Buildaur, dedicated to building a sustainable living environment

Auroville is an International Township founded on the ideals of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, aiming towards Human Unity where about 2000 residents from 40 different countries have dedicated themselves for life towards its ideals. Auroville is known internationally for its work in the fields of research in many aspects of life, such as environment, arts and crafts, architecture, design, philosophy, education, urban planning, etc.

Buildaur, a unit under Auroville Foundation, is a non profit organization dedicated to building a sustainable living environment through its work in the field of architecture, interior design, exhibition and product design and construction.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES: Buildaur aims to achieve a synthesis between the traditional ways of designing and building the living environment, and contemporary ways of life. Buildaur aims to promote eco-friendly, climatically appropriate, energy efficient, cost effective building materials and techniques that utilize locally appropriate inputs and aesthetics.

Buildaur is dedicated to joyful ways of working together with a team of professionals from various fields of design and at the same time learning from each other’s expertise to widen the base of its knowledge. Buildaur aims at propagating the use of sustainable building technologies and innovations by working together with like minded organizations, ngos, institutions and individuals, so as to form a network of knowledge centres throughout the country.

Buildaur aims to use the arts, crafts and design in its work to create an aesthetic and holistic living environment for the soul and the spirit of its users.Buildaur is dedicated to the ideal of unending education by various ways of learning & acquiring knowledge through research, interactions and enquiry. Our architecture is inspired by the ancient Indian wisdom and art of building where the form is the creation of the spirit and draws all its meaning and value from the infinite spirit. posted by dhRuv at 5:41 AM Saturday, July 08, 2006

Handmade greetings cards

I also am in the initial stages of conducting an income generation project for the female inmates. I had the idea that they can make handmade greetings cards, focusing now only on Christmas cards, but this will develop into other types of cards in due course. I have a women who is skilled in embroidery visit the prison to train the women in how to make Christmas designs on cloth. I then will attach the cloth pieces to handmade paper from Sri Aurobindo paper factory in Pondicherry. These cards cost me about 38p to produce, which includes the cost of materials, shipping and payment to the women. Money from sale of these cards will go towards the next batch and also it is hoped to extend this programme to released women and wives of current male prisoners who have been ostracised from their communities and have little chances in making an income for themselves or their family...

I also have been granted permission to sell paper products from Sri Aurobindo’s paper factory. They make really nice files, notebooks, photo albums, picture frames, cards etc, all from 100% natural paper. I also will be relying on my own ability at fundraising from the public, of which I have a few ideas, and also from friends and family. I invite you to take a look at my website www.holdinghands-international.org and see my accounts pages. I want to keep everything I do, and everything I spend totally transparent, so that people can know where every penny is spent. posted by Ruth at 2:42 PM Friday, July 07, 2006

Butterflies: 'Conscious flowers of air'

Butterfly Garden at Auroville

Jana (from USA) and Perumal (from India) speak about their efforts to create a garden for the 'conscious flowers of air', as Sri Aurobindo described butterflies poetically in Savitri. Shift from imported to indigenous plant speciesIt is well known that Auroville was started on degraded land stripped of its original tree and bush cover, interspersed with dry land crop fields. The last three decades have witnessed a massive re-afforestation in a bid to restore soil quality and the general health of the land. This has met with spectacular success, but certain problems have arisen. As much as 72% of the regeneration in many areas consists of imported exotic plant species, like Acacia trees - 'Work', as Mother named them. To what extent this has adversely affected the local fauna still remains to be seen, but nowadays a shift to afforestation with indigenous species is promoted.Fertile Field settlementOne of the areas where this is being done is Fertile Field.

Jana and her husband Perumal have taken charge of 17 acres recently purchased land - 10 acres of cashew tope and 7 of open field - with an aim to plant native trees and shrubs so as to create a butterfly garden for indigenous butterflies.Insects as hobby"I was more or less born with a passion for insects," laughs Jana. "Since I was a child I loved insects, particularly beetles. I collected and bred them. But I chose to get a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, and insects remained a hobby. When I came to live in India, with its enormous amount of insects, my interest reawakened. I am thinking about taking up a correspondence course to get a Masters in Biology.

This time, the emphasis will be on butterflies. I have been breeding them on a small scale when I was living at the beach community of Sri Ma. Now, here in Fertile Field, we plan to plant 10 acres for the butterfly garden with food plants for the larvae and with plants that attract butterflies."Biological indicators"There is quite a good butterfly population in Auroville," Jana continues. "Research done in 1995 by Ms. Aditi Pai showed that there were 55 species of butterflies living in Auroville, against 49 in Puthupet, a forest nearby Auroville which still has the original shrub jungle of this area. Now it is well known that certain insects, especially Butterflies and Moths, are particularly suited as biological indicators. Biological indicators are organisms, which are very sensitive to their environment.

This is manifested by their 'performances' in their habitat. Their very presence or absence, or their number, is a good indication of state of the environment. Using butterflies as biological indicators, Pai found that the quality of the Auroville habitat is not exceptionally good, but that the diversity of Auroville's habitats, ranging from grasslands (Aranya) to plantation areas (young areas in Aurobrindavan and older ones in Forecomers) to natural degraded scrub lands (e.g. Fertile) and ravines (Forecomers) was responsible for the species richness."315 species of butterflies in south India"Large parts of Auroville" says Jana, "are disturbed habitats, that is areas where due to all kind of reasons there has been a loss of biomass. Other areas are unsuitable for the indigenous butterfly population because the flora is partly exotic.

The afforestation efforts attempt to change all that, and I hope the species variety will drastically grow once the indigenous food shrubs and trees mature. After all, there are about 1.500 species of butterflies in India, 315 of which live in south India. The butterflies seen in Auroville are among the most common species of India. But they are tough. My neighbor, a Tamil farmer, sprayed his field this year with DDT, which may have killed some of them, but I have also found many larvae that lived through the spraying season."Growing food plants for local speciesAs to whether she plans to make a kind of butterfly house that would show exotic butterfly species as well, Jana replies in the negative. "That's not the objective, although it would be a great project.

I recently visited one such house in Malaysia, which is filled with different butterflies from all over the world. It is stunningly beautiful, but it is not what I want to do. I want to focus on local species and release them. To import non-indigenous species is useless if you do not grow their food plants and it might be dangerous, as scientists do not know what impact on the environment would be. Already questions are being raised whether breeding indigenous butterflies would not create a pest, as the larvae eat plants. The emphasis will be on growing the food plants and planting them all over Auroville, which implies a lot of nursery work. It is not. It is not a question of just breeding and releasing them!

"Nature will balance out"The general consensus is that this project would be beneficial to the environment. One of the advantages is that butterflies are the second strongest pollinating insects next to bees. We expect that the butterflies will disperse and migrate and that, as we will not introduce any new species, nature will balance it out. We have already seen many new birds coming to Auroville, which are the natural predators of butterflies."Story posted by Vijay Barve at 9:41 PM Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Where do we take it from here

Went to beach, sat on the rocks and fooled around out there but somewhere around at that time all of us reflected about our lives , the good and the bad things and most importantly where do we take it from here. Went to the Aurobindo Samadhi and i have to say its so peaceful sitting under that massive tree which spreads out its branches. It was so serene and after a long time i felt peaceful even though it lasted for about 10 seconds. posted by Akash Winny @ 8:16 PM Monday, July 03, 2006 Thats me !!!

The wonder that is Auroville

Auroville is an experimental city, under development in south India. It is intended to be a model township - an international and universal place for personal, spiritual growth and social advancement. Auroville exists for nothing less than to hasten the evolution of the human species - to develop the mind from its animal instincts to sublime intuition, and to manifest the inspiration of the Divine in the material world.

The idea for the town was inspired by the teachings of Sri Aurobindo - an Indian philosopher, freedom fighter and futurist who lived from 1872 to 1950. His greatest disciple, a Frenchwoman known simply as ‘The Mother’, came to India to be by his side and to realise his ideas. She proposed the creation of Auroville, which was finally founded in 1968. Representatives came from all over India and the world, bringing with them a handful of soil from their native lands, to be mixed in an urn at the centre of the city. The current population is currently around 1800 ‘Aurovilians’. The aim is to have a thriving city of 50,000. The largest country represented so far is India, followed by French and German citizens.

The Matrimandir Temple

The building in the photograph is the Matrimandir - the ‘Temple of the Mother‘. Here, ‘Mother’ refers to the supreme Creative Force, the energy that binds Consciousness into the myriad forms of the universe. Compare with goddess Durga from Hindu mythology:

The Matrimandir is to be a place of concentration, for finding the source of one’s consciousness in the stillness of meditation. The red brick ‘lotus petals‘ each contain a room for meditation. Inside the golden dome is the ‘Inner Chamber‘ - a large, white, circular hall containing a huge glass crystal - the largest in the world - which focusses a beam of white light into the centre of the building.

The gold discs are actually made of gold — gold leaf, sandwiched in between two layers of glass and tiled like a mosaic around huge discs. This sphere of gold, around a place of great concentration upon human consciousness, is intended to have an electromagnetic influence on the state of consciousness for the rest of the planet…By Premasagar. June 30th, 2006 You can make a comment, or trackback from your own site.

Life and Yoga By Sri Aurobindo

Man is precisely that term and symbol of a higher Existence descended into the material world in which it is possible for the lower to transfigure itself and put on the nature of the higher and the higher to reveal itself in the forms of the lower. To avoid the life which is given him for the realisation of that possibility, can never be either the indispensable condition or the whole and ultimate object of his supreme endeavour or of his most powerful means of self-fulfilment. It can only be a temporary necessity under certain conditions or a specialised extreme effort imposed on the individual so as to prepare a greater general possibility for the race.

The true and full object and utility of Yoga can only be accomplished when the conscious Yoga in man becomes, like the subconscious Yoga in Nature, outwardly conterminous with life itself and we can once more, looking out both on the path and the achievement, say in a more perfect and luminous sense: "All life is Yoga.'' Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry, India. posted by Kevin at 7:04 AM

Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture, Kolkata

SRI AUROBINDO PARICHAY GALLERY & SANSKRITI MUSEUM

A son-et-lumiere exposition on HIS life, with particular reference to the Indian Freedom Movement in the first decade of the 20th century. Authentic arms and ammunition have been replicated, the cell in Presidency Jail and Alipore Courtroom have been recreated in a rare historical account that promises to transport the viewer into an epoch of patriotism, valour and sacrifice for the Motherland. This is a must-see for all lovers of history and those who want to know more about the Indian freedom struggle and India's contribution to it. Time : 4 - 6 p.m.

