Time for integration?

Auroville Today: In your paper you write that it is necessary to take a “step forward for us all to ensure the continuation of this experiment”. Do you think that the continued existence of Auroville is under threat?

Divakar: Inwardly I don’t feel that Auroville is in any danger. But the Auroville that we have come to know is disappearing, so we have to move to a position wider than where we are now so that we can find a way that the spirit of Auroville, the guiding force of Auroville, will integrate what is here on the ground today.

Today that is the Central Government. We cannot expect the Central Government to go away, because it has invested so much in this place. Even if there is a change of political party at the helm, the government will remain involved with Auroville. And if we look at our own history without bias we can see that we have actually done everything to make it easy for them to come in. We have opened all the doors by going to them for solving our problems and for financial support. So we are responsible for them being here.

But when we asked the government for help when the management of the Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS) threatened to take over Auroville, they extricated us from that. Wasn’t this a positive intervention?

When Mother left, nobody knew what to do, nobody was able to assimilate what was happening, and that led to the conflict with the SAS. That conflict was solved in the only apparent way that was available then, which was to call in the government. But from the moment we did that, what is happening today was, to some extent, bound to happen.

But Kireet Joshi went ahead with the creation of the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER) with government support because he was hoping that getting the government involved would be positive for Auroville, and a way of sharing our research with the world.

In fact what I’m proposing is, to a certain extent, what he had in mind. Auroville, with the Government’s collaboration, could provide a platform to share its research with the world: this could be an opportunity for Auroville to develop solutions for all the issues India and the world are facing. However, the terms in which the Foundation Act, which was largely drafted by Kireet, had to be formulated have little to do with the ‘inner law’ of Auroville, the inner guidance given by Mother. It is probably not possible to conceive of a legal document which would be devoid of any ambiguity and truly do justice to the mission of Auroville. The risk of incomprehension, of a too partial interpretation, was thus there from the first hour.

It should not be the Supreme Court that decides what happens here. We have an inner law. But we have broken, betrayed, this inner law ourselves over many years, so we can only blame ourselves for inviting the present interference from the government, which has actually become a takeover.

So what I am suggesting is that we stop the bickering and the reliance upon legalese and raise our level of awareness so that we can work with all that is here at present, without losing what is essential for our growth. Today, Auroville must propose a mode of harmonious collaboration with the Central Government which will allow it to participate actively in India’s future and mission in the world, while freely progressing on the adventurous path of its collective realisation at the service of the Truth-Consciousness.

I think this is the surest means of ensuring both the continuation of the experience of Auroville and of its protection.

How are you suggesting this could happen?

Now that the Central Government has created a parallel structure to manage Auroville’s affairs and assets, and huge amounts have been invested in the construction of roads and infrastructure, it has become indispensable to review and define anew the relationship between “the willing servitors of the Divine Consciousness” and the official administrative organ of the Auroville Foundation and its declared objectives. I am suggesting one way in which their respective responsibilities could be clearly defined.

Several concentric ‘circles’ could coexist, and one may belong to one or the other according to the stage of one’s development.

Regarding the residents, there can be no single rule for everyone, so it may be wiser to let individuals assemble according to their deeper affinities and to develop the collective organisation accordingly. Mother has planted all these seeds and welcomed people to Auroville in very different ways at different times to allow for different paths to the ‘goal’. So for those who are more attracted by, say, Sri Aurobindo’s intellect let them explore that part of the treasure. Others might want to work more intensively on the body.

In this way, several concentric ‘circles’ could coexist, and one may belong to one or the other according to the stage of one’s development.

The people who have made this commitment and who aspire to give themselves entirely, through the constant progress of their whole being, in every activity, to the Truth-Consciousness, would form an inner circle, and their needs would be looked after by the community. This is an area where we cannot accept any interference from outside: as Mother said, only those who have committed themselves to be here for life can have any say in how we run our own affairs.

A middle circle would be composed of those who have chosen to join the adventure of the quest for human unity in life itself, and are ready and willing to serve this ideal through work of whatever nature benefits the community, contributing all they can and all they are in every field of activity according to their individual capacities, but who haven’t necessarily made a life commitment. Their needs would also be taken care of by the community, while the profits of their enterprises and services would be managed by the community for the wellbeing and progress of all its members.

Then there would be an outer circle of those who do not wish to make this full commitment, but are interested in contributing their expertise and service to Auroville’s action in the world in areas like education, governance, economy, health, agriculture etc., drawing from Sri Aurobindo’s and Mother’s teachings and Auroville’s experience. These people would live here but they would be working with the government structures and be supported by the government financially.

All the residents of Auroville, in all three circles, would be provided with the Central Government’s guarantee.

But are you not creating a division in the community, as some of the people living here would be dependent upon government support and others on our internal community? Could there not be divided loyalties, and if, for example, they are remunerated at very different rates, couldn’t this be a source of friction?

This doesn’t matter, for it’s a matter of the direction that one wishes to take in one’s life. Many people will say they are not sure that they wish to devote their whole life to Auroville but would like to participate for years to come. As they will live here, there will be a relationship with those who comprise the inner circles.

But would the different circles have different rights and responsibilities?

As Mother said, one can share in the decision-making only if one has decided to be here for life. The outer circle can participate in collective activities because they should feel involved, but economically they will be supported differently because they have made different life choices. Of course, if people’s life choices change, they can move between the circles.

In your proposal you foresee that the outer circle will be more numerous than the inner circle. Isn’t there a danger that this will dilute Auroville’s core values? Mother said that when Auroville reaches 50,000 it will be like a city like anywhere: this suggests she was aware of this possibility.

The dilution has already come over the years in a terrible way. There’s already a degradation of the values regarding how people treat each other in the community .

But will your proposal change that?

If we decide to take this direction, to open to the possibility of integrating what is here now, it doesn’t mean that we are compromising our commitment. It means we are giving a place to that which already exists to a certain extent. But I think there will be a certain ‘sifting’ which, perhaps, will happen automatically as people find, or don’t find, their place in this new arrangement. It is up to each of us to know where we want to be.

Is what you are suggesting simply trying to make the best of the present reality, or do you genuinely believe this is the way that Auroville must develop in the future?

We have to remember that Auroville and India cannot be separated, so the dimension of India which is more than a nation and more than a particular government needs to be more actively integrated in our experience. Forget about what the bureaucrats are doing now. We have to feel we are an instrument for the larger India, and to willingly use this opportunity to work for India, for this has always been one of the aims Mother had for Auroville. And if it was necessary 60 years back, it is even more necessary now given the present challenges facing India and the world.

It is a formidable opportunity when a government of a country is, perhaps, beginning to accept inspiration from what Mother and Sri Aurobindo have called down. I think it is very important that Auroville plays a role in this, and what I am suggesting is one way in which it could happen.

What prevents the necessary widening is when one feels one’s identity is dependent upon holding a certain line...

Do you think your proposal stands a chance of being seriously considered in the present polarised environment?

I think greater clarity in the relationship between the government and Aurovilians will benefit everybody. I think the government would welcome this because we have what they lack and need: the creativity, the intuition.

But there also has to be a change in our attitude. For many years we have been unable together to seek the way forward that includes everything: as Mother said, it is not a matter of choosing between this or that, but of the need to include this, and this, and this. However, integration is not a compromise between different viewpoints. It is reaching something which includes all the perspectives, but in the process they become different.

From the very beginning of Auroville there has been this incapacity to integrate what is already there. Now we have a chance to do this, but for this to happen we have to create an atmosphere that is really helpful. One has to be very quiet inside and widen oneself because all that has been happening recently is only provoking a chain reaction. What prevents the necessary widening is when one feels one’s identity is dependent upon holding a certain line, position. It takes a lot of digging to be free of that identification. But once that is achieved, it is difficult to understand why one had been acting in a certain way before.

But adversity can be a source of greater strength.

I hope we are at the point where adversity strengthens us, because we have lost the sense of solidarity with each other and those in power have replaced the inner demands with rules and regulations. We have lost trust among ourselves. Instead of facing our challenges together and saying how can we solve this together, we have handed over our collective power to various groups.

This is why I want to propose an open forum where anybody can present anything, not as a judgment or complaint, but as a question about something that is happening. Is this in the spirit of Auroville or not? If not, what can we do about it? For me, this is the only way to find a truer answer.

We are coming from so many different backgrounds that we are bound to have misunderstandings and not know what is to be done. However, there is something like a living truth that is valid for everybody, but to reach it we have to be able to present our questions as impersonally and as quietly as possible.

This is our work in Auroville, to change our nature collectively, and this forum would be a place where we can share, where we can contribute to a change. And the advantage of being together collectively like this is it can help us widen so that we can progress faster.

I think such a forum would appeal to everyone because it is not another working group but simply a place to offer ourselves collectively for the adventure of becoming something else.