The Soul Body – Anandamayakosha
The first part of our soul or the outer sheath is known as the soul body, or the anandamayakosha. Anandamayakosha means the sheath or body of bliss. This is the part of our soul that God created. The soul body is the source of our individual awareness which perceives separation from God. The soul body grows through acquiring wisdom from life experiences, mastering control over the mind and emotions and its dominance over the other four bodies. The Anandamayakosha's development is mainly cultivated through practicing spiritual disciplines.
The soul body has a face, hands, torso and feet. Its body is constituted of particles of spiritual light. It's face can be likened to the innocent face of a 6 year old child.
The soul does not have organs of ingestion nor reproduction. While the four outer bodies have gender, the soul is genderless. Also, unlike the physical and astral body that generates into being anew with each incarnation, our soul remains the same ancient creation of God. The soul body however does grow with each life on earth.
This growth is apparent in its brightness and dominance of form over the other four bodies. Basically the soul body grows in size and spiritual brightness. When we are aware in our soul body, we feel spiritual and divine. We also feel the security of being immortal and lose the fear of death and rebirth.
The Core of Our Soul – Parashakti and Paramatma
The second part of our soul is identical to God. It can be called the essence of the soul. It is the innermost core of the soul. It is the source of the soul’s effulgence and immortality. It is God Himself as Parashakti and Parabrahman. The essence of the soul, being God Himself, is the reason why Hindu gurus teach that God is within all people.
It is also why the soul body is always shinning and unsullied by bad karmas. The purpose of yoga is for us to realize this constant union with God within us. When our awareness is turned toward the essence of the soul our awareness dissolves into Parashakti and ultimately Parabrahman and we experience our eternal oneness with God.