The soul's illusional state of consciousness has to be purified and transcended to have its awareness restored to wholeness. The soul has also been conceived as the very essence of a thing and not a mere aspect or part. Although now closely associated with such terms as mind, spirit, or self, with which it has become almost synonymous, the basic connotation of soul in ancient and primitive societies was life.
Soul is the life of the body.
At death the soul leaves the body, and all bodily processes cease. The soul is individualized awareness. At this stage, pure Awareness loses its purity and gets involved with mental creations. It is then called the ego. Therefore, the experience of pure Awareness lies in becoming again pure Awareness, a condition of pure Beingness, which is totally void of thoughts and thinking.