Sanskrit आत्मन्,

From the Sanskrit root Atma, meaning breath or essence.

A“The Sanskrit prefix ‘A’ means ‘not’, the negative… More term of which roots is hardly known; but of it’s meaning is certain: the Self. The highest part of Man. Pure Consciousness in its highest manifestation. Different from the Ego and Soul, this is the Entity in which the Lower Physical and Impermanent manifest from.

The earliest use of the word Ātman in Indian texts is found in the Rig Veda, which eludes to the pervading principle, the organism in which other elements are united and is the ultimate sentient principle. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad describes the Atman as “that in which everything exists, which is of the highest value, which permeates everything, which is the essence of all, bliss and beyond description.” and “Everything one is, everything one can be, one’s free will, one’s desire, what one does, what one doesn’t do, the good in oneself, the bad in oneself.”

The Atman is Universal, it is that feeling or consciousness of “self-hood” which is the same in all human beings (and “lesser” beings). As the seed is sparked into life by the expression of chemical changes even in complete darkness, so is it that we know that we “are” even in moments of unconsciousness.