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Chapter 7: The Pupil's Second Doubt regarding the Everlastingness of the Soul
Explanation & Discussion:
The pupil presents another argument based on every day experience. It is our experience that everything goes on changing. New things get old; they are torn, worn, broken, divided, decomposed, transformed, and so on. The change and transformation is thus the law of nature. Nothing stays in the same form and changes occur every moment. When that is the general experience, how is it possible to believe that the soul does not undergo change and stays in the same form forever? It must also be undergoing change.
This doubt of the pupil is similar to the belief of Buddhism. Lord Buddha laid down that everything is transitory; nothing stays forever and continual change is the order of the universe. He therefore argued against the eternity of anything and refused to accept the everlastingness of the soul. For most people that theory seemed reasonable and in accordance with every day experience. Millions of people therefore adopted it and became followers of Buddha.
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