The Aura: creating a genero-city

The “Aura” is a virtual community credit and unit of exchange. The network of the same name aims to bring community together through offering a platform of connection. Once you’ve joined, every day you receive twelve Auras, as part of a basic income scheme, of which three have to be shared with your peers – encouraging generosity.

Growth

The Aura team launched their mobile app in November 8, 2020 and the network has since grown to over 400 individuals and some services. The Aura is available as a downloadable app, on Android and iOS, and was developed in Auroville for those living here. It is the only networking app in the community, which, alongside the exchanges of goods and services, also facilitates chatting to others. In the last year, the network has offered ten workshops and organised the Aura Fest, with over five hundred attendees. They have filmed some short ‘Aura Talks’ videos on their website (and YouTube), showcasing individuals’ stories from the network. Alongside the development of the network, they are conducting ongoing research. 

They did have a few challenges. There were some glitches with the app which they have been working to solve and the Corona virus forced all work to be virtual. More-over, the tech phobia of some Aurovilians, many of whom are not familiar with apps, has been a challenge.

Once you have joined the network and access the app, you can choose between ‘offers’ or ‘needs’. ‘Offers’ has over two dozen categories and can include plant seedlings, teaching Chinese calligraphy, how to brew and experience Chinese tea, how to make a Slovenian style potato salad, and teaching Tamil. It is a typical mix of items that people might no longer need, and unique services that the Aura encourages us to find within us and then offer to others. ‘Needs’ varies from searches for a metal whisk (alongside a bamboo steamer), to the modest request for a large envelope, supplies of kimchi and the rather more ambitious wish for a ‘detached house’ (though with a willingness to help repair it).

Unlike some alternative currencies, the Aura does not have a monetary equivalence, and neither is it simply a system of bartering. It is a way of helping the community move one step closer to the cashless society Auroville strives to be, by facilitating a care economy where the diversity of skills and talent from members of the Network can cover the unique relative needs of others in the community. In practice, this happens by emphasising an attitude of finding and sharing personal offerings. 

Philosophy of Generosity 

The Aura has inspiring plans to create a more generous and creative society. Its purpose is to shift from scarcity to abundance, reshaping our consciousness about money. The principle of giving away three of the twelve allotted daily Auras grounds this idea in practice. They also have a daily 9% depreciation to prevent hoarding which B, one of the core team members, says is to stimulate people to share more. On their website they mention their aim that money as a tool is not intended for accumulation, but rather circulation. 

Community 

Using the Aura, Hye Jeong, a project coordinator of the Aura team, notes that the network helps “bring people together in community”, and that it aims to “rebuild connection between Aurovilians, even if it’s in a virtual space”. She mentions that through the app she has got to know more people.

Hye Jeong narrated a personal story which illuminates this ability to deepen our communal connections. Under the category of ‘senior assistance’, Thera had offered to read a book. Hye Jeong shyly replied that whilst not a senior, she was far away from her Korean homeland and missed memories of her mother reading to her as a child. Thera did indeed come and read her requested book, The Little Prince, and Hye Jeong remembers that “it was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever had in Auroville. This is the spirit of the Aura; it’s not only covering our material daily needs. She was so good to me.” As the website puts it, When we realize the interconnectedness of life and learn to share, a fulfillment naturally arises. The system is a conscious use of technology to bring us together, to share the prosperity and abundance we already have, but are not aware of. Luke Marsh, another member of the team, underlines this by pointing out that “community is strongest when we are a network”.

Creativity 

Hye Jeong notes that the Aura app isn’t just for physical needs but also allows expression of our own potential creativity. There are unique offerings on the app. For instance, Amy, formerly of the Auroville Council and now in the FAMC, offers a talk about how the community works under the offering ‘Want to know more about Auroville?’ Teresa reaches out to those who, like her, grew up in Auroville and are wondering about moving abroad to go to university as such a shift ‘probably feels daunting.’  She notes she is ‘Not trying to provide life coaching but is available for a chat in case you are curious is what I learned along the way’. Manish offers to be there for a chat or talk if it’s needed and Arumugan offers a ‘Bioregion experience’. These are examples of individuals tuning in to what they have to offer, which could be of use to others beyond the conventional selling and buying of goods and services. 

Circular 

The network emphasises that a Circular Basic Income assumes the existence of abundance – that within any given community, certain needs of the people can be met with existing resources without having to generate more income, or provide additional (financial) means to consume (new) goods and services. Luke mentions that whereas capitalism aims for perpetual growth, the Aura aims for perpetual sharing. That giving spirit is evident on the app, and links to Auroville’s early history of collective living and sharing. Environmentally, it facilitates a second chance for many items, and even abilities, that are currently unused. 

On a larger scale of giving, Science Walden, the Korean research centre, has been supporting the project since its inception in early 2019, helping to further the purpose of the International Zone where each culture brings its own particular offering. 

Auroville’s aim to create a cashless society, and to be a human laboratory for transformation for human unity, provides a fertile seedbed for the Aura’s experiment of facilitating a more giving society. In Latin, ‘aura’ means ‘gold’, and the greater communal connection could be its most valuable offering.

For more on the aura visit https://www.auranetwork.app/en/. The Aura Network App can be downloaded from the Play Store for Android devices, and the App Store for iOS devices.