Finding oneself: the Swadharma programme

Auroville Today: What is the meaning of ‘swadharma’?

Manoj: Swadharma is one’s unique trajectory in life. It is acting in accordance with one’s own deepest nature.

Is the Swadharma programme different from other outreach education programmes offered by Auroville?

Lalit: Most courses have been using Auroville to enhance the experience of the participants, but they have not tapped into the core element of Auroville, which is human unity based upon self-discovery, or the discovery of one’s swadharma. The Swadharma programme tries to do this.

Manoj: Another big difference is that programmes like Living Routes [run in Auroville for American university students by an organization in the USA, eds.] were coming from a sustainability angle, and explorations into body, mind and soul were subsidiary. We reverse this emphasis. We put the individual’s awakened aspiration at the centre.

Mike: We felt it important that Auroville has its own set of programmes, so three years ago we began looking into what we can offer in this respect. This programme is an outcome.

Do you feel you have developed approaches that are particularly ‘Aurovilian’?

Manoj: We did not use a single textbook. The unique energy field of Auroville was the most important factor in this programme. There are so many people in Auroville who are on a journey of self-discovery and living the experience that all we had to do was bring the students into touch with them for something to be awakened in them.

That awakening is the first essential process. To stimulate this, we took them around Auroville to meet inspiring people doing wonderful things. The outward movement was balanced by giving them inward exercises to recognise personal moments of inspiration.

The next step was to help them understand mentally what was happening and to give it some direction. At this point, we helped them meet Aurovilians in similar fields to allow them to dive deeper into their field of interest. Finally, we asked them to take up and complete a micro-project based upon this new understanding of themselves.

Auroville became the fertile soil upon which we could design this programme because there is so much diversity and creativity here, and people are willing to share about who they are and what they have achieved. This would not happen on a normal campus.

Originally, the Swadharma programme was to last 14 weeks. You reduced it to four. Why? Do you feel you lost anything important in the process?

Manoj: There are two aspects to the Swadharma course. One is the discovering, the self-knowledge part, the other is the doing part. When we scaled down the programme, the first part was retained but the practical part was much reduced. Instead, we offered the students the option of staying on in Auroville to do internships in various activities. In fact, of the eleven participants who took the core course, seven have signed up for longer or shorter internships.

What worked, what didn’t work?

Sophie: Many participants said that before joining this course they had inner questions that nobody could answer. They felt very isolated. But as soon as they arrived here, they bonded as if they had known each other for a long time. This happened because they were on the same quest. Then, you could see from one week to the next that they were transforming. By the end of the month, a number of them said they had found what they were looking for; that they had some clarity about what they wanted to do and the confidence to do it. This was very moving.

Lalit: Auroville was the platform; we did not do anything, we were just hand-holders. To be part of the energy field of Auroville and to witness its action and effect upon the participants was a very beautiful experience. What I regret is not being able to sit together with everybody individually. I think one-to-one interactions would have brought something deeper, but the schedule did not allow it.

Min: What worked well for me was how the programme was structured in the first week. To be able to equip the students with the right lens so they could see the beauty of Auroville rather than the negativity was very important. Everywhere they went they said, ‘This is amazing. This is where I can give myself.’ So the intention of giving was very much developed through this first week of orientation.

What did not work for me was all the effort that went into organising the logistics.

Mike: What made designing the programme challenging is that we did not know beforehand where their individual journeys would take the participants. So after the first week, all their interviews and interactions with Aurovilians had to be organized as we went along.

Manoj: But in the process we learned about the sheer diversity of Auroville. We managed to find Aurovilians with expertise in the field of whichever topics the participants were interested in – which were quite diverse!

From their presentations at the end of the four weeks, it is obvious that something profound has been awakened in many of the participants. Are you confident that this awakening will be strong enough to sustain them when they go back? Or are you thinking of providing ongoing support for them?

Manoj: They are aware that it is better to stay in Auroville for a longer period to strengthen this awakening before they return to their usual environment. This is why many of them are staying on to do internships.

Min: As more students come through this programme, it will be more challenging to keep in touch. So we need to create a forum, perhaps on our website, where individuals can share their journey, ask questions, and where peer-to-peer learning can take place.

