Neti Neti: A Realistic Beginning
A talk in Hindi, with an English summary.
Talk in Hindi · 3 min · 6 August 2023 · THIS is not THAT — नेति नेति
Summary
“Not this, not this” — neti neti — is, Yogi Shri says, the formula of pratyahara. What makes this path of liberation-in-life distinctive is its starting point: it is completely realistic. There is no instruction to imagine God, the soul, Shiva or Parvati.
You begin by using the mind fully, as analysis: divide experience into two — “I”, and everything besides me, which is the world. That is the first step, an intellectual one; it is knowledge. The interesting part comes next: this analysis turns into bhavana, feeling. The path is realistic and idealistic at once, because we have to live.
Key points
- Neti neti is the formula of pratyahara.
- The path begins with real analysis, not imagination.
- Divide experience into “I” and “the world”.
- The analysis then becomes feeling (bhavana).
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Summary prepared from the recording by the Yogishri team (the talk is in Hindi). The video is the authoritative source.