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On this point, giving an original explanation, the Acharya says that from the point of view of Anekanta, the animate and the inanimate are not entirely different from each other and so there can be a relationship between them. The problem becomes complicated only when -
We regard active-karma and inert-soul as entirely different.
We start treating the soul as entirely pristine and karma as entirely contaminated.
NEW THOUGHTS/53
He gives a detailed explanation as:
In the temporal phase, soul is not entirely non-physical and so the relationship between soul and matter can be regarded as physical. In this relationship neither is dominant but both have equal role to play. We learn about it from 'SNEH PRATIBADDH' (affection committed). Soul and karma (finer form of matter), both the basic mattereals possess a common property - capacity of attraction termed as 'affection' in Jain literature. A mutual relationship comes into being through this affection on both sides. The relationship between soul and matter has been expounded as having five forms: bond, touch, immersion/pervasion, sneh pratibaddh (affection) and ghataa (unification). Drawing upon Jain philosophy for an exposition of this issue, it has been clearly stated that the soul, despite being ethereal, is not entirely separable from matter or body. There exists a spontaneous relationship between the two. They react and interact freely and share a bondage which is not easy to break.
In Jain religion, summarily, the soul is intangible - without any form and the karma is tangible - has a definite form or structure. One of the tenets of Jain philosophy is that soul is enclosed or imprisoned within the karma pudgals.
In Western philosophy too, the problem regarding the relationship between the concealed mind (seat of perception and passion) and the exposed body has perplexed the psychologists for a long time. Referring to the assumptions of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, the Acharya has stated in relation to psychology that -
"In psychology too there is curiosity about the relationship between mind and body? Does body influence mind or vice-versa? Exactly the same question was before Jain philosophers, whether the body influences the consciousness or is it other way round? What is the interrelationship between the two? The answer is both influence each other and the two are inseparable. If we regard
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