Anita: We told this group we will be following the next three years of their journey and they welcomed this: they wanted to stay in touch.

You are already thinking about the next Swadharma programme. Are you planning any changes?

Mike: We are planning to add one week to the core programme as some of the participants found the first week too packed, overwhelming, and there wasn’t enough time at the end to do their final projects.

Lalit: At the same time, the intensity is also important – they were engaged almost 12 hours a day – for something else to emerge, so we don’t want to lose that completely.

Mike: Somewhere on the horizon is the question; is what we are doing scalable? Clearly, the people interested in a programme like this are far more numerous than we can handle: we already have eighty applicants for our next programme. It is a highly individual journey, so we feel that twenty is probably the maximum number we can work with at one time.

Have you thought about running a course like this for Aurovilians?

Anita: We wanted to involve Auroville youth and it was offered to them. One of them was interested but then he left.

Manoj: The design of the present course is not suitable for Auroville youth. It has to be custom-made for their requirements. But it is definitely something we are thinking about.

What was the impact of the course upon the Aurovilians involved?

Mike: It definitely had an impact upon them. Simply by interacting with these young seekers who are trying to find their place in the world I think a number of Aurovilians saw how privileged they are to be able to live here and do what they are doing. I also think it may have reminded them of their quest when they came to Auroville. In this sense, perhaps the contact with these young people revived, rekindled, something in them.

Lalit: The Aurovilians we met are very positive about this course. They can relate much more to a programme like this than many other programmes offered here as they could see it was helping people to grow from inside. There was a natural connectivity to the participants at that level.

Manoj: It was like discovering new members of your tribe!

What about the effect upon you of being involved in this course?

Lalit: This programme is also building us. It was very inspiring to be with these young people and to be able to deliver a programme like this in a collective spirit.

Manoj: It was like experiencing Auroville’s own swadharma: I feel like I touched upon something of the authentic Auroville.

Mike: Very inspiring, it has added to my own swadharma.

Min: I discovered once again that when you are in that space of seeking, then magic can happen. We could observe that happening in them. This is a lesson for myself, to keep myself open to new ideas. It was also an amazing experience to encounter the diversity of skills and swadharmas of the Aurovilians themselves.

Anita: For me, the learning has been on two levels. Firstly, I have learned a lot through being part of the organizing team. All six of us work in different ways, so just the fact that together we were able to make it happen is amazing.

The other learning related to the participants. When I was their age, I was also lost and looking for something different: there was something missing in my life. There are so many youth in India struggling like this, and to be able to provide a platform for people like this, to see them learning about themselves and coming together as a group, was a beautiful experience. It has really rejuvenated and revived something in me.

Manoj: In terms of vision, I see Auroville as a Nalanda of the future (Nalanda was a great Buddhist centre of learning of the past, drawing students and teachers from all over Asia eds.). It would not be a conventional university because the core would be a transformational experience and you would be learning in the midst of life. So perhaps what we are planting with this course is a seed for such a future centre of learning.

Aishwarya: I thought I had my whole life planned out to be a movement therapist. However, in the second year of college I found I could not stick to one thing, I became very confused and finally decided to take a gap year. This is when I discovered this programme.

During my first week here, I was in awe of this place. I felt so at home and at peace with myself. Then, during the ikigai exercise, I found that my core value is to continually learn and to grow.

As part of my micro-project, I decided to curate an art exhibition at Mitra hostel. A lot of things went wrong, but I learned a lot. What I’ve taken from this experience is a new sense of belief in myself, in my ability to do anything I set my mind to without getting afraid. Now the idea of planning out my life has disappeared and I am open to wherever my search takes me.

Ankarjyot: I graduated in interior design but at present I am looking after my ancestral farm. Before I came here, I was seeking clarity and direction.

Auroville has been a very enabling environment for me. All of the insights came from meeting different Aurovilians and being in beautiful environments, like the Botanical Gardens. Although I come from a farming background, I knew little about sustainability. I really began to understand it here and I realise I must shift towards a more responsible way of farming.

Since coming here, I have also discovered how important it is to strengthen the bond between my inner and outer self. I have had trouble finding rhythm in my life. Now I have learned that when the bond with my inner self is strengthened, my outer life automatically finds its rhythm.