Soul.. as we all ve heard, is supposed to be an integral part of a living being.. In these traditions, soul is supposed to have incorporated in all living things! Souls are generally considered to be immortal! well.. I was reading the Bhagvad Gita, a few hrs back and found something abt the Soul! Lord krishna, in the Bhagvad Gita says, Soul is the most microscopic thing, which can never been seen even with the most powerful microscope. But the soul can be realized, in deep meditation state.
Hinduism has two classifications for everything. One the Dvaita(Dualistic) and the Advaita(non-dualistic).
Advaita or non-dualistic conception of the soul accords its union with Brahman, the absolute uncreated (roughly, the Godhead), in eventuality or in pre-existing fact.
Dvaita or Dualistic concepts reject this, instead identifying the soul as part and parcel of super soul (GOD), but it never lose it's identity. That is where we as an individual get an identity.
Jevan/Atma.. are the terms referred to Soul, in Sanskrit, which is supposed to be the God's Own Language. The 'Atma' is seen as the portion of Lord Bramha, who is responsible for creating lives, on this earth, according to Hinduism! And Hinduism has many beliefs, on the origin, the purpose and the fate of the soul.
"A soul is neither created nor destroyed. It jus transmigrates from one form to another, depending on the deeds, done during the last birth [Karma]. And the most ultimate end of the soul is reaching Me, which will happen wen one constantly thinks about Me, and is highly devoted to Me", says the Lord, in the Holy book of The Hindus!
The god compares our body to a cloth! Wen we get a new cloth, we wear it. Wen it gets torn, we throw it. Similarly does the soul in our body. Wen our body gets older, it leaves the body and reaches God. It is again migrated to some other body and this process continues!
"A wise man never considers death as a separating factor", says He, "since he knows, there is no death for atma!"
Christianity:
Christianity, also one of the most spread religion in the world, deals atma/soul the same way as Hinduism dealt!
The clearest and most concise inspired definition of death was written by King Solomon, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Some christians believe on the Judgment day, where the soul of the dead person will reach the god and based on the deeds and his repenting, he enjoys eternal frienship with God, in the heaven. But, if not, he would be returned back to the Earth and a birth according to his deeds will be given.
There is an other group in christianity, which says, Soul is the essence of human Life and the soul dies with the dead body. Aristotle compared the body to a knife and the cutting action to the Soul. He remarked, "The soul is the essence of the life and it eventually dies as the body is dead. As we use the knife, if the knife is the body, then the cutting action is the soul. wen there is no knife, there is no cutting action. Hence, the essence of the knife, which was the cutting action is killed wen the knife fatigues out. And the similar things happen, when the body is dead!"
These are similar to Dvaita and Advaita in Hinduism!
Islamic:
Generally, it is believed that all living beings are comprised of two aspects during their existence: The physical (being the body) and the non-physical (being the soul). The non-physical aspect, namely the soul, is one's soul-related activities like his/her feelings and emotions, thoughts, Conscious and Sub-Conscious desires and objectives. While the body and its physical actions serve as a “reflection” of one’s soul, whether it was good or evil, and thus "confirms" the extent of such intentions.
At death, the person's soul transitions to an eternal afterlife of bliss, peace and unending spiritual growth until the day of judgment where both the body and soul are re-united for judgment at which point the person is either rewarded by going to heaven if he has followed God's commands or punished if he has disobeyed Him (Qur’an 66:8, 39:20).
Mixture to Dvaita and Advaita!
Jainism:
The soul is without taste, colour and cannot be perceived by the five senses. Consciousness is its chief attribute. Know the soul to be free of any gender and not bound by any dimensions of shape and size.
Hence the soul according to Jainism is indestructible and permanent from the point of view of substance. It is temporary and ever changing from the point of view of its modes. The soul continuously undergoes modifications as per the Karma it attracts and hence reincarnates in the following four states of existence - 1) as a Demi-God in Heaven, or 2) as a tormented soul in Hell, or 3) as a Human being on Continents , or 4) as an Animal, or a Plant, or as a Micro-organism.
As in Dvaita!As a conclusion, Soul is something, which is never destroyed! nobody can understand Brahmam, which is the ultimate of everything in this universe!
And the most better conclusion, i would like to say after all these work is, this simple message proves that God is the Same, irrespective of the religion! He is in different forms, different styles but ultimately, the One and the Only One!
