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Chapter 4.7 THE CONCEPT OF THE SOUL
The soul, self, spirit or life force forms a central core of a religion. It is an active, I energetic and conscious entity. Two types of souls have been postulated by Jain
philosophy: the ideal, pure, disembodied or liberated; and the real, impure, embodied and bonded by karma. There are other classifications based on gradations of spiritual progress. Jain scholars give the analogy of gold dust and say that just as gold is found in the mines, mixed with dust, similarly, the souls have always existed in a world permeated by karma, as worldly souls. They further refer to pure gold being obtained from the mixed dust by the purifacatory processes; similarly, the worldly soul is purified into a pure soul by the spiritual practices, preventing the influx of new karma and the shedding of the attached karma. Jains believe that worldly souls have existed eternally due to karmic bondage and that there is no creator such as the Supreme Being for this world and its inhabitants. Hence the explanation as to how the pure (ideal) soul turned into a worldly (real) soul is irrelevant and not found in Jain scriptures. The goal of human life is to turn the real soul into an ideal or pure soul by shedding karma.
The nature of the soul Many philosophies have discussed the nature of the soul as either material or ideal. The materialistic view identifies the soul either with the body or with the sensory organs. Some commentators have suggested that the mind is the soul; some have even suggested that the soul is identical with the psyche (prajnaa). The mind and sensory organs cannot function in the absence of the psyche. The psyche or the soul has been identified as the agent of cognition. Cognition by the mind or the senses is only possible if there is cognisance. Meditation on the soul leads to the concept that the soul is a non-material and spiritual substance. The soul cannot be grasped by the senses, but it is possible to know the soul, if we transcend sense-experience and progress to direct experience.
The Buddha described the self as an aggregate of physical and mental states. Physical and mental states are constituted through cognition, affective states and psychic energy. The momentary character of the world as seen by the Buddha denies the existence of an enduring soul. The Buddha did not, however, accept the materialistic conception of the soul, but recognised the soul itself as consciousness and gave it an important place in his teachings.
The Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita indicate that the soul is to be differentiated from the body, the psyche or the mind. The soul pervades the entire universe, but it is indescribable.
The Hindu philosopher saint Sankarcharya believed Brahma, the creator and supreme god, and the soul to be identical. Another Hindu thinker, Madhavacarya believed Brahma and the soul to be not mere appearances, but both to be equally real. The Sankhya and Nyaya-Vaisesika schools also affirm the independent reality of the soul quite distinct from matter (Devendra Muni 1983: 98-102).
The Jain theory of the soul is rational, and is said to have been crystallised during the period of Parsvanatha (eighth century BCE), since then the theory has remained unchanged. The Jain tradition describes the nature of the soul in ideal and empirical terms. From the point of view of its essential substance it is eternal; from the point of
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