Jiva and Atman?

[Tirisilex 0]

I'm confused about what these are exactly.. I was told that Atman is the soul.. But I read somewhere that Jiva is the soul as well.. What are the differences between these 2 things.

[gHari 0]

Jivatma - spirit soul. The atma is the soul, the eternal essence of the living entity jiva. Right now the jiva's atma is covered with the false-ego it calls Tirisilex among other names.

 

The jiva is the whole thing: the original eternal unborn atma plus all its illusive coverings of body, mind and senses that have evolved from the false-ego (ahankara). However atma and jiva will be used to mean the same thing often, with atma sometimes meaning body or mind as well. Perhaps it depends on the vantage point of the comments: from here encased in the body or from there free with Paramatma.

 

The Upanishads explain that the jiva is like a tree. Sitting in that tree are two birds: one the atma, and the other the Paramatma (Param-atma - beyond the soul, or Supersoul, or God in the heart, aka caitya-guru). Paramatma is witnessing as the atma is eating the fruit of the tree. He is waiting for the atma to turn to Him. This is our situation - too attached to enjoying the fruit of the tree, (the mind, senses of the body). When we stop eating the fruit of the tree, and turn to the Supersoul, then we begin our journey towards perfection.

 

The goal of yoga is to meet the Supersoul in the heart (thus realizing the self [atma, soul] who is the witness of Supersoul as the world falls away), and then following the dictates of the Supersoul who is guru. Indeed the external spiritual master is said to be the external manifestation of this Supersoul caitya-guru. Caitya-guru will take us to Krsna; we will be with Him when we are not attached.

 

BG 6.6p: "Real yoga practice entails meeting the ParamAtmA within the heart and then following His dictation".

[gHari 0]

http://vedabase.net/sb/2/9/4/en