Auroville — A Model of Human Unity*
Navajata
AUNIQUE project drawing attention all over the world is "Auroville", a universal town of culture and research which is being established in South India, near Pondicherry. In Auroville men and women of all countries will be able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. Its purpose is to realise human unity.
Auroville proposes to realise this unity in freedom and diversity — in multiplicity — and not in uniformity, a spiritual unity reflecting itself in a psychological unity of one family and one origin, but expressing itself in the diversities of life. When completed, the town will provide for 50,000 residents from all over the world. The Mother has said, "The first condition for living in Auroville is to be convinced of the essential unity of mankind and the will to collaborate in the material realisation of that unity." Named after Sri Aurobindo, Auroville literally means "the city of dawn".
Human unity is the greatest need of the hour. All over the world the elite of humanity are searching for a way towards it. Dr. Malcolm Adiseshiah, when he was Deputy Director General of UNESCO, made a very significant speech. Referring to the Second World War he said: "We are told that the precision bombing of London during the World War by the German aviators was possible because the pilots were British Council fellowship holders studying in Oxford and Cambridge and London, and knew precisely what to bomb, and how to bomb and where to bomb. We know that bringing people together, alas, does not lead to human unity and universal harmony. We also know that international understanding — when people really begin to understand each other — does not necessarily lead to peace and understanding. Stalin understood what his other allies were after from 1946 after Potsdam, and when the Allies — the British, the Americans and the French — understood what Stalin was after, after Potsdam — it is when there was a clear understanding of each other's motives and thoughts, that the cold war started .... We have tried in UNESCO ... we have tried every way, and we have failed. And so now we turn to Auroville, and to its foundations, the firm foundations on which its human unity, its universal harmony, are to be built. That foundation is MAN____"
* Presented at the International Seminar, New Delhi, December 1972.
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No wonder, then, that the General Assembly of UNESCO, "confident that Auroville with its many interrelated sub-projects will add a new dimension to UNESCO's activities for the promotion of international co-operation and understanding and appreciation of cultural and human values", passed three unanimous resolutions pledging its support and inviting "Member States and international non-governmental organisations to participate in the development of Auroville as an international cultural township designed to bring together the values of different cultures and civilisations in a harmonious environment with integrated living standards which correspond to man's physical and spiritual needs."
Such a trust as the world reposes in Auroville casts a special responsibility on it. Let us try to examine the humble efforts of Auroville to fulfil it. The first step, i.e. the laying of its foundation on 28th February, 1968, was taken in a spirit of unity. On this occasion, young people came from various countries, with love in their hearts and their country's soil in their hands. They placed this soil in a marble lotus, symbolic of their resolve to realise an effective human unity. They signed the Auroville charter, a succinct but all-comprehensive document embodying its ideals, while diplomats of several countries were in attendance. Some people objected to one word in the charter and the solution to this first problem was interesting.
First, let me share the charter with you.
1. Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.
2. Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress and a youth that never ages.
3. Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisation.
4. Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity.
The persons who objected to the word 'Divine' in the phrase "Divine Consciousness" were invited to suggest an alternative. They suggested "Perfect Consciousness" and it was accepted as an alternative for those who so preferred it.
Since then progress has unfolded in several fields. However, Auroville is yet in the first stage of its development.
More than 2000 acres of land have been acquired. The project will
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gradually cover fifteen square miles in its first phase. An international team of about three hundred persons is working to build and organise its basic structure, which is based on a synthesis of spiritual and material life, of nature and technology, and is aimed at helping one to find his unique place in the collective life, and realise his highest possibilities, both inner and outer.
The circular design of Auroville stands for unity of man and enhances the symbolic character of the town. The site, situated about 150 feet above sea level, commands a beautiful panoramic view with the sea on the east and a number of lakes in the north and the west. The town is planned in four zones: Residential, Educational, Industrial and the zone of Union.
