Question: In our meditation, can we consciously invoke our soul? And if so, how?

Sri Chinmoy: In your meditation you can consciously invoke your soul and bring its presence to the fore. In fact, that is one of the fastest ways to realise God. But it all depends on how much benefit you want to get from the soul's presence. I am in front of you right now. You know that a God-realised man is in front of you. You are seeing me, and many other people are seeing me. If somebody has more aspiration than you, then naturally that person will get more benefit, more achievement, more fulfilment from my presence than you will. When you bring the soul to the fore, you make very fast progress if your aspiration is intense.

Now, if you know that when the soul comes forward you make faster progress, how can you bring the soul to the fore? This is the easiest way: when you start meditating, feel that you do not have the body, you do not have the vital, you do not have the mind, you do not have even the heart — you have only the soul. The only thing in your possession, the soul, is the most precious thing on earth.

Next, feel that the thing that you cherish most, treasure most, should become your whole life. Do not feel that you have to possess it; feel that you have to grow into it. When you are in a very deep meditative mood, all of you cherish me, your Guru. Why? Because you feel that your Guru has realised something, has achieved something. This is your first realisation. Your second realisation should be that it is not enough just to feel that I have realised something; you also have to grow into that realisation.

If you cry for the soul to come forward, and feel that you have to grow into the divinity of the soul, the soul will feel that you need it, and see that you want to become it. When your earthly desires have faded away, and only the heavenly aspirations remain in your life, at that time the soul is bound to come to the fore because it feels that you are ready to receive it.