Jain Studies And Science: Atma-Tatva (The Concept Of Soul)

All Indian philosophies have one common concept-the belief in existence of pristine soul. They have cited several direct and indirect proofs to establish this. Though it is said to be beyond sensory perception, its discussions are so deep and wide ranging that the concept of soul has taken a form of a doctrine. So is true for Jain philosophy, which starts with the existence of a bonded soul and ends up with its emancipation. Thus the concept of existence of soul is central to the Jain thoughts. 'I am and I am separate from the body' - is the axiom acknowledged by the Jains. This concept has, in turn, given rise to three interdependent doctrines of Karmavad, Lokvad and Kriyavad.

After the years of indulgence with the Jain and other Indian philosophies, Mahapragya states, "Do not doubt the existence of soul, as it is amorphous and is beyond the perception of even the most refined human sensory organ." In this context, Mahapragya has quoted the observations of Sir Oliver Laws, who was the member of the Council for Investigation of Soul and Supernatural, "It is not prudent to be over dependent on the physics and entirely ignore the metaphysics. Soul and conscience are not the qualities of a body rather they have their own manifestations. Even when entrapped or housed in a body, soul remains an independent entity. It survives even when the body perishes. It has therefore become imperative to find the rules governing the co-existence of a perennial soul and a transitory body."

Science has been able to establish direct cause and effect relationship involving various micro particles like electrons and various other invisible rays like gamma etc. Scientists are now looking for an evidence for the existence of soul by getting it photographed. But, Mahapragya cautions them in advance regarding the futility of this exercise because soul is so pure and subtle that it is formless and is not material. Soul is not pudgalic. However, he encourages the efforts of the scientists to obtain any direct or indirect confirmation of Karmic body which too is very subtle (like quadons) but is material in nature and remains associated with the soul.

Soul - An Eternal Enigma

A question is being perpetually asked by the rationalists and others, "That even if the presence of soul is accepted, how and when a formless soul moulded in a defined boundaries of a body?" As far as the first part of this question is concerned, as to how soul takes the shape of body, Mahapragya states that there exists an affinity between the quadons of Karma body and the soul. In Agams, this property is named as 'a-guru-laghu' or affinity. Both soul and the Karma-pudgals exhibit this virtue. Once this pair is formed, their affinities are neutralised and any further interaction is prevented. Thus, a soul once pair with a body is not free to associate with any other body. Even the water can be freed from its intermolecular forces to become formless. In fact, there exists no matter in this universe which cannot be freed from its intermolecular forces provided we can apply the requisite temperature and pressure. Soul, when entrapped in the body is like condensed water which takes shape according to the shape of the container. When the righteous efforts liberate the soul from the clutches of Karma, then only the true and genuine formlessness is manifested.

The second part of the question, as to when it got captured by or bonded with the Karma, is answered that its beginning is beginning-less. Since all fathers are sons of somebody, it is impossible to find who came first, father or son?

Philosophers are incessantly endeavouring to demonstrate the presence of soul. Since any direct evidence is ruled out - soul being beyond the realm of physics - indirect logical conclusions can be drawn at best.

1. Soul and Mind

1. Scientific View - In west, most scientists do not accept the presence of soul over and above that of mind. For them, the mind and conscience are just synonyms. Pavlov too supports that the memory is nothing but the activities of millions of cells of cerebrum. He says that the memory is just like a negative photographic film. As a negative can produce the positive photograph as and when processed and as many times processed, similarly the brain can recall the memories of past through the requisite excitation. Pavlov, thus, considers the entire process as truly physical and denies any existence of soul.
2. Philosophical View - Mahapragya has exhaustively commented on this scientific view-point. According to him, science is still unclear about the functioning of even brain so nothing can be expected regarding the conscience. Brain might be a mere vehicle of past impressions or a device to retain memory, but the presence of conscience cannot be ruled out of our lives. It is this force which makes the brain to think logically and to project the future. Unlike a photographic plate, brain's functioning is not limited by the boundaries of a frame. Based on the past memories and the inherent data available with the brain, it takes far reaching decisions.
3. Conclusion - Jain philosophy does not endorse the scientific statement that the physical brain itself is the soul. It is affirmative that the amorphous soul is separate and beyond the physical mind.

1. Scientific View - It is a standard practice in scientific fraternity to study the cause and effect relationship. They apply same theory for the investigation of presence of soul. A Russian scientist, Pavlov, surgically removed the brain tissues of a dog converting it to a comatose. Dog lost all its senses and could not recognise even its master or the favourite food. Pavlov concluded that the conscience is lost in the absence of physical brain.
2. Philosophical View - Mahapragya has pointed the fallacy of above argument. The main flaw in above argument was that in spite of brain's absence, the dog lived. It is enough to know that the conscience does not emanate from the brain. Brain is just one of many tools a body utilises to fulfil the assigned tasks. Various forms of life exist in this universe, like the plants etc., which possess the soul but do not have brain in its true sense. Their feelings of joy, pain, fear etc. are by virtue of the conscience and soul present in them.
3. Conclusion - Like mind and conscience, senses too are not the exact equivalent of the soul.

