Allow me for the last time to clear up two points:
1. I've used examples of other religions, and for all regards, I mean
no disrespect. I merely wanted to show that even for a concept that
is found in most religion, it may not be absolute. As a last example,
animals do not have souls in Christianity, but according to Hinduism
they have, and in Taoism it will depend on certain factors.
2. There have been several mentioning of "reaching the other shore".
It does not, in any real sense, imply a physical entity getting to
a "place". It is just a conventional way for the Buddha to illustrate
nibbana. Which is why, in Zen/Ch'an, the emphasis is on "here and
now". The idea of "reaching the other shore" when used together with
the soul theory seem to be a matching pair, but it is completely a
misrepresentation of Buddha's words.