Question: Does the soul ever inhabit two bodies simultaneously or have parallel lives?

Sri Chinmoy: The soul is one. Within each body resides one soul. The soul has the capacity, if it wants to, to take a portion of itself out of that body and be in two different bodies simultaneously, but only for a short time. This is a rare occurrence. The soul does not like that game, because although going out of the body is easy, coming back each time is difficult. The body may be very impure, very undivine; the vital may be very aggressive, very destructive. In that case, it is difficult for the soul to come back to the body. So, the soul can be in two bodies if it wants to be. A portion of the soul may be in a second body. But the main portion of the soul has to be always in one particular body.