The four fold paths of Yoga, viz., Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga and Bhakthi Yoga have their anchor steeply laid in one important element of the nature of the Soul, which is the possession of the three faculties. The faculties are Knowledge, Action and Enjoyment. But what is the nature of the Soul as such? Or is there anything as Soul in human living, not to speak of general life as it is.
Hinduism points out how in our own experience we have assumed and accepted the presence of the Soul before we venture to talk anything me or mine. The very human experience of its own beingness becomes impossible if we dare to doubt the primemost premise of the reality of the Soul. Of course here and hereafter we would like to mean by the word 'Soul', not its original Greek concept but what Hinduism means by the word 'Atman'. Atman or Soul has as its innermost essential characteristic, 'Chaitanya'. Chaitanya is the fact of being the 'Chit'.- 'Conscious Core'.
Consciousness is the tool we use in Knowing. Applied Consciousness is Knowledge. Potential Knowledge or the potentiality to know is the Consciousness. So, according to Hinduism, Jiva, the living being, irrespective of its being a human or any other living being, is intrinsically Atman or Chit. Any living being is a conscious being in essence. How far any living being manifests its essence of being conscious, in actuality, makes all the difference between a human being and other living beings. Of course the problem of the sophistication of the Sarira or the Body scales down the spectrum of Life on Earth.
The main idea is - Jiva is not only something which lives but also quite as essentially, if not more, a being which is conscious, and also, a being which enjoys. The degree may differ with the species but the nature of the kind is universal to the Jivas.
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