Auroville: "To realize human unity"

There is a place about 2 miles in diameter located somewhere just outside of Pondicherry, India, where crazy people from all over the world have gathered together and formed a strange, but working little society completely removed from the world around it. This city is called Auroville. I really can't decide if I think it's an amazing concept that could really help you gain a new perspective on life or if I think that its a town for crackpots run by the corrupt.

Auroville was born from the theories of Sri Aurobindo, a turn of the century Indian philosopher. His ideas were pretty simple. He combined the Indian belief that God lives within each of us with the Western idea of evolution. He said that the divine spark within us is evidence that we are a race in evolution; which is to say that someday humanity will have evolved beyond where it is now into a higher race of beings. I'm sort of guessing here, so if you're interested you'll have to read his writings yourself, but I think he saw this new race as being closer to gods than humans, meaning that they would exist without our major faults- war, violence, corruption, oppression. So, Aurobindo went on, we could theoretically build a heaven here on earth for ourselves and in that heaven we could speed up the our own evolution into this new higher race. Theoretically. Enter "the Mother" (I'm not joking, that's what they call her).

The Mother said,"There should be somewhere upon earth a place that no nation could claim as its sole property, a place where all human beings of goodwill, sincere in their aspiration, could live freely as citizens of the world, obeying one single authority, that of the supreme Truth; a place of peace, concord, harmony, where all the fighting instincts of man would be used exclusively to conquer the causes of his suffering and misery, to surmount his weakness and ignorance, to triumph over his limitations and incapacities; a place where the needs of the spirit and the care for progress would get precedence over the satisfaction of desires and passions, the seeking for pleasures and material enjoyments.

"In this place, children would be able to grow and develop integrally without losing contact with their soul. Education would be given, not with a view to passing examinations and getting certificates and posts, but for enriching the existing faculties and bringing forth new ones. In this place titles and positions would be supplanted by opportunities to serve and organize. The needs of the body will be provided for equally in the case of each and everyone. In the general organisation intellectual, moral and spiritual superiority will find expression not in the enhancement of the pleasures and powers of life but in the increase of duties and responsibilities.

"Artistic beauty in all forms, painting, sculpture, music, literature, will be available equally to all, the opportunity to share in the joys they bring being limited solely by each one's capacities and not by social or financial position.

"For in this ideal place money would be no more the sovereign lord. Individual merit will have a greater importance than the value due to material wealth and social position. Work would not be there as the means of gaining one's livelihood, it would be the means whereby to express oneself, develop one's capacities and possibilities, while doing at the same time service to the whole group, which on its side would provide for each one's subsistence and for the field of his work.

"In brief, it would be a place where the relations among human beings, usually based almost exclusively upon competition and strife, would be replaced by relations of emulation for doing better, for collaboration, relations of real brotherhood."

The Mother saw herself as the practical tool of Sri Aurobindo's teachings. She wanted to make his heaven a reality. She was French, and in 1963 she founded Auroville. The idea is really great- it is a place where human unity is a reality. People of all nationalities come to live there as brothers (and sisters) as "citizens of the world." The reality is a little creepy. It is supposed to be a Utopian society. When you come to Auroville and ask to stay for any period of time, you make some kind of monetary contribution and officially renounce all material belongings. As a result the board of trustees has an insane amount of money and power and controls almost the entire area. I couldn't find a single shop or restaurant in Pondicherry that didn't have a picture of Aurobindo and the Mother hanging up somewhere.

The people living in Auroville work at whatever job interests them or wherever they have skills that can serve the community. Many of the people make things like clothing, jewelery, teas, herbal medicines etc which are sold in the surrounding communities and all the money goes back into Auroville. Men and women live separately, but everyone eats together. The food is pure, organic and is never touched by human hands before it is served. Yoga and meditation have been incorporated in to all parts of daily life. The coolest par though, is that they are leading the research in the area on bio diversity, sustainability and environmental protection. I think they're also working on ways to use local plant life for different medicines and treatments. Officially everyone is supposed to be involved in the research efforts. The only really creepy thing about the people living in Auroville (other than that they've willingly left their homes and come to live in this heat) is the way they talk about the mother. Its more than looking up to her as the founder of their city. They almost worship her.

The grounds at Auroville are beautiful. The Aurovillians have essentially built a forest of now more than 2 million trees by studying the climate and enviornment. At the center of the grounds is a big golden ball (picture above). In the morning they let visitors inside the ball to see the meditation chamber that the mother designed inside. I can't describe what it looks like inside- its too cool/weird, and unfortunately they don't let you take pictures. But if you ever have a chance I really recommend that you visit Auroville. You can stay in Pondicherry which is a town that can't decide if it is Indian or European. It is right on the ocean and you can just take a day trip to Auroville. Its definitely worth it. Then you can help me decide- is it a cool and revolutionary idea turned in to reality or is it a cult city full of brainwashed crackpots?

Here's the website

http://www.auroville.org/