Leave aside the word, do we agree or not that there are people with whom we feel a natural affinity, people with whom we share a higher idealism and people with whom we share a common spiritual aspiration. Soul-mate or complimentary being is someone with whom we share a common aspiration and a higher ideal. It simply means that there are two levels at which married life exists. One is the common lot of physical vital attractions, common material and other interests, even certain degree of sentimental emotional engagement. There is another of a higher type where the Divine or spiritual seeking is at the centre while the rest is secondary or subordinate. This kind of a higher relationship has been recognised in India as the Rishis and their spouses who were both engaged in a common spiritual work. Of course the Americans always give a distorted sense to everything but that is another matter. Since they live largely in the vital and the senses, they believe the soul-mate to be someone with whom you have a vital affinity. But the truth of Soul mate is there in the stories of Rama and Sita, Krishna and Radha, Rishi Agastya and Lopamudra, Vasistha and Arundhati and quite a few others.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
