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"Not This, Not This" (Neti-Neti)

Strip away everything you can name — and what cannot be denied is your true self.

'Neti-neti' means 'not this, not this.' Because the ultimate reality cannot be captured by any concept, the Upaniṣads teach it by negation: it is not the body, not the mind, not any object you could point to. By peeling away everything the self is not, the seeker is pointed toward what cannot be named. It is both a teaching method and a contemplative practice.

How it traveled

  1. Vivekacūḍāmaṇi
    Śṛṅgeri (Sringeri) · 1400
    explains

Key passages(16)

Upadeśasāhasrī · Ādi Śaṅkara

Very high

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Very high

Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)

Very high

Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)

High

Spanda-kārikā · Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa

High

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Aṣṭāvakra-gītā · Aṣṭāvakra

High

Kaṭha Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Paramārthasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Kaṭha Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Moderate

Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Moderate

Vijñāna-bhairava · Anonymous (Bhairava Āgama / Tantra)

Moderate

Īśā Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Moderate

Śiva-stotrāvalī · Utpaladeva

Moderate

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Moderate