29 February 1956

gleitflug (6finger) wrote,@ 2006-06-19 00:24:00

After Sri Aurobindo's passing the Mother fully took up in earnest her promise to Sri Aurobindo to attempt the physical transformation. On 29 February 1956 ("Golden Day") she announced an experience in which she had a vast cosmic golden form and broke open the golden door that separated the Universe from the Divine, allowing the Supramental force to stream down to Earth in an uninterrupted flow (Agenda vol.1 p.69). [из wikipedia: The_Mother]

Leonardo da Vinci and Sri Aurobindo

The Mother has once told that Sri Aurobindo was Leornado da Vinci and that she herself was Mona Lisa. In the picture- the Da Vinci code, there is a comment of how one half of Monalisa appears male and the other female. Shiva and Shakti. The Sacred feminine.
posted by sree 11:48 AM

A guest house called Creativity

Some self-proclaimed French idealist called “the Mother” and an Indian freedom fighting guru activist visionary called Aurobindo started Auroville with the goal of creating a self-supported biological health paradise and spiritual retreat. To be honest it was really pleasant and knowing that the foresty and luscious green area that Auroville is built upon was once nothing but red sand is quite impressive. We stayed at a guest house called Creativity—don’t know why they called it that—located close to a restaurant/cafeteria called Solar Kitchen—this I know because the kitchen and also all of Auroville is run only on solar energy. After taking a refreshing ‘get rid of that 29-hour traveling smell’ shower, we walked over to Solar Kitchen and got served some free non-spicy Indian food as a nice gesture to celebrate the day’s event. The food, company and climate were all great, and to top it of the moon was encircled by an astounding aura of clouds. It looked absolutely amazing and I swear I could have been perfect—had I had a glass of wine at the time.

The next day we spent walking and melting around surreal Auroville in the 42-degree killer sun before catching some brown waves at the beach. A couple of wannabe guru locals told us there would be a rave/trance party somewhere in the remotes of Auroville that evening. After dinner, swimming and beer we decided to catch some midnight moonbeams and float over to party we heard about earlier. Walking for ages in almost pitch darkness we finally found the place the locals were boasting about, although instead of it being a trance jam, the party was something that I myself like interpret as a: psychedelic-yoga induced-spiritually weird-moon funk-dance party. It was generally a bunch of weirdoes letting loose and trying to dance to some phuked-up yoga beats whilst others transcended into a meditated vibe in front of a big bonfire. I like to think I am pretty open to all of this stuff but this was just too mind blowing yah and after trying to jump onto the psychedelic nirvana train myself I instead started to feel nauseated. The next morning I found myself in pain and completely sick from the night before, although it wasn’t so much the yoga trance jam that caused the illness but instead a mouth full of beer and sea water I swallowed whilst swimming the day before. posted by Donny van Luyn @ 10:37 PM

Keeping Auroville in a state of constant flux

There are very serious and important issues that need to be researched, discussed and debated regarding the future planning and development of Auroville, the city the earth needs. Most importantly the big question now needs to be asked; should Auroville and its residents continue to pursue the Galaxy Masterplan concept? With the consciousness of today, what other alternatives do we have at hand?

Until the courage is found to ask this fundamental question, with a sincere search for the truth, with a sincere search to find out what is now most needed for India and the world today, I cannot help but feel that we are all living in a city of lies. And for any truth seeker, this is an isolating and unbearable position to be in. I feel that something is deeply wrong when architects, planners and anybody else for that matter, do not feel free enough to really question and explore the most pertinent issues of our time. To try and get things moving towards a more enlightening direction I present here a small illustration of a possible alternative way of planning and developing Auroville, in comparison to that of the Galaxy Masterplan concept. This list is by no means exhaustive and it is in no particular order. It is just a starter…

Personally, I perceive that keeping Auroville in a state of constant flux, in a state of dynamic change and evolution, in harmony with the divine, in harmony with nature is to bestow great respect and honor to the great work of our founding father, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. But to become dogmatically attached to the Galaxy Masterplan concept only ends up suffocating and killing the great dream that is Auroville and all of our dreams that come in turn. I perceive that the Galaxy Masterplan is not Auroville. Auroville is far, far deeper than this. It is now time to decide which way the residents of Auroville want to go. An exciting, adventurous and great turning point is potentially upon us. Are we to live in a suffocating village of dogmas and lies? Or do we have the courage to step beyond our personal comfort zones, to reinvent and renew Auroville, and to evolve a township that is in a continuous search for the truth?

