Customer Reviews

Markings

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought my first copy of Dag Hammarskjold's book of meditations, Markings, shortly after its release in the early 1960's. It was a strange and haunting book and left me deeply affected. Hammarskjold, for many years the Secretary General of the United Nations - at a time when there was still high hope for the U.N. to eliminate war and improve human welfare around the globe - wrote this journal of spiritual search and dispair in apparent recognition of his failure to achieve the high goals he aspired to. I forget who I gave that first book to, but I have since purchased and given away many copies of this book. There is much that all of us modern, media drugged folks can learn from the insights he penned in his dark moments. It is both uplifting to realize the depth of soul that can exist behind public action and at the same time depressing to recognize that no amount of fame or power will necessarily bring happiness or overcome one's sense of isolation in the universe.

This is not a book one can just sit down and read. It is, as the title suggests, a journal of isolated notes or 'Markings' that Hammarskjold made over a long period of time. Many similar ideas and themes are repeated in different words throughout the book and the reader really has to pause frequently to think about what he has read. This is not an uplifting book but ultimately it is a very moving one, and to the extent that it encourages similar meditations from the reader, potentially a very valuable one as well. I highly recommend this book for those hours when a reader wants to turn inward and shine a light on what is really meaningful in life.

I like this book. It captures the innermost struggles and thoughts of a man who achieved greatness in many senses. Dag Hammarskjold's musings illuminate that even people of worldly importance wrestle with the same internal conflicts that the rest of mankind does, when we take the time to reflect. That a man as busy as the U.N. Secretary General took the time to engage in such introspection speaks highly of his humility and character.

Markings has given me inspiration to continue exploring my own innermost struggles through journaling and taking counsel with my conscience on long runs. If we could all emulate Hammarskjold's ability to capture the essence of a moment, feeling or internal conflict, we would probably be more at peace with the world and ourselves. Highly recommended for any wishing to peer into the thoughts of a philosophical leader.

Over the years, in this collection of personal reflections and meditations, I have slowly learned, as Hammarskjold did, "the explanation of how man should live a life of active social service in full harmony with himself as a member of the community of the spirit." Hammarskjold found his answer "in the writings of those great medieval mystics for whom 'self-surrender' had been the way to self-realization, and who in 'singleness of mind' and 'inwardness' had found strength to say Yes to every demand which the needs of their neighbors made them face, and to say Yes also to every fate life had in store for them ... Love--that much misused and misinterpreted word--for them meant simply an overflowing of the strength with which they felt themselves filled when living in true self-oblivion. And this love found natural expression in an unhesitant fulfillment of duty and an unreserved acceptance of life, whatever it brought them personally of toil, suffering--or happiness."

This is my favorite quote from the entire book, one to which I have returned many times over the years, but there are many more treasures to be found in this collection. W.H. Auden's foreword I found deeply insightful, and I have returned to it as well many times over the years. How to reconcile our twentieth-century life with what is truly asked of us, when we care to face those questions, is an overarching concern throughout this book. Time and again, Hammarskjold challenges himself, and by sharing in his spiritual struggles, we challenge ourselves as well by meditating on his reflections. His writing is deeply inspiring and sobering, and I feel a sense of grateful humility at the end of each rereading of it. This is a book to keep by your bedside, to turn to when you are in despair and need some soul-strengthening.

Although a man of worldly success, Dag Hammarskjold gives to us in his own words, his in-depth search for the meaning of life. Upon his death in 1961, his request is to have his diary published if it proves to others to be worthy of publishing. This diary is rich with the struggle to live his life without the benefit of thanksgiving from his peers. His deep conviction, which comes after much search and struggle, is to lay down his life for others, no matter the consequence, the praise, the outcome. To live each day by giving up the self and rising above to meet the other on his/her journey. Although Dag Hammarskjold did indeed receive much praise and gratitude as Secretary General for the United Nations, he realized deep down that this was not the true focus of his life but to give without the idea of getting anything in return, this is the real self rising, the spirit of God. Many have given to us "this road less traveled" by their exemplary life: Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, Francis of Assisi, Meister Eckhart, who is quoted in the introduction to Markings: " Only the hand which erases can write the true thing", Simone Weil, Mother Teresa, Dalai Lama and many other's whose lives are lived in this way but with no recognition. It is a humble way to live with sometimes having to turn the other cheek but the letting go of the ego and the releasing of God's spirit is a gift worthy of the sacrifice.

