Etty Hillesum - Book Report/Review Example

Etty Hillesum: Living a Transcendental Life Etty Hillesum, in a young age, had experienced the horrors of World War II. But instead of letting these hardships stop her from achieving spiritual awakening, she used these struggles to help her understand the transcendent domain. Her dedication to learn that which was greatly profound within her and to confront the terrifying wickedness around her was encouraged by a yearning which transcends her own self. Fighting back hindrances, problems, and distractions, she finally understood that what was resting at the deepest recesses of her ‘self’ was strongly connected to a spiritual realm.

Hence, she believed that the reason for her being genuinely at peace is strongly linked to God (Hillesum 1985, 44):There is a really deep well inside me. And in it dwells God. Sometimes I am there too. But more often stones and grit block the well, and God is buried beneath. Then He must be dug out again. The challenges she faced in Amsterdam, and later on in Auschwitz, greatly transformed her because of her response to such challenges: she tried to discover the meaning of life. She did not try to escape, as she determinedly looked for purity, understanding, certainty, and the genuinely human life against the unkindness and cruelty that surrounded her and her loved ones.

While trying to find the meaning of life, she gained a spiritual awareness that surfaced, not from religious conventions or dogmas, but from a feeling of peacefulness within her. Through this she understood the meaning of life and realized that the miseries of the Jewish people could also be spiritually meaningful. She then began to integrate her spiritual realizations into actual practices and into her life. She meditated every morning for 30 minutes before going to work. Half an hour of physical work out was one of her everyday routines; hence by integrating this routine with spiritual practice she expected to be successful in reuniting the body and the spirit (Penzenstadler 1996, 108).

The objective of her meditation was to uncover her deepest self, “with none of that treacherous undergrowth to impede the view. So that something of ‘God’ can enter… and something of ‘Love’ too” (Hillesum 1985, 27). She was zealous about experiencing the truth with a pure understanding without fear, worry, and trivial desires. Etty Hillesum’s life grew deeper, meaningful, and peaceful because of her faith and her thoughtfulness to the spring of her love. She continued understanding that “there is no causal connection between people’s behavior and the love you feel for them… The fellow man himself [sic] has hardly anything to do with it” (Maas 2004, 126).

Everything that Etty Hillesum had experienced in her lifetime is also experienced by people of today: the war, violence, cruelty, indifference, racial discrimination, and misery. We can learn a lot from her ways, especially from how she perceived the evil things around her. She did not differentiate between ‘friend’ and ‘enemy’, and instead of seeing the Nazis as ‘wicked’ people she tried to question herself and understand her own wickedness. The world will be a better place if all of us will embrace these same principles.

It would be much suitable for all of us to follow her spiritual practices, especially the meditations before doing any strenuous activities in order for us to have the spiritual strength to face all the challenges that will come our way. Works CitedHillesum, Etty. An interrupted life: the diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943. Washington, DC: Washington Square Press, 1985. Print.Maas, Frans. Spirituality as Insight: Mystical Texts and Theological Reflections. Netherlands: Peeters Publishers, 2004. Print. Penzenstadler, Joan.

“Attentive to Transcendence: The Life of Etty Hillesum.” Magistra 2.1 (1996): 106+. Print.