Jain Thought and Culture

Author(s): G C Pandey
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

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Jain Thought and Culture
Therefore although basically every soul which is immortal and non perishable, is pure and perfect but because of its association with karmic matter it remains impure and does not attain Godhood and according to the karmic actions of the individual it goes on through the cycles of deaths and births and so on, till such time that the atma is able to get rid of the karmic bondage by various processes and procedures and is able to reach the pure and perfct state, when it gets liberated and attains Moksha According to Jain philosophy this is possible in every human being by his own individual efforts Therefore, in nut shell the whole of the Jain religion is to attain liberation or Moksha by knowing the true nature of one's soul This is the main goal Rites and rituals, vows and penances, Sadhana (meditation), Swadhayaya (study of scriptures) temples & preachings are of secondary details and are among some of the many steps practiced or suggested towards the altainment of this goal so as to liberate the Atma from bondage and make it free The following seven main principles are described to explain the philosophy of impurity of the Soul by karmic matter and how to purify it to attain the final goal of Moksha These are Soul (Jiva), Non Soul (Ajiva), in flow, bondage, checking, shedding and liberation (Moksha) Of these, the principles from 3rd to 6th are solely the steps to get rid of already existing kar mic matter or prevent the formation of new kar mic matter and thus purifying the soul and altain liberation
In the strict sense in Jain religious philosophy the Individual Atma besides being immortal and non-perishable, is all powerful and by one's own actions (purusaratha), one can attain and reach the highest goal The individual alma (Consciousness) has the capacity to become parainatma by getting rid of all the karmic matter It does not believe in the theory of supreme God or cosmic consciousness According to Jain philosophy the universe is full of infinite souls and each one is separate from the other and by its own karma it goes on passing through various cycle of birth and death, till finally it succeeds in getting rid of all the accumulated karmic matter and thus liberates itself and attains the supreme goal of Moksha
This in brief is the concept of Alma or soul according to Jain pliiliosophy Therefore, in the light of modern scientific knowledge, it is possible to describe it in a scientific language which is verifiable and repeatable As soon as life starts it generales its ounelcctrical energy, which can be detected on suitable instruments