Que 38: Time and again - we contemplate on several existential questions and to address the same, we are starting this que-series. These are essential for understanding our core essence which enables us to live right , aligned with our values and principles and grow spiritually.
The first article is focused on the que - “Who am I”
For many people in the modern diaspora, identity can feel split. At work you may be one version of yourself; at home, another; in a religious or cultural setting, another. Over time, switching between these roles can make you wonder, “Which one is the real me?” This article keeps that question at the center. It compares familiar global ideas of the self with Jain teachings, especially Dravyanuyoga and Samayasara, while using simple examples from daily life. The main message is practical: our roles are meaningful, but they are not the deepest self. Knowing this brings strength, stability, and equanimity.
The purpose of this article is to explain “Who am I?” by gently separating the true self from day-to-day roles, jobs, titles, achievements, failures, and social labels. This clarity is not meant to make us detached from life; it is meant to help us live life with more balance. When we know what is temporary and what is deeper, we are less shaken by praise, criticism, pressure, success, or disappointment.
Introduction: The Crisis of the Hyphen
If you grew up outside India, or your family has lived abroad for generations, you may know the feeling of shifting identities. In one setting you are the focused professional. In another you are the child, parent, or spouse who is expected to carry tradition. In a religious space you may try to live by a spiritual ideal.
This leads to a simple but powerful question: Who is the person moving between these worlds? When we ask, “Who am I?”, we often answer with labels: “I’m an engineer,” “I’m a mother,” “I’m American". Jain philosophy treats these as real descriptions of our situation, but not as the deepest definition of the self. To get clearer, we first look at how different traditions have tried to explain the “I".
The Global Gallery: The Many Faces of the "I"
Before entering the Jain perspective, it is helpful to briefly look at how other traditions and thinkers have understood the self. These viewpoints are not included to merge different philosophies, but to give the reader a wider lens. By seeing what each perspective emphasizes, we can better appreciate how the Jain view is similar in some places, different in others, and distinct in its own approach.
Classical Perspectives
Socrates & Plato: Greek philosophy pushed people to “know yourself". In many readings, the self is more than the body, it is the inner mind or soul that can learn, choose, and aim for virtue. That basic split between inner life and outer life will matter later in the Jain view.
Immanuel Kant: Kant argued that we do not see the self the way we see a chair or a tree. Instead, the “I” is what ties our experiences together, like the organizer of our thoughts. In simple terms: the self is the one having the experience, not just another thing inside the experience.
The Bhagavad Gita: The text describes the Self (Atman) as lasting beyond the body. One well-known verse says that weapons and fire cannot destroy it. This idea is close to the Jain view that the soul (Jiva) is not a physical object, often described as Arupi (without physical form).
Gautama Buddha: The Buddha taught Anatta (no permanent self). Instead of one unchanging soul, he described a flow of changing processes. Jainism disagrees with this interpretation of the soul, but it agrees that what we experience day to day is always changing, these changing states are called Paryaya (modes).
Lao Tzu (Daoism): In the Dao De Ching, the true self is not found by adding labels, but by letting them loosen. The point is practical: the fewer labels we cling to, the less trapped we feel by them.
Abrahamic traditions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam also ask what makes a human being more than the body or social status. While their theologies differ, they commonly emphasize one God, moral responsibility, divine guidance, and the human being as accountable before God. In Judaism, ideas such as nefesh, ruach, and neshamah point to life-breath, spirit, and deeper soul-language. In Christianity, the person is often understood as a moral and spiritual being whose identity is not limited to worldly success. In Islam, the concept of fitrah points to an original human nature inclined toward truth, goodness, and recognition of the creator. For daily life, this means a person is not merely a resume, income level, citizenship status, or public image; the person has a deeper moral and spiritual center.
A simple everyday example: the youth may feel pressure to be high-performing at school, respectful at home, culturally connected at community events, and socially accepted among friends. These various perspectives would remind such a person that dignity does not come only from grades, popularity, or external approval. Jainism will later add another layer: even these emotional and social identities are changing modes, not the deepest self.
Scientific & Renaissance Viewpoints
Albert Einstein: Einstein noted, A human being is a part of the whole... He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This echoes the Jain concept of Mithyatva (delusion), where we perceive separation where there is actually an interconnected web of reality.
Leonardo da Vinci: Da Vinci valued careful observation. In that spirit, identity can be seen not only as a belief, but also as something shaped by what we notice, practice, and repeat over time.
The Modern Radicals
Carl Jung: Jung said we wear a public persona, a social mask that helps us function. But that mask is not the whole person. His idea helps explain why role-based identity can feel useful and yet incomplete.
Viktor Frankl: Frankl wrote that even in suffering, people can choose their attitude and find meaning. In identity terms: you are not only what happens to you, but also how you respond.
Jiddu Krishnamurti: He said, The observer is the observed, meaning that the “I” is tied up with memory and conditioning. His practical message is to step back from constant thinking. This is close to the Jain practice of Samayika (steady, balanced awareness).
Osho: Osho often described the ego as something we learn from society. Underneath it, he pointed to a quiet witness, the simple awareness that notices thoughts and feelings. In Indian terms this witnessing is sometimes called Sakshi.
The Historical Legend: Napoleon’s Encounter
Stories from the Napoleonic era are sometimes told about Western visitors being impressed by Indian, and sometimes Jain monks. The details are not always clear, so it is best read as a popular legend rather than a firm historical record. Even so, the message fits a Jain theme: the greatest conquest is inner mastery. Jain texts use the word Jina (conqueror) for someone who conquers anger, greed, pride, and ignorance.
The Jain Perspective: The Science of Distinction
To address the identity problem, Jainism offers two helpful tools: the clear, step-by-step analysis of Dravyanuyoga and the inner, reflective teaching of the Samayasara.
