Question: Why is the soul affected by outer circumstances?

Sri Chinmoy: The soul is not affected. When you touch ink, you feel that your hand is affected. But if you have the wisdom to wash your hand, the ink will vanish and your hand becomes clean. Then, if you do not touch ink anymore, your hand will remain clean. The soul is so luminous. All the undivine things that you do are like ink. If the soul wants to wash off all the undivine deeds of the physical, vital and mind, it can easily do so. The soul has inner wisdom, inner light. So just as you can wash the ink off your hand, at any moment the soul can regain its own illumination.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy answers, part 7, Agni Press, 1996
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sca_7