Auroville has been planted in the world to realise the dream of human unity. This is one of its main purposes, which is not easy by any means. Humanity is fractured along several lines, at the apex of which are religious and ideological differences. The root cause of these divisions is the individual and collective ego. The solution therefore is exceeding or transcending the ego and realising the One Divine Self in all, primarily through the Yoga of Works. The reason is that other forms of yