Sri Aurobindo

Auroville exists in more than one dimension – there is the occult as well as the material dimension – which makes it difficult to assess what really is most important or influential in terms of the community’s development.

Nishtha (Siegfried) Mueller is a long-term Aurovilian, Sanskrit teacher, Veda researcher, and passionate life-long learner. For more than forty years he has devoted himself to Sri Aurobindo’s The Secret of the Veda and Hymns to the Mystic Fire, to the study and restoration of some of the ancient hymns and to sharing a living approach to Sanskrit with spiritual seekers.

In 2018, Amrit published ‘Children of Change’, a memoir recounting his early life and the difficult years in Auroville when he and others chose not to take sides in the bitter conflict between the Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS) and the then-dominant Auroville collective.

Sri Aurobindo was born on 15 August, 1872. Auroville Today has often published something related to Sri Aurobindo in this, his birth month, and this year we feature an article on his epic poem, Savitri, by Richard Hartz.

Once upon a time a very long time ago, deep in the woods at the bottom of a mountain — Mother’s Mountain, mata-giri—a six-page newsletter called Collaboration came into being.

In the recent ruling of the Supreme Court of India, the learned judge, regarding the need for Auroville’s development vis-à-vis environmental protection, stated that “…while the right to a clean environment is a guaranteed fundamental right under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, the right to development through industrialization equally claims priority under fundamental rights particularly under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

A year ago, architect David Nightingale talked about how Spiral Dynamics could provide one way of understanding the present situation in Auroville.

Friederike Mühlhans has a long experience of working for Auroville International (AVI). Since 1997 she has been a board member of AVI Germany and since 2003 she has been Secretary of the AVI Board, with a four-year break when she served as Chairperson.

Born in Paris, Nathalie grew up surrounded by the evocative scents of her grandfather’s painting studio. At the age of seven, her life took a profound turn when her family moved to India, eventually settling in Auroville.

From July 24th till August 18th, Savitri Bhavan hosted the exhibition ‘Darshan Messages’. It not only showcased the original cards from 1953 onwards, but also the evolution of the tradition of Darshan card gifting which has been stopped since January 2023.

Christian Feuillette has been Chairman of the Board of Auroville International (AVI) for the past four years, some of which were possibly the most challenging in AVI’s, as well as Auroville’s, history.

At present, many people are trying to make sense of what is happening in Auroville. The writings of Sri Aurobindo and Mother are an obvious aid to understanding, but Spiral Dynamics may also provide a useful lens through which to view the current situation and possible next steps.

It takes a brave individual to write a biography of Sri Aurobindo. This is because Sri Aurobindo himself doubted the value of such an attempt – “Why write my biography at all?

Maurice Shukla grew up as a child in the Mother's School and now helps wherever he can be useful at the Ashram: translating, editing, teaching and, evidently, forever learning.

Dr Mohanty is former Professor and Head of the Department of English, University of Hyderabad. Winner of many national and international awards, he has published extensively in the field of British, American, gender, translation, and post-colonial studies.

Dr. Debashish Banerji is the Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures and the Doshi Professor of Asian Art at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, where he also chairs the Department of East-West Psychology.

Last year Prisma released a second edition of their 2015 compilation on the theme of death. As its title indicates this includes the ‘death of death’, exploring Sri Aurobindo’s passing and his journey into the unconscious and Mother’s grappling with the transformation of death.

In April word spread that Frederick was seeking personal testimonies of what drew us to and kept us living in Auroville. He wrote, “In Delhi a senior friend and supporter of Auroville asked me: ‘What brought you to India 60 years ago?’

On January 4th, 2022, during a Dreamweaving session, there was a presentation on the concept of Vaastu Shilpa Shastra. Auroville architect Mona Doctor-Pingel introduced the concept by explaining that Vaastu Shilpa Shastra is commonly translated as the ‘Science of Building’, and is a component of the traditional, collective and evolutionary knowledge systems of India.

On the occasion of Sri Aurobindo’s 150th anniversary, the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research (SACAR) in Pondicherry received a grant of Rs.12 lakhs (approx.

On November 3rd, Dr. Ananda Reddy released his new book Sri Aurobindo: The Grand Synthesis at a function in Unity Pavilion in the presence of the Vice Chancellor of the Pondicherry University Prof.

Jyoti Khare recently opened an exhibition at the Unity Pavilion, consisting of twelve paintings inspired by twelve poems by Sri Aurobindo.

Paulette has published an interesting new compilation in celebration of Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary. ‘Crossroad: A New Humanity’ contains extracts from “The Human Cycle”, “The Ideal of Human Unity” and “War and Self Determination”.

On the occasion of Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary, Penguin India has published Reading Sri Aurobindo, a book that introduces in 31 chapters each of the works of Sri Aurobindo through the words of 21 contributors.

To celebrate Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary, Savitri Bhavan hosted “Blessings”, an exhibition of the photographs of Sri Aurobindo made by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Shraddhavan, the executive of Savitri Bhavan, left her body on July 19th, 2022, aged 80 years.

Deepti Tewari joined Auroville 47 years ago and teaches at Last School. She is editor of the Bharat Nivas Journal. Earlier she had edited the Matrimandir Journal.

Pushkar studied at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education (Pondicherry), where he started studying music. He furthered his musical studies in Spain and at Oberlin College (USA).

On February 19th, a remarkable performance took place at the Sri Aurobindo Auditorium of Bharat Nivas. Inspired by the poem ‘Is this the end?’

“This book is offered as an explorer’s source book in the mapping of various psychological problems inherent in the practice of Sri Aurobindo’s integral sadhana,” is how Dr.

On October this year, the Ministry of Education of the Government of India appointed Auroville’s new Governing Board and new International Advisory Council.

Two of the most important, and opposing, trends in the modern world are internationalism and chauvinism, or narrow parochialism. Proponents of internationalism, of a world where countries are no longer divided by narrow nationalisms, often point to the European Union as a promising supra-national experiment.

The small amphitheatre in the Matrimandir Gardens was once again the site of a dramatic exploration of a spiritual search. A few years ago Aryamani staged excerpts from Sri Aurobindo’s Debate of Love and Death, from Book Ten of his epic Savitri.

“Sri Aurobindo announced that mankind will enter the subjective age, that a new civilisation is going to come where the primary thrust will be inwards,” says Shraddhavan.

Recently, Suryamayi Clarence-Smith, who was born and brought up in Auroville, completed a Ph.D in International Development in the University of Sussex, the world-ranking institution in the field.

Alokananda Roy is a Calcutta-based dancer and educationist who gave a dance performance in Auroville called ‘Envisioning Our Mother: Sri Aurobindo’ in October.

Debashish Banerji is Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophy and Culture and Doshi Professor of Asian Art at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).

Many years ago, Aryamani decided to translate The Life Divine into Portuguese. “Initially, I was doing it for myself. Translating was a way for me to enter into this difficult and complex work.

The Journey of Auroville festival, a project under the special grants from the Government of India for Auroville’s 50th anniversary, was most recently held in Kolkata (earlier called Calcutta) from 28 to 31 January 2019.

The Government of India recently appointed Dr K. Parameswaran, Associate Professor of Law and Dean of External & Alumni Relations of the Gujarat National Law University in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, as Member of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation.

In a quiet back street of Edayanchavadi village there is a neat house. Beside it is a beautiful garden of plants and creepers with a magnificent statue of Ganesh.

The Journey of Auroville is a project under the special grants from the Government of India for Auroville’s 50th anniversary. Officially started with the Auroville Expo in Delhi, which took place in November 2017 and comprised an exhibition and two conferences at the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts and the UNESCO Office, this 50th anniversary commemorative project has evolved into a festival format to reflect the many facets of Auroville’s vision and realities over the past fifty years.

In September 2017, the Chinese Ambassador to India Mr. Luo Zhaohui visited Auroville and the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Addressing a gathering at the 68th anniversary celebrations of the People’s Republic of China at New Delhi soon after his visits, Ambassador Zhaohui remembered Hu Hsu.

It was 1985, and I had gone with my mother to seek admission in the Ashram school. Parudi, the Registrar, looked at me and said, “Mother had said that after the age of 14 we do not admit students because their mental formations are already made.”

Interestingly, when the French soldiers of the “Garde Républicaine” carried away the coffin bearing the mortal remains of Mrs. Simone Veil, the Holocaust survivor, they chanted a German song: Das Lied der Moorsoldaten.

Dr. Anirban Ganguly is director of the Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation in New Delhi. He is a member of the Central Advisory Board of Education and also a member of the Policy Research Department and co-convener of the Library & Documentation Department of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

It is this ‘decisive action direct from the Supreme’ and it alone that makes possible what used to be impossible. It is by tuning to this new and higher consciousness which has descended that the Aurovilians were able to be Mother’s instruments – and will continue to be her willing servitors.

Luc Venet has written a new biography of Sri Aurobindo’s life between 1893-1910.

What comparisons can be made between the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and those of European thinkers? Was Sri Aurobindo influenced by the philosophy of some Europeans?

Johannes Hohlenberg had important contacts with both The Mother and Sri Aurobindo in the early years of the century, and was the first writer to introduce the Integral Yoga to Europe.

On the evening of 29th February, Deepti Tiwari gave a much appreciated talk, the fourth and last in a series, organised by Cinema Paradiso, on the theme of consciousness which have been given by different Aurovilians.

Tapas Bhatt has long been associated with supporting the arts in Auroville and, in particular, with connecting Auroville to the world and the world to Auroville through the arts.

“I have tried to explain the meaning of some words and phrases and images that might be difficult to understand … to assist those who aspire to take some first steps towards experiencing the inexhaustible magic and richness and power of Sri Aurobindo’s incomparable poetry”, writes Shraddhavan in The English of Savitri.

One of the greatest challenges of our times is how to view and to handle diversity, religious, cultural, gender, or whatever. Are our differences a potential source of conflict or of strength?

On 17th December, Prema (Adelina Intanno) passed away. She was 68 years old and had been fighting a terminal ailment for two years. Prema, who was born in Argentina, came to Auroville in 1979.

The Teamwork ’88 (or Peace Trees) programme of exchange between youth from Russia, America and India, which was announced in Auroville Today number two, has happened and was a success.

After months of speculation and incertitude, the Auroville Foundation Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament in early September. There is no doubt of the historic importance of this bill in terms of Auroville’s growth.