“I was passionate,
filled with longing,
I searched
far and wide.
But the day
that the Truthful One
found me,
I was at home.
I searched for my Self
until I grew weary,
but no one,
I know now,
reaches the hidden knowledge
by means of effort.
In meditation,
I entered the love furnace,
burned away dust and dirt,
Then, absorbed in “Thou art This,”
I found the place of Wine.
There all the jars are filled,
but no one is left to drink.
As the sun of a new knowing rose,
I recognized the Self in me:
When I saw Him
dwelling in me,
I realized that
He was the Everything
and I was nothing.”
Lalla Ded (also known as Lalleshwari), 14th century Kashmir
Chorlton Unitarians 