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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
786
Ātman and Moksa
This view is analogous to the Carvāka view but only partially. Philo develops the idea of the Logos which corresponds to the Stoic concept of the worldsoul as well as to the Platonic Ideas. The Logos is begotten of God and mediates between the world and God. Plotinus regards God to be the highest Primal Reality that is transcendent above being and rationality. The world is an overflow of the perfection of the One Supreme Reality, a beam sent forth from the Infinite Light. Nous is the first emanate of God and the world-soul is an image of the Nous. It is an image of image. The world-soul gives rise to individual souls, the plastic forces, which in turn give rise to the matter. It is a continuous series of emanations from the highest Light to the lowest darkness. Matter, being changeful, is the source of all-evil, as it is the principle of imperfection. Man is a compound of matter and the soul, which is immaterial and imperishable. It assumes births according to its actions in the previous life. The soul needs being purified by withdrawing itself from the influence of the matter. Plotinus agrees with the Vedāntic concept of the soul (Rámānuja's) in so far they share in common rationality and the idea that the individual soul emanates from the Supreme Self: But the resemblance is too limited.
St. Augustine holds that the Soul is simple, immaterial and spiritual. It fills the whole body and so it is immaterial. It is not all-pervasive but it is only limited. It is mortal. It is the principle of energy and knowledge in the body. God is, on
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