Question: Is the Presence of the Supreme in our minds and in our bodies the same thing as the soul?

Sri Chinmoy: The Presence of the Supreme is anywhere in the body, the vital and the mind. But it is the soul that is always conscious of the Presence of the Supreme. From time to time we are conscious of God's Presence in the heart, but in the mind we very rarely feel it and even if we do, we doubt it. In the vital, even if we get some inner strength from God, we try to use it in a wrong way. We try to destroy the world in an aggressive manner. In the physical, we are so dull and inert that we do not feel the Presence of the Supreme. But when we go deep within, we see that His Presence is always in the physical, in the vital and in the mind. God's Presence pervades our existence, but one part of our existence is more illumined than the rest, and that is the soul. The soul, being fully illumined and in constant touch with the Highest, feels the Presence of the Supreme all the time. If we make considerable progress in the spiritual life, our heart, like the soul, will become consciously and constantly aware of the Supreme's Presence. Then gradually this awareness will dawn in the mind, the vital and the body.