Question: How do you explain the soul to a child?

Sri Chinmoy: I am very happy to answer this question, because it is only a child who can spontaneously ask a question on the soul. The soul is a conscious portion of God. It came directly from God, it remains directly in God and it will go back to God. The soul is the light which is called consciousness. A child will not understand consciousness, so you can tell him that the soul is something that carries our thoughts, our ideas, our messages to God. The soul is the messenger that goes to God and gives Him our message: It understands our language and at the same time it understands God’s language.

Whenever a child tells the truth, whenever he does something good, whenever he does anything that pleases you, you can tell him that it is the soul that is asking him to do this.

You can also tell a child that the actual possessor or owner of his body is the soul. As he plays with a toy, so also the soul plays with him. A child knows that he can do anything with his toy and remain unaffected. If he wants to play with it, he can play with it. If he wants to break it, he can break it and if he is tired of playing with his toy, he can throw it aside. Similarly, in the soul’s case, if the soul wants to stay in the body and play with the body, it can do so. If the soul is tired of playing with it, if the soul wants to go back to its Father, God, it can do so.