The Ātman is the Self or Spirit that remains above, pure and stainless, unaffected by the stains of life, by desire and ego and ignorance. It is realised as the true being of the individual, but also more widely as the same being in all and as the Self in the cosmos; it his also a self-existence above the individual and cosmos and it is then called the Paramatma, the supreme Divine Being. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/28/the-psychic-being#p39</ref>
==Affinities==
Hereditary influence creates an affinity and affinity is a living thing. It is only when the hereditary part is changed that the affinity ceases.<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/28/karma-and-heredity#p11</ref>
As a general rule, all these affinities have to be surrendered to the Divine along with the rest of the old nature—so that only what is in harmony with the Divine Truth can be kept and transformed for its work in you. All relations with others must be relations in the Divine and not of the old personal nature. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/human-relations-and-the-spiritual-life#p20</ref>
==Aksara==