The Aurovilians stay in various colonies, significantly named Aspiration, Unity, Fraternity, Sincerity, Peace, Hope, Promesse, Auroson's Home, Fore-Comers, Two Banyans, Far Beach, Udavi, etc. No one amongst them is paid any wages. (There are of course non-Aurovilian paid workers.) The basic needs of all — viz. housing, food, clothes, medicine, education, recreation — are provided free by Auroville. Nothing necessary for life will be forgotten. The work is allotted according to the aptitude of each person and the need of Auroville. Work here is not for gaining one's livelihood, but is a means whereby to express oneself, develop one's capacities and possibilities, while doing at the same time service to the whole group.
Many Aurovilians learn as they work. There is a retail store called 'Pour tous' and a 'Prosperity' section which supplies the various daily needs of Aurovilians. There is no one high or low, no employer, no employee and no one unemployed; all are the children of the Divine. This kind of organisation gives not only work to all but also job-satisfaction, promotes collaboration and relations of real brotherhood in place of social, economic and political competition. "Essentially all problems of existence are problems of Harmony," said Sri Aurobindo. And "In the levels of consciousness beyond the mind lies our destiny and the solution to our problems." Auroville is an experiment in living from an inner consciousness beyond mind. Its unity is not dependent on any external circumstances. It intends to make a new man the basis of a new society.
Auroville had and has its problems, but it is solving them in an Aurovilian manner. We had the problem of laziness, some of the Aurovilians just would not work. When the matter was referred to The Mother, She remarked, "Do not disturb them. They will get fed up with their laziness." Today they are amongst some of our best workers.
Reporting in detail on human relationship in Auroville, Rudd, an Aurovilian, states: "Auroville is a city which does not mean to make distinctions,
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does not need classes and kinds and types of people, wants to move towards being one family of man, of God. This does not happen in a day or two." But the Project is well on the way towards its goal. The industries, agricultural farms, schools, community kitchens, medical clinic, sports ground, cultural programmes, all organised with new attitudes, are helping the evolution of a new consciousness and a new relationship expressing a living synthesis of the spiritual and the material, of Unity in diversity.
Auroville is carrying out a research in the education of the future. The present school has one hundred and five students, mostly children, and has evolved as a dynamic organism. The goal is to discover and organise the conditions in which education can be a joyful and a truly progressive process. The education goes on throughout the entire community of Auroville, in farms, industries, health centre, offices, architect's bureau, construction, etc. The children are free to move from one area of interest to another as they will. Children of the paid workers also participate in the education according to their aptitudes. Some of them have integrated themselves with the life in Auroville. The school buildings are named Last School, After School I, After School II, No School, etc. To Aurovilians, all life is an education to become integrated men.
A children's village was started on 4th April 1973 to create total environment. The aim of Auroville education is to help the child to educate himself, to develop his own intellectual, moral, aesthetic and practical capacities and to grow freely as an organic being — to find his deeper self, the real psychic entity within and make it a guiding centre of his life. Unity, Love, Goodwill for all, urge for Perfection, Truth, are the natural attributes of this psychic entity.
An applied research in total ecology is another aspect of Auroville which is developing as an urban and rural complex. Here the quality of life and the environment are intimately related to each other and the ideals of the individual and social perfection are being harmonised. A solar house under planning will carry out research in utilisation of solar energy for a variety of purposes. In Agriculture, organic manures are encouraged. Once The Mother was asked: "May we use fertilisers?" She replied, "No. No. No. Auroville should not fall back into old errors which belong to a past which tries to revive."
In Auro Orchard the workers are given vegetable plots near their huts which they cultivate in their spare hours. At Fore-Comers algae is being cultivated as an item of special nutrition.
"Aurofood", a factory producing wheat flour, biscuits, cattle feed, etc. has for its motto: "We shall work for a better tomorrow."
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A large green belt all around adds to the beauty of the project. At the centre of Auroville there will be a complex of three elements, all placed within a shape symbolising the fundamental unity of Creation. These three elements are, the Matrimandir, the Garden of Unity with the Banyan tree, and the white marble lotus-shaped urn which as mentioned earlier contains handfuls of soil from many nations of the world.
