Question: Does the spiritual life actually change the physical form?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, the spiritual life does change the physical form if, while practising spirituality, you care for the physical. There are many spiritual Masters who practise spirituality and also care for the physical. I am one of those. Even while I was in India I took regular physical exercise as well as meditating. But there are many Masters who don’t care for the physical.

Spiritual life does have the capacity to change the physical, but if we do not consciously use the spiritual life to help the body, naturally the body will respond only to a limited extent. It depends on the seeker — whether he wants his spiritual life to enter into his body-consciousness, or he wants to have two separate existences. I feel that the two should go together. But again, if the body becomes the strongest but is not aspiring, that is useless. The body and soul have to go simultaneously on the spiritual journey.