Changing behavioural patterns

It is hard to believe that anybody is happy with the present situation in Auroville. We seem to be trapped in a situation in which action inevitably leads to escalating reaction, to the serious detriment of our work, our health and social fabric, as well as to Auroville’s image in the larger world.

Some Aurovilians blame the present upheaval on a new Secretary and her supporters. They characterize the approach of this group as information and individuals being manipulated to attain certain ends, by intransigent dogmatism, and by a certain elitism which leads, among other things, to a relentlessly top-down approach to development and problem solving.

However, the Secretary’s supporters makes similar accusations against those they feel are blocking development of the city. They accuse these ‘blockers’ of dogmatism, of taking unilateral action to get their way, and of claiming superior knowledge concerning how Auroville should develop.

This suggests that while we are confronted at present with radically different visions of how Auroville should develop, the different orientations actually mirror to some extent the way they relate to each other.

But if we honestly introspect, we see that the accusations that these groups direct at each other – of dogmatism, elitism, unilateral action, manipulation etc. – are actually much more widespread. In fact, they are mirrored, even sustained, by how many of us think and act in our daily lives. For every time we achieve an end by doubtful means, every time we quote Mother to suit our own purposes, every time we have an attitude of superiority over others or use them to achieve an end, every time we take a unilateral decision without including those who are affected, we are reinforcing this kind of behaviour. In other words, we are contributing to a particular energetic or behavioural ‘field’ that is influencing all of us, for there is no such thing as a purely personal action in Auroville.

This is not to relativise the present situation, to claim that everybody is equally responsible for the present upheaval, and that when it comes to promoting Auroville’s ideals and building solidarity we cannot distinguish between helpful and unhelpful behaviour, between sincerity and falsehood. Rather, it is to suggest that certain behaviour which at present we see displayed in bold relief is not be a new manifestation, but something much more longstanding and widespread.

Therefore, while all of us must continue to stand for our highest values and manifesting Auroville’s ideals in any way we feel capable, and we must definitely and actively resist whatever we feel is unjust and against the spirit of Auroville, we need to consider doing this in a different way if we are not to continue feeding the kind of behaviour which sets one Aurovilian against another and ties up our productive energies.

In other words, it’s no longer a matter of simply changing a superficial narrative which pits those who want Mother’s city against those against development, but of embodying something radically different in our daily lives: it starts with ourselves.

For every time we refuse to answer slander with slander, stereotyping with stereotyping, divisiveness with divisiveness, every time integrality is favoured over narrowness and a sense of our common humanity triumphs over politics and we refuse to allow different views to separate us, the present cycle of action/reaction is broken, and a different field of behavior is created. And while it is not a guarantee of change – for personal agendas and powerful external forces over which we have little or no control may remain powerful factors – it creates the potential for opening up new ways of being with each other and of approaching those issues which seem so intractable.

The good news is that this other way of being/relating, which also has always existed in Auroville, is becoming more and more powerful and widespread in response to the perceived threat to our unity. It speaks, above all, of a deep desire to heal our social fabric and to move forward together on the basis of what Mother once referred to as the ‘spirit of Auroville’: the art of creating unity out of complexity.