soul

The soul is the inner spirit, the life-essence of a person, regarded in many religious traditions as Divine. In the Hindu tradition, the atman or pure consciousness within is understood to be one with Brahman, the ultimate reality that pervades the entire universe. In the Jain tradition, every sentient being us understood to possess a jiva, a “life-force,” capable of liberation into its original state of blissful energy. In the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, the soul is of God, created by God, and capable of relation with God, but not identical with the Divine reality.