We generally refer to our bodies which came through our mother’s birth canal has our true self. In Buddhism this would be a temporal self or the concept of "I" (asmimāna).
The Ātman or spirit is a different subject altogether (which is a difficult subject for modern day Buddhist to grasp). It’s somewhat like the difference between a computer that I have on my desktop and the electricity that runs it all. In this regard, Ātman is like the electromagnetic force.
If the power goes out in my house it's usually because some tree fell on the powerlines that bring the electricity to my house. But if the computer malfunctions it's not the fault of the electricity.
When the body that went through the mother’s birth canal finally dies showing a flat line on the monitor, this is saying that the monitor cannot detect any subtle signals from the body. It doesn't mean we are not present or in some other state.
What animates our temporal body cannot be the body that is animated anymore than the electricity that runs our computer is the computer!
For the sake of discussion, let's say that Siddhartha's enlightenment consisted of identifying with this animative spirit (ātman) which is not some measurable amount or quantum. It can be likened to a boundless field but nevertheless real. This is what the Mahāyānaśraddhotpāda-śastra (Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna) is telling us when it says:
“All objects are originally of One Mind and are beyond thought determination. Because unenlightened people perceive objects in their illusion, they impose limitations in their mind. Since they erroneously develop these thought determinations, which do not correspond to Reality (dharmata), they are unable to reach any inclusive comprehension.”
Said another way, all phenomena originate from the One Mind or primary spirit. Such spirit is beyond the perceiver and perceiving. Spirit is also Buddha nature, Mind (G., Geist) and Ātman all of which are immeasurable yet real.
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