________________
Ontology of Atman, the Self
[ 65
"Moreover, Oh Gautam ! there cannot be any 'knowledge' of the object having no existence at all. So if the 'soul' does not exist, who has the consciousness or knowledge of 'I', when one says 'I did' etc. If you say 'I doubt' who is it who doubts? Every doubt presupposes a doubter. That doubter, that 'I', is your ownself, your soul. Ego consciousness' has soul as its object because the question is whose 'consciousness'? Answer is consciousness of 'I' which is the object of this consciousness."
Gautam "Sir, this 'ego consciousness' would not be rendered objectless if instead of believing that 'soul' or 'self' is its object, we take our body as its object. When I say 'I am black' or 'I am thin', the ego consciousness 'I' is used with reference to our body. So, what is objectionable if we take 'I' as referring to our body and not to our 'self'."
Mahavira: "If ego consciousness expressed by the use of 'I' has a reference to our body as its object, then even our dead body could be having that ego consciousness and could be referred to as 'I'. But that is not so. It follows, therefore, that the object of ego consciousness is not the body. It cannot be said that the 'doubtor' of your doubts is your body.
Moreover, consider what is a 'doubt'. Every 'doubt' is an attribute (Guna) of some object which is its substratum. Every substratum is known by its attributes because attributes and their substratum are mutually reciprocal so that the existence of one can be known by the existence of the other. Therefore, even though the substratum cannot be perceived by our senses its existence can be mentally perceived through our knowledge of its attributes. A doubt can never be an attribute of your body because doubt is always an attribute of consciousness and the body has no consciousness of its own."
"Further, just consider who possesses the power of memory, who remembers the past and the present and who has a comprehension about future. This attribute of memory is not the attribute of body. It is the attribute of 'I' consciousness. So when you are doubting the very existence of 'I' you are 5
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
