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Atma-Siddhi
continuous. Throughout occurring changes in childhood, youth, etc. one feels as the same person and activities (such as, speech) also require continuity of the same person to take place. Never anything is so destroyed that there remains no sign of it and the true teacher asks the disciple to consider if consciousness gets destroyed, then what it has transformed into?
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Consciousness in the beings is taken as main proof of the existence of soul. This consciousness cannot be created through any combinations of matter and whatever cannot be created through combinations cannot die or destruct. Whether the beings are Siddhas (liberated souls) or Samsaris (bonded souls), soul is the same in everyone. The same soul also resides in animals, plants, and other beings up to one-sensed life. Soul is ever-present and eternal. For Siddhas, soul is situated in own pure consciousness, knowledge, and bliss and therefore is not bound by the fruits of actions. For Samsaris, soul is deluded by passions, desires, and other propensities, gets covered with karmic matter, enjoys and suffers the fruits of karmas, and transmigrates from one birth to another until liberated. Consciousness in the beings helps them know self as well as others and is the proof of soul's existence. Body does not know soul; it is soul that knows body and all else. Soul is also the known when it reflects upon self and this phenomenon is called self-realization. Soul takes different experiences into next birth and these partially influence present passions, desires, attitudes, orientations, and other propensities in life.27
Jain Education International
Is Soul Doer? (Verses 71-78)
The disciple in these verses expresses doubt about soul as the doer of karmas and presents four possibilities as to why karmas take place. The suggested possibilities are: 1) karmas just happen by themselves, without anyone prompting or doing them, 2) soul has natural tendency to do karmas and does them, 3) soul is free of karmas, but non-living matter
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