Widening the frame

I think it is easy in Auroville, as in all small communities, to get caught up in the details of our lives. And, because there are so many challenges on so many levels while our ideal is placed so high, it is easy to get depressed and negative both about our individual progress and about the pace of community development. But if we widen the frame we get another perspective. ‘Widening the frame’ means seeing that we are extraordinarily privileged, blessed, to be part of this unique experiment in individual and global transformation. And to be here on Earth at this moment when, after eons of slow, painstaking work, Sri Aurobindo and The Mother have brought us to the brink of a quantum leap in the planet’s spiritual development.

This does not mean that we neglect our daily challenges; that we put on rose-coloured spectacles and wallow in some ‘hippy-dippy heaven’ instead of rolling up our sleeves and wrestling with issues like town planning, governance or the Auroville economy. Actually, I think this widening of the frame means we have to work even harder on solving all our individual and collective issues because, from this perspective, these are all opportunities to hoist ourselves, if only a few inches, towards a new level of consciousness.

Of course we will fail, time and time again. But what is important is that we have this opportunity at this crucial moment in Earth’s history, as well as the all-important confirmation from Mother that the essential work has been done; that the Supra-mental Realization will surely be, even if the timescale is uncertain.

All this is surely a cause for intense joy. So why can’t we make this joy the permanent underlying note that weaves its melody through our daily lives?

Who knows? If we can approach our challenges with this undercurrent of joy rather than of exasperation, anger or fear, perhaps we will discover new ways of being with each other as well as of solving our problems.