Sacred Text · The Upanishads
The Self described by No, no (neti neti)
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.5.15 · SBE vol. XV · F. Max Müller
Translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Sacred Books of the East, Part I (vol. I, 1879) and Part II (vol. XV, 1884), public domain (Müller died 1900), via the Internet Archive (items upanishads00mlgoog and upanishads02mlgoog). Reproduced in context; Müller’s round-bracket insertions are his own clarifying additions, and optical-scanning artefacts were corrected against his printed wording. The key passages Chandogya VI.8-16 (Tat tvam asi, ‘that art thou’), the Isha opening, Brihadaranyaka I.4.10 (Aham Brahmasmi, ‘I am Brahman’) and IV.5.15 (neti neti), and Katha I.2.18-20 on the immortal Self were validated against the source before publishing. References follow the standard Upanishad numbering.
How this connects to Jesus
The Upanishad describes the Self by ‘No, no’ (neti neti): the ultimate reality is beyond all our words and categories, incomprehensible, imperishable, untouched. Christianity shares this reverent sense that God infinitely exceeds our understanding, dwelling in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). Yet the Gospel adds an astonishing ‘yes’ to the Upanishad’s ‘no, no’: the God who cannot be grasped has made himself known, for the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father (John 1:14; 14:9).
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