Sun Word still rising: A Trust for the Earth

For those who have not read the book, which was first published in 1980, Savitra describes the deeper evolutionary impulses behind Auroville and its purpose in this world, and also details the tensions and joys of the early days, the golden promise and later betrayal by the Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS). The first part of the book conveys his spiritual quest in the third person, from the USA to meeting ‘Her’ in Pondicherry, and joining the nascent community in the shadeless heat of the then red eroded soil. The grandness and ambition of the Auroville spiritual project is always within touching distance. Soon after his arrival, he is renamed by Mother as Savitra and the book changes to the first person.

The 1960s era is evoked in its idealism, the sense of boundless possibility and new concepts like ‘ecology’ which started informing the zeitgeist. But mostly Savitra is a chronicler of the birth of the community, dating its age from the 1968 inauguration. It’s an inspiring, yet unvarnished account of those beginnings, capturing the goodwill and creativity of the early forecomers. As with all that has worked in Auroville, it was through trial and error that the community grew; trees were planted for shade, bunds made to prevent erosion and enrich the topsoil, there were experiments in food growing and house construction, etc. However, with Mother’s passing in 1973, young, orphaned Auroville had to grow up quickly in a baptism of fire when faced with its first crisis of governance. As I read, I found myself exclaiming aloud at each uncanny resonance or reverberation between that first crisis and the current one.

Whilst there are certainly differences between the two eras, I offer these quotes (in italics) without commentary as a mirror to consider our present:

On how the city and growth are perceived

Roger (Anger) was interested “in building the city”. He had had enough of this “community experience.”…He was more than a bit frustrated that almost nothing of his master plan for Auroville - not even his prototype concept of Auromodele – had manifested. For him Auroville was bogged down between administrative incompetence in Pondicherry and the equally intransigent Aurovilians who were too lost in their quest for a “collective consciousness” to see the city.

These two tendencies – planning and spontaneity – as well as all the classical dualities and contradictions that men oscillate between and fight the wars over in a foolish effort to establish the exclusive supremacy of one over the other, wrestled with themselves among the Aurovilians.

They didn’t see that trees were paying back a much deeper debt, one with a thousand years of interest to the Earth.

On public image

(from Navajata) “Bad publicity harms the work and must be avoided and [the way to avoid it is to use] pictorial and brief progress reports.” In other words don’t look for the real solution, just keep up the image.

Nava: How can we justify to those looking to Auroville as an example all this sex and drugs. (Francis and I look at each other wondering what Auroville he was talking about.)

On governance

Executive Committee of SAS Resolution. Resolved that the Society called Auroville which has filed papers at Cuddalore and which is arrogating to itself the rights of the SAS whose project is Auroville, is ill-conceived and mala fide and that the result will be the destruction of the Mother’s Auroville and that immediate steps should be taken to secure its cancellation and/or nullification and stop this mischievous move.

This led into a deeper question which that week’s meeting faced of ‘whether we have the right to make our own decisions in such matters. Are we a policy-making group? If so, do we stick with our decisions or withdraw because of the result’. It was generally felt that we must take a very firm stand expressing our right to decide.

Thus was aired before Auroville as a whole under the limbs of an ancient Banyan tree the Great Blasphemy: let Auroville be free. The Aurovilians for the first time together, despite the efforts of Nava and others to abort it, Navajata which means ‘new birth’ heard themselves plainly speaking of autonomy and the right to be (...).

“We as representatives of the undersigned European centres, at a meeting in Paris on June 11, 1976, herewith openly declare that we no longer have any confidence in the Trustees of the ashram, the Sri Aurobindo Society and the Auro Trust. The way in which of late they have been handling affairs is, we are convinced, in important respects inconsistent with the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and with the Charter of Auroville.”

On administrative process

To tighten the screws the SAS executive committee amended the admissions form requiring even long term Aurovilians to sign in order to receive SAS’s guarantee…[:]

The ideals of Auroville appeal to me and I request for permission to stay in Auroville. I accept the ideals and shall actively work for the realization. I have read this form and agree to all conditions mentioned in it. And will also abide by all administrative and other decisions of the executive committee of the SAS whether made so far or in future. Assuring you of my cooperation.

Nava: All you have to say is

“I will collaborate with the SAS” and you will have your visa.

Harikant: If you support the new Society, then we can have nothing to do with you. Do you support the new Society?

Howard: Yes I support the new Society.

Harikant: Then we can have nothing to do with you.

The news spread like wildfire through Auroville. Nava was playing one of his last and deadliest trump cards. The visa. The blackmail was apparent. Francis in exchange for the Auroville Society and the obedience of Aurovilians.

On name-calling

..and Govind, a leader within the SAS ranks, began abusing Aurovilians in Hindi, accusing them of being ‘colonialists’ and ‘anti-Indian’. (…) Govind continued their tirades and tantrums, picking out the Indians amongst us – Yusuf, Prem, Dipti, Arjun and called them ‘traitors to the nation’. When I asked Yusuf later what Govind had said in Hindi, he told me “only Hindi will be spoken in Auroville”. The venom of racialism that expressed itself in that moment revealed what seethed beneath the rational façade.

Prescient insights

It was 28 February 1977, Auroville had completed its ninth year. Despite the Chairman, despite us. It would be because it had never been.

The image of the ‘City’ was still the index and definition through which most external bodies, particularly the Government, could relate to us, and consider their own involvement.… Pushed from recognition that if we didn’t look respectable and convincing – at least on paper – some well-intentioned other might officially begin to advise us and eventually implement the contents according to its own definition.

[In the context of the Government of India setting up a three-person committee on Auroville] Could this be the long-awaited Christmas present? …but somehow something in all this was out of character for us, we had imperceptibly retired to the audience. Somehow it was cheating. We need never have been given anything which we had not in some way already become.

As Savitra’s tale came to a close, this last note of wisdom resonated strongly with me. Underneath all our current churning there is a call beyond the conflict for us to better come together as a community, to use the difficulties to deepen our connection with the vision of Auroville. Savitra’s ability to sense some of these deeper currents are as true today as they were almost fifty years ago.

Sun Word Rising: A Trust for the Earth by Savitra is available from: https://auro-ebooks.com/auroville-sun-word-rising/ for free downloading, or in hard copy from amazon.com