Auroville, cradle of the superman or city in conformity?

Nothing happens by chance and we are therefore entitled to wonder what is the meaning of the crisis which has been shaking Auroville for some time. 

We are told that there is widespread corruption here and that, in particular, the funds received from the Central Government are not used according to the rules, resulting in waste or even worse, misappropriation and embezzlement. The administrative authorities of the Auroville Foundation have published a note which denies most of the allegations, but that is not enough for those in Auroville who have been waging a strident campaign for months on the basis of these accusations. Those Aurovilians insist that Auroville is not entitled to any exemption and must apply scrupulously each and every rule and regulation like any other department of the Indian Government. The concept of the ideal city of Mother, so essential for us to gradually find the way towards the real Auroville, should be buried under the usual mass of bureaucratic prescriptions which, we know, tend to stifle innovations and experiments.

So perhaps the deeper meaning of the crisis we are experiencing is to make us look at our own bureaucratic excesses in recent years.

Bureaucracy abounds

Auroville today is perceived as a very bureaucratic organization by a large majority of Aurovilians. For those who knew the early Auroville, the contrast is striking. In the first years, a great deal of informality reigned in Auroville’s life, much to the dismay of certain bureaucrats of the Sri Aurobindo Society in Pondicherry (SAS), who tried hard to put some order into the functioning of this nascent community of rather anarchic tendencies. As we know, after Mother’s departure in November 1973, relations with the SAS deteriorated, leading to a de facto separation from 1976. There were years  of conflict until an Auroville Emergency Provisions Act for taking temporary control of Auroville was promulgated by the Indian Government in November 1980, followed by the passing  of the Auroville Foundation Act on September 5, 1988.

Many Aurovilians, initially satisfied with the eviction of the SAS, soon began to fear government control over Auroville’s life. They thought it necessary to create an internal organization parallel to that established by the Foundation. Hence they created the Auroville Council for internal affairs as a counterpart to the Working Committee for external affairs. Gradually a parallel administration was set up, with departments and working groups whose role and functioning were defined by increasingly detailed “mandates”. Moreover, these mandates, the text of which became more complex and longer as time went by, were regularly reviewed and then had to be approved and re-approved through the Residents’ Assembly process. (In this process, a simple approach was missed out, e.g. to express a vision about the mission of each group in a few lines, collectively “meditated” as it were, and on the spirit necessary for the work to be carried out in the service of Auroville.)

If you have the impression that there is something absurd or bizarre about this, or, let’s say, a little out of place in Auroville, you are probably not wrong. A remark by one of the recent Secretaries of the Foundation, a high official appointed by the government, comes to my mind: “The Auroville bureaucracy is even worse than the Indian bureaucracy,” he famously declared one day. Quite a few Aurovilians share this point of view.

The necessity of Rules

Of course, for the smooth functioning of any community, there must be some rules of the game. But Mother had warned us. On December 30, 1967, in reference to the future organization of Auroville, she said:

No rules or laws are being framed. Things will get formulated as the underlying truth of the township emerges and takes shape progressively. We do not anticipate. What I mean to say is that usually, always until now, and more and more, men establish mental rules according to their conceptions and ideals, and then they apply them (Mother brings down her fist to show the world in the grip of mind), and that is absolutely false, it is arbitrary, unreal, and the result is that things revolt or wither or disappear ... it is the experience of LIFE ITSELF that should slowly work out rules AS SUPPLE and AS WIDE as possible, in such a way as to be always progressive. Nothing should be fixed. 

I am afraid that we have not been very successful in avoiding the mistakes She speaks about. There is, for example, a general rule in Auroville that business units must donate at least a third of their profits to the common pot. In practice, we find that many units give more, sometimes even much more. This is comforting and should reassure us. But there are also cases where it is suspected that profits are less than what they should be as a result of excessive and unjustifiable personal spending. Those in charge of regulating the system are therefore tempted to add new rules to control these abuses. Hence they recently concocted a detailed “Code of Conduct” to be followed by all units, including by those who are generous and who really do not need this bureaucratic memento (and who may even feel offended by this manifestation of distrust). 

Experience tends to show that this kind of regulation often has no effect on the persons for whom it was intended; indeed they will likely persist in their supposed abuses, while everybody else has been saddled with a heavy piece of bureaucracy. Recently, a unit which, one a rare occasion, had made a profit but asked for a justified partial exemption, was told that to obtain it they had to apply for an exemption  according to “appendix 2, para 3 of the Code of Conduct”. Are we in Auroville?

In truth, Auroville can only work well with trust. However, this is the major difficulty we face: the present “official” organization of Auroville is viewed by many as not trustworthy as it is excessively bureaucratic. 

It is important to add, however, that there is a good level of trust between many Aurovilians who know each other and work together; and this gives great vitality to the informal cooperation in Auroville’s life. This is why, I think, most of the young people who come to Auroville and, in particular, the volunteers, generally have a positive view of Auroville, despite being aware of all the difficulties.  Moreover, consciously or not feel they must feel the exceptional field of force that Mother has created on this land, further amplified by the massive presence of the Matrimandir.

Breaking the deadlock

So what can we do to break this deadlock? Firstly, we should realise that Auroville was not created to “conform” to any existing model.

Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realizations.

Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual research for a living embodiment of an actual human unity. 

What impetus, what audacity there is in this Auroville Charter, the inspiration for which came “from somewhere up there”, according to Mother’s own words.

It is not me who wrote all that ... I noticed something so interesting: when it comes, it’s imperative. There is no arguing; I write it, I am OBLIGED to write it regardless of what I am doing. And then, when it’s not there, it’s not there! Even if I try to remember, there’s nothing, it’s not there! ... Consequently, it’s obvious that it doesn’t come from here: it comes from somewhere up there .(Mother’s Agenda, February 7, 1968)

A programme like the one of Auroville cannot be carried out within the narrow limits of a ministerial department. There must be space, exceptions, and creative adjustments must be possible, all the while keeping within legality, of course. The surprising truth is that in India anything is possible because Indian people – and this applies equally to bureaucrats – are mostly spontaneously sensitive to spirituality and easily touched by sincerity. 

I remember asking a very high-ranking official in charge of all the government accounting control, of his impression after his first visit to Auroville: “What divine work! “ he exclaimed. 

I also remember that Kireet Joshi often complained that Aurovilians tended to accept government regulations rather than making the effort to imagine, propose, and work to obtain solutions more consistent with the innovative spirit of Auroville.

A very significant anecdote comes to my mind. In 1984 or 1985, I went to New Delhi with the plans for the future Transition School educational site for which we had received or were going to receive a large subsidy. Kireet, who was then in charge of Auroville’s government file and at the same time was Secretary of the department of higher education granting the subsidy, admired the plans of Piero and Gloria but thought that the bureaucrats in the Public Works Department would never accept such original architecture. What to do? Kireet was someone who always put everything in front of Mother and I think he must have prayed. The inspiration then came to him to go and see the Chief Architect of the government. Without losing a moment, we went to his office. When we arrived, he was not there so we waited for him. I remember the Chief Architect, Mr. Laroya’s, incredulous surprise when he found a very high-ranking official – far above his level – waiting for him. 

Mr. Laroya was clearly won over to the plans but told us that his department would never approve them as they did not accord with the norms. I remember the half-dubious, half-happy air he had when suddenly he said, “But what if I signed the plans directly? After all, I’m the Chief Architect. Who’s going to question this?” And then he stamped all the plans with his signature. 

Thanks to this, for several years all the plans of the SAIIER buildings were approved in this way. All those papers were later checked by the government’s agency in charge of controlling accounts and they did not object, nor did the CBI on a subsequent inspection of SAIIER’s files. 

In other words, in India, everything is possible, and that is why Auroville could only happen and develop in India.

Towards simplicity

Transforming the present administrative drift of Auroville is a very difficult undertaking. It will take a strong awakening to generate a movement towards simplicity and clarity. And then, perhaps, begin to implement the recommendations of Mother who suggested an “intuitive” government:

If there is no representative of the supreme Consciousness (that can happen, can’t it?), if there is no one, then perhaps this could be replaced (it would be an experiment) by the government of a few – which should be decided between four and eight, something like that: four, seven or eight who have an INTUITIVE intelligence. “Intuitive” is more important than “intelligence”:  an intuition manifested intellectually. (Mother’s Agenda, April 10, 1968)

We have never even tried to figure out how to start implementing this suggestion from Mother. The most common comment is that there is no one in Auroville who meets these criteria. This is, of course, partly true, but doing nothing means we risk continuing to sink in the bureaucratic quagmire. Could we not start with the establishment of a reference group? Not a government, but a group of Aurovilians generally respected and recognized as rather intuitive, whose task would be to “meditate” together on a certain number of questions important for the future of Auroville, with the sole power to make suggestions or issue advice? It would be a first step on the way to another kind of governance..

The Auroville of the future – which is sure to come, it is Mother’s promise – will be gnostic. The beings who will be part of it will be in contact with their psychic being and the harmony of their relationships will be established spontaneously because they will be truly united in the Universal Consciousness. The problem of governance will be transformed because there will be spontaneous reference to the highest consciousness, which Mother tells us can only be authentic. This future is undoubtedly still very distant but it already exists somewhere in a future to be embodied. It’s a dream, no doubt. But the dreams of the Divine will come true and Auroville has the unique privilege of being one of those dreams.

(This is a slightly edited version of an article that first appeared in La Revue d’Auroville)