Elusive Consciousness

Author(s): Narendra Bhandari, Surendrasingh Pokharana, Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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2. THEORY OF KARMAS AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN
JAINISM: AN ANALOGY WITH QUANTUM FIELD THEORY OF ELEMENTARY EXCITATIONS IN SOLID STATE PHYSICS:
According to the Jain doctrine of Karmas, every mundane soul can have an infinite knowledge, infinite intuition, infinite bliss and infinite powder (Four infinities). But from an infinite time in the past, it has been infected by matter. This matter has been held responsible for the disorder present in the mundane souls. This form of matter has been termed as Karma. (The word Karma in Jainism does not mean work). The whole universe is full of that kind of matter which can become Karma. Due to the presence of different types or karmas in different quantities, different characteristics arc manifested by mundane souls i.e. by different living beings. Thus a perfectly ordered consciousness is analogous to a ground state which is free from any excitations. These excitations then correspond to Karmas.
At every moment, an empirical self is attracting this matter towards him by his actions through mind and body. This matter which has now become karma then remains latent in the empirical self for some time which is determined by the passions at the time of arrival of new matter. Passions in turn are determined by karmas which are already present. Karmas have the following four characteristics (A) Nature, (B) Number, (C) Lifetime and (D) Intensity
2.1. Nature
Different properties of different systems originate from different elementary excitations. Thus phonons, rotons and vortices are meant for different properties of superfluid helium at different temperatures. Similarly in case of superconductors, there is a superconducting state with very high order and there are elementary excitations over it in form of Cooper Pairs. Similarly karmas have the following species. (number in front of each specie indicates its subspecies). Knowledge obscuring, Intuition obscuring, Feeling producing, Age determining, Belief and conduct producing, Body determining, Status determining and Power hindering.
Each one of these is held responsible for different types of disorder present in the empirical self and impedes the manifestation of true nature of consciousness. Jainas claim that all properties of living beings can be explained in terms of these 8 karmas and their 158 categories. It may be easily noted that some kind of energy gap like thing in which space?) exists which may prevent us to realize actual
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