The Matrimandir embodies the spirit of Auroville. Its architectural conception further enhances its symbolic significance. It shows the emergence of a golden sphere of consciousness, 40 metres in diameter, resting on four pillars rising from the earth's crater. It will be surrounded by twelve gardens having different varieties of flowers and trees chosen for their occult significance. They are symbolically named as: Existence, Consciousness, Bliss, Light, Life, Power, Wealth, Utility, Progress, Youth, Harmony and Perfection. The Matrimandir nursery has 800 varieties of plants. There are plates indicating their botanical names and their spiritual significances. Says The Mother: "Matrimandir wants to be the symbol of the Divine's answer to man's aspiration for perfection. The union with the Divine manifesting itself in a progressive human unity." This is the secret of how an effective human unity is going to be realised — "The union with the Divine manifesting itself in a progressive human unity."
Another feature of Auroville is its permanent cultural pavilions for various countries of the world, which will place its young and old and visitors in a living contact with the cultures of the world, and thus promote in them a wider consciousness. To give an example, the Japanese pavilion will have a Japanese garden, houses built in the Japanese style, a lake, a boat pier, a meditation house, a room for the tea-ceremony, guest rooji, library, museum, an exhibition of Japanese handicrafts and works of art, an academy of Japanese languages and music and a hostel for students and teachers. The Indian cultural pavilion is already under construction.
Human unity, like love, is a psychological concept. The physical life can only be its external expression to the extent it is realised in consciousness.
Auroville has invited the local people to join Auroville if they so desire. It should be remembered that the local Tamil villagers, though poor and several decades behind the present times of technology, have inherited one of the oldest cultures in the world. One of the popular sayings of Tamil culture is: "Every village is my home. Every man is my kinsman."
The Mother once cautioned the Aurovilians: "Those in contact with the villagers should not forget that these people are worth as much, that they think and feel as well as they do. They should therefore never have an
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The Foundation of Auroville on 28. 2. 1968
Model of Auroville
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Last School — a school in 'Aspiration', Auroville
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attitude of ridiculous superiority. They are 'at home', and you are the visitors."
Faith and spiritual aspiration are common to all Aurovilians, where religions in their dogmatic sense do not exist. The Matrimandir is already under construction, and will be a unique creation when completed. Yet, originally it started when we had no money; and men and women from various countries — architects, engineers, writers, actors, dancers, poets — all got together working with simple tools. One day one of them, a lady, spoke to another; "Are you building the Matrimandir by hand?" "No," replied the other person, "the Matrimandir is building me — by heart." His Karmayoga was helping him to build his consciousness and his body.
Life in Auroville is not easy. The sincerity of Aurovilians is tested all the time and each one has to take his own decision. Once in Auroville two cars of the same make went out of order for different reasons. Spare parts were not available. The engineer in charge of repairs asked the Aurovilian using one of them whether he could put the parts of his car in the other so that at least one of them would be serviceable. Due to some reason this gentleman refused. But when the other person came to know of it, he himself went to Auro Garage and said, "Why didn't you ask me whether the parts from my car could be removed ... I say yes."
The Mother has placed a goal before Aurovilians which can foster unity in the greatest diversity, even in apparently contradictory tendencies. This goal is: accelerated evolution from man to the next species. In The Mother's description, "The evolution on earth from stone to plant, plant to animal, animal to man, cannot stop with man. It continues and man will be surpassed." In this further evolution lies the fulfilment of the present humanity and a solution of all the problems with which it is faced today. "Auroville is a place for those who want to evolve consciously" (The Mother). The Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, described Auroville as "... an exciting project for bringing about harmony among different cultures and for understanding the environmental needs for man's spiritual growth", and added in the same message, "May Auroville truly become a city of light and of peace." In fact, Auroville is the first city in the world which is being consciously planned to create an environment where each of its residents can find full scope for his maximum progress and even further evolution. Only that unity can be lasting which helps each person to grow fully.
"Auroville wants to be a place of peace, concord and harmony, where all the fighting instincts of man will be used exclusively to conquer the causes of his suffering and miseries; to surmount his weakness and ignoranee,
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to triumph over his limitations and incapacities." The U. N. Charter states: "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed." Auroville is trying to realise it in consciousness and express it on the material plane, thus providing a model of human unity.
