Question: Do all souls have hundreds or thousands of incarnations before realisation?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, it is only spiritual Masters who don’t take so many incarnations. There are some exceptions among spiritual Masters, but most of them do not want to go through so many incarnations.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Eternity's Soul-Bird, part 2, Agni Press, 1974
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/esb_2