N.B. Perhaps this key question, ‘The Galaxy Masterplan: To Be or Not To Be?’ could be the first topic to be addressed in an open and transparent Platform? posted by Nikolai @ Friday, May 05, 2006

The Creative Tree

Zafar Satyavan (4/6) is called this way because he strongly relates to Satyavan of Aurobindo's Savitri. In that epic poem Savitri has to save Satyavan's soul by fighting the Lord of Death... Interestingly, Savitri is Something Divine within us and Satyavan is the reflection of our soul. I had amazing experiences after reading Savitri. In fact, it slowly revealed The Creative Tree. posted by Zafar Satyavan @ 6:23 AM

Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir, Thankot, Kathmandu

Now, what you see here at Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir, Thankot, Kathmandu is the result of that experience on that peak. Since there was no proper ashram of Sri Aurobindo here in Nepal. I realized that I was sent to Pondichery to prepare myself of this work here and because of their Grace and our incessant effort Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir has grown from one inmate, that is myself, to 90 inmates including almost 70 children 20 adults. We want to be totally self-sufficient not depending on any organization or government. Though we are not yet self-sufficient to maintain the present cost we are able to earn the needed amount that is to say if we want to buy some land or construct more buildings we need some extra help. For the time being we were getting some help from friends and one of my brother who lives in New Zealand. Though it is not that easy to run Ashram here like India where we have millions of Ashrams and there most of the peoples have respect love for such places here the general attitude is different because of lack of knowledge, education, and prosperity.

Sri Matri-Aurobindo Vidyalaya Sri Matri-Aurobindo Vidyalaya was started here with the methodology suggested by Her Divine The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Right now, there are 100 students and Sadhak-sadhikas involved in "Gyan-Sadhana". We at present run several income generating activities such as:

1) We sell the extra milk from our cows diary.

2) We make natural incense and try to sell them abroad.

3) We have a grinding mill for the rice, wheat and other things.

4) We run a yoga centre for teaching the Hatha Yoga.

5) We run a Naturopathy clinic for natural healing system.

6) We run a guest house for the visitors who would like to stay here.

posted by Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir Trust @ 9:27 PM

The huge space-age spherical meditation center

Pondicherry is lovely, a very picturesque town on the seaside with a huge French influence. Not surprising seeing as it was once an important French trading post after they took it by force from the East India Trading company who founded the town. Almost all the roads here are named in French, such as Rue Suffren, Rue de la Marine, Rue de la Compagnie and Rue Francois Martin among many others.

There's a plethora of French restaurants with names like La Terrasse, Le Club and Le Rendezvous, many French bakeries selling croissants, pain au chocolates, and baguettes, and surviving French colonnial buildings en masse around the sea shore, including the lieutenant governer's residence, the Hotel de Ville and a branch of the Alliance Francaise. You'd think you were in a town on the south coast of France (with the hot weather)! Plenty of French expats live here, and it's surreal hearing some of the locals talking in French too! Even the policemen here have hats like the French policemen back in France! Makes me think I'm in France sometimes! Makes me think about Sev and how I used to see her in France most weekends! I'm gonna miss her!! Oh well! C'est la vie! Have to move on, there's so many more places to see, countries to explore, different nationalities of women to experience! ;)

Checked into a cheap hotel, the International Guest House, run by the SAS. No, not the British elite force, but the Sri Aurobindo Society, a strange new age 'cult', one can only call it, founded by a Bengali philosopher-guru called Aurobindo Ghosh and his chief disciple, personal manager and mouthpiece, 'The Mother' who are revered by the locals. Aurobindo and 'The Mother' are both entombed in the ashram they founded back in 1926. There's even a new-age 'City of Dawn', called Auroville, inspired by 'The Mother', built 10km north of Pondichery in 1968. A bunch of people live there in little communities with name like 'Fertile', 'Sincerity', 'Revelation' and 'Certitude'. Very odd.

They live by very strict rules, and own most of the businesses in Pondicherry, just like the hostel I'm staying in. I'd visit Auroville, but I don't have time, plus I'm worried about being kidnapped and brainwashed into joining their 'cult' in the Matri Mandir, their huge space-age spherical meditation center, 'a symbol of the Divine's answer to man's inspiration for perfection', apparently. There's a huge 1m crystal ball hanging in the center of the place too, 'symbolising th neutral but divine qualities of light and space' by all reports. Strange. The hostel I'm staying at has tons of rules, such as a curfew (back by 10pm), no killing of mosquitos (ok, any living thing found in your room, but they're certainly the most abundant), no smoking, drinking, music, etc, and you have to smile. There's signs everywhere declaring overpowering 'philosophies of life' that you just can't avoid.So anyhow, I wandered around town the last few hours, that's all it takes to see the whole place. It's not very big, perhaps 2km long by the seafront and reaching 1km or so inland.

I stopped by a French bakery and had a delicious croissant, pain au chocolate and a cold coffee (aaah, such a nice change from dosas and idlis for breakfast!) Wasn't going to drink a hot coffee in the 40C heat here! The seafront is lovely, just like the French mediterranean ports. Evidence of the tsunami that hit here is scarce, although a few buildings being renovated late after can still be seen here and there. It's hard to imagine so many people lost their lives here in Pondicherry, along the coast of Tamil Nadu, which the tsunami wreaked the most havoc in India. People walk and mill by the seafront, with ice cream sellers abound, and most of the destruction caused by the tsunami has been rectified quickly.

