Truth in a Nutshell

The Choice
Which do you desire,
wine or water?
Because you cannot have
both in the same cask.
In fact, it is difficult to enjoy wine from
a cask not entirely
free of its previous
liquid – which is why
pouring the water out
is necessary before you
should fill it with wine.
It’s the same for you:
pour out what distracts
you, and make room
for the single love
that alone fulfils.
_{Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness and Light}

***

I saw an ant carrying a grain of rice
And then she spied a lentil along the way.
She was puzzled how to carry both.
Kabir says she cannot –
She must take one and leave the other.
A devotee must choose between the Lord and the world…

Only that country is peaceful
Which knows one ruler, not many.
I have never seen happiness
In a kingdom where two hold authority
Nor in a person whose mind is divided.
_{Kabir, The Great Mystic}