It has now being established that our senses are the centres of energy. Our five senses have the largest concentration of magnetism exhibited by the body. If this magnetism can be evenly distributed throughout the body, we may achieve the transcendental knowledge, as in such an eventuality each body part will become conducive to all kinds of stimulations. Similarly, the mental activities are dependent on chemicals and electrical pulses. These chemicals are formed by our dietary intake. The quality of our meals decides our personality and mental status. This cycle of meals and mind is minutely understood in the spiritual realm of Jainism. Jainism has painstakingly tried to bring about this fact that though what we obviously see is the physical form having mind, intelligence, sense etc., but the soul should not be identified with them.

1. Scientific View - Scientists are incessantly trying to create life forms in the laboratory. For this they are conducting various experiments to find those conditions in which it is possible to create a life-form.
• In one of the experiments, conducted by renowned scientist Lois Pasture, it was found that micro organisms do multiply in the presence of air and the availability of any food product.
• In another experiment, Miller simulated all the favourable environmental conditions like temperature, air, sun light and humidity and kept the proteins in this controlled environment as suggested by Dr. Yare. After continuous observation for seven days, he failed to achieve any live proteins.
• Scientists have also studied the food cycle of plants. They have found that the plants intake food from the soil. Though this food does not have life, by the action of chlorophyll this food is converted in live cells. How life is infused in a life­less matter is still unexplained at their end.
2. Philosophical View - Mahapragya does not acknowledge the findings of such experiments until the physical processes adopted by the scientists actually yield in a life-form purely through physical means. Jains disagree with the science view point of life-forms constituted of multiple live cells. In Jain's view, the soul is not a collection of countless cells. The process of acquiring a body by a soul is called birth. This event takes place only under very special circumstances and one such is Ahar-Paryapti. That is why the soul does not occupy just any readily available mature body, but it finds abode in a nascent body only. In Jain literature this typical term of Ahar-Paryapti means the first food which helps the soul in acquiring a body form.

Jains have classified life-forms in two categories - itinerant and motionless. While the presence of life in moving being is obvious, it is present in those beings too which are apparently stationary. Such life-forms are of five types as described in Jain literature -

• Prithvikaya (Earthly)
• Apkaya (Waterly)
• Tejaskaya (Firely)
• Vayukaya (Airly)
• Vanaspatikaya (floral)

Of these five forms, the nearest to humans and animals are plants. All of them undergo the process of ageing; they have feelings and are vulnerable to diseases. The only difference is in their mobility. All these similarities are well accepted and proven by science. Here, both the Jain concept and science agree to a very large extent. They both postulate the consciousness in all living beings and plants except that their quanta of consciousness differ. Extrapolating on this concept, Jagdish Chandra Basu conducted some experiments on metals and grains. He started with the presumption that they too have consciousness but in a very low magnitude. He could establish that the metal atoms undergo fatigue when under pressure and it can be relieved by proper excitation. He found that the grain particles which are presumed to be life-less or dead, in fact, experience the euphoria and despair; they also have feelings of jubilation and misery. Finally, he proclaimed that the entire matter in this world have at least some degree of consciousness. Unfortunately, his research disappeared in oblivion due to his untimely death.

Though Indian philosophies have always been of the view that the plants possess consciousness, for scientific fraternity, the challenge was accepted by none other than an Indian scientist Jagdish Chandra Basu. He proved that the chloroplast present in the Protoplasm of plants gets excited when exposed to melody. Professor Vogel went a step ahead and recorded these internal vibrations on a graph. He also arrived at the same conclusion that the plants too have sensitivity. Floral beings are aware of changes in seasons, they too feel hunger and thirst, and they have their own share of joy and sorrow. Another such experiment conducted on tomatoes, revealed that these plants send electrical impulses when bitten by an insect. These impulses are similar to the ones produced in animal reflex nerves. All such experiments have proved beyond doubt that the floral form of life has the consciousness and thus have a soul.

A few decades ago this world was impressed by an elegance and simplicity of Darwin's theory of evolution. This revolutionised the human thought process and around fifteen decades down the lane, the genetic engineering, cloning and birth of a new life in a laboratory are not fictions but hard realities.

