Etty Hillesum
Initiate – crossing the Threshold; saying “yes”
The Initiate
The path of the Initiate is the path to the Eternal Bridal Chamber of the Heart, where in its Holy Silence we find the Beloved.
The path is one that leads from fear to courage, from a darkness to light and from knowledge to wisdom. We turn away from the endless distractions and false promises and attachments from a world that seeks to keep us a prisoner of limitation and claim that expansive presence of light within.
We say yes to reality as it unfolds in our world – going beyond the likes and dislikes of the transient ego personality with its fears – desires – attachments. We begin to touch the stillness within – that well of Love where our true security lies.
To cross this threshold the Initiate – has to pass what has been known The Dwellers of the Threshold – those temptations and dualities that creates a fall back into egoic consciousness and the comfort of the known. Crossing the threshold means entering into the unknown that place where the limited mind cannot go. This is the death before you die. The initiate dies to the ego illusions, the false internal constructs and the conditioning fed by the personal and collective history. This is truly and auspicious moment when we face the death of the transient limited personal identity and fall into the arms of the Eternal Beloved of the Heart.
Meeting the Beloved in the Secret Chamber of the Heart
One of the most inspiring stories I have read recently is about Etty Hillesum. She lived during one of the most horrific times on the planet – The German Nazi occupation – She was a Jew living in The Netherlands whose life eventually ended in the gas oven of Auschwitz. Her short life – she was only 29 years old, was a journey into the Beloved of the Heart whom She realized with every breath was Her only salvation in a world gone mad.
Etty Hillesum (1914-1943)
(15 January 1914 – 30 November 1943) was the author of confessional letters and diaries which describe both her religious awakening and the persecutions of Jewish people in Amsterdam during the German occupation. In 1943 she was deported and killed in Auschwitz concentration camp.
The following excerpts are from Her journal.
” I had the profound thought that I carry my own climates and weather conditons within me and independent of those outside. The fact that one carries one’s own seasons and landscapes within suddenly gave me a tremendous feeling of strength and independence” (Etty, 446)
“I have already died a thousand deaths in a thousand concentration camps. I know about everything and am no longer appalled by the latest reports. In one way or another I know it all. And yet I find life beautiful and meaningful. From minute to minute.” (Etty, 456)
“I shall never be able to give thanks for my daily bread when I know that so many others do not have theirs. But I hope I shall be thankful…for something else. For having God dwell in me. And that has nothing to do with being well fed.” (Etty, 237)
By saying unconditional “yes” Etty demonstrated a unique and remarkable faith that was willing to endure the journey into unity no matter what events transpired nor what tests were put in her path. In the short time that she had left she had to embrace all the polarities that were playing out in her life and truly died into her deepest truth. She was carried by grace all the way to the end and her courage, her depth of surrender, her ability to have equanimity in the face of overwhelming cruelty is truly an example that will endure eternally.
My hope is that none of us would have to face the trial by fire that Etty had to face and endure, but her courage can be an inspiration to us in this dark and difficult world that is playing out before us. It is my prayer that each of us says “yes” – there is no time like the present moment to take up this journey into Love and Truth – surely this is the only work – the most important work to be done.
“Etty never looked back after giving her “yes” to God, leaving us a true example of a life lived with freedom of spirit as we see in this most remarkable reflection that comes from the depth of her being.”
“Offerings of Scented Jasmine”
“Somewhere inside me the jasmine continues to blossom undisturbed, just as profusely and delicately as ever it did. and it spreads its scent round the House in which You dwell, oh God. You can see, I look after You, I bring You not only my tears and my forebodings on this stormy, grey Sunday, morning, I even bring you scented jasmine.”
In this pulsing chamber of the Heart the Sacred Feminine and Sacred Masculine merge not as genders but as a Field of Luminous Frequencies that has the Power to set the world on fire and whose alchemical dance has potent implications for the evolution of all life on earth.
Song of the Initiate – a new vision of the 23rd Psalm
“My Beloved is with me
I want for no thing
He lays down with me in fertile pastures
besides flowing waters
He restores to me, my soul.
He guides me on the path that leads to my highest destiny.
and, even though I may walk through the darkest valley,
or face my deepest shadows –
I fear no harm
For He is always here –
enfolding me in Love.
He prepares a sumptuous feast for me
in the presence of my enemies –
and anoints my hair with fragrant oil.
My heart overflows.
Surely Goodness and Love
will follow me all the days of my life –
and I will dwell in His Sacred Heart,
for all Eternity.”
(prem)
The Teachings of the Scarlet Sutra is dedicated to the Red Goddess Lalita, Sophia, Mary Magdalene, the 64 Yoginis and The Red Priestesses from all Traditions throughout the Ages.
Prem Moodaley
Copyright 2019
Full Moon-February 2019
Resources:
The Unfolding Journey – The God Within: Etty Hillesum and Meister Eckhart – Novalis Publishing Inc. 2014.