Advaita Vedanta · 1897–1981
Nisargadatta on neti neti
Find what you are not; what remains is the Self
To know what you are, you must first investigate and know what you are not. Discover all that you are not — body, senses, feelings, thoughts, time, space — and what remains is the Self.
What this verse points to
The classical method of negation, given as a practical sequence: body, senses, feelings, thoughts, time, space. Each is examined and set down as an object rather than the one observing it.
The method works by subtraction and never arrives at a positive answer, which is the source of most frustration with it. What remains cannot be added to the list of things found, because it is what was doing the finding.
Sit with it
Work down the list — body, senses, feeling, thought — setting each aside as "seen, not seer." Stop when the list runs out.
About the Nisargadatta Maharaj
A Mumbai shopkeeper who received instruction from his teacher Siddharameshwar Maharaj to attend only to the sense "I am." He taught for decades from a small room above his shop; the dialogues collected in I Am That brought his uncompromising, conversational style to a wide readership.