“That Reality [Brahman] is One, though, owing to illusion [Māyā], It appears to be multiple names and forms, attributes and changes. It always remains unchanged, like gold, which, while remaining one [and the same], is formed into various ornaments. You are that One, that Brahman. Meditate on this in your mind.” Shankara in Swami Abhayananda History of Mysticism: The Unchanging Testament Olympia, WA: Atma Books, 3rd. rev. ed., 1996, p. 195 (fb)

"Know that there is not a divine Essence on the one hand; and, on the other, essences proper to creatures which are independent and subsist by themselves, upon whom He has not conferred Being. There is nothing other than the divine Essence. It is this divine Essence, which, without multiplying or dividing, is the essence of creatures, and, reciprocally, the essences of creatures are identical to the divine Essence. This does not mean that God has His essence and that creatures also have their own essences and that the divine Essence unites itself with them, or mixes with them, or infuses itself in them. All these things are impossible and that is not at all what I wish to say." 'Abd al-Kader in Michel Chodkiewicz The Spiritual Writings of 'Abd al-Kader NY: SUNY, 1995, p. 81 (fb)