The Mother

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.

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.

Vijay (Vittorio Gresele) passed away on 30 August at his home in Baraka.

Bob Zwicker has worked in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives for 52 years, with particular responsibility for the Mother’s works. Recently, three new books have been published containing new material not published in the Centenary edition of The Mother’s Collected Works.

“I had been afraid of meeting her. It had taken me six long weeks to get to this point because I was afraid of her. In some of her photographs we see how formidable she can be.

Tucked away in a small room at the back of Auroville’s Vanaville unit is Michel’s bookbinding sanctuary — a quiet space where hundreds of worn books have been given a new lease on life.

On 17 April, long-term Aurovilian Frederick Schulze Buxloh was informed that his application for visa extension had been denied. The decision sparked widespread concern, leading to a petition addressed to Indian authorities that garnered over 4000 signatures.

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.

The seven volumes of The Mother’s Entretiens (Questions and Answers) are a treasure trove. They cover a wide range of topics in considerable depth, giving us a glimpse not only of Sri Aurobindo’s and The Mother’s vision of life and the future of humanity, but also providing many answers to questions on how to live one’s life and follow the spiritual path.

In 2016 a German forester, Peter Wohlleben, published a book which describes how trees exchange resources with each other through fungi on their roots.

A few weeks ago a new biography of The Mother was published. The Mother: A Life of Sri Aurobindo’s Spiritual Collaborator is written by Peter Heehs, a reputed historian who has been a researcher in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives for over 50 years, writing biographies of Sri Aurobindo and publishing papers on related topics.

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.

Michael Zelnick, originally from New York, joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1968 and later came to Auroville. Here he talks about his work as a homeopath.

The earliest mention of Auroville was in the monthly issue of the Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS) Information Letter of March 1965, where its General Secretary Navajata wrote: “You will be glad to know that the Mother has taken up the model township project.

BloomO! was launched during a warm and dynamically engaging event in Auroville as part of the Auroville week in February 2024, followed by a launch in Pondicherry.

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.

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?

This 280 page book is a tribute to Kireet Joshi composed by two of his close Auroville friends, Frederick Schulze Buxloh and Alain Bernard.

The 29th February, 2024 will be the 17th ‘Golden Day’. The first one was celebrated on 29th February, 1960. An English visitor, Dick Batstone, described how the dominant colour in the Ashram compound that day was gold: Mother was dressed in gold, she stood on a gold silk cloth, her balcony was hung with golden embroidered satin, and even the flowers in the courtyard were gold.

Having arrived in Auroville as a child with her parents in 1968, Marta provides a unique perspective as a member of the first generation of children within our community.

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. 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.

François Gautier came to India in 1969 at the age of 19, with the first Auroville caravan. Deeply impressed by Sri Aurobindo's writings, he chose to reside in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram for about seven years, after which he joined Auroville, where he has been living since.

Many people have met The Mother. Some were blessed by Her responding to their questions in writing. One of those is Frederick Schulze Buxloh, who first came to India in 1960 when he was 20 years old and then met The Mother for the first time.

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 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.

After completing his higher studies at Delhi University, Dr. Jai Singh joined Auroville in 1992. His wife and children joined a year later. Jai has been a member of the Auroville Council, and has also worked at SEWA, Village Action and New Creation School.

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

On April 14, Tamil New Year, a frantic voice message for help was heard by many in Auroville. A bulldozer was uprooting the living fence bordering Eternity, a densely forested Auroville community located between the beach and the East Coast Road near Kalapet.

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).

An interview with Joel Koechlin

As a therapist I know that one of the first steps to healing is to acknowledge trauma, whether individual or collective. This is an unusual article in that I invite the reader to hold and witness with compassion our inner and outer diversity as a community.

Kailas Jhavery passed away on May 10th, 2021 at the age of 94. Kailash had become a member of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1964, after studying and working for more than ten years in New York, USA.

