Quieten the mind, strip the ego, let unnecessary structures crumble. Originally this was done naturally, simply by breathing and moving. Then the ego – selfishness – got a grip and God was invented to act as antidote: a path to our better selves. So, traditionally, negations were performed by speaking with God, either through prayer or the chanting of mantra and sutra. All spiritual work is essentially negative in that it involves the negation, reduction, of self, in order to improve one's positive relation with God, the unknowable.