Integral Yoga

“What to make of French writers, who, to stay on the right side of the occupation authorities, decide to write about anything but the one thing all French people are thinking about, or worse still, who, out of cowardice, bolster the occupants’ plan to make it appear as though everything in France continues as it did before?”

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.

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.

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

Walter was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on 7 December 1950. His childhood and youth were difficult but he felt there was always a protecting hand over him.

On Saturday, 8 March, It Matters hosted a book launch event. B (Bill Sullivan) was launching his book Being which, he explained, is to prepare young children for modern life: “The new ones who are coming now really need to get the best start because the world is in crisis.

Aurodeva is an artist and art therapist born and raised in Auroville whose work displays a rich blend of creativity, introspection, and connection to his roots.

I stopped advertising and promoting the teaching of yoga a long time ago. It’s kind of a bitter irony, truly. Knowing something to be so precious, wonderful, excellent and full of meaning, yet extolling an impossible cost.

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.

Dr Bérengère, or Dr Be as she is known in Auroville, holds a French MBA in International Business. She then studied Ayurveda at the Gujarat Ayurved University in Jamnagar, India.

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.

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.

Death is a topical theme in Auroville this year, reflected in the numbers of those who have left their bodies in recent months. Mauna, who has for years compiled our community’s obituaries, has pointed out that half way through 2023, we have already recorded as many deaths (16) as were recorded in each of the two preceding years (17 Aurovilian deaths in 2022 and 15 deaths in 2021).

On June 24th, Mallika left her body at the age of 86. Mallika (Claude Leandre) was born in French Guyana in 1936. She grew up in France, living and working there until a chance viewing of a television program featuring Auroville called her to come and join in the “adventure of consciousness”.

In Future School, students can choose to follow an elective course in which the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother as well as the ideology of Auroville are discussed in an informal manner.

Spirituality is a very perilous word because its meaning can be adapted to whatever you feel like at any given moment. It is the magic hat of consciousness.

Since joining Auroville in 2016, Anandi Zhang has taken up various work in the community. But she feels the most important work is that which she is dong upon herself.

Dear Aurovilians, I was particularly happy to read the cover article by Guy Ryckaert in the February edition of Auroville Today in which he has stressed the fact that the Mother looked upon Auroville as the spiritual workshop for the development of overmenhood.

It took Paulette Hadnagy twelve years to compile the material for this book from The Mother’s writings, she writes in her book announcement.

I’m not a big fan of ‘How to’ books. I find they either talk down to me, oversimplifying to the point of absurdity, or, conversely, they assume such a high degree of knowledge that I am floundering after the first few pages (I’m particularly thinking of computer manuals here).

A few weeks before her 100th birthday, Luise Hansen left her body on April 21st in Kobe, Japan. Luise, originally from Linz, Austria, had come to Pondicherry in the late sixties and had some personal darshans with The Mother.

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.

David Hutchinson has been deeply involved with the Integral Yoga for 35 years. He has been a member of the Sri Aurobindo Association in the U.S., co-editor of the magazine Collaboration, organizer of AUM conferences, and moderator of several online lists on yoga.

On August 15th, the new Auroville website was launched. It was the result of almost two and a half years of work. Manoj, who leads the technical team, first became involved with the Auroville website in 1998.

Roger Toll left Auroville in 1979 after eight years of living at Matrimandir and Certitude. Today he is a magazine editor and writer living in the United States.