"नेति, नेति" (ना + इति = नेति)

"नेति, नेति" ("nEti, nEti")

"In Hinduism, and in particular Jnana Yoga and Advaita Vedanta, neti neti is a Sanskrit expression which means "not this, not this", or "neither this, nor that" (neti is sandhi from na iti "not so"). It is found in the Upanishads and the Avadhuta Gita and constitutes an analytical meditation helping a person to understand the nature of Brahman by first understanding what is not Brahman. It corresponds to the western via negativa, a mystical approach that forms a part of the tradition of apophatic theology. One of the key elements of Jnana Yoga practice is often a "neti neti search." The purpose of the exercise is to negate rationalizations and other distractions from the non-conceptual meditative awareness of reality." (Wikipedia).

My sincere thanks to the Supreme Court of India for helping me, an ignoramus, have, what I perceive to be, a very, very faint glimpse of what "नेति, नेति" is all about. 

     

If the court continues its good work like this there will, very soon, be no one asking it for anything for all of us would have become 'nisprhans' निस्प्र्हन् (without attachment to anything) and nirmamans निर्ममन् (without desire for anything).   

     

Regret that we can't have another Adisankara to interpret and comment on the mysterious pronouncements of the apex court.

         "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

          The courage to change the things I can,

          And the wisdom to know the difference."

-- American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr(1892–1971)