Otherwise, there's not much else to do here, but walk around and enjoy the distinctly French ambience here in this colonial corner of India. This'll probably be my last blog entry for the next two and a half weeks since there's no internet on Havelock Island, where I'll be staying and scuba diving in the Andaman chain. After writing this, I think I'll head to a nice terrace restaurant by the seafront and have myself a glass of St.Emillion red, steak aux poivre (bleu-rare garcon!) and a Gauloise cigarette for finishers. Chin-chin, bon appetite, merci et au revoir pour deux semaine mes amis! posted by Dominic Giles 11:05 AM

Sri Aurobindo.... This resonates with me

"This understanding is not to be gained by reasoning, not by tapasya, nor by much learning, but whom This Self chooses To him it reveals it's own body". Well, that is the same thing as what we call divine grace,- it is an action from above or from within independent of mental causes which decides it's own movement. We can call it divine grace, we can call it the Self within choosing it's own hour and way to manifest to the mental instrument on the surface : we can call it the flowering of the inner being or inner nature to self realization and self knowledge. As something in us approaches it or as it presents itself to us, so the mind sees it. But in reality it is the same Thing and the same process of the being in nature. From Sri Aurobindo, Growing Within posted by Passionvine @ 4:06 PM Saturday, April 08, 2006

Savitri

I purchased a new book called 'Savitri' by Aurobindo and it's quite a difficult read. It's so beautiful and infinitely poetic...I wonder if I can post an excerpt, let's see...Here's the first page:

Book One: The Book of Beginnings

Canto One: The Symbol Dawn

It was the hour before the Gods awake.

Across the path of the divine Event

The huge foreboding mind of Night, alone

In her unlit temple of eternity,

Lay stretched immobile upon Silence' marge.

So as you can see this book should keep me busy for just about the rest of my life! posted by Akash @ 17:14 Monday, April 10, 2006

An alternative form of existence

Sunday, April 02, 2006 Auro-villains Day 12 - 31 March 2006 # posted by Dan @ 11:48 AM

Pondicherry is a former French enclave, and the French colonian streets and architecture, together with the good food and wine in this evening's restaurant, went a long way to calming our nerves. I probably would have been pleased to leave pondicherry directly after this. It felt - on my limited experience - as though it had an unpleasant edge some of the other towns didn't: traders who were that bit too pushy and taxi drivers willing to mow you down. The "Sri Aurobindo Ashram College" was a rock of calm in the middle of these stormy waters. Sri Aurobindo was a poet and political leader, as well as a contemporary of Gandhi's. As independence drew near his thoughts turned to the long-term future of India in the world. A master Yogi, he focused on divine spirituality and inner consciousness rejecting all divisions of religion, race, borders or political systems.

Only the supreme truth rather than any doctrine could be followed (if you consider that not to be a doctrine). He set up the Ashram (or spiritual community) and founded a community to follow the route of peace and harmony. This was when he met Mira Alfassa, or "the mother", who continued his work, forming industries to support and develop the community and further the cause of divine spirituality. They also formed a new settlement called "Auroville" (picture slow, lilting flute and recorder music, floating candles and yoga positions). The college had a very calm garden and "samadi" - a water trough filled with flowers where people were meditating. After some time thinking, we moved onto the Aurobindo paper mill, where they produce paper sustainably from all sorts of fibrous material.

The idea aspired to is one where each human is valued equally, regardless of the function they perform or title they hold. These are opportunities to serve mankind. We were shown around the mill by an Aurovillian who explained the purpose of spirituality in the world as he saw it, and the limitations of the materialistic life of the west. OK, this comes on like some of dubious cult or unattainable dream. Well, alarm bells did start ringing when he talked about how the world was already working towards an end to poverty and solving the requirement for food and shelter in humanity. Too long in Aurovile perhaps? I am always interested by anything which purports to provide an alternative form of existence. It was the horizontal decision making, small community groups and non-hierarchical status of people (the Aurovillians) which interested me because it sounded like a working example or anarchism. Of course, it wasn't, because it still abides by one authority - that of divine spirituality, which means little to an agnostic man from the Home Counties. Regardless, I'd already decided that I liked our first Aurovillian because he had a look of intrigue about him. He had an assured and calm nature, but then so do charismatic con-men.

Around the paper mill (somewhat looked down upon in the Aurovillian community for being open to the public) Aurovillians went about their business in much the same way you would expect. The only difference is that you can dictate your own working patterns to some extent. I wanted to see further into this community, so we went to Auroville. To what extent they'd made this new town (planned to hold 50,000 people and inaugurated by 'the mother' in 1968) work and progress, could only be measured by a visit. That afternoon we set off from Pondicherry, and when the terrain changed to lush and verdant vegitation, we were driving through the residential zone of Auroville. Other than a few westerners, the settlements looked like most other indian villages,bar a few more dwellings being constructed. This was oringally arid waste-land that had been changed via innovative irrigation into a productive fertile area. Apprently 5,000 jobs had been created for the non-Aurovillian community around the locality, but of course this is perpetuating the market economy and non-spritual path outside. A short hop further on, past lazing dogs in green lanes, we arrived in "Peace" - the centre of Auroville, and one of five zones (the others being creative, residential, industrial and one which escapes my memory)..

