or Pears’ soap. “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes; for the wise man feareth and keeps silent, but the fool layeth open his folly.”(Isaiah, 5,21) (Blavatsky, H. P. The Year Is Dead, Long Live The Year! Lucifer, January, 1889) 

This is but natural. Whatever they be, they are men of the modern science even before they are spiritualists, and if not all, some of them at any rate would rather give up their connection with, and belief in, mediums and spirits, than certain of the great dogmas of orthodox, exact science. And they would have to give up not a few of these were they to turn Occultists and approach the threshold of THE MYSTERY in a right spirit of enquiry.

It is this difficulty that lies at the root of the recent troubles of Theosophy; and a few words upon the subject will not be out of season, the more so as the whole question lies in a nut-shell. Those Theosophists who are not Occultists cannot help the investigators, let alone the men of science. Those who are Occultists work on certain lines that they dare not trespass. Their mouth is closed; their explanations and demonstrations are limited. What can they do? Science will never be satisfied with a half-explanation.

To know, to dare, to will and to remain silent—is so well known as the motto of the Kabbalists, that to repeat it here may perhaps seem superfluous. Still it may act as a reminder. As it is, we have either said too much, or too little. I am very much afraid it is the former. If so, then we have atoned for it, for we were the first to suffer for saying too much. Even that little might have placed us in worse difficulties hardly a quarter of a century ago. (H. P. Blavatsky, Occult or Exact Science?  The Theosophist, April-May, 1886; CW 7, 77-78)