Dravyanuyoga: A Simple Map of What Is Changing and What Is Not
Dravyanuyoga can sound technical, but its basic message is simple: learn to separate what is permanent from what keeps changing. In Jain thought, reality is explained through substances, or Dravyas. For the question “Who am I?”, the most important distinction is between Jiva and Ajiva. Jiva is the living, conscious self. Ajiva is everything that is not the conscious self: body, objects, money, title, reputation, and physical conditions.
Dravya means the underlying reality. For this article, think of it as the deeper “I” that continues through changing situations.
Guna means qualities. The soul’s natural qualities include knowing, seeing, awareness, and the ability to experience.
Paryaya means changing modes. These are the shifting details of life: age, mood, career stage, immigration story, relationship status, bank balance, social media image, and public role.
In short, Jainism says: our Paryayas (life details) change all the time, but the deeper self does not have to be reduced to those details. You can play your respective roles without mistaking them as your true identity.
A daily example makes this clear. On Monday morning, you may be a manager handling deadlines. In the evening, you may be a parent helping with homework. On the weekend, you may be a volunteer at any place. The roles change, and each role is real in its place. But the one who is aware of all these roles is deeper than any single role.
The Samayasara: Seeing the Self More Clearly
If Dravyanuyoga gives us a map, Acharya Kundkund’s Samayasara asks us to look within. It does not merely ask, “What category does the soul belong to?” It asks, “Can I actually notice the difference between the self and what is happening around the self?”
The Samayasara teaches that the soul, at its core, is separate from the body and from karmic matter. A simple image helps: a clear crystal placed beside a red flower may appear red, but it has not become red. In the same way, the self may appear angry, proud, anxious, successful, rejected, or admired because it is close to emotions, body, karma, and circumstances. But appearance is not the essence.
In daily life, this means we can say: “Anger is present, but I am not only angry. Anxiety is present, but I am not only anxious. My job title changed, but I did not disappear. My child made a different choice, but my identity is not destroyed.” This is not escapism; it is clearer seeing. It helps us act responsibly without drowning in every temporary condition.
The Quest for the Self: The Story of King Pradeshi
The story of King Pradeshi shows how identity can shift from body and power to awareness and soul. Pradeshi was a powerful ruler who identified strongly with his body, authority, and position. In modern language, he believed: “I am my title. I am my power. I am what others see.” Many of us may not be kings, but we can fall into the same pattern: “I am my job,” “I am my house,” “I am my child’s success,” or “I am my public image.”
When Pradeshi met Acharya Keshikumar, the teacher used questions and reasoning to help him see a difference between the body and the knower of the body. Being a king was real, but it was temporary. It was a Paryaya, a changing mode. The conscious self was deeper. This is the same insight we need when a promotion, rejection, family conflict, or social label starts feeling like our entire identity.
That shift from “I am only this body or role” to “I am the soul using this body and role” is the beginning of Samyaktva, or right understanding. It may not change the outside world immediately, but it changes how we stand inside the outside world. Pradeshi did not stop being a king; he stopped being trapped by kingship. In the same way, we do not stop being parents, professionals, Indians, Americans, or community members. We simply stop making any one label our entire self.
The Role of the Glue: Why Labels Stick So Strongly
Why do temporary labels feel so permanent? Jainism explains this through Karma, described as subtle matter that affects the soul’s experience. In common language, we can also understand this as deep conditioning. If we are praised only for achievement, we start believing achievement is the self. If we are criticized for accent, culture, income, body, career choice, or family choices, we start carrying those judgments as identity. Mohaniya Karma, or deluding karma, pulls attention away from the soul and toward changing conditions. The practice is to notice the glue: “What am I stuck to right now?” Once we notice it, we can loosen it.
A practical exercise is to pause during stress and ask: “Is this my role speaking, my fear speaking, my ego speaking, or my deeper awareness seeing?” This small question can create distance from reaction. That distance is where equanimity begins.
Summary: The Anchor in the Storm
Knowing “Who am I?” can steady us when life changes. If we identify only with a job, a relationship, or a social status, a setback can feel like a loss of self. Jain thought suggests another anchor: the self as Jiva, the part of you that knows and experiences.
Seen this way, identity is a mosaic. We can show up fully in our careers and communities, while also remembering that roles are not the whole story. The goal is not to reject everyday life, but to live it without losing sight of what is deeper and more stable.
A Practical Reflection Exercise
At the end of the day, sit quietly for five minutes and review one moment that strongly affected you. It may be a work email, a child’s comment, a family expectation, a social comparison, or a mistake you made. Then ask yourself four questions: What role was I identified with in that moment? What emotion or fear became strong? What part of this situation is temporary? Who is the awareness that noticed all of it? This simple practice is not about judging yourself. It is about gently separating the changing scene from the one who is aware of the scene. Over time, this reflection can help you respond with more calm, clarity, and inner steadiness.
Once we see the self as something deeper than the body, a new question follows. If I am a soul living through a temporary body and a set of social labels, where was I before this life? If the Jiva is eternal, what path brought it to this exact moment?
In our next article, we will explore the second great question of existence: "From where have I come?"
References
Acharya Kundkund. Samayasara. Translated by Chakravarti, A. (Available at jainelibrary.org).
Umasvati. Tattvartha Sutra. (See Chapter 8 for a discussion of karma bondage.)
Rayapasenaiya Sutra. (Source for the story of King Pradeshi and Acharya Keshi; available at jainqq.org.)
Frankl, V. Man’s Search for Meaning.
Jung, C.G. Modern Man in Search of a Soul.
Einstein, A. The World as I See It.
Crick, F. (1994). The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul. Scribner.
Krishnamurti, J. The First and Last Freedom.
