It's just a short summary of a Philosophy of Life and Death according to William James.

Since the beginning of language, many people have attempted to share each other methods of 'living life.' One of the defining aspects of human sentience is the idea that we are capable of considering meaning and purpose; the greatest meaning or purpose being the one which we have
always tried to find in 'life.' We come screaming out of our mothers, live for some time, and then our life ends—it's no wonder that humankind has been searching for something more in life than that. Our language has been stretched to the very limit of sophistication in its attempt to explain what processes are at work. Because the question is complicated, we assume that there is a complicated answer. Much of art, much of science, much of philosophy, and many other fields have been created to answer these questions in the most convoluted way possible.

I think it's time to look at the question a little more simply.

One of my favorite philosopher is a man named William James. Unlike heavyweights like
Kierkegaard, Kant, or Socrates, James didn't want to tell everyone what to think. That's good: he was a teacher, so he didn't have to tell people what to think. All he tried to tell them was how to think. If I were to ask William James, “What does life mean?” his response would probably be “Whatever helps you live it in the way you want to live it.”

“Arrogance!” some might say. “Useless!” others might cry. James didn't believe that there was
an absolute truth to discover; just that we need to live life as best as we can.
He once said that the only time we ever have to question our own assumptions is when we can't figure out what's going on. If what we know or think we know doesn't match the world around us, we need to find out the mistake and change.

There's one thing which I don't know anything about, and I need to figure out how to understand
it. That's death. The problem with death is that we have no realm of experience. As Rosencrantz puts it in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead: “It's silly to be depressed by [death]. I mean one thinks of it like being alive in a box, one keeps forgetting to take into account the fact that one is dead...” We have spent our entire lives being alive. How can we possibly dream of being dead?

Socrates, as Rosencrantz points out, said that if we don't know what death is, we can't be afraid
of it. James would tell us to figure out a way of looking at death which helps us figure out how to live our lives. His conclusion, and I would agree with it, is that believing in a God and Afterlife gives us a positive view of death which not only allows us to continue living, but furthermore gives us a reason to live a good life. Schopenhauer, another philosopher, agreed... until he lost faith in God and became anihilist, believing in nothing.


Ref: Life as Art by Guy Yedwab,Victoria Anderson

Mahavira attained to absoulte knowledge and gave a religious discourse for the first time. In the beginning he said, ‘Uppannei va. vigamei va, dhuvei va (It comes into being, is destroyed and remains steady.)

Bhagvan Mahavira laid the foundation of the great and grand edifice of Jaina philosophy on these three word - utpata (creation), vyaya (destruction) and dhaurya (permanence).

He said : ‘The substance comes into being, the substance is destroyed, the substance remains steady’.

Daily and regular change takes place in every part of the substance. Every moment it comes into being, is destroyed and remains steady also. The original form of a substance remains intact and impartite, but its modes come into being and are destroyed. Creation, destruction and steadiness - this threefold position is called ‘sat (existent). What is ‘sat’ is a substance. For example, gold. The substance is not destroyed. the form of the substance changes but the original substance remains as it is.

We feel that the soul dies. In reality the soul never dies. The soul takes another birth. only its body changes. The soul remains steady as a substance. It is idestructible and eternal.

The word - Jiva, Atma, Cetana - are all synonymous. Jainism states that the soul has been bound by karma since times immemorial. Subtle, deep and detailed discussions about the soul and karma are found in Jainism.

That which has inborn and natural feelings and activity is Jiva (the soul). It is chetana (sentient). That which possesses the four chief instincts - the instinct of eating, the instinct of fear, the instinct of copulation and the instinct of possession (mine-ness) and related activities, is the Jiva (the soul).

The soul has its internal beauty also. It is manifested through experience, This internal beauty of the soul is faultless and formless. It is free from karma. Essentially the soul is not a male, nor a female and nor neuter. The soul has infinite knowledge, infinite perception and unlimited happiness. These are its fundamental qualities. According to Jainism, the incomparable beauty of the soul is enveloped by the cover of karma. The soul reaps fruits of the karmas it accumulates. The soul experiences miseries of life and death because of karma. It enjoys various types of happiness on account of karma. Nobody gives or can give happiness or misery to the soul. It itself is the performer and the enjoyer or sufferer.

To know more:

http://www.jainuniversity.org/philosophy_jain.aspx

http://www.jinalaya.com/jainism/karma.htm