Advaita Vedanta · attributed to Shankaracharya
Nirvana Shatakam, stanza 1
Not mind, not intellect, not ego, not the elements
मनो बुद्ध्यहंकारचित्तानि नाहं न च श्रोत्रजिह्वे न च घ्राणनेत्रे। न च व्योम भूमिर्न तेजो न वायुश्चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम्॥
I am not mind, nor intellect, nor ego, nor thought. I am not ears, tongue, nose, or eyes. Neither sky, earth, fire, water, nor wind am I. I am Consciousness-Bliss. I am Shiva. I am Shiva.
What this verse points to
The hymn opens by discarding the entire inner apparatus — mind, intellect, ego, memory — then the senses, then the five elements. Everything a person would normally point to when asked what they are.
The refrain that closes each stanza does not name a replacement. Chidananda rupah shivoham asserts consciousness and bliss, not another object to identify with.
Sit with it
Recite the stanza slowly and pause at each negation long enough to actually check it against your experience.
About the Nirvana Shatakam
Also called Atma Shatakam — six stanzas, each stripping away another layer of what one takes oneself to be (mind, breath, emotion, virtue, relationship, form) and each closing with the same refrain: chidananda rupah shivoham, "I am consciousness and bliss; I am Shiva." It is a negation practice in the form of a hymn.
References to this text are given as stanza — here, 1.