What is Atama(Soul)

 Atama  is also called life sustainer which is non-perishable and pure but influenced by spirit(vasanas).Spirit is the link between soul and the materialistic body.The Atama is the vital sentence force that sets the entire assemblage of matter in action.in short ,Prakriti is the matter and purusha is the soul.The soul ,in itself ,has no expression except when it plays through prakriti(matter).When purusha weds with prakriti through spirit ,the experience of good and bad are born.                                                                     It is the affiliation of Atama with body (organ of perception)that gives the illusion of Atama participating in actions of the body.in reality,Atama is neither doer nor enjoyer of their fruits.This is the function of the body and should not be attributed to the Atama.The Atama is present everywhere and is with us at all the times i.e.in deep sleep, dream and walker.The ignorant do not see it even when it is departing from the body.residing in it, experiencing the sense objects or United with three qualities(and Gunas) .The illusion arises from the misconception that Atama(Purusha) and the body (Prakriti) constitute a single unit.one participant in the activity of the other and also ,they share the consequences arising out of this activity..Persons endowed with knowledge and have thorough understood that Atama is eternal,pure and flawless.it has separate identity while residing in the body it provides the vital force and consciousness.if consulted by the mind which is a material part of the body .it is only after acquiring this consciousness that the body in association with qualities(gunas) experiences the effects of activity of senses and the mind.                           The ignorant people who look for an aptitude for the study of Atama out of ego and disbelief,cannot  understand even when they try it.Everybody can read about Atama but it requires a sustained effort,intense motivation ,deeper understanding of the scriptures,help and guidance from the teacher who himself has realized the truth and one's own experience to understand the validity of knowledge about Atama gained through various means.it takes decades of devotion and hard work to be a scientist,an artist or whatever be the chosen field of activity. How can one aspire to be a spiritualist overnight on the basis of superficial knowledge on reading the holy texts.