Question: My question concerns the soul's reincarnation and higher states of consciousness. Does the soul have a form; is it a separate entity? And if it is part of one universal Soul, then how can it reincarnate?

Sri Chinmoy: Each soul is a spark of the infinite Consciousness. The soul can take any form. If you want to feel that the soul is a Divine Entity, and you want to have your eternal existence in the soul, then you have to feel that here on earth and there in heaven, the soul is the very essence and the divine reality of each substance.

Now, let us speak about the form. We cannot see the soul with our human eyes, but with the third eye, when we look at the soul, we see that it can take any form. It can be tinier than the tiniest and larger than the largest. You can see the soul in the form of a little baby, or you can see it again in the form of an adult. It depends upon the development of the individual soul. True, the soul can assume any form, but it can never be bound by any form. At its sweet will it can enter into the form and go beyond the form.

When the Master says that he speaks to your soul, you have to know that he speaks to the supremely beautiful child in you, the divine portion which comes from the Transcendental Consciousness of the unmanifested Self.

In your question you have also asked about the soul’s reincarnation. The soul wants to manifest the divine here on earth in infinite forms and boundless measure. In one incarnation we have thousands of desires, but we can only fulfil a few. So we see that even the fulfilment of all earthly desires is impossible in one incarnation; how can we dare to imagine the fulfilment, in one short incarnation, of our heavenly aspiration, God-realisation, which is infinitely more difficult. It is the soul that comes back again and again to give the physical consciousness the highest realisation and also to manifest the Divine fully here on earth. It is the soul that reincarnates again and again. It is the soul that enters into the new bodies. When the soul leaves the body, the body dies; the physical enters into the physical sheath, the vital into the vital sheath, etc. Finally, the soul flies back to its own region. Ordinary souls usually take at least six years to come back. If the souls are more developed, they take a rest of twenty or thirty years. In the case of the spiritual Masters, it usually takes a very, very long time, but if it is the Will of the Supreme, even spiritual Masters of the highest order have to come down within a short span of time. But before it again enters into the world, each soul will have an interview with the Supreme to see how much it has achieved in its previous incarnation and how it is going to manifest on earth in the next incarnation. At that time the Supreme either entirely approves of the soul’s coming into the world, or He may accept and sanction the decision of the soul; sometimes the Supreme merely tolerates it. Some souls that are bound to the earth want to come back immediately and enter into the world of their previous emotional turmoil. At that time the Supreme just tolerates this. The souls that have started to aspire and want to realise the Supreme for an inseparable oneness with Him and also to reveal, manifest and fulfil the Supreme, receive a blessingful sanction from the Supreme. The souls who are very highly developed or fully developed in the spiritual life come into the world only to serve God in humanity. At that time, the Supreme with His divine Joy and Pride approves of their divine journey.