Without stain, without support, without parts, without refuge

Four negations describing the indescribable. Consciousness has no stain (nirañjana) because nothing external can touch it. It has no support (anādhāra) because it does not rest on anything — everything rests on it. It has no parts (anaṅga) because it cannot be divided into components. It has no refuge (anapāśraya) because it needs no protection — it is the refuge of everything else. This is the via negativa applied to consciousness: you cannot say what it is, only what it is not.