Sri Aurobindo Ashram

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.

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.

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.

On 20 March, the Ministry of Education, responding to two Right to Information requests dated 25 and 26 February, sent the applicant a copy of the Minutes of the 68th Meeting of the Governing Board (GB) of the Auroville Foundation held on 5 December 2024, which have since been widely distributed in Auroville.

Shipra Di from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram passed away on 2 January at 2:35 pm in the Ashram Nursing Home. Born in 1935, she spent her early years in Delhi and Shimla.

Serena, an Aurovilian and filmmaker, recounts her journey with the nuns of the Buddhist Karsha Monastery in Ladakh, documenting their inspiring story and the powerful exchange that unfolded.

John Mandeen, who passed away recently, was one of the early Auroville Today photographers and designed the cover of its first compilation.

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.

Vedic astrology, called Jyotisha Shastra in Sanskrit, is the traditional Hindu system of astrology which has its roots in the Vedanga Jyotisha, one of the earliest texts about astronomy within the ancient Vedas.

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.

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.

“Midway in the course of our life I found myself within a dark wood, where the right way was lost.” First line of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

In the October 2023 issue of Auroville Today [#411] we highlighted the 901-page framework study ‘Governance in Auroville’ of Professor Raag Yadava and his associate Nidhi Harihar.

Pashi left his body on 20th October 2023 at the age of 91, after having dedicated his life to his most beloved idea and project of Auroville.

Mr. Srinivasmurty was a member of the Auroville Foundation administration for the last 28 years, serving many different Secretaries and fulfilling different roles.

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.

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?’

Recently, our Chairman is reported to have asked whether Auroville was not meant to take sanatana dharma to a higher level and create gnostic beings.

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 February 3rd, former Indian Independence fighter and Auroville’s oldest resident Mahalingam Sangukrishna left his body, at the age of 103.

Cristof Alward-Pitoëff, who met Mother in 1969, passed away in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram on 28 February. In the early years, Cristof stayed in Auroville for a short while after which he went to live in the Ashram for good and functioned as head of the French section of the Ashram Press, SAICE professor, translator and theatre director.

Robert (Bob) Lawlor passed away peacefully on 29 November in the hospital on King Island, Tasmania at the age of 84. After studying Art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., Bob discovered the Sri Aurobindo Ashram during his world travel in the 60s.

Mandakini Gupta, a former student of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education (Ashram school) in Puducherry, was a member of the Working Committee from December 2014 to December 2019 and has been active in the areas of Auroville’s internal conflict resolution and governance.

Richard Hartz works as a researcher in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives.

Amudha joined Auroville 43 years ago. She helped start the Kindergarten in 1984 and continues to teach there today. Along with her husband and two sons, she runs Kottakarai Farm and Ganesh Bakery.

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.

Covering about 25 acres in the northeast part of the Greenbelt, Aurogreen is one of Auroville’s oldest farms and was the first to go organic.

In the early morning of 15 December, Peggy, the mother of Jehangir and Rishad Rustomji, first generation of students of Auroville, passed away in her home in Kodaikanal.

In the last month, rumours have been circulating about a multiversity in which Auroville would play a central role. After much criticism that the Residents Assembly was not being consulted on such an important topic, on 9th November the Working Committee finally circulated version eight of a draft Sri Aurobindo International Multiversity Bill with a request for comments.

Partha was one of the first local youngsters to join Auroville. After teaching in Auroville’s schools, he’s now part of the Working Committee, and runs Neem Tree Café.

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.

The sixth annual edition of the Art for Land exhibition opened on 31st January at the Unity Pavilion. The entire month of 'art with heart' included concerts, performances, talks and other events such as the Generosity Fair.

The 6th annual edition of Art for Land opens on 31st January at the Unity Pavilion. We invite you to join us as we celebrate a month of ‘art with heart’ by very talented artists, musicians and performers from all over.

Kamla was born on 4th April 1927 in Jammu. From a young age, Kamla had made up her mind to study medicine, completing her MBBS degree at Lady Hardinge Medical College in Delhi in 1950.

Paolo Tommasi passed away in JIPMER on July 16th due to the COVID-19 virus. He had just turned 92 years. Paolo was born in Ancona, Italy in 1928.

In the late afternoon of April 25th, Roma Hira peacefully left her body at her home in Dana due to renal failure. She would have turned 73 in September this year.

On Tuesday May 26th, Vijayamala, a long-term volunteer at New Creation's Crèche and Boarding School, passed away due to a heart attack at JIPMER at the age of 51.

On June 2nd, Jan Pieter passed away in the Netherlands after a period of illness. Jan Pieter's connection with Sri Aurobindo, the Mother and Auroville goes back to the mid-seventies.

Navoditte (Norman Thomas) came to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1967 with his wife, Alice, and in February, 1968 attended the inauguration of Auroville.

Auroculture (Helga Ahy – born Pirk) left her body on 10 February at Marika Home. She was 86 and had suffered a major stroke in November 2014 which left her partly paralysed, with a weakened heart and hardly able to swallow.

From August 2-9, the 7th Auroville Children’s Book Fair was held at Ilaignarkal Education Centre in Auroville. This highly anticipated scholastic event showcases no less than 50,000 books in Tamil and English, specially selected for the young student audience.

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.

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.

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.

An important meeting was held at the Auroville Foundation Office on 21 November with a delegation from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, New Delhi, and officers of the National Highway Authority of India and their consultants attending.