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

Sri Chinmoy: The soul experiences loneliness only when the body, vital, mind and heart, which are supposed to cooperate with the soul in fulfilling the Divine Mission on earth, do not cooperate. At that time it experiences loneliness. But it does not act like a human being. It does not waste its time, as would a human being, who feels that just by talking to others the 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, the mental, so that the total being can cooperate with the soul to fulfil the Divine. When Peace, Light and Power descend into the physical, vital and mental, 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.