Janet Fearn was one of the very first people to settle in Auroville. In 1997, along with her friend, Philip Melville, she decided to create a programme for Newcomers which would tell them about the early history of Auroville.

Fifty years ago the Mother described her visions of the Inner Chamber of the Matrimandir. A seed was planted, a Divine impetus was sent forth… The Lotus that is the Matrimandir would soon begin its slow emergence from the deep red earth of Auroville.

“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.

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

Francis was one of the first settlers on the Auroville plateau. Since then, he has been involved in many activities in the community.

The Dawn of Auroville, which is published by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, is a book of early photographs along with an outline history of Auroville’s conception, inauguration and growth during the Mother’s lifetime.

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 November this year, Aurovilian Dr. Mira Aster Patel, in recognition of “her invaluable contribution in developing Auroville”, was awarded the Auro Ratna award from the Overman Foundation in a ceremony in the Hall of Harmony of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

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.

Bob and Deborah Lawlor established Forecomers, the first community in Auroville, in 1968. They left in 1972, to work on the translation of a book on ancient Egypt, “The Temple of Man”.

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.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar has written and spoken to audiences the world over about Sri Aurobindo's writings and philosophy. She is the author of many articles and books on Sri Aurobindo and on Indian culture.

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.

Dominique Darr left her body on December 25th in her apartment in Citadine at the age of 84. The cause of death, most probably, was diabetic coma.

My mother, Jocelyn of Ravena, was an adventurer. After having me in Berlin, she travelled overland through Europe and Asia, baby in hand, until she reached Pondicherry.

I’ve been in Auroville since my marriage 26 years ago. I grew up in Chinnakottakuppam village on the backside of Forecomers, towards Pondicherry.

On September 8th, the Auroville community, in a public gathering at the Unity Pavilion, bade farewell to the members of the Governing Board whose term of office ends on October 28th.

Alain Bernard first came to Auroville in 1972. Since then, he has been involved in many key areas, including the economy, education, the Press and, most recently, Village Action and the Sustainable Livelihood Institute.

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.

Pashi Kapur came to live in Auroville with his family in early 1974. Since then, he has contributed a great deal but his Auroville journey has not always been smooth.

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.

“This evening the Divine Presence, concrete and material, was there present amongst you. I had a form of living gold, bigger than the universe, and I was facing a huge and massive golden door which separated the world from the Divine.

On The Mother’s Mahasamadhi day, November 17th, Zackaria Moursi released his new compilation Anthology from The Mother in Arabic “as a humble token of his infinite gratitude and perpetual adoration to The Mother.”

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first meeting of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother in 1914, the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER) has published its second compilation of remembrances of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.

The name of Dominique Darr is indissolubly connected to the early days of Auroville. Who in Auroville doesn’t know her photo of a lone granite stone with the letters AV painted on it, marking Auroville land?

On 23rd January, 2010, for the French Pavilion, Alain Bernard gave a talk on the background and passing of the Auroville Foundation Act. Here is an edited version of the translation of that talk.

Little is known about those early days before Auroville’s inauguration, when land purchase and the first Auroville developments were started by the Sri Aurobindo Society.

Records of Auroville’s history during Mother’s lifetime are found in periodicals (Mother India, the Bulletin of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, the Information Letter of the Sri Aurobindo Society and the Gazette Aurovilienne), in books published by disciples (Satprem, Shyam Sunder, Huta, Savitra), in archives (Sri Aurobindo Society, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville), in personal archives as well as in published and unpublished interviews of disciples (Roger Anger and others).

This design, incorporating Mother’s mantra, is by François Samson. François lived in Auroville between 1979 and 1986. He planted many trees and helped bring beauty to an eroded landscape.

One name keeps coming back over the years, in connection with the Galaxy: Roger Anger, the well-known French architect. Soon after leaving the Beaux Arts, he constructed some buildings which were architecturally remarkable and which immediately associated him with the avant-garde.

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.