Auroville in Mother’s Words

There have been a number of compilations of Mother’s words on Auroville, most notably a chronological compilation by Bill Sullivan in 1990. The first volume of the most comprehensive one to date, Auroville in Mother’s Words, has now been compiled by Gilles Guigan of the Auroville Archives.

‘Comprehensive’ because this includes not only Mother’s messages as well as conversations about Auroville contained in The Agenda, but also minutes of meetings and other documents pertaining to Auroville during the period 1964-69, as well as notes of conversations with Mother taken by Roger Anger, Huta, Rijuta, Kailas and others. This is important because these people sometimes bring different topics from the ones Satprem brings in The Agenda; the practical Roger, for example, was very concerned about organisational matters in the fledgling community.

What emerges is a very interesting overview of Auroville’s historical antecedents and early development as well as a fascinating insight into the way Mother ‘worked’.

Regarding the history, it is clear that as early as 1912 Mother was contemplating the need “Collectively, to establish an ideal society in a propitious spot for the flowering of the new race, the race of the Sons of God”. Two subsequent attempts to realise this – one in the State of Hyderabad and one near the present Lake Estate – did not succeed before Auroville was inaugurated in February, 1968.

But Mother’s interest in the present attempt, which began as a project by the Sri Aurobindo Society to launch a new township, was at first peripheral. In June, 1965, she termed it “a small intermediate attempt”. However, she came to see it as a means to prevent a Third World War and later, most profoundly, as the means to help India solve “all human difficulties upon Earth”.

In March 1969, she says that “We will strive to make Auroville the cradle of the superman” while in April she writes that “The conception of Auroville is purely divine and has preceded its execution by many years. Naturally, in the details of the execution the human consciousness intervenes.”

The problems of that intervening ‘human consciousness’ were to take up more and more of her time. For example, Mother wanted the city to be finished in a few years, but Navajata seemingly thwarted the possibility of obtaining a major grant from the Ford Foundation that would have enabled this to happen. Navajata also seemed to have been at fault when there was a real possibility of obtaining the land needed for the future city through the support of the Tamil Nadu government.

As for the recalcitrant Aurovilians, a number of people wanted Mother to enforce rules but she always resisted. She explained to Roger that “The essential thing is not to impose rules, but to create an atmosphere that leads towards another way of life.” And she reiterated, “The Force is put on all, identical and supreme”, a Force that, she said, would ensure that those who should not be there would leave.

What also emerges from this compilation is Mother’s flexibility. While certain messages clearly came from a level which had the ring of eternity, in many other matters she was willing to wait and see how circumstances would arrange themselves. “I want (Auroville) to grow like that, spontaneously, with the full play of the unexpected”, she said.

Crucially, she explained that neither the development of the Ashram nor Auroville was the result of mental planning by Sri Aurobindo or herself. “It’s the consciousness constantly at work, not as a sequel of what was there before, but as a result of what it perceives every instant.”

At times, this caused her to change her perspective. Notably, this happened concerning the role of money and industry in the early years of the project. Originally, Mother seemed willing to allow money to operate within Auroville as long as the consciousness was such, but later she clarified that no money should circulate within the community. Similarly, while private industries seemed to have a place in her earlier plans, later she said that all industry in the township should belong to Auroville and the profits go towards the community.

It’s also interesting to see how Mother concerned herself with the smallest details as well as the cosmic dimension of Auroville. For example, there was a community workers’ kitchen near Aspiration. Some Aurovilians felt that the money spent on food for the workers could be better spent on other things, but when Mother was consulted, she was adamant: “Once you have stopped giving food to the workmen, you cannot stop doing so; otherwise you would lose their confidence”.

This is a timely and very useful compilation, but a few words of warning. Firstly, not all of ‘Mother’s’ words in this compilation are necessarily Mother’s. Some are reported by those who have interacted with her and Mother once said that only the reports of André, her son, could be trusted to faithfully transmit what she had said. And even when her words are accurately transcribed, as she constantly tells Satprem, they are not adequate to communicate the complexity and profundity of her experiences.

Secondly, there is the danger of people taking what Mother has said in compilations like this and turning them into dogma. Mother herself stressed that Auroville proceeds according to the Consciousness at work, and this changes from moment to moment. The prime need, then, if one wishes to collaborate in the unfolding of Auroville is not books but to identify oneself with that consciousness.

And thirdly, as Mother noted more than once, progress in Auroville is not obvious to ordinary eyes as it “does not proceed in the usual human way”. “What human beings do not know about Auroville is we have the support of the Invisible.” Consequently, “It (the city) will be built by what is invisible to you”.

Having said this, I eagerly await the second volume of Gilles’ compilation. This volume ends with the first conversations about the Matrimandir. The next volume will deal with those crucial years of Auroville’s early development, 1970-1973.

Auroville in Mother’s Words: a comprehensive chronological compilation by Gilles Guigan. 

Printed at Auroville Press, 2018. For more information contact Gilles Guigan at gillou@auroville.org.in