My first impression was that the place was quiet, reflecting its small population. In amongst the well-tended gardens and pleasant buildings sits an information centre, where we were shown a video about Auroville and then the central worship place, "Matri Mandir". I quite liked the place, but the Aurovillians themselves are stand-offish so you couldn't find out a great deal. We walked over to the Matri Mandir, but looking at the huge globe in which meditation took place, you didn't gain much 'Auro-insight'. I'm afraid the whole place had undertones of restriction of free will, simply because of the restrictions placed upon those who visited Auroville. An Aurovillian explaining the Matri Mandir and ampitheatre to the crowd of trendy and bored Bengali shool kids seemed very authoritarian to me. We couldn't move inside certain roped off zones and found out that residents have to adhere to a fairly defined set of codes. A big problem for me is the use of the word 'spirituality', of which I have very little understanding myself. Without a strong sense of sprituality as a instinct and destination, rather than a duplicitous religion or a loaded agenda it is hard to judge Auroville. I wouldn't describe myself as spiritual; perhaps soulful from time to time!

I should remember that this is a work in progress and that Auroville was never expected to function without complications to begin with - rather that it would develop in stages, towards the ultimate goal of the human race guided solely by spirituality. Common practical problems you could ask of Auroville would be personal disputes and judicial issues, as well as the extent to which they rely on the outside community; I'll need to do some more research on this. As I expected, a number of committes formed via representatives of small groups decided on the day to day matters in Auroville, similar to Anarchist based systems. I was impressed on leaving Auroville that at least they'd made the community work since 1968, aspiring to ideals which I found at least partly commendable myself. They have made an alternative (if far from perfect), society function largely outside the bounds of the state, the UN, the IMF, the WTO and the World Bank for almost four decades. I think that itself is an encouraging signal to humankind.

Listen voices of your inner self

A visit to Aurobindo Ashram is a must. The Ashram opens at 8 in the morning. There is Samadhi of Sri Arobindo and The Mother. The Samadhi is bedecked with flowers. It gave me great joy and peace sitting near the Samadhi on meditation. I also participated in the evening Mass Meditation held around the Samadhi.The next important place in Pondichery is Auroville. Based upon the work and inspiration of Sri Aurobindo and given shape by The Mother, Auroville is intended as a site for the manifestation of human unity in diversity.

Inside auroville they are totally committed to non-conventional energy. Wind farm and solar photovoltaic systems are used. It seems inside the complex they don’t allow any motor vehicle. Only battery operated vehicles ply to commute the old and invalids to the Matrimandir. From the Reception center of Auroville to the Matrimandir one need to take a walk of one Kilometer. I took full advantage of this gentle walk through forest of various known and unknown plants and trees inhaling all the greenery around there with each breath. As all the visitors were busy in refreshing themselves at the information centre, I was the sole person walking through the forest.

There was a kind of peaceful silence all around except the sound of a woodpecker somewhere unseen. The flowering trees were in full bloom at the peak of spring. It seems this whole land of 25 square kms were dry land and was converted to such a beautiful forest by the auroville community. What a great creation! Now a days in the midst of chaotic human tendency of destroying natural resources in the name of development, it is a great achievement of human spirit to create such a nice environment.

The center of Auroville is a Banyan tree circling which the total development of the community is planned. Near that banyan tree is the Golden Globe of Matrimandir. As the Matrimandir was under renovation, we had to comeback without seeing the inside of it. It seems there is meditation hall at the center of the Matrimandir. A single crystal globe is kept at the center of this meditation hall. The meditation hall is illuminated by the sun rays falling on this crystal globe from an opening on the top of the Matrimandir.We sat on the nearby amphitheatre. The marble urn of lotus bud shape, in which the earth collected from 124 countries around the world are kept, is at the center of the amphitheatre. The tour of Auroville was so invigorating that my mind was not ready to comeback so soon. But one has to come back to earth.

If you want to have a quiet vacation, to speak only to the gentle waves of sea, to listen voices of your inner self, to glimpse unforgettable scenes of sun rising over the sea, to walk through the green forest, to alleviate your mind and spirit to a different level, you must visit Pondichery. posted by bikash 10:10 AM

The Mother's remark about Hitler and Stalin

Gagdad Bob said... Interestingly, the Mother--Sri Aurobindo's collaborator--wrote of how Hitler was inhabited by a demon, or "asura," that would take control of him, whereas Stalin was actually a rarer type, in that he was literally without a human soul.I'll have to find the exact passage.

Bryan said... Hi Dr. Bob, Concerning the Mother's remark about Hitler and Stalin, does contemporary Western psychology have an explanation about what it means to be possessed by an asura on the one hand or not to have a soul on the other? Is an asura a particularly bad mind parasite?

Gagdad Bob said... Bryan--No, when you get into the realm of asuras, you're dealing with an entirely different ontology taking place on an another plane. There's a little footnote in my book to that effect, p. 285, f. 104. I spoke there only of higher entities. As for the lower ones, some people believe they are independent agents, others think they are quasi-independent human creations that have become detached from the psycho-cosmic system. When you look at the magnitude of nazi or Stalinist or Islamist evil, it seems to go beyond human bounds, beyond anything explainable by the categories and methods of psychology. Of course, psychologists can pretend they understand, But they're only pretending.

dilys said... Well, there seem to be people with especially discriminative levels of insight. I don't know the Mother, so have no opinion about her, but none of these taxonomies are impossible.

