Does the soul experience loneliness? If so, how does this differ from our superficial need to have the company of others, regardless of whether we like them or not, simply because we want someone to talk to?

The soul experiences loneliness only when the body, vital, mind and heart, which are supposed to co-operate with the soul in fulfilling its divine mission on earth, do not co-operate. At that time it experiences loneliness. But it does not act like a human being. It does not waste its time, like a human being who feels that if he just talks to others, his sense of loneliness will disappear. The soul, in its loneliness, aspires most intensely to bring down Peace, Light and Power from above into the physical, the vital and the mental so that the total being can co-operate with the soul to fulfil the Divine. When Peace, Light and Power descend this way, the person becomes conscious of his inner life and true happiness. With Peace, Light and Power a higher consciousness descends. With this higher consciousness, the person will naturally respond to the soul's need.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Yoga and the spiritual life. The journey of India's Soul., Tower Publications, Inc., New York, 1971
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