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Jaina View of Life
doctrine involves the idea of an eternal metempsychosis. Kerl Potter in his Presuppositions of India's Philosophies has tried to interpret Karma as a form of habit. Human being faces challenges from many sides which have to be met by birth, social act ion and by the application of scientific techniques in order to be free from the bondage in life. But the more subtle challenges lie underneath the surface, and arise form habits themselves, which continues after the conditions that engender them have been removed, and which engender new habits which in turn must be removed somehow. This round of habits breeding habits is a part of what is called in Sanskrit samsara, the wheel of birth, which is governed by Karma, the habits themselves'. Karma is described in the Jaina philosophy as a kind of dirt which accretes to the otherwise pure Jiva by virtue of one's actions. In the Bhagavadgita the dirt is described as of three kinds. "One may think of these as types of habits". I have not been able to understand how Potter interprets Karma as a type of habit. One must be steeped in the Indian tradition in order to understand the nature and significance of Karma.
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C. J. Jung, while distinguishing, personal and the collective unconscious, hints at the possibility of comparing the archetypes of the collective Unconscious to the Karma in Indian thought. The collective unconscious stands for the objective psyche. The personal layer ends at the earliest memories of infancy, but the collective layer comprises the pre-infantile period that is the residue of ancestral life. The force of Karma works implicitly and determines the nature and development of personality. The Karma aspect is essential to the deeper understanding of the nature of an archetype. Although it is possible to say that
5. Glasenapp (Von. H.) The Doctrine of Karma in Jaina Philosophy: (1942) Preface to the German Edition.
6. Presuppositions of India's Philosophies (Prentice Hall) 1963.
7. Presuppositions of India's Philosophies (Prentice Hall) 1963, p. 11, p. 13..
8. Jung (J. C.): Two Essays on Analytical Psychology: Personal and collective (or transcendental unconscious) p. 76. Footnote.
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