Gagdad Bob said... Bryan--The topic of the ontological status of evil is an important one. To a certain extent, it can only be illuminated by entering a tradition that talks about it and has a vocabulary for it. In other words, from the scientific viewpoint it's a de facto nonsense question. But so are most other matters of vital importance to human beings. posted by Gagdad Bob at 5:54 AM 20 comments

Tusar N Mohapatra said... It would be more appropriate to look at The Mother's identification of the four Asuras rather than selectively revile political adversaries...The emotions would be more nuanced once we recognise the perennial nature of the antagonism, best expressed in the Vedic imagery of Vritra, the serpent. The four Asuras represent an evolutionary road-block, they are yet to be annihilated. Only the Supramental Descent can handle that. The Mother simply asks us to collaborate, nothing more, nothing less.

Gagdad Bob said... Tusar-- You can wait for the Supramental Descent to vanquish evil. You can also wait for it to fix you breakfast in the morning. Something tells me you won't wait for the latter. Hunger is too important not to fight.

Will said... My new T-shirt reads: "I asked the Supramental Descent to prepare me a continental breakfast and all I got were these d*%# wheat thins."

How did Auroville begin?

The concept of Auroville - an ideal township devoted to an experiment in human unity - came to the Mother as early as the 1930s. In the mid 1960s the Sri Aurobindo Society in Pondicherry proposed to Her that such a township should be started. She gave her blessings. The concept was then put before the Govt. of India, who gave their backing and took it to the General Assembly of UNESCO. In 1966 UNESCO passed a unanimous resolution commending it as a project of importance to the future of humanity, thereby giving their full encouragement.

The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity – in diversity. Today Auroville is recognised as the first and only internationally endorsed ongoing experiment in human unity and transformation of consciousness, also concerned with - and practically researching into - sustainable living and the future cultural, environmental, social and spiritual needs of mankind.

On 28th February 1968 some 5,000 people assembled near the banyan tree at the centre of the future township for an inauguration ceremony attended by representatives of 124 nations, including all the States of India. The representatives brought with them some soil from their homeland, to be mixed in a white marble- clad, lotus-shaped urn, now sited at the focal point of the Amphitheatre. At the same time the Mother gave Auroville its 4-point Charter. shamantraveler 16th-Mar-2006 01:26 am

President of India visits Auroville

by Carel Auroville Today November 2004

On November 1, 2004 , the President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, paid a visit to Auroville. Accompanied by the Lt. Governor of Pondicherry , the Chief Minister of Pondicherry and the Minister of Education, Tamil Nadu, the President arrived at the town-hall about 8 pm. where a representative section of about 60 Aurovilians was assembled. After listening to some presentations on Auroville and addressing the community, the President visited the Matrimandir.

Dr. Karan Singh, Chairman of the Auroville Foundation, welcomed the President on behalf of the Auroville community and the Auroville Foundation. He reminded how, in 1980, during the discussion on the Auroville Emergency Provisions Act, he had addressed the Indian Parliament saying that Auroville was an arrow shot into the future from the bow of Sri Aurobindo. "The bow is the tremendous spiritual achievement of Sri Aurobindo, the fiery prophet of Indian nationalism and the bringer of the supramental consciousness. The powerful vision of The Mother has stood at the roots of this unique multi-national and multi-racial township. In the 36 years of its existence the Aurovilians have, through their labour, devotion and dedication, changed a desert into an ocean of green with at its heart the spiritual centre, the Matrimandir.”

Dr. Karan Singh ended his welcome address with a recitation of Sri Aurobindo's poem ‘Rose of God,' which ends with the line ‘Make earth the home of the Wonderful and life beatitude's kiss.' Luigi of Auroville's Future gave a short introduction on Auroville's work. “We have all come because of the vision of evolution, of a new force that can change matter and spirit. Mother India, the land of universal spirituality, is nurturing this unique project, and there are no words to express the deepest gratitude of the Aurovilians coming from more than 40 countries who have received everything from their spiritual motherland.” Luigi demonstrated how Auroville has grown and has developed a network of national and international relationships, such as with the Government of India on various levels, with UNESCO, with the European Community and, through the city networking project, with many cities in India and abroad. “Auroville offers itself as a laboratory for research, studies and experimentation. Auroville's quest is to create a city fully dedicated to the future, which then could be recognized by UNESCO as a unique heritage site of the future.”

The President, aware of the international seminar on sustainable water resource management held in Auroville in September, had asked to be informed about salination of groundwater, in particular about the hydrological modelling of the saline intrusion in the Vanur aquifer. Gilles Boulicot from Water Harvest presented the problems in a nutshell. After having thanked the President for his inspiring message for the conference, Gilles explained that the problem of saline groundwater is not yet properly understood. The system of aquifers beneath Auroville is complex, and not yet sufficiently studied. Gilles showed how groundwater level in the Vanur aquifer, the main aquifer for the area, has gone down from 7 metres above sea level in 1975 to 37 metres below sea level now. Electro-conductivity tests indicate that the salinity in 2002 was relatively limited, but that today the entire area is above the acceptable limit for irrigation and drinking water extraction purposes. But it appears that the salination is not caused by seawater intrusion, but rather by a natural saline aquifer that is situated below the Vanur aquifer.