Various activities for human unity are planned to be undertaken with Auroville as headquarters. In relation to all this a world assembly for human unity is being formed, which will have its headquarters in Auroville. An institute of integrated health sciences, synthesising Allopathic, Ayurvedic, Yunani, Homoeopathic, Biochemic and other branches of health discipline, will be another feature of Auroville. A world research and information centre and similar other activities will be organised which will give the residents of Auroville an opportunity to work directly for the advent of a progressive universal harmony.
Residents of Auroville try to learn a number of languages. What is more interesting is that the children in Auroville are evolving a language of their own which is a spontaneous mixture of several languages.
Aurovilians are trying to find their own group soul — a group soul of the people dedicated to realising and manifesting the Divine, the Truth, the Perfect Consciousness. A note on Matrimandir Bulletin Board reads: "New Modes of salutation — replacing old forms such as 'good morning' and 'how are you' — to be used in Auroville by those who choose them: 'Au Service de la Verite, At the Service of Truth'. This constant affirmation in words confirms in the consciousness the self-consecration to Truth; a reminder that all relations are to be based on Truth."
Auroville will provide a model of integrated living — a way towards reocganisation and transformation of life in all its aspects. A pamphlet entitled, "How to be a true Aurovilian", focuses attention on this synthesis and integration of inner and outer life. I quote from this statement which is from The Mother and which is useful for all who aspire for a higher life, even if they are not in Auroville.
"The first necessity is the inner discovery by which one learns who one really is behind the social, moral, cultural, racial and hereditary appearances.
"At our inmost centre there is a free being, wide and knowing, who awaits our discovery and who ought to become the acting centre of our being and our life in Auroville.
"One lives in Auroville in order to be free of moral and social conventions; but this liberty must not be a new slavery to the ego, its desires and its ambitions.
"The fulfilment of desires bars the route to the inner discovery which
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can only be attained in peace and the transparency of a perfect disinterestedness.
"The Aurovilian must lose the proprietary sense of possession.
"For our passage in the material world, that which is indispensable to our life and to our action is put at our disposal according to the place we should occupy there. The more conscious our contact is with our inner being, the more exact are the means given.
"Work, even manual work, is an indispensable thing for the inner discovery.
"If one does not work, if one does not inject his consciousness into matter, the latter will never develop. To let one's consciousness organise a bit of matter by way of one's body is very good. To establish order around oneself, helps to bring order within oneself.
"One should organise life not according to outer, artificial rules, but according to an organised, inner consciousness, because if one allows life to drift without imposing the control of a higher consciousness, life becomes inexpressive and irresolute. It is to waste one's time in the sense that matter persists without a conscious utilisation.
"The whole earth must prepare itself for the advent of the new species, and Auroville wants to consciously work towards hastening that advent.
"Little by little it will be revealed to us what this new species should be, and meanwhile the best measure to take is to consecrate oneself entirely to the Divine."
The life in Auroville is ever progressive, ever new. We ourselves do not know what improvements will take place tomorrow. We try to be open and receptive, sincere and careful... and things happen.
The Mother once spoke about Her work on earth: "... in this adventure you are not to repeat spiritually what the others have done before us, because our adventure begins from beyond that stage. We are for a new creation, entirely new, carrying in it all the unforeseen, all risks, all hazards — a true adventure of which the goal is sure victory, but of which the way is unknown and has to be traced out step by step in the unexplored. It is something that has never been in the present universe and will never be in the same manner. If that interests you, well, embark."
Sri Aurobindo has said that humanity is passing through an evolutionary crisis. In this struggle between the new and the old, Auroville is the point of Transformation. As The Mother explained, "... once the connection (between the supermind and material being) is made, it must have its effect in the outward world in the form of a new creation, beginning with a model town and ending with a perfect world." And that beginning with a model town is Auroville.
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The work of Auroville will not be confined to its physical boundaries. Auroville will multiply all over the world until the ideal of human unity in diversity becomes a living reality.
Sri Aurobindo has said:
Yet shall Truth grow and harmony increase,
The day shall come when men feel close and
Meanwhile one forward step is something gained
Since little by little earth must open to heaven
Till her dim soul awakes into the Light.
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