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CYCLES OF BIRTH AND DEATH
4.4 SIX EXISTENTS
We now consider the Jain Laws on Nature which allow various operations such as the interaction between soul and karmons, next embodiment, liberation of the soul, etc. According to Jain Science, the universe is comprised of six "existents". These are
(1) soul, (2) matter; (3) space, (4) time, (5) dynamic medium, and (6) stationary medium.
In contrast with standard physics where one deals with matter in time and space coordinate systems, in Jain Science it is the soul which is to be studied in terms of time, space and matter. These all are regarded as 'substances' which is also a helpful way of considering them.
Space. Jain space is sub-divided into two types. The first, which is occupied by the other five existents, and the second which is empty. We shall call these simply occupied and unoccupied space respectively. "Occupied space" is equivalent to the manifest universe in which all the other five existents are confined. The inherent quality of occupied space is its ability to provide a “home” for the other five existents and it is divisible into infinitesimally small space points, which have dimension but cannot be further sub-divided3. The idea that the occupied universe is bounded is quite implicit in this formulation. Further, the boundary between occupied space and unoccupied space is quite important as we shall see later.
Dynamic and Stationary Media. 'The Dynamic medium' allows interaction/ motion to take place between/ within soul and matter, whereas the Stationary medium' allows equilibrium / stability between/within soul and matter. The usual analogy is that the dynamic medium is like water allowing the movement of a fish whereas the stationary medium is like the shade of a tree which allows travellers to rest. Thus soul/ matter has the inherent quality to 'go' or 'stop', but these two media make these operations possible. In general, the 'Go-mode' includes developing, interacting, moving etc. and the 'Stop-mode' is the opposite.
The two media are non-atomic, inactive, formless and continuous. These co-exist and we can regard dynamic and stationary media as secondary and tertiary space respectively. The logic behind these two media is elegantly summarized as follows by Basham (1958, p. 76), where we have substituted our terminology in this quote:
