All Paths Lead Nowhere

Nidagha: "Master, there are so many paths—devotion, knowledge, action, yoga. Some say one is higher, some another. Which path leads to Brahman?"

Ribhu: "All paths lead nowhere."

Nidagha: "Nowhere? Then all the scriptures, all the practices, all the teachings are useless?"

Ribhu: "Not useless—but not paths to Brahman either. You cannot walk to where you already are."

Nidagha: "But seekers find God through these practices."

Ribhu: "They find what was never lost. The path did not take them there—it exhausted their searching until they stopped and saw what was always present."

Nidagha: "Then why do masters teach paths?"

Ribhu: "Because seekers believe they are somewhere else and must travel. The path is for the belief, not for the reality. It is medicine for a disease you imagine you have."

Nidagha: "What happens when the search ends?"

Ribhu: "You see that you never moved. Brahman was here before the journey, during the journey, after the journey. The journey itself was Brahman journeying to Brahman."

Nidagha: "Is any path better than another?"

Ribhu: "The best path is the one that ends quickest—not in achievement, but in recognition. The one that shows you soonest that paths lead to the pathless."

Nidagha: "And if I had never searched?"

Ribhu: "You would still be Brahman. The search changed nothing real. It was Brahman playing hide and seek with itself. Now the game is seen for what it is. You can continue playing or rest in what you are. Both are Brahman."

Nidagha: "Then I rest."

Ribhu: "Then there is nothing more to say."