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repulsions (mental tensions) are the effects of the involvement of the self in pleasant or unpleasant sense-objects; they cannot be in an unattached and indifferent person. Thus the essential teaching of Jainism is the eschewing of attachment and not the negation of life.
THREE STAGES OF SPIRITUAL QUEST
This spiritual quest of soul has been summarised into three stages : 1. The Extrovert Self (Bahirātma), 2. The Introvert Self (Antarātma), and 3. The Transcedental Self (Paramātma).
Ācārya Kundakunda, Swami Kartikeya, Pujyapada, Yogindu, Haribhadra, Anandaghana and Yasovijaya have mentioned these three states of spiritual quest in their respective works. 1. The Extrovert Self (Bahirātma) : One, who possesses
perverse attitude and consequently does not discriminate soul from body, regards the external thing as mine and takes keen interest in the worldly enjoyment, is called an extrovert self. In other words, this is state of identification of the self with body and external belongings. This identification is due to the ignorance of the real nature of soul. The souls belonging to the first, second
and third Gunasthānas fall in this category. 2. The Introvert Self (Antarātma): The self, which possesses the
right attitude and therefore clearly distinguishes the soul from the body and the other external belongings is called an introvert self. An introvert self does not take interest in the worldly enjoyments, but meditates on one's own real nature and regards external belongings as foreign to it. This introvert self has been further subdivided into three states-lower, middle and higher.
The self which possesses the right vision or attitude but does not 227 Jainism and its History
