The World is Brahman

Nidagha: "Master, should I leave this world to find liberation? The sages speak of renouncing all."

Ribhu: "What will you renounce, Nidagha? And who will renounce it?"

Nidagha: "I will renounce my home, my possessions, my attachments."

Ribhu: "Can you renounce space? Can you step outside of existence? The world you wish to leave is Brahman. You cannot escape what you are."

Nidagha: "But the world causes suffering. It traps the soul."

Ribhu: "There is no soul trapped in a world. There is only Brahman appearing as soul-and-world. A wave cannot escape the ocean by trying harder to be separate from it."

Nidagha: "Then what should I do with the world?"

Ribhu: "Nothing. See it as it is. The pot is clay. The ornament is gold. The world is Brahman. You do not need to break the pot to find clay—you need only to see that it was always clay."

Nidagha: "So I need not change anything?"

Ribhu: "Change implies something exists that is not Brahman and must become Brahman. This is the fundamental error. The world does not need transformation. Your seeing needs correction. When you see gold, the ornament troubles you no more."

Nidagha: "And all these forms, these names, these experiences?"

Ribhu: "Names are Brahman naming. Forms are Brahman forming. Experiences are Brahman experiencing. There is no world apart from Brahman requiring your renunciation or acceptance. Only Brahman remains, playing as many."