Editing Ātman (Hinduism) (section)

====Vaiśeṣika====
The [[Vaisheshika]] school of Hinduism, using its non-theistic theories of atomistic [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]], posits that ''Ātman'' is one of the four eternal non-physical<ref>The school posits that there are five physical substances: earth, water, air, water and ''akasa'' (ether/sky/space beyond air)</ref> substances without attributes, the other three being ''[[kāla]]'' (time), ''dik'' (space) and ''[[Manas (early Buddhism)|manas]]'' (mind).<ref name=sarachmo>Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore (Eds., 1973), A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, Princeton University Press, Reprinted in 1973, {{ISBN|978-0691019581}}, pages 386-423</ref> Time and space, stated Vaiśeṣika scholars, are ''eka'' (one), ''nitya'' (eternal) and ''vibhu'' (all pervading). Time and space are indivisible reality, but human mind prefers to divide them to comprehend past, present, future, relative place of other substances and beings, direction and its own coordinates in the universe. In contrast to these characteristics of time and space, Vaiśeṣika scholars considered ''Ātman'' to be many, eternal, independent and spiritual substances that cannot be reduced or inferred from other three non-physical and five physical ''dravya'' (substances).<ref name=sarachmo/> Mind and sensory organs are instruments, while consciousness is the domain of "atman, soul, self".<ref name=sarachmo/>

The knowledge of ''Ātman'', to Vaiśeṣika Hindus, is another knowledge without any "bliss" or "consciousness" ''[[moksha]]'' state that Vedanta and Yoga school describe.{{sfn|Plott|2000|p=60-62}}