Concept
Neti neti
Overview
Neti Neti (Sanskrit : नेति नेति) is a Sanskrit expression which means "not this, not that", or "neither this, nor that" (neti is sandhi from na iti "not so"). It is found in the Upanishads and the Avadhuta Gita and constitutes an analytical meditation helping a person to understand the nature of Brahman by negating everything that is not Brahman. One of the key elements of Jnana Yoga practice is often a "neti neti search". The purpose of the exercise is to negate all objects of consciousness, including thoughts and the mind, and to realize non-dual awareness.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
The Being as such of Quality, contrasted with this reference to somewhat else, is Being-by-self. The foundation of all determinateness is negation (as Spinoza says, _Omnis determinatio est negatio_). The unreflecting observer supposes that determinate things are merely positive, and pins them down under the form of being.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Logic of Hegel
States what Neti neti is.
But it has no verb or other grammatical form allied to it. The expressions 'affection of the soul,' 'modification of the ego,' are clumsy, like 'state of consciousness,' and they implicitly assert theories which it is not well to embody in terminology before they have been openly discussed and approved. 'Idea' is a good vague neutral word, and was by Locke employed in the broadest generic way; but notwithstanding…
William James, The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1
Close in meaning to Neti neti; the term itself is not named.
With living beings stupidity takes its origin in this. The first quality is thus the unity with itself; the second the manifestation or the principle of difference, desire, disunion, as wickedness; the third, however, is mere negation, as in mythology it is concretely represented in the form of Siva, Mahadeva, or Maheswara, the god of change or destruction. As far as we are concerned, the important distinction is…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy
Close in meaning to Neti neti; the term itself is not named.
Related ideas
- Ātman (Hinduism)
- Vishishtadvaita
- Ramanuja
- Brahma Sutras
- Adi Shankara
- Brahman
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
- Sanskrit
- Jiva
- Gaudapada
- Wikisource
- Mahāvākyas
- International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration
- Jñāna
- Upanishads
- SUNY Press
- Maṇḍana Miśra
- Śabara
Place in the tradition
Part of Philosophy of religion.