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To describe the detailed explanation of the self in the Jain literature, one article or even a book may not suffice. Therefore I suggest the books (given at the end of the paper), which the inquisitive reader can refer to know more about the self.
I will now attempt to explain the concept of soul through the following points / topics.
Existence of soul / self (ātmā) Difference between soul and jīva (living being) Synonyms of jīva and self in Jain texts and their meaning Etymological meanings of soul and jīva Nature of jīva, its nine basic virtues Elimination of wrong concepts of soul/ self Types and subtypes of jīva Nature of soul as per spiritual texts like Samayasāra Experiencing the self and the ways to do so Three types of soul / ātmā
Summary
1. Existence of soul / self (ātmā) Some people, due to their ignorance or insistence of their own perspective, blame Jain philosophy as atheists. To support this they say that Jain philosophy does not believe in soul/supreme soul, merit/demerit, heaven/hell etc. However this is totally false. We cannot discuss all the reasons and support this statement but insist that Jain philosophy believes very clearly and in lucid terms the existence of soul/supreme soul, heaven/hell and merit/demerit. Jain philosophy not only believes in the existence of soul but proves its existence with all its logic, examples etc.
Jain ācāryas in their philosophical works have presented many reasons/logic to prove the existence of soul. Samantabhadra (3rd century AD) has written a full text on 'The Existence of Soul', named as Jīvasiddhi' and gave many reasons to establish the existence of soul. Some important reasons given by Jain ācāryas to prove the existence of soul are as follows:
Like a mechanical statue, with its features, tries to establish the existence of its sculptor, similarly capabilities (prānas) like breathing etc. establish the existence of soul.2
2 Sarvārthasiddhi, V.19
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