Perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of the Hindu religion is the existence of the soul/Atma. There have been various religious debates and explanations as to what the real nature of this Atma is. There are a lot of misinformed individuals on the Internet who present a very tangible explanation of the Atma, which is actually far away from reality; the intermingling of scientific concepts into the explanation of Atma takes us on to the wrong path of understanding it.
Multiple thoughts
Individuals express Atma as a form of energy which they claim to be the same as the concept of energy in science. The scientific concept of energy is very different, as it has various natures that are chemical, nuclear, kinetic, potential, etc. Albert Einstein, in his groundbreaking formula, calculated, formulated, transformed, and manipulated the relationship between mass and energy. However, some mistakenly equate this formula with the concept of atma, overlooking its application to closed and isolated systems only. However, our body is neither a closed nor an isolated system.
Religious perspective should be the sole source of understanding the true nature of Atma. The Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Nirvan Shatakam, etc., give us a clouded understanding of what Atma is. The onus lies upon us to clearly understand what these texts are trying to convey. The Upanishad and the Nirvana Shatakam both explain the Aathma as a formless, characterless and indestructible entity.
Claims on the existence of soul / Atma
They claim that the Atma existed even before time and space. The Atma is not influenced by our thoughts or actions. A further explanation of the Atma’s nature is provided in the second shloka of the twenty-second chapter of the Gita. The Gita says that there is a single Aatma for multiple beings, so intrinsically all the beings are the same. It is only our outer personalities that differentiate the beings. If we shed our outer shells and go inside, we would find no difference between us and the other person. I believe this is the basis of the thought when people say, ‘God resides in all,’ and ‘We are not different from each other.’
Someone else understands this concept differently. They say that Atma cannot be experienced. It can only be understood. I very truly believe that understanding the soul is a journey in itself, and to precisely summarise all about it in a few words is a difficult task, but still I have tried my best to provide a little food for thought to my readers on this subject.
