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Self
THE HE Jaina conception of self is understandable easily from the conception of Substance as identity-and-change. The various mental experiences of man point to something which is the experient, some constant entity which gives meaning and significance for the changing modes. This is the soul or the self. The distinguishing feature of the Jaina conception of self from that of the Buddhist view at once becomes apparent. The fact of changing modes is pointed out by the Buddhists to maintain their theory that the 'self' is nothing but a bundle of experiences, whereas the same fact is pointed to by the Jainas to reiterate their view that there must be some constant factor because of which alone the changing modes are recognized as changing.
The essential quality of the self is consciousness. Consciousness is the attribute which distinguishes the living from the nonliving and the Jaina has no difficulty in admitting, in principle, that "even the state of deep sleep is not without consciousness, for, if it is not admitted, the pleasant experience of a comfortable and sound sleep recalled in the subsequent waking state would be impossible."1
Consciousness presupposes the various aspects of the self and also their corresponding functions. Accordingly we find the soul being described as "the knower (pramätṛ), that which illumines itself and others (svanya-nirbhāsin), the doer, the enjoyer, the chang
1 See M.L. Mehta, Jaina Psychology, p. 31
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