“There is an upward leakage from this underlying aquifer into the Vanur formation and the cause is rampant overextraction of water for irrigation purpose,” stated Gilles. “In the period 1981-1990 the extraction was twice the natural recharge. In the period 1991-2000 the yearly extraction was eight times the natural recharge. Today the extraction is twenty times the natural recharge. This is a very serious problem caused by bad management practices and inappropriate irrigation systems.” Gilles said that like Pondicherry , Auroville should also be facing groundwater salinity due to seawater intrusion, but for unknown reasons, this is not yet happening. “We assume that there is a natural barrier or a water barrier along the coast that checks the inflow of seawater. But we do not have enough information to prove this.”

Based on simple models and the data available, Gilles presented the expectation that already in 2010 one third of the aquifer would be contaminated, and that the entire aquifer would be saline by 2050. Gilles stressed that more studies will be required to determine the origin of salination and come up with means to battle it. He mentioned that cooperation between institutions and stakeholders of the area is required, such as with the Indian ONGC, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, which did an investigation in the area about five years ago but which has, so far, not agreed to share its data. Gilles concluded his presentation expressing his hope that Auroville will be instrumental to transform this area into a pilot area for sustainable development.

Tency concluded his brief presentation saying that, in Auroville, perfection in matter cannot be achieved unless there is also an inner perfection, as without that inner perfection, humanity will not change. The President took up on this very issue. “I have come here as a pilgrim, for you have a large mission, a mission that came from Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. When I heard your presentations how the barren land was transformed into a beautiful place I was moved and also by your concern for the water and the seawater ingress. Somebody once said that everything starts from the inner side, and if the inner side is ok, everything is ok. For what do you want to be? My answer to this question from a child was ‘to be a better human being'. And Auroville probably is the place which creates better human beings.”

The President visits Sri Aurobindo Ashram

The Hindu Saturday, Feb 22, 2003

Pondicherry Feb. 21. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who inaugurated the Aravind Eye Hospital at Abishegapakkam, near here, told the gathering at the function that he and his friend, Rajam, while flying to Pondicherry from Chennai today, composed a short poem on the hospital chairman, G. Venkataswamy.

Dr. Kalam visited the Aurobindo Ashram. The President was received by the Managing Trustee, Manoj Das Gupta. Dr. Kalam visited the rooms of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. He had a talk with the children of the Sri Aurobindo International Education Centre, in the ashram. Devotees from different parts of the country thronged the Ashram to pay homage to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on the occasion of the Mother's 125th birth anniversary.

Aesthetics, technology, and social reform

Exhibition Opening and Lecture Golconde: The Introduction of Modernism in India

Tuesday, February 21, 6pm Graham Foundation, 4 West Burton Place, Chicago Extended through Thursday, May 25, 2006. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 10am to 4pm.

Sited on the coastal edge of the Bay of Bengal, Golconde, a dormitory for the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India, was designed by architects George Nakashima and Antonin Raymond. Golconde is a remarkable architectural edifice, seamlessly negotiating between the tenets of early modernist architecture while addressing the pragmatic impositions of a tropical context. Espousing radical economy and uncompromising construction standards, it proposes environmental sensitivity as a foundation for the design process. Completed in 1942, Golconde was the first reinforced, cast-in-place concrete building in India and clearly celebrates the modernist credo: architecture as the manifest union of aesthetics, technology, and social reform. This exhibition assembles construction drawings, architects' letters and journals, and extensive photographs of this extraordinary building.

Pankaj Vir Gupta and Christine Mueller are founders of the office of vir. mueller architects, which combines architectural research, education, and practice...Copies of Nature, Form, and Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima by Mira Nakashima are available for purchase at the Graham Foundation. Back to program listing 2006 Graham Foundation posted by John @ 1:00 P

The resistance of the body consciousness

There are lapses in my approach to the problem of the persistency of physical habits in the body; lapses, because there is still the resistance of the body consciousness to the transforming Power which often results in a chaotic movement in the consciousness, a thing too unreceptive to be worked upon. Lapses, also because the general ignorance of the body is too rigid and recalcitrant and is not responding to the Supramental Force. I have worked on the darker points that have been previously wrecked by the asuric forces and have put some order into them, but it is only an initial work and is still in its infancy. I intend to carry my programme in a rapid course of spiritual exigency to a point at which the asuric forces can no longer manifest any attack of any kind, especially on the body. posted by R Friday, April 30, 2004 at 12:20 PM Divine Gnosis

The enormity of the situation is weighing down on me, the sheer and formidable challenges thrown at me by the darker forces have only increased the resolve to fight and conquer, but the road ahead is not easy. I must find the Gnosis Power- which is at present stationed hardly an inch above my head or it is not even that and is less than an inch, touching there the upper skin- and give myself completely to it and its processes. Everything can be changed only by That and nothing other than that is the solution. posted by R Wednesday, April 28, 2004 at 12:35 PM Divine Gnosis