As a single man, Hammarskjold's legacy was in his work, including the recorded ideas he left. This autobiographical glimpse of the man allows the reader to empathize with the loneliness of growing old without a mate. Although his life ended on less than desirable terms, there are some positives in his story as well. Hammarskjold made the most of the hand he was dealt in life. One can see an evolution of his thoughts over time. The book starts somewhat chaotic, but to the patient reader, the growth that emerges is worth the struggle of reaching the climax.

Various other thinkers are quoted in his "markings." Sometimes it's a stream of consciousness type reflection that is recorded.

Consider this "marking" from 1956, "We act in faith--and miracles occur...Faith is, faith creates, faith carries."

Here's another jewel from the following year: "We have to acquire a peace and balance of mind such that we give every word of criticism its due weight, and humble ourselves before every word of praise."

And another excerpt: "In any human situation, it is cheating not to be, at every moment, one's best."

To conclude this review here are some final thoughts that show the power of his concluding reflections:
"...He (God) is wholly in all you meet...
...each of your acts is an act of creation...
...everything, therefore, has a meaning. So live, then, that you may use what has been put into your hand..."

Upon his tragic death in September 1961, Hammarskjöld left his diary in the care of a friend, saying only that if the friend thought there was material therein worth publishing, then he was entitled to do so.

In the starkest of terms, this book represents a man's search for meaning, faith, virtue, and the Way. He does not engage in fatuous comfort, nor is any illusion created that life is intended to be simple. He does not indulge in the (far too common, to my mind) practice of lamenting his own humanity. Instead, in both the tradition of the Stoicists and Kierkegaard, he embraces it, and looks for the faith and the courage to utilise his capacities to their fullest extent.

This is also a work of universal relevance: there is truly much in here worth sharing. This is the one book that stays by my bed. The faith, simplicity, care and stoicism are deeply touching. This I find to be a wonderful book...largely for helping us to reconcile the world as it is, with the world as it needs to be, for reminding us to take joy in our burdens, and not to lament our transitory nature. As near as I have ever found, Hammarskjöld's thoughts encapsulate what I believe it is to be human.

This is an inspiring, moving, remarkable book written by a 20th century man who struggled with making his every day life fit with his spiritual beliefs.

This summer I kept feeling that I should read this book again (first read it some 20 years ago). I had little memory of what it was about, just that I knew it was written by someone who was an important world leader. He was Secretary-General to the United Nations and died on the way to Northern Rhodesia in 1961, on his way to negotiate a cease fire between the UN and Katanga forces.

This book tells almost nothing of his daily work, or of his thoughts about world events. Instead, it focuses on his struggle and changing relationship with God.

Excerpts are from his diary, starting when he was a young man in 1925 and ending just a few months before his death at the (to me!) tender age of 57.

A reviewer here made comments about this being thoughts of a socialist and athiest -- clearly he did not read the book. The writings inside this awe inspiring book are from a man deeply and directly talking to his God. His concerns are for others, not for himself.

When I read the book, I realized some part of me must have remembered this deep connection with God, something I, too, have longed for and have found at times (when I am open to receive!) Dag Hammersjold had been filed in my subconscious as a mentor, a teacher I could return to when I could better understand what his words were expressing.

