Jain Journal 2009 07

Author(s): Satyaranjan Banerjee
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 25

Jagdish Prasad Jain : Jaina Concept of Jiva and Modern Science
25
(consciousness) is a dynamic reality, i.e. an eternal entity something enduring (dhrauvya) or persisting in the midst of its changes (utpāda) (Tattvärtha Sutra, 5.30) and an indivisible unity of its attributes (guna) of congnition, feeling and action (the three aspects of consciousness) and its modes or modifications (paryaya) (Tattvārtha Sutra, 5.38 into various mental states. Unlike Advaita Vedanta, it is not unchanging or pure, as it exists in an impure condition since beginningless time, though having the potentiality to become pure.
In Advaita Vedanta, the words jiva and ātmā have quite different meanings or connotations. In fact, they stand poles apart. For instance, ātmā is translated as Self (with capital 's'), which is described as Brahman (universal or cosmic consciousness), one without a second, non-dual (ekaḥ), eternal entity, having characteristic features of "unchanging" and "pure". Jīva, on the other hand, is equated with person and is conceptualized as an individual or ego-self, having the sense of self or individuality, which manifests in the experience as the "I" and the "me", with its most distinctive features of pride, conceit and even arrogance (abhimana, garva).34 Individuals or persons, who speak of their "self" in terms of three aspects or fundamental capacities: cognition, feeling and action, are viewed as manifestations of the ego and the aspect of the mind, which is physical and quite distinct from consciousness. Moreover, individuality experienced by the selves is said to be a consequence of māyā ("grand illusion"), that creates the appearance of a manifold world within a singular reality."35 But as J. Krishnamurti remarks: "The idea of an all encompassing self, such as the Vedantic Atman, is just another thought construction, and another manifestation of illusion."36
34. See Handbook of Indian Psychology, n. 2, pp. 252, 266, 610 and 263. 35. Ibid., p. 256.
36. Cited in Jagdish Prasad Jain, ed., The Enlightened Vision of the Self: Svarupa Sambodhana of Akalanka, translated by D.K. Goyal (New Delhi: Radiant Publishers, 2005), p. 44