Neti-Neti - The Method of Negation

One of the most striking methods of the Upanishads is neti-neti — “not this, not this.” It appears in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as a way of pointing to the Self. Since atman is never an object, it cannot be positively described like “it is this” or “it is that.” Any description falls short, belonging to the realm of the negated. What remains when all is denied is the very subject that cannot be objectified — pure awareness.

The Upanishad divides the universe into two broad categories: the concrete (murta) and the abstract (amurta). The body belongs to the gross/concrete, the mind and thoughts to the subtle/abstract. Matter is concrete, energy abstract. Neti-neti negates both: one neti excludes the concrete universe, the other neti excludes the abstract.

The teaching does not reveal the Self as some new object once the negation is complete. Instead, it leaves behind the invariable subject — the witness, the one who is doing the negating. That which remains is the atman, evident as the “I am,” which can never be negated. Just as in deep sleep the absence of objects is witnessed, here too the negation leaves only the witnessing consciousness.

This approach underscores a central Vedantic point: the Self is never gained, only recognized. We do not need to “experience” atman, for we already are it. What is required is to remove false attributes and identifications. Neti-neti clears away the non-Self so the Self, ever the knower, shines unobstructed.

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Root & Meaning

• Neti-neti = “not this, not this” (from na iti repeated twice).

• A method of negating all that is not-Self (anatman) to arrive at Self.

Scriptural References

• Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (3.9.26): explicitly uses neti-neti to deny both the concrete and abstract universes.

• Kaivalya Upanishad: negates the five elements with na bhumir apo…, echoing the neti-neti method .

• Shankara's bhashyas: employ neti-neti as a central tool for removing superimpositions.

Traditional View

• Neti-neti is a method of negation, not of arriving at an object.

• It dismisses both gross and subtle phenomena as anatma.

• The Self is not negated, because the negator — the witness — cannot be objectified or denied .

Vedantic Analysis

• The murta (concrete) and amurta (abstract) universes are both mithya.

• By negating them, what remains is the one reality that cannot be negated: the witnessing Self.

• This Self is evident as “I am” — the knower, never the known.

• Neti-neti is thus not nihilism but a method to clear away error and reveal what is always present.

Common Misunderstandings

• Neti-neti as total denial: It is not denial of existence itself but of misidentification.

• Neti-neti as experience-hunting: The Self is not a special experience to be gained after negation.

• Neti-neti as infinite regression: The process ends with the Self, which cannot be negated.

Vedantic Resolution

Neti-neti teaches that all objects, gross and subtle, are not the Self. What cannot be negated — the knower, awareness itself — is the atman. Far from being nothing, it is the very fullness of being-consciousness in which the universe appears and disappears.