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44 / Lord Mahavira
5.
Doctrine of Self in Jainism
The word jiva or atman is commonly used for self or soul in Jainism. Jainism recognizes self as an eternal entity. The defining characteristic of self is sentiency. It is different from the material objects. Self is regarded as beginningless and as having unending continuous existence. It has neither a beginning nor an end. It is an entity which lived in the past and which continues to live in the present and which will certainly live in the future too. Though it cannot he perceived, yet it has some manifest features in this mundane existence. The essential features are its life essentials (such as senses, channels of activites, life duration and respiration) which are the sign of its presence in an embodied condition. The ontological analysis of reals, according to Jaina philosophy, undertakes both self and non-self into consideration. This covers up the entire psychical and physical phenomena of the universe.
