What is the difference between the jiva and the atma?

[ajay0]

An insightful article highlighting the Atma, Jivatma and Paramatma in detail. Proper understanding of these basic terms is crucial for the understanding of Vedanta without error, and thereby understand more complex concepts better.



An excerpt from the article...

In Yoga we differentiate between

• JĪVĀTMĀ – Soul
• ĀTMĀ – Self
• PARAMĀTMĀ - God

Jīvātmā is the individual, and Ātmā and Paramātmā are Universal.

• PARAMĀTMĀ is the Supreme Principle, whatever we call it: God, Supreme Self, Divine Self, Love, Truth or Reality.
• ĀTMĀ may be described as God’s ray of light, which exists as the “light of life” in every living being. It is part of PARAMĀTMĀ and is therefore identical in nature with it. Just as the seed of a tree contains all the qualities of the tree, the Ātmā also carries the qualities of the Supreme Self.
• JĪVĀTMĀ, the individual soul, is the reflection of the Ātmā within an individual; a “wave” that emerges from the ocean of existence and wanders from embodiment to embodiment, and after a long process of development and experience again returns to the unity of the Ātmā. The soul that has manifested itself in a form, however, does not identify with its divine essence but rather with its attributes, the physical body, the mind, the thoughts, etc. The aim of the path of Yoga is to dispel this illusion.