The main message of Darwin's theory promulgated in 1856 was that only through the natural selection, organisms can develop to be more complex and efficient species. And we may say that it is the 'power' (strength and intelligence) controlling the process of natural selection. Darwin's theory was a potentially fatal blow to the 'Creationalism'.

Jainism also decries the theory of 'God created the universe'. Universe, as we have seen from Jain view point, is a total sum of six mattereals each governed by its own laws. Even in personal view of the author, an all-powerful and super intelligent God cannot create models which are all perishable and failures. All planets and stars are nothing but balls of fire, all animals and humans experience pain, suffering and death. So much of diseases, pollution, hatred, hunger and sadism cannot be a creation of a compassionate, powerful and intelligent God. Theoretically, any one who has all the knowledge to his credit will create a perfect model in one go - a model which is ever healthy and ever happy.

So, to some extent the theory of evolution is in consonance with the Jainism, particularly, the concept of karmic body accompanying a soul from one birth to another sounds like the postulate of Darwin's theory which states the gene flow from one generation to the next. Mahapragya has critically examined the evolutionary theory vis-à-vis Jain principles. According to him, the Darwin's theory is based on four main postulates -

1. Gene flow
2. Gene drift and adaptation
3. Maximum offspring
4. Survival of the fittest

Mahapragya partially agrees with these observations and considers them as incomplete as they are entirely based on the external and physical aspects. Quoting from the Jain principles, Mahapragya states that the species can evolve within their own class, but the transmutation is not possible. A cat may evolve to become a lion, a lizard too can become a crocodile down the generations, but the gene drift and survival of fittest cannot result in species evolving from one group to entirely different another group.

Darwin's theory opened the floodgates for genetic engineering, which has today become an obsession with the scientists and medicos. Genetic engineers have achieved several landmark successes since then. Heredity is the transfer of characteristics from parents to offsprings, either through their genes or through the social institution called inheritance. But this transfer is never perfect and the ecological environment also affects some traits of the next generation. Several cross breeds of plants and animals develop accidentally in the nature. These accidents actually turned into boon for genetic enthusiasts. They studied it carefully and devised a mechanism by which they could alter the seeds to obtain newer and better varieties of plants. In case of animals like dogs and cats, the process of artificial insemination allowed them to concentrate good quality chromosomes and then attain the fertilisation. What nature does as a slow process, the human brain and technologically advanced devices are doing at a very fast pace. Mahapragya accepts this as a reality but insists that the some traits may be improvised but never expect a human child to born out of lions or vice-versa.

The third and final step so far is that of cloning. This is an amazing concept and is- the hardest blow to the concept of soul (atma-tatva). Through this process, the genetic engineers are trying to demonstrate that the birth of a new life form is nothing but a chemical process. A set of chemicals when groomed in a controlled environment, can give rise to a new life. Scientists call it donor-clone instead of parents-offspring. A clone is an identical copy created intentionally. Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of an existing, or previously existing human, by growing cloned tissue from that individual. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning; human clones in the form of identical twins are commonplace, their cloning occurs during the natural process of reproduction.

World has seen cloned mice, sheep, horse etc. so far. Of these, the most popular case was that of cloned sheep, Dolly. She reportedly lived a short life span of around six-seven years as she aged faster due to genetic abnormality. In her case, scientists prepared the genetic material in a laboratory using eggs from a donor sheep and then initiated the process of cell multiplication by electrical implulses. In the next step, the egg was implanted in the donor womb and the process of birth took place in the due course.

An important fact to be noticed here is that since the clone is produced from single donor, its hereditary variance as compared to the donor is little, yet it is an independent individual having its own personality, adaptability, and mental capability.

The process of cloning has a by product in the form of farming human body organs in a laboratory. Renewing the body's organs would potentially increase the life expectancy of a human by 50 years. Cloning of extinct and endangered species is another possibility. Even a live Dianaussour can be a distant reality.

Human cloning is amongst the most controversial forms of this practice. There have been numerous demands for all progress in the human cloning field to be halted. One of the most ethically questionable problems with human cloning is farming of organs from clones. For example, many believe it to be unethical to use a human clone to save the life of another. In this scenario, the cloned human would be euthanized so that the vital organs could be harvested.

Various religious, social and political leaders are opposing this practice on serious ethical grounds. A group of medical scientists is also objecting on the grounds that the cloned individual may be biologically damaged, due to the inherent unreliability of its origin: researchers currently are unable to safely and reliably clone even non-human primates.

This brings us back to the fundamental meaning of soul (atma-tatva). Our entire discussion was bifurcated in two parts - acquisition of body and presence of intelligent consciousness. The process of birth may vary from plant to plant, fish to fish and animal to animal (including mammals), but every life form has one thing in common - the fundamental intelligence to self-sustain and perpetuate. This intelligence, as per the Jain belief, is soul.