hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
There is a key idea in sanātana dharma of na-iti . This na = not and iti in the brāhmaṇas is often equivalent to 'as you know'.
Hence na-iti is not as you know, not as you perceive. This comes to be known as neti-neti.
We find this in the bṛhadaraṇyaka upaniṣad ( some write bṛhadaraṇyakopaniṣad ) the mūrta-amūrta brāhmaṇa ( form and formless).
We also find this in the avadhūta¹ gītā 1.25 :
tattvamasyādivākyena svātmā hi pratipāditaḥ |
neti neti śrutirbrūyādanṛtaṁ pāñcabhautikam ||25||
this says,
By such great sayings as that thou art ,our own Self is affirmed.
Of that which is untrue and composed of the five elements - the śruti-s¹ say, not this, not this
Hence many that are familiar with sanātana dharma come know of this saying neti-neti. So, as one looks around they can say neti-neti -
I am not this, a tree, a bush, the auto, the mountain. This may be so initially.
This neti-neti has come to mean renunciation, a moniker for renouncing the world and the sound of the recluse. While this can be applied here,
the words of na-iti is to inform the seeker that brahman is not what you see, not what you conceive.
If one looks outside one's self and goes though the process of identifying what things are not brahman , that is all fine and good and perhaps
can take some amount of time to eliminate all 'things' in the world that is not brahman. But what still remains is the person doing the eliminating!
Hence this post.
If we look at the idea of the human being, if we remove the human part, we have Being. It is this pure Being that is brahman.
If we are to remove the human part, what goes?
Of all these things that 'go' in part, it is the mind (collectively) that can prove to be most stubborn. Why so? because it protects it self .
- ego
- fear, angst
- likes and dis-likes
- desires of all shapes and sizes
- smallness of thinking, boundaries
- etc.
It is as if the mind has a mind of its own.
This mind ( some would say ego component of mind) is quite crafty. It wishes to preserve and protect its existence. It will let you play
this game of neti-neti but as you get close to this actual insight, in which the mind-ego-individual has to give itself up, then the mind rebels.
How so? In all different ways... one I have found is the installation of fear. Fear that comes into one's awareness for no apparent reason
what so ever. Fear creates 'clinging' attachment to the known, which brings the illusion of safety. With this safe feeling, one feels again
preserved and balanced. A false sense of security from the mind for the mind to survive!
More to follow...
praṇām
words
- iti - is in this manner , 'thus' ; (in its original signification íti refers to something that has been said or thought , or lays stress on
what precedes In the śatapatha-brāhmaṇa ti occurs for íti- avadhūta - one who has shaken-off from himself worldly feeling and obligation; What is shaken off? Duality.
This work is ascribed to dattātreya-jī. http://www.nonduality.com/ag.htm- śruti - that which has been heard or communicated from the beginning , sacred knowledge; the ved - sacred eternal sounds
or words as eternally heard by the ṛṣi-s , and differing from smṛ́ti or what is remembered and handed down in writing over the ages.
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