the Ship
Before a man begins to drink wine, he has before him the bottle and the cup and the wine. After he has drunk the wine, there is intoxication within him, and he forgets the bottle and the cup and even the act of pouring and drinking. There is then only a feeling within him.
“Similarly, before a man reaches the shore he is aware of the ship and the ocean and the storms. But once he has touched shore, there is only the shore before him and nothing else.
In a like manner, before man reaches God, he has the world before him. He uses the world like a ship as a means to reach God, and once he has reached God, there is only God and nothing else!