In Jain Dharma, the Atmā is not the doer of karmas in the absolute sense, but it is the recipient of karmic bondage because of its association with pudgala (matter) in the form of subtle karmic particles. The key point is:

• Body, speech, and mind are instruments.
• Passions like anger, pride, deceit, and greed create the condition for bondage.
• Karma is not just a mere appearance; in Jainism it is a real subtle material bondage that covers, binds, and distorts the soul’s qualities.

So the Atmā is not changed the way a screen is changed by a movie. The screen analogy is useful only up to a point. In Jainism, the soul is more like a pure, conscious substance that becomes covered by karmic matter, just as:

• a mirror becomes dusty,
• the sun is hidden by clouds,
• a pot inside water appears wet though its nature is not water.

The soul’s nature remains consciousness, bliss, knowledge, and perception, but karmas obscure these qualities.

Why can the Atmā be affected if it is not the doer?

Because Jainism distinguishes between:

1. Nischaya naya — from the absolute standpoint, the soul is pure consciousness and not the doer.
2. Vyavahāra naya — from the practical standpoint, the soul identifies with body, mind, speech, and passions, and thereby attracts karmas.

Thus, bondage occurs through association and identification, not because the soul’s essential nature becomes material.

Does the screen become wet?

Your analogy is spiritually helpful, but Jainism would say: the soul is not merely a passive screen. It is a living conscious substance that, due to its own influx-causing activities and passions, attracts karmic matter. So the issue is not just “something projected upon it”; it is also the soul’s bonding mechanism with karma.

Is liberation realized here and now, or only after death?

In Jainism, both statements have a place, but they refer to different stages:

1. Kevalajñāna / Self-realization can arise here and now

A soul can attain perfect knowledge in this life when all ghātiyā karmas are destroyed. At that stage, the soul becomes a Kevalī or Arihant while still living.

2. Moksha is attained after the fall of the body

Final liberation occurs when all karmas are fully exhausted, including the remaining aghātiyā karmas, and the soul leaves the body. Then it rises to Siddha-śilā as a Siddha.

So in Jainism:

• Realization/pure consciousness can be achieved here and now.
• Final Moksha is attained at the end of the embodied life, after complete karmic exhaustion.

Is there a “karma bank”?

Not in a crude banking sense. But Jainism does teach that karmas accumulate, mature, and fructify according to causes. This is not a mythological account; it is a precise doctrine of bondage, influx, stoppage, and shedding:

• Āsrava — influx of karma
• Bandha — bondage
• Saṃvara — stoppage
• Nirjarā — shedding
• Moksha — liberation

The essence

The soul is pure by nature, but it is veiled by karma. Liberation is not creating something new; it is removing what obscures the soul. Therefore:

• The soul is not the action-body.
• The soul is bound by karmic matter through passion and identification.
• Self-realization can occur now.
• Moksha is complete freedom after all karma is shed and the body is left behind.

If you want, I can also explain this using the Jain view of dravyārthika and paryāyārthika naya in a very simple way.