The Jīva or Individual Soul

Jīva, the Sanskrit word meaning, ‘living substance’ in Indian philosophy. The tree of Jīva and Ātman appears in the Vedic scriptures, predating current Hinduism, as a metaphysical metaphor concerning the soul. The Jīva or individual soul decorated a very high place in Śaṅkara’s philosophy. According to him the Ātman is the supreme, universal self. It is non-dual or one, partless and omnipresent like space. The empirical self or ego is the Ātman limited by the adjuncts of the body, the sense organs, Manas, Buddhi and Ahaṃkara the psycho-physical organism. The Ātman is one, but appears to be many individuals selves owing to its limiting adjuncts. The Ātman is the universal self while Jīva is the Individual self. The Ātman is the transcendental self, while the Jīva is the empirical self. It is neither a part, nor a modification of the Ātman, but its appearance. The adjuncts of the body, sense organs, manas, buddhi and like are creation of nescience, and not real. So the Jīva is a construction of nescience.