Four radical questions

Radical Question #1: What if… our current conflicts cease, not because the larger systems work, but because the larger systems fail?

Let me explain. Many of us have at least partly placed our bets on the Indian legal system weighing in our favour and resolving the crises once and for all. While possible, this is hard to predict and far from guaranteed.

Another, even more dramatic scenario, seems at least as likely, however. You may remember, during the pandemic, seeing cartoons in which a small fish is eaten by progressively larger fish. The ‘joke’ was that we may think of Covid as a big deal, but it’s a ‘small fish’ compared to looming economic collapse, food system failures, millions of environmental refugees, and other predicted consequences of the climate crises.

If even only a few of these predictions come true, they may well lead to a level of global chaos where the GOI simply no longer has the resources to exert any control over Auroville. In this potentially near-future scenario, the Mother’s ‘Divine Anarchy’, that many here feel is now being suppressed, may revive on a scale scarcely imaginable.

Auroville is clearly a microcosm of the whole world. What if our current crises in community governance, as large as they now appear, are actually ‘small fish’ and merely the training ground for much larger challenges to come — not just locally, but globally?

It may well be that our current and coming crises are exactly the catalysts we and humanity need to shake loose our core stories of separation and ego. With our collective karma catching up with us and ‘business as usual’ becoming increasingly untenable, the world may be finally ready for new worldviews and new ways of living in harmony with each other and the planet.

The question that keeps arising in my mind is ‘Who will Auroville be then? What role are we to play in this threshold moment in planetary history?’ I firmly believe Auroville has the potential — even the responsibility — to be a key pivot point in this ‘Great Turning’. While this will certainly involve many systems and solutions pioneered here for over half a century, I believe our biggest impact will be the extent we can ‘be the change we wish to see in the world’ — both individually and, even more importantly, collectively.

Which leads me to…

Radical Question #2: What if… our ‘city’ has now become the cocoon in which our caterpillar must transform into a butterfly?

I want to first acknowledge that I am speaking from a position of privilege, having come and gone from Auroville for decades. While I feel 100% aligned to the Soul of Auroville, I am not heavily invested in its physical form. I wasn’t here to help build the Matrimandir. I’ve only planted a few dozen trees, not thousands. While Auroville feels like home to me, I don’t have a permanent dwelling here and my visa is not at risk. I fully honour those who have committed their lives to this place and I fully recognize I would likely feel different if I were among them.

And yes! Of course! Let’s build the most ecological city in the world! I desperately hope we can do it together. And I do believe regenerating the land, and building our Temple of the Mother and other structures were necessary endeavours to bring us together and to physically unite us in our purpose.

And… like a caterpillar building its cocoon, perhaps we are nearing the end of our larval stage, which was about growth and repeatedly shedding our ‘skin’. That phase was essential to building our structures and our community. But now it seems new ‘hormones’ and ‘enzymes’ are calling us to dissolve, like caterpillars, into a nutrient soup. Perhaps it is time to let go of everything we thought Auroville was and is meant to become. Perhaps it is time to reorganise around our ‘imaginal discs’ that were always there in the caterpillar — and in us — that contain the blueprint for the butterfly, but lay dormant while in our larval stage.

Thinking about how to do this leads me to…

Radical Question #3: What if… resolving our current challenges have less to do with reaching high and more to do with digging deep?

Our ‘imaginal discs’ — our ultimate objectives — seem clear. We have our Charter; we have the Dream; we have the transcendent visions of integral yoga. Ever striving to understand and embody these new ways of being, perfecting our inner practices and concentration, and aspiring towards supramental consciousness are all essential aspects of this endeavour.

And… my sense is that to really move forward, even more than ‘reaching ever higher’, we now need to acknowledge and heal the shadows that exist in all of us and that are creating our current polarisation and conflict. From a spiral dynamics perspective (shout out to David Nightingale for his efforts to bring these concepts to Auroville), we all exhibit both healthy and unhealthy aspects of multiple worldviews. Let’s appreciate our beauty and light while also compassionately calling out and transforming our traumas and inner wounds.

In particular, I want to say….

Thank you to all of us who have worked so hard to regenerate this land and build a safe and inclusive community. I honour your deep empathy for people and our planet. And… let’s acknowledge how, sometimes, our suspicion of leadership (on all sides) and not wanting to leave any one (or any tree) behind has led to us getting bogged down in the process and has paralyzed our decision-making ability.

Thank you also to all of us who feel a sense of sacred service to the Mother’s ideals and plans. I respect your desire for structure, for moving the city forward, and for seeking order and stability. And … let’s recognize when we might mistakenly trust centralised bureaucracies over Divine Anarchy and perhaps desire to punish or even expel those who stand in opposition to what we perceive as clear ‘truths’.

We all strive to manifest Divinity through our all-too-human forms and our all-too-apeish neurology. Believing we can transcend our traumas without confronting and healing our unresolved emotional issues and unfinished developmental tasks is akin to spiritual bypassing (There! I said it!).

If we are to truly become a city for building human unity, we must welcome everyone (including all their worldviews) that we have not yet accepted or forgiven. We must hold our personal and collective shadows, not as negative attributes to shun, but as signposts to exactly those places we most need to heal and develop.

And finally…

Radical Question #4: What if … we have everything we need to transform?

As the City of Dawn takes shape, let’s not forget it is merely the chrysalis of the true experiment — our personal and collective evolution in service of Divine Consciousness. This is present and available regardless of any external circumstances. In fact, it is often catalysed precisely by these outward conditions.

How can we reclaim Divine Anarchy as our right and not a privilege? How can we build solidarity and human unity within and across our diverse factions and tribes?

A few humble suggestions:

● Local/foreign council: I was inspired at the community meeting in March where Major Arun spoke truth to power and pointed to a gap in how welcomed Tamil Aurovilians feel at events hosted by mostly foreign Aurovilians. How about we constitute a council with the specific purpose of bridging this gap across diverse cultures and backgrounds within our community.

● Time off for community meetings: Let’s encourage all Auroville Units to release workers and volunteers for 2-3 hours per month in order to allow greater participation in our community meetings.

● Grief circles: Grieving for what has been lost, not only in our community, but on our planet is critical to our emotional and spiritual health. Creating ways to deeply mourn together helps us reconnect with our love for each other and our vision for a better world.

● Beyond ‘human’ unity: This may get me in trouble, but I’ve often thought, many of our conflicts around urban planning might find resolution if we just drop ‘human’ from one of our taglines and become a ‘City for Building Unity’ -- which includes both the human and the non-human worlds!

● Post-capitalist experiments: In the predicted climate and economic chaos, the world will desperately need community models that transcend market mechanisms and profit-driven motives. Let’s lean into past, current, and potential systems such as Circles (where groups of Aurovilians combined maintenances), local currencies, resource sharing, and universal basic income so we can show the world how we can all live well and lightly together.

● Allies for diversity: I recently created a WhatsApp community for anyone to declare themselves an ally for diverse identities and expressions of love, gender, and sexuality in Auroville. Let’s support our ‘unity-in-diversity’, regardless of our politics or how we identify. You can take the pledge and join the community by following this link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/HA6i9PZXIX2HJzgy0UBRMp

● Community networks: All too often I have felt resistance to ‘outside’ ideas within Auroville because ‘We’re different!’ Not only has this insulated us from valuable support and potential solutions, it has limited our solidarity with other aligned groups around the world. As one . to ‘pop this bubble’ I am excited to be working with Gijs Spoor to co-develop Green Silk Road travel/exchange programmes between Auroville, Findhorn and regenerative communities and initiatives on route between them.

In my recent 2.5 months at Auroville, I had over 100 conversations with friends and strangers about how to help our community manifest its vision and potential. Putting our heads, hearts, and spirits together in this way is key to our evolution and it is incredibly precious and powerful. This is Divine Anarchy in action! It can’t be scripted. We can’t even know where it will lead. We can only follow our bliss and what we feel called to pursue and must trust that, together, we will evolve in ways far beyond anything any one of us can imagine. If we can do that, I am confident the world will follow us into the City of the Dawn.