Dreamweaving

“In this as in all great human aspirations and endeavours, an a priori declaration of impossibility is a sign of ignorance and weakness. For by the doing the difficulty will be solved.”

In February, the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture hosted a double exhibition: Bhavyo’s paintings of the icy peaks of the Himalayan Tosh valley were displayed in its main room, while a number of urban design studies of his twin sister Bhavya were hung around the courtyard.

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.

In August last year, Omar, Mona and David made a presentation to the community about the next steps they envisaged after the Dreamweaving on the Crown experiment [see AV Today no.

This statement, issues on 4th January 2024, is issued in response to the indiscriminate feeling of numerous trees apparently for road construction, currently taking place in Auroville.

Induja, a young Auroville architect, talks about how she came to Auroville, the work which inspires her and her hopes for the future.

In the General Meeting of 1st April, the Dreamweaving Core Team (David, Mona and Omar) committed themselves to making further proposals to the community.

Residents are invited to participate in a self-education programme designed to improve the community’s understanding of planning issues. This is part of a new initiative launched by the Dreamweaving core team (see page 6).

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.

The RA TDC is moving forward with setting up a participatory planning process which is open for all to contribute to; the only rule of the game is for each to bring their goodwill, expertise and diversity into a shared approach and be ready to meet respectfully on middle ground.

The planet desperately needs a collective second-tier solution, and Auroville could provide this. It’s a fascinating time. We are facing a very serious, even existential, threat at the moment, and the outcome is uncertain.

Since the final report of the Dreamweaving process was sent to all the participants and made available via Auronet, we have since published only one brief note in News & Notes (# 924 on May 28th, 2022) to update Aurovilians in regards to developments on our side.

The minutes of the 58th meeting of the Governing Board held on January 18th were shared with the community. Amongst other things, the Board decided to establish an Organisation and Governance Committee to look into the organisation, governance and related matters of Auroville.

Narratives are very powerful in both positive and negative ways. They can make us resolute, like “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”, or they can be destructive when misapplied, like the Biblical narrative that tells us God gave mankind ‘dominion’ over the Earth.

On 31st December, the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, Dr. Jayanti Ravi, invited the community to meet with her the next day when she would answer questions.

What Aurovilians are asking for is a town planning process that upholds and reflects the ideals of ‘the city the earth needs’.

Since the shock of the destruction of the buildings and forest clearance, the Youth Center (YC) has been receiving support and appreciation from the community.

Since our last issue, which focused upon the controversy over the manifestation of the Crown, there have been significant developments and activities regarding this topic.

In early January, the team supervising the process announced that a final design had been decided upon for the Garden of the Unexpected at Matrimandir (see AVToday November, 2018).

Alain Bernard, a trustee of Auroville Village Action, introduces the Sustainable Livelihood Institute (SLI) project, a joint project of Auroville and the Government of Tamil Nadu.