Consciousness

Mother once described Auroville as a “centre of accelerated evolution”. (“Auroville is the place where this new way of living is being worked out; it is a centre of accelerated evolution where man must begin to change his world through the power of the inner spirit.”)

Societies are very complex organisms. Authorities in totalitarian societies attempt to diminish the complexity – which they see as a threat to asserting their will – by rigidly controlling the population through indoctrination and various instruments of coercion.

To: Shri R.N. Ravi, Chairman, Governing Board, Auroville Foundation. Subject: The MoU with IIT Madras & Land Use Concerns Dear Shri R.N. Ravi ji,

Consciousness-Based Psychology: Sri Aurobindo’s Vision of Yoga, Health and Transpersonal Growth presents a pioneering framework for psychology and psychiatry rooted in the spiritual philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.

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.

Some time ago, Suryamayi Clarence-Smith wrote a doctoral thesis entitled Towards a Spiritualised Society: Auroville, An Experiment in Prefigurative Utopianism.

In honour of the 150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo, the Science and Spirituality conference took place in the Unity Pavilion between 13-15th February.

Today, more than ever, we need to trust that that Force is active here, and that we can contact it. For it means that what is happening now has a purpose, and those who are here now are meant to be here; that for the moment we are the perfect ingredients for something that needs to be worked out through the ‘pressure of consciousness’ which is exerted upon all of us.

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.

One of the biggest mysteries, for me, has been the process of change itself. The transformation of one thing into another has fascinated me since a very young age.

Everyone here knows the expression “Children of Auroville”, but they’ve grown up since, and some now have children themselves! As various waves of ‘children of Children of Auroville’ – i.e. youth that has grown up in Auroville to parents that have themselves grown up in Auroville (monikers: GenZ, iGen or even Zoomers) are born and grow up here, the older ones now represent a category that is starting to be more vocal in the community.

On 20th January, the eminent quantum physicist, Dr. Goswami, made a presentation of his work at a packed Unity Pavilion. Dr. Goswami is a pioneer of the new paradigm of science called “science within consciousness,” which demonstrates how science and spirituality can be integrated.

Recently, the Youth Center has been holding ‘conscious learning nights’. In mid December, they invited Aurovik (Vikram Mani) to share his experience of living in Auroville for the past 15 years.

Ten years of creating art from premium waste.

I moved to Auroville in January 2018, and as a Newcomer I must admit I am still adapting to this very special place. While exploring different working places and activities, and trying to create a more conscious lifestyle, I find myself getting rid of many old conditionings in the way I used to conceive of work as the main activity and outer goal of my life.

Aloka and Joan talk about their approach to awareness in the body and how they have initiated a much appreciated programme to develop this in children and adults.

Fabrice Dini’s new book, translated from the French by Aurovilian Divya Lieser, is a practical guide for teachers and parents. As Dini’s background and experience are in mindfulness practice, much of the book is built around that theme

The three Evolution Fast-Forward videos are now all freely available for streaming in their entirety online. You find them on www.sopanam.org, along with some other treasures.

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.

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.

Tom worked for many years in Auroville Water Service and later set up Harvest, an Auroville data collection and water management organization that did much work in the bioregion.

Restorative Circles, a system of conflict resolution which is based on the principles of Nonviolent Communication, is proposed to become part of Auroville’s Conflict Resolution Policy.

Temperate July evenings are usually the perfect setting for outdoor functions in and around Auroville. But when the skies open and wash out a performance and its audience of 125 people, it says much about an organisation’s professionalism that it can bundle the audience, projector and sound system into the nearby building, and have the show up and running again in a mere five minutes.