Creating a space for dialogue and healing

The presentation (paraphrased, not quoted directly)

Present situation: The challenge Auroville is facing today has to do with large organizational issues, with scaling up. At present, the overall picture I get is that it is stagnating in small pockets of excellence, and there is no shared view of how Auroville should progress, or how to measure such progress. Each group has its own view, aspiration, but there is no overarching view which includes but transcends these different ‘islands’, and this prevents Auroville going to the next level. All these personal aspirations have to converge through an organizational process which involves policies to be followed, processes to be respected, and long term goals stated.

At present people are framing the situation as pioneers versus those from outside who don’t understand; as spiritual explorers versus structuralists; or individuals answering only to themselves versus those ensuring the system has to operate for everybody. Each pocket has conviction. Can this tug of war become a creative tension? For, in the present situation, if one side wins, the whole of Auroville loses.

People define the ideal Auroville in different ways. For example, as 1) a place where all my neighbours are focussed on integral yoga, inspired by The Mother’s dream and a place where the culture continuously supports human evolution and 2) a place where things are working well and infrastructure works efficiently to support the city. This is a critical tension between something very lofty and very mundane. But if these are not brought together, Auroville is not going anywhere.

How to bridge this gap? Each has something to contribute, so dialoguing is critical for the next step. However, I don’t think Auroville has invested enough in this. I hear a lot of people saying they have the ‘truth’, but this is problematic as it leads to dogma and an inability to dialogue. Dialogue requires the ability to say ‘I don’t know’ and to owning up to fears of incapability when it comes to dealing with a hugely difficult task.

However, what I see happening when any dialogue starts is that differences surface, people get triggered, dialogue breaks down, and then people go back to their personal ways of looking at things, or to working on their own sadhana. This energy also creates small kinship groups, of which there are many in Auroville. All this is not great for building an organization.

The large-scale plans for rebuilding the city are provoking people very sharply. There is a lot of anger in the way that people are responding to each other. I don’t think this is a culture which will help human evolution.

Now healing is required because some of these reactions come from hurt, trauma, mistrust. What Auroville is trying to do is something unique and very difficult, and precisely because a spiritual aspiration is given, any failure to get to a spiritual collective is triggering deep regression. This to me is the pattern that is getting repeated in Auroville,

One thing many people are feeling very positive about was the way the dreamweaving happened. So can we help the dreamweaving process through healing dialogues? This might be critical going forward.

Archetypes

Raghu then explained that he would use a framework from the Mahabharata to illustrate certain archetypal energies which he sees at play, both individually and collectively, in Auroville. Using the five Pandava brothers to exemplify different archetypes, he talked about the functional and dysfunctional aspects of each archetype and their shadows. “The fundamental idea I bring out from this story is there are five kinds of power that people have, and it is a wise use of these five that creates a karmic collective.”

The various energies

Nakula is the energy that allows us to put service before self, harmony, it is a power which is very critical for institutions because it helps build consensus. It also has a dysfunctional aspect which is, when it is very strong, it leads to people avoiding any kind of conflict.

The Bhima energy brings a huge level of commitment, excitement, adventure, and willingness to explore new ways of doing things. The dysfunctional aspects of this energy are frustration with too much planning, and people driven by this are very self-reliant, so it does not enable collective dialogue. Also, there is an underlying need for power in this energy.

These two energies are very good for creating small units, for start-ups.

The Yudhisthira energy fosters order, structure, predictability, which is a very critical building block for larger organizations. However one of its dysfunctional aspects is it becomes rigid through the application of rules.

Sahavidha is very important for bringing together knowledge and expertise, using rigorous analysis and studies before coming to conclusions. Its dysfunctional aspect is getting caught in analysis-paralysis, and refraining from action, even when the situation demands it.

The Arjuna energy calls for deep introspection and valuing and understands there are many ways of knowing the truth. This is essential for dialogue. One of the dysfunctional aspects of the Arjuna energy is that it sees so many different points of view it can feel overwhelmed and be unable to act.

The play of these energies in Auroville

Much of the early pioneering work in Auroville seems based upon the Bhima energy, the ability to commit to an aspiration once a positive emotion is triggered. However, if the power aspect is not expressed in legitimate ways, it gets expressed in all kinds of subterranean ways. Regarding the Yudhisthira energy, many people seem to view rules as intrinsically negative, and any attempt to systematize is seen as oppression. The way the Foundation office is bringing things in at present is immediately seen as rigid, so there is no space for necessary dialogue and negotiation.

Although each small unit in Auroville seems quite willing to experiment and create knowledge, the Sahavidha energy seems to be in short supply at the larger organizational level. People complain that their expertise is not being used, or that Auroville lacks expertise in certain areas, like planning, but is not always willing to bring in people with this knowledge.

The Arjuna energy is an aspirational state in almost everybody I spoke to, but there is a huge gap between the aspiration and actual behaviour. One of the important things that this energy enables you to do is to ask questions starting from the statement, ‘I don’t know’. When one gets onto this level in an organisation one gets the ability to see oneself in others and others in oneself, to go beyond empathy into actually being the other person. Unless you can do this, there is no possibility of the kind of dialogue that Auroville is wanting, which is about life transformation.

In conclusion, I think the Bhima type of archetypal energy is much celebrated in Auroville, and was very much part of the pioneering era, but doesn’t foster dialogue. The Naguna energy which is important for cohesion is available in small groups but not available as a whole. There is not enough respect for the Yudhisthira energy which acts and works with large systems. The Sahavidha knowledge energy is there in pockets, but the Arjuna energy is only there in individual’s sadhana.

So what are the collective competencies of Auroville? One is commitment to individual sadhana, to freedom and autonomy. There is also an inspirational quality: people are inspired by each other. There’s also a lot of willingness to experiment and to fail, but this is held only individually or in small pockets.

However, there are also core inadequacies. One is the inability to negotiate and dialogue with people who have different mindsets and different ways of looking at reality. There is also an inability to commit to long-term plans, which is the Yudhisthira energy. You can’t have a large city without policies, and there is suspicion about how to build shared policies. I also think some of the present processes that are happening are because peer accountability has been missing for a long time, so now accountability is being imposed through the governing body. If it had been worked on earlier, we would probably be in a different situation today.

Collective worldviews

Each of the Pandava archetypes can be seen as the individual reflection of larger collective ways of feeling, thinking and acting. These are collectives each with its own unique set of worldviews etc. All members of a system significantly embody the core worldview, culture, values and blind spots of the system. Raghu went on to explain these different ‘universes’ and how they manifest, or don’t manifest, in Auroville at present.

I see a lot of Clan energies in Auroville. Here there is high unity in the in-group, but it demonises others. The next level is Arena, which is fundamentally tribal. Here the whole discourse becomes a discourse of heroes and villains, which is where I think Auroville is right now. An organization, if it is to succeed, has to move into Clockwork which requires strong structure. Here the social system is held together by obedience and conformity to a “higher truth” that is unquestionable - be it ideology or organized religion. The system is highly efficient, stable and predictable. People who have belief in the fundamental tenets of the system willingly conform to the rules, standards, and boundaries set in the system.

The next level which an organisation has to move to is Network, where you are bonded by a shared purpose and everybody is a potential source of knowledge. There is a rational way of dealing with differences. I don’t see this in the present collective.

Then there is the Eco-system level which is highly inclusive, pluralistic. This is a space where you are friends with those who have different outlooks, and there is a context of compassion. This is where dreams are awakened, everybody is a co-creator, and deep collective contemplation takes place. I’ve not heard enough to tell me that this exists here.

But I think what Auroville aspires to be is a Holon, a space of dialogue where all perspectives are welcome. Power comes from within each of the members and they hold a deep love and unilateral commitment to the system. The individual and the collective are both important and one is not privileged over the other. Collective well-being and evolution are the primary goals of this system. This universe can be inhabited only through lived experience and collective sadhana.

I think where Auroville has got stuck in dealing with the current issue is between Clan and Arena and there is a huge struggle to accept Clockwork. Therefore the rest of the organisational levels are not acted upon collectively. I don’t think the stuckness should be attributed to the Secretary, it is also heavily influenced by individual inability to take certain organisational level actions. There seems to be a repetition at present of a previous process where there have been attempts to organise, and every time there has been a huge eruption of resistance, hostility. My suspicion also is that some of the accountability that is being brought in today is the result of the behaviour of some people in Auroville and areas of lacuna and this is being resented. So unless there is some resolution here it will be difficult to have a dialogue.

Possible next steps

Right now Clockwork is only looked at as a structural imposition. A lot of people have to understand that it should become a very important infrastructure for the community, with roles, responsibilities and rules.

At the policy level, the first thing that ought to be done is to agree upon an accepted idea of success. You keep talking about this magnificent city but it is not translated into any measurable criteria. This is critical. Unless there is some agreement upon what you will achieve in the next few years, taking a progressive step towards the grand picture, you are going to continue to have this problem.

I think Dreamweaving is a good first step but without a healing energy, the Dreamweaving is not going to go anywhere. I think a healing process has to involve a collective grieving. I heard a great deal of despair about where Auroville is today, people saying Auroville has not happened in the way they wanted. It is important you own up to this and talk about how you feel about this. If you do this, like all healing processes you get away from anger and feelings of betrayal and you can move and live in a different way. But if there’s nowhere to dialogue these feelings, they turn into rage which is directed at others. I don’t think collectively this has been understood.

The other thing is that each of the three bodies of the Foundation has to understand what the non-negotiables are and what the responsibilities of each are. I think a lack of understanding here is also causing the clockwork space not to emerge. If these are stated, you might be able to start rebuilding trust, because I don’t think Auroville can be built without these three groups coming together.

Another necessity is to rethink how to deal with the teachings of Mother and Sri Aurobindo, and honestly talk about what one understands and how one interprets the teachings. This is very critical for a dialogue to go forward.

If all this is cracked, Auroville will do phenomenal things.

Dialogue with Aurovilians (paraphrased and not necessarily in chronological order)

Aurovilian: How was your presentation received by the Governing Board and the International Advisory Council?

Raghu: There was very little exchange. Dena Merriam appreciated it, Gabi Gillessen said she really understand how difficult it is to deal with shadows, while Michel Danino said I lacked evidence for certain of the points I was making. But I was told some things and simply put it together in a framework.

What Dena wants to do now is see if a group of 20 to 25 people are interested in coming together to explore what healing means. Something to support what you have already done in the Dreamweaving process, which Dena is provisionally calling ‘Heartweaving’.

Av: We are not against authority, as you had suggested, we are against limited lower authority. I think in Auroville we are open to divine authority.

R: I’m using authority in the sense of human authority.

Av: I think there’s a lot of power being exercised arbitrarily at present, so I don’t see how you can have dialogue in that context. Many freedoms have been taken away from us, including the right to be in Auroville when we have been here for most of our lives, so how can we have a dialogue when our very basic human rights are threatened?

R: I agree. I am saying that first you have to create the right context. If you do a Dreamweaving or dialogue at this point it won’t work. So I am suggesting that before the dialogue can happen, there is a certain stage that has to be gone through in which everybody has to participate. I’m not suggesting a dialogue, I’m suggesting a healing process first, and if this does not happen there cannot be a dialogue. The Dreamweaving should be extended to many other issues but just the Dreamweaving will not work in my understanding unless there is work at a deeper level.

How to begin? Let’s agree at this point that I don’t think anybody knows what to do, but from that “I don’t know and I care” can we start? That’s the only hope that I’m speaking about. Healing can only start from there.

Av: I agree that the starting point to finding a solution is a shared ‘I don’t know’. But where are the people from the so-called other side who come with the same quality of not knowing and open heart? This is what is required to heal and to start eventually a dialogue.

R: I agree with you. I have no doubt in my mind that the governing body has to be part of the experiment. So I’m also requesting members of the Governing Board to come to the table with “I don’t know”. But some context has to be created before that happens, you cannot start from where you are today and jump straight into a dialogue because it will only deteriorate.

As to the Secretary, she is playing a role and she’s playing it on behalf of her systemic reality. You cannot start a dialogue with somebody playing a role if you begin by demonising them.

Av: I stumble over the way you have interpreted the Secretary as Yudishthira. The Yudhisthira archetype is somebody who is very, very just. But when somebody uses the visa issue as a threat they are not being just. I think a condition to even start talking about dialogue would be to have the threats to visas etc. removed.

R: The Yudhisthira archetype is somebody who knows how to use the book. The book can be used in ways that are constructive or destructive, but it’s a reality that here is a person who is a bureaucrat who really understands how to use the book. She is a government official who has been given a book and she has to play by that book. Demonising the person who is using the book doesn’t help.

Av: Many people know many of the things you have said and we are ready to take those into consideration. Something left out in your analysis of the culture of Auroville is that that culture is very strong and that culture will bring us through. I felt there was a bit of a pessimistic ring in what you are presenting, but this may have come to you from the people you talked to.

Av: I am part of several online groups and meetings have been happening every week and they have reached a depth and maturity where we have all been deeply touched by what is said: it is completely different from the reality which you have described. There is a sense of spiritual depth, wideness, and acceptance and not the demonising you are claiming.

Av: I think that the dynamics you are labelling, like victimisation and demonization, are basically coming only from one side, and this makes your presentation one-sided. I’ve also heard from others that there is a lack of trust in your neutrality, in your ability to hold all the differences in a way that is truly open and that you are justifying the present takeover.

R: I’ve heard a listing of rights and wrongs from both sides. So if my presentation came through as one-sided I am sorry, I don’t experience it that way. The role I have been asked to play is to try and understand the context and make some suggestions. I’m hoping that I have captured the underlying dynamics accurately, but if I haven’t captured the dynamics I can’t do anything to help.

If I’m speaking the truth and the truth has some resonance something will happen.

Av: I feel I’ve been put into a box, on one side, when I don’t actually feel like that inside. There isn’t a feeling of being safe with you. So that for me puts up a wall. I think that these kinds of tools can be really helpful if we can just share the tool and not the analysis. Each of us can do that for ourselves. Yet I’m grateful for this.

Av: I think dialogue can only happen when there is deep listening. At the moment we are in a stalemate because people are not listening to one another.

R: This is fundamental. When there is a difference of opinion, shadows and fears are bound to play up. When this happens, I’m seeing you people getting bounced back into personal sadhana because I think what is happening is the collective shadow is being taken for a personal shadow. But to get to a collective sadhana we have to cross that barrier, and for that the kind of listening you are talking about is essential. But it is not easy.

Av: You have not mentioned the projection of the shadow on others, but this is exactly what is happening at present. The psychic being is there to work on the shadow, and there is no sadhana if you don’t use the psychic being to work on the shadow. But nobody is doing this, which is why the Mahakali blow is falling on our heads.

R: I agree. But what I’m suggesting is that you need to do collective sadhana, which is different from personal sadhana. I think that is why Mother said start a city rather than just work on one’s personal sadhana. This kind of sadhana cannot happen without a collective.

Av: What do you see as the next steps?

R: The next step is not to become a spiritual collective – that is far away – but to become a human collective, which means no divisions, caring for others. It’s very easy in the mind to say we want harmony, but to actually touch heart-to-heart without the shadows lying in your heart getting triggered is not easy. If you become a human collective, a lot of the things that are happening now won’t happen.

Practically, what I’m hoping for is you start with a small neutral group of 20-25 people which is interested in dialogue because I don’t think you are ready to have the warring people come and sit for the dialogue. And this group could explore what will make it possible to accept differences and not fall back on the narcissistic ‘I am right’. That’s a huge step to make but I’m willing to help if I’m wanted. I’m not going to come in and say I know what to do because I don’t know: I don’t know if anybody knows. It will be an experimental space and you can only step into that space if you start with ‘I don’t know’. I can’t see anything more than that right now.