Aurel's laurels

Whenever we write about Eastern religion we say "soul or self", as if these were interchangeable. I am very sure of what the self is, but I only have a dimly lit view of what the soul might be. This symbol, sacred to 8000,000 Hindus, was described as a symbol of the soul or self. Isn't there a huge difference between these two things, or is it that what this is a symbol of is something that cannot be described by Westerners in the terms we use to describe what is sacred to us? I do know that Buddhists, who derived their beliefs in part from Hinduism, like lotuses because they represent something that has its roots in the mud at the bottom of a pool and flowers above the water in the same way that enlightenment can emerge from the body.