The Nature of Self
The self that many believe is all of them, the self that identifies with the physical body and physical mind, is a mere transient fragment of your true self. Your true self is your consciousness, and it is a thread of universal consciousness. And this consciousness that is you is organized into multiple layers, with each higher layer being a composite of all the parts in the lower layer — you are multidimensional being, and every level of your self is striving towards reunion with its source — this is the process of ascension.
The most immediate higher layer of your consciousness is your Soul. Your Soul is an individuated aspect of universal consciousness with its own focal point of awareness, and local memory that accumulates and stores all of your experiences, and the understandings derived from them, within its energy field.