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The Role of the Soul · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  When we read in the Puranas of India, we find that there are a
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  host of beings who are essentially non evolutionary
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  static beings. They may be gods, demons or
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  animals, or occupy any number of other positions in the scale of
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  the manifested universe. An interesting note, however, is
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  that if they want to participate in the evolutionary cycle for
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  any reason, they have to take human birth.
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  The human birth is considered to be the key to the dynamic
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  development of consciousness, and that is why the human birth
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  is treasured in virtually all religious and spiritual
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  traditions. The soul is the unique element
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  that sets the human birth apart from other beings.
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  For an extensive review of the existence of and role of the
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  soul in human life, the text Rebirth and Karma by Sri
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  Aurobindo is especially useful, as also extensive chapters in
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  The Life Divine specifically focused on the issues of
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  rebirth, The Mother provides a brief yet elegant description of
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  the role of the soul and how one can differentiate it from the
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  spirit. The Mother writes quote.
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  The soul is a kind of individual concentration of this grace, its
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  individual representative in the human being.
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  The soul is something particular to humanity.
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  It exists only in man. The beings of the other worlds
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  do not have a soul, but they can live in the spirit. 1 might say
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  that the soul is a delegation of the spirit in mankind, a special
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  help to lead it faster. It is the soul that makes
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  individual progress possible. The spirit in its original form
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  has a more general, more collective action.
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  End Quote. Reference Sri Aurobindo and the
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  Mother Powers within, Chapter 22, Spirit, page 164.