The Soul is a thing of much discussion and much assumption and misunderstanding. A majority of people, including the clergies of various religious and spiritual paths, haven't a clue as to the true nature of the Soul. Most often when they speak of the subject, they use their religion's holy texts, which may or may not be accurate to begin with, but even if they are, must be interpreted by an individual who has yet to have the experience of viewing life through the eye and from the state of consciousness of the Soul.
Many times, one will hear others speak of the Soul as "an atom of God", or another such comparison. Having the experience of the state of being that is Soul, in nearly every case, will completely change whatever the previous definition one held was, as well as the way one might have defined the words used to give the idea. An "atom" or "molecule" is an apt way to put it, however, it is also inaccurate, which should come as no surprise being that words, concepts and ideas are things solely of the Mental Plane, or mental understanding and arena. Therefore a word simply cannot encompass the reality of the Soul. The mind itself is not wide enough to encompass It, and even has a very hard time coming into any degree of an understanding of It, the Soul. So speaking of It and passing any understanding along verbally or in written form is very difficult to do.
I wish to name things that Soul is, as well as the things that It is not, to hopefully clarify the definitions, as well as to debunk the various misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Soul is quite beyond form. It has no shape, unless it chooses to adopt one, but that shape cannot, and does not, exemplify It in Its own reality of being. I will begin by explaining the basic way the plane structure gives many the misunderstandings that they have. The Soul exists on Its own plane, which is the first that is beyond all duality, and is therefore the first than can truly be called "heaven."
As It descends to the physical world for an incarnation, it picks up a mental body at the Mental Plane, a causal one at the Causal plane, and then an astral form at the Astral Plane, which actually corresponds with emotions. Next is the Physical Plane, and this is of course where one gets into the physical body that everyone is used to. The body that most of us refer to as a "ghost" is the Astral Body, which leaves it's Physical counterpart at the time of physical death. This is not the Soul. A majority of times when one is having an out of body experience, this occurs by moving the consciousness into this body, and away from the physical. This is also what happens when we dream.
Although some with the gift of sight can see an Astral Form leave the body at the time of death, it is not the Soul that they are witnessing, but merely this lower, emotional body. The Soul has no emotions, has no mind, and also has no attachment, as that is a thing of the emotions and the mind. Soul is well beyond those in every way.
As it says in the Bible in the book of John 1:1, " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Holy Spirit, as it is called in the Bible is the literal Voice of God, and from IT was created the Soul. What this means is that, not only is the Soul both eternal and divine, but it is also Sound, very literally. The Light of God is a secondary manifestation, and is merely the means of viewing the Sound of God. Being that the Spirit is Sound and is of God, so the Soul is the same, being of the Spirit (or Voice) of God, and in this way we find a truer explanation of what is meant by terms such as "Soul is an atom of God."
Soul is Godlike, but Soul is not a God in and of Itself as many make the mistake of assuming. What so many term as "enlightenment" is simply the realization of what Soul is, and Its nature concerning both God, and All else in existence. This is usually called "Self-Realization." This occurs at a state of consciousness where there are no forms, no matter, energy, space or time. Soul and Heaven are beyond these things, which are merely lower aspects of reality which humans must learn to work with, and then through and beyond. Another cliche saying among "New-Age" groups today is that "We are all One," or "I am you." Neither of these are accurate definitions to the various phrases. The difficulty happens often for the same reason, we are trying to use words and language, which are purely mental placards that we use to identify things, to express a thing or experience that is quite beyond the lower states of matter, energy, space and time. Therefore there can tend to be much misunderstanding, as well as much assumption not based on any direct experience. "All are OF One," would be a much more accurate way of saying it. All Souls, while being the ultimate definition of an individual, are still all the same thing, the same ingredient, coming from the same Source or Cause, and are therefore equal in potential.
The degree, or state of realization of each individual unit or Soul, as experienced from the physical awareness upward, through the various lower planes, and eventually the higher ones also is different for each. Each Soul must willingly seek to work themselves into ever higher and more refined states of experience and consciousness, and it is this that is usually spoken of as "expanding awareness." This is literally the only way that one can "raise vibrations," or "ascend." There is simply no such thing as a "soul contract," as Soul, being beyond mind, emotion, energy and form, simply cannot be bound by any contract. The idea is somewhat ridiculous. Neither can a person, while online and typing, lead another on any sort of a "soul journey." There are a great many fraudulent people who claim such things, but the way they explain it shows very clearly how little experience they have with Soul at all, much less any other Soul.