This book is a wonder to experience -- what a privilege to have been allowed to come so close to his thoughts, his soul, his own experiential experience of the Divine. It is not intended to provoke thoughts and philosophical wonderings within the mind of the reader, but instead to offer a view of someone who is connecting their soul rather than their mind, with God. Dag Hammersjold was a mystic - not a new agey kind of a guy, but a Christian mystic of the 20th century (see Thomas Kelly's books, Thomas Merton's books, and others).

His diary, unlike Kelly's writings, is not filled with the joy of his spiritual connection with God -- he struggled painfully with the awareness of his own human imperfections and shortcomings. I only hope that in his last moments, he came to realize more peace and to accept and experience, first hand, God's love for him.

(The only downside to this book is that the printing is old - the cover was brand new but the words are fuzzy as if they were copied from a copy...)

I have found this book to be a pleasant read. The reason that I give it 3 stars is because I feel the book lacks focus. Without a clear purpose or direction, I lack a true spiritual involvement. Others may feel differently. Dag Hammarskjöld's (1905-1961) leadership at the UN propelled him into that special spotlight of a world diplomat for the cause of peace. His book of meditations has given him further stature as one of the twentieth century's most noted spiritual pilgrims. I enjoyed discovering the way in which Mr Hammarskjöld struggled with imposing his spiritual understanding onto the world stage. Although I do not participate at the same world level, nor have the onerous decisions which he bore, I too have difficulty at times resolving my spiritual values with my activities and responsibilities. Hammarskjöld writes, "I don't know Who -- or what -- put the question, I don't know when it was put. I don't even remember answering. But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone -- or Something -- and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self- surrender, had a goal." "From that moment I have known what it means 'not to look back,' and 'To take no thought for the morrow.'" "As I continued along the Way, I learned, step by step, word by word, that behind every saying in the Gospels stands one man and one man's experience. Also behind the prayer that the cup might pass from him and his promise to drink it. Also behind each of the words from the Cross." If you are interested to learn the thoughts of a dedicated public servant as he attempted to live by his spiritual values, this book will be interesting to you.

Reading the posted reviews can give someone an idea of what a great treasure this book. Wouldn't be without it, as I find after many years I still get something fresh at each reading. He was incredibly loved by the UN staff, and the pages of Markings give you real insight as to why this was. And admirable man, an admirable book. Certainly a book to be re-read NOW -- as the world is going so terrible wrong -- if we are to learn what the path of righteousness is all about. A true reflection that believes in loving your neighbor as yourself and loving God above all things.

This is the most illuminating book I have ever read, bar none. I have gone through over twenty copies in the past 15 years as I find them, order more, and hand them out to my loved ones or leave them in places for others to 'discover'. I learned about this book in high school and have turned to it countless times over the years in good times and in bad, over and over, and it is like a diamond - each time that I open it I am privy to another sparkle.

Also, over the years, I have learned more and more about Dag Hammarskjold. I have since read his biography by Urquhart and other pieces of a biographical nature by other Hammarskjold fans and devotees. His example, as a civil servant and soldier of peace, have inspired my own pacifism, and his example has led me to more 'vistas of insight' than any other.

Dag Hammarskjold was a unprepossessing Swedish civil servant when his name was selected to and vetted and eventually elected to become the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. Kofi Annan, a successor of his, called him the 'lodestar' of his profession. He did more to build the stability and future of a peaceful world than anyone I am aware of before or since. And without fanfare.

But his was a lonely existence, punctuated with episodes of depression and spiritual yearning as he struggled to make sense of his duty and life. He thought about death often; it is reflected in this, his most intimate and searching journal. It was only published after his death while on a mission of peace to the Congo. He died in a fireball over an Africa he was trying desperately to understand, and heal. He died too early. He is mourned by those who knew him, friends and enemies - they all attended his funeral and said words that surely he would never have expected. I urge anyone who has read this book to find and read his biography by Urquhart and other books that analyze his journal, like the 'White Book' and others. Let's raise awareness and interest and get another biography published.

'Markings' is a fine book, originally a bestseller when it was released, that anyone of any denomination can find solace within it's pages.