Translation

Nishtha (Siegfried) Mueller is a long-term Aurovilian, Sanskrit teacher, Veda researcher, and passionate life-long learner. For more than forty years he has devoted himself to Sri Aurobindo’s The Secret of the Veda and Hymns to the Mystic Fire, to the study and restoration of some of the ancient hymns and to sharing a living approach to Sanskrit with spiritual seekers.

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.

On February 19th Ellen left her body in her Arati apartment. She would have been 95 in April this year. After a career as a hatha yoga teacher in Germany, Ellen arrived in Auroville in 1996 and was accepted as an Aurovilian the year later.

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.

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.

On August 26th, Ananda (Jean-François R.L. Bertaux) left his body at Marika House at the age of 68, after coping with Parkinson’s disease for many years.

The couplets and songs of the fifteenth century Indian poet-saint, Kabir, have been woven into the cultural fabric of north India for centuries.

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.

Riju Anatoly Bukov left his body in Marika’s House at 10.30am on September 22nd. Having grappled with a weak heart for many years, a massive stroke proved to be too much.

Many years ago, Aryamani decided to translate The Life Divine into Portuguese. “Initially, I was doing it for myself. Translating was a way for me to enter into this difficult and complex work.

On the early morning of 5 November, Roza Tuh, from Moldova, left her body at the age of 77 in her Citadines apartment. She had been suffering from Melanoma (skin cancer).

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.

Sharanam (Maria Desamparados Aznar Arce) passed away on September 1st in the General Hospital in Pondicherry after suffering a heavy lung infection.

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.

On March 6th, 2016, Eric Hughes passed away after suffering a stroke. He was 84 years old. Eric was well-known as the caretaker of Matagiri (meaning Mother’s Mountain), a 42-acre retreat in Woodstock, New York, which he co-founded with his life-long partner Sam Spanier who he had met over fifty years ago.

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.”

Auroville Today wishes to congratulate all those who work on the publication of Mother’s Agenda with the publication of the 5th volume in English, and the 2nd volume in Hindi.