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Neti neti, Sanskrit for 'not this, not this', comes from the Upanishads, ancient Hindu philosophical texts. It says that Brahman, the ultimate reality in this tradition, fits no description: whatever name you give it, it is more than that. The 8th-century philosopher Śaṅkara made it central to his Advaita, or 'non-dual', teaching.

Upanishads / Adi Shankara

PhilosophyReligion & Belief

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The phrase appears in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest Upanishads, in teachings given by the sage Yajnavalkya. Śaṅkara, often called Adi Shankara, used it as a method: since Brahman has no parts, qualities or edges the way ordinary things do, every positive description falls short, and setting each one aside brings the seeker closer. For Śaṅkara, Brahman was also the same as atman, a person's innermost self, so the method answered 'what am I?' as much as 'what is ultimate reality?'. Many religious traditions have used a similar approach, known in Christian and Jewish thought as negative theology: describing the divine only by what it is not.

Türkçe oku
Sanskritçede “bu değil, bu değil” anlamına gelen neti neti, eski Hint felsefe metinleri olan Upanişadlardan gelir. Bu geleneğe göre nihai gerçeklik olan Brahman hiçbir tanıma sığmaz: Ona hangi adı verirseniz verin, o addan fazlasıdır. 8. yüzyıl filozofu Şankara bu sözü Advaita, yani “ikiliksiz” öğretisinin merkezine koydu.

Bu söz, en eski Upanişadlardan biri olan Brihadaranyaka Upanişad'da, bilge Yacnavalkya'nın öğretilerinde geçer. Çoğu zaman Adi Şankara diye anılan Şankara, sözü bir yöntem olarak kullandı: Brahman'ın sıradan şeyler gibi parçaları, nitelikleri ya da sınırları yoktur; bu yüzden onu olumlu sözlerle tarif etme çabası hep eksik kalır ve her tanımı bir kenara koymak, arayanı ona biraz daha yaklaştırır. Şankara'ya göre Brahman, insanın en içteki benliği olan atman ile aynı şeydi; dolayısıyla bu yöntem “Nihai gerçeklik nedir?” sorusu kadar “Ben neyim?” sorusuna da cevap arıyordu. Pek çok dinî gelenek benzer bir yola başvurmuştur; Hristiyan ve Yahudi düşüncesinde buna olumsuz teoloji denir: Tanrı'yı yalnızca ne olmadığını söyleyerek anlatmak.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Neti neti
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