ATMAN does not suffer; ATMAN is not a slaved thing or a material or an entity which subjects SELF to suffering deliberately. Moksha is NOt a goal for ATMAN at all, but for the EGO of a person w human mind and intellect and physical material body. ATMAN is not your mind, intellect or your EGO. Definitely not your physical body. The ego currently in its ignorant pursuits belives it is GOD itself. That is the delusion of the people who call themselves a soul. But in reality, it is NOT mentioned in any Upanishad that ATMAN is under stress from being a resident or a renter of your body while you live on earth as a human or as animal. you suffer, becuase your stupid ego pretends to be god and ignores BRAHMAN/ATMAN which is "REAL". ego is the soul concept of judism and for christians. They both are wrong. I disagree. In hinduism, ATMAN is the Life principle and BRAHMAN and ATMAN are the concepts of spiritual consiousness only. you are ALIVE because you have ATMAN residing within you. you are dead and your ATMAN leaves you. ATMAN never suffers, but your physical body, mind and intellect takes a blow because of your ignorance based faulty ego only. It is said in Upanishads that there are two birds on a tree, one is ATMAN and the other is EGO, who pretends to be GOD, but defective and suffers. Hinduism always insisted upon getting rid of egoism. That ATMAN who is an innocent bystander helps the body w all its karmas by being a power supply only. All karmas need power to manifest. THAT ATMAN is also a PARAMATMAN within the same body s each cell nucleus has the same ATMAN as if in a power box residing within. But does the ATMAN feel trapped inside the nucleus? or can the nucleus function without ATMAN at all? Does ATMAN ever get sick? NO. If you go to the doctor to get medical treatment for your sickness or undergo surgery, who are you operating on? ATMAN? That is not true. ATMAN is inoperable. Indestrucible. Immutable. Unchangeable. Never gets tangled in the web of human bodily karmas. ATMAN is like a spider in a cobb webbed nest. The spider can mover around well without getting trapped or entangled or killed by the web itself. This analogy is found in Briha U and is so beautiful. That explains that ATMAN is not your body or mind or your head or your butt or nose or cells of all kinds. ATMAN is BRAHMAN, the mysterious power within all of us. I am dead w/o my ATMAN. BRAHMAN as in ATMAN keeps me alive. ATMAN has nothing to do w your IQs or your wealth or health or education, etc. ATMAN is there for you, if you do good karmas and take good care fo yourself and others around you in your envt.