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90: śramana, Vol 64, No. III, July-Sept. 2013
16. 17.
19. 20.
Jain, Jyoti, Religion and culture, p. 40. Ibid, p. 41. It should be emphasized that these elemental-bodies are embodied jīvas and not a type of matter. However, it may be difficult to understand why, for example, an earth-body is not the same as a brick in a building. The Jains understand that the "life" of an elemental-body is easily killable and as such, even the slightest touch can end the life of an elemental-body. Thus, it is so that a brick was previously an earth-body but it is currently no longer one. As I understand it, elemental-bodies are alive only in undisturbed states; thus, untouched (pure) ground would be where earth-bodies exist. Jain, Jyoti, Religion and culture, p. 44. Sikdar, Jogendra Chandra, Concept of matter in Jaina philosophy (Varanasi: Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, 1987), ix. He notes that “[th Je Jaina concept of Matter is flexible to some extentēit has passed through a series of developments into a meaningful [sic] stage of dynamic reality of the present day." This comment is quite interesting for this endeavor in integrating a Jain understanding of matter with a vital materialism, because it suggests that even the "idea" of matter can shift to something similar to vibrant matter. Sikdar, Jogendra Chandra, Concept of Matter, 28. Notably, Sikdar mentions the elements as types of matter; presumably, he is referring to the instance in which elementalbodies are no longer "living beings." Sikdar, Concept of Matter, p. 34. Ibid. Gelra, M. R., “Matter and its types, "in Select papers in Jainism - Volume II: Jain philosophy including karma doctrine, edited by Shugan Chand Jain (New Delhi: International School for Jain Studies, 2013), p. 16. Sikdar, Concept of Matter, p. 37. Ibid, p. 38. Ibid, p. 39. Gelra, M. R., “Matter," p.16. Sikdar, Concept of Matter, p. 39. Ibid, p. 40. Ibid, p. 42. Ibid. Ibid. Bennett, Vibrant Matter, vii. Ibid, p.8. Ibid, p. 4. Ibid, p. 6. Ibid. Ibid, p. 20. Ibid, p. 9.
26.
27. 28.
29.
31.
32.
33. 34. 35
37.
38.
39.