Now, having said all of the above concerning contracts, there remains a distinction to be made. First of all, any and all contracts made, are made by one of the lower bodies and/or states of awareness, but none of these are the Soul. The most obvious example would be a karmic "contract." This situation is not one imposed by God, or any angel or anything else, it is, rather, a thing chosen by one's self, and being that, and also a lower form of manifestation, is very dualistic. This means there will be both situations that are good or bad to the perceptions, meaning only the degree to which we like or dislike going through the experience. If one looks deeper, one finds that this has absolutely no bearing on whether or not that occurrence is good or bad concerning development of the state of consciousness. For example, one can use their free will to choose a thing they want for no good reason, and having made that choice are now bound by the "contract" of balancing the wrong they had chosen to do. It is an absolute requirement, and will be done, at some point along the way. But when one comes into the experience of balancing, or what is often termed "paying" the karma, they may not like it at all, just as another may not have enjoyed what was caused by the first individual's choice earlier on.
But making this "payment," while uncomfortable for the individual, and thus perceived as "bad," is actually a good experience as far as spiritual development is concerned, in this case "good" meaning "causing forward advancement." A situation where one gives a thing selflessly, such as aid or succor, freely and without asking payment, results in a measure of "good" karma, that in most cases proves to be a step up the spiritual ladder to a matching degree, or in simpler terms, a spiritual benefit that was not required in the first place for the gift that was originally given. In any and every case, where any such "lower" action causes any act of retribution to become necessary, the laws set in place by the Divine alone, can and will execute it's re-balancing, through the agents of their choosing, before it can be considered balanced and then be removed from the books, as it were, and this is not by any means a "soul contract" as it does not, in any way, concern or bind the Soul Itself.
When a person has finally achieved this first major spiritual stage of development, or state of consciousness, they are not beyond creating and having to re-balance any further karmas. Nor do life's challenges and troubles magically end. If anything they only then, become greater, first as that Soul learns to balance Itself within the lower aspects of life that it must live out. This balance is necessary to one's state of being, and if not gained, they will not be able to develop any further beyond that point. Having said that, it must also be mentioned, that achieving this Saint or Sant hood, will actually free one from the cycles of karma and reincarnation, however, one must remain in that state by not creating further karmas that might build up and change the state of being. This is a constant challenge for any who enter the higher states of consciousness. They do not simply end the karmic circle, gain enlightenment, and then walk off in an eternal state of bliss. The entire struggle of earning this state of being, is always done "from the ground up," because this teaches the individual the true meaning of this state, as well as putting it into a perspective that won't so easily allow the ego's impulses to regain control. It is truly a struggle, and for many good reasons.
Many find that one who has supposedly attained this state, won't necessarily act in ways they believe such a one would. This is based on their own misunderstanding of the state of consciousness itself, as well as being seen through that lower state of consciousness that others are working through at any given time. This can often cause a further struggle between these different individuals, living from different states, but the one who is actually Self-Realized, is willing to surrender the situation to the Divine Will, and allow God to work things out in the way IT sees as the best for all involved. This ensures that one is not working from their ego. One who is seeing and interacting with life from this point of view, will also practice a great deal of detachment, that most often, the average human is utterly unaccustomed to. It is this very quality that is nothing more than an aspect of unconditional love, and is thus free of placing conditions on another concerning whatever interaction that one has with others.
The Soul, being formless and also Godlike can easily expand Itself and Its awareness, to any degree, and in terms of the Physical Plane, this means that It can literally be aware literally anywhere, from the Sun in our solar system, to any planet in the furthest galaxy from planet earth. This also explains Its ability to be aware anywhere on any of the lower planes as well, from the emotional worlds to any of the Mental Planes. The consciousness of the Soul is able to be consistently aware on all of the planes It occupies simultaneously and independently. The bodies used on each of the lower planes lives and acts in full awareness even if the physical self is unaware of this happening. After realizing Its true place in the God worlds, Soul then continually develops Its state of consciousness further until it becomes God-Realized, which is the first state of true spiritual Mastership. At one point, all Souls will develop to this state of consciousness at which they become a conscious Co-worker with God, and serve ITS will by helping the as yet under developed Souls to move forward in learning and experience.
The Soul, Itself, bears the Light of ten-thousand suns. Due to the vast difference between the vibratory levels of the GODHEAD, ITSELF, and those of the lower planes, the Etheric, Mental, Causal, Astral and Physical, the GODHEAD can never enter any of these lower states, as doing so would immediately destroy All that exists in them. It is for this reason that Soul must learn how to consciously surrender Itself to God's will, and allow IT to work through Soul, using It as a channel to reach the lower planes, and enter them to spread ITS will. At all stages during Its development, Soul has the ability to surrender Its will to that of the divine, and allow Itself to be used as a channel. A very important purpose indeed. This action is primarily the only way to execute a karmaless action.