Neti Neti, Not this, Not that · Shangriballa

Neti Neti, Not this, Not that

The practice of Neti, Neti isn't about rejecting the world or denying your experience. Instead, it's a profound exploration of what you truly are by gently letting go of what you are not. It’s an ancient yet entirely modern approach to self-discovery, deeply rooted in the Advaita

Vedanta tradition.

Think of it not as a process of adding something new to yourself, but rather as shedding layers of misunderstanding. We often define ourselves by our bodies, our thoughts, our emotions, our roles in life. But Neti, Neti—meaning "not this, not that"—invites you to question these identifications. It's not about becoming an intellectual skeptic or embracing nihilism; it’s about using discernment to see through the illusions that obscure your true nature.

The sages of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad understood this deeply, proclaiming, "Neti, neti—It is not this, it is not that. It is ungraspable, for it is not grasped; indestructible, for it is not destroyed…" This isn't a dismissal of reality; it's a recognition that the ultimate Self cannot be captured by language or concept. Language defines by setting boundaries, but the Self is prior to all distinctions, beyond all duality.

So, Neti, Neti isn't a denial of your existence, but a clearing away of all that limits your understanding of it. It’s about releasing every idea the mind clings to as "me," until what remains is not an object you can grasp, but pure, self-illuminating Awareness.

The logic is beautifully simple: Anything you can perceive, anything that comes and goes, cannot be what you fundamentally are. Your thoughts arise and dissolve. Your emotions shift like clouds. Your body changes and ages. Even the sense of "I" as a separate ego—the doer, the thinker, the one who suffers—is something that appears within your Awareness and vanishes in deep sleep. What then, is the unchanging constant that observes all these fleeting phenomena?

This is precisely where Neti, Neti points: not towards an empty void, but towards the only "no-thing" that is eternally present—pure Being. Your true Self isn't found through accumulation or self-improvement; it's revealed through the process of removal. As Adi Shankaracharya so succinctly put it, "Brahman is known when the ego is destroyed." This isn't a poetic fancy; it's a precise spiritual instruction. The ego isn't a solid entity; it’s a mistaken identification with temporary forms. When your attention stops clinging to name, form, personal history, or societal roles, what remains is the formless witness, untouched by the flux of becoming.

Yet, here lies the beautiful paradox: what Neti, Neti reveals is not separate from anything. It is the silent essence of every thought, every sensation, the very light by which everything is seen. You are not the object of your perception, yet you are not separate from the field in which all objects appear. This practice doesn't lead to separation but to a profound sense of seamless unity. It's like a wave dissolving back into the ocean, realizing it was always the ocean itself.

The journey of Neti, Neti isn't an escape from the world, but a deeper engagement with it—not by running away, but by seeing clearly. "Not this. Not that." And in its most subtle application, "Not even the one who says 'not this.'" Until what is left cannot be spoken, cannot be intellectually known, yet is undeniably present—more intimate than your breath, closer than your very thoughts.

The Freedom of Unknowing

Ultimately, Neti, Neti is not about negation; it's about liberation. It meticulously cuts away falsehoods without creating new beliefs to cling to. It guides you to the groundless ground of Being, not by defining what you are, but by releasing every single thing you are not. And when all masks are dropped, when all forms are relinquished, the Self remains—not as an object to be found, but as the very light of knowing itself. The invitation here is not to merely understand this concept, but to become utterly silent, and truly see.

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