neti neti
Neither this nor
Neti neti is a Sanskrit phrase meaning "not this, not this" or "neither this nor that," used in Hindu philosophy to approach the divine by systematically negating everything that can be named or described.
Since the ultimate reality (Brahman) transcends all concepts, one defines it by saying what it is not: not the body, not the mind, not any object of experience.
Through neti neti, the seeker strips away all that is transient to discover what remains.
- not thatRejection of specific outcome
- negationDenial or cancellation
- VedantaHindu philosophy of ultimate reality
- UpanishadsVedic philosophical scriptures
- atmanEternal inner self
self-inquiry · discrimination · dissolution · stripping · essence · witness · awareness · void · formless · beyond · transcendence · illusion · maya · unmanifest · absolute · ineffable · silence · meditation
neti netiaffirmation
Positive statement of truth
theophany · revelation · immanence · incarnation · anthropomorphism
neti netiaffirmation
Positive statement of truth
assertion · attribution · predication · descriptivism · nominalism