Atman

Atman

(Sanskrit - self, soul, higher self)

An individual soul, the spirit of a living being, the true "I", a particle of the Absolute consciousness in the body. It is believed that Atman possesses eternal nature, ultimate purity and bliss. A special quality of the Atman is his ability to be identified with something: for example, Atman is identified with our body and personality, and as a result, we consider ourselves to be given person (limited, mortal). One of the main stages of practice in Nathas Tradition is the realization of oneself as the eternal Atman, which subsequently leads to realization of one's identity to the Universal Soul - Paramatma.

In Vedanta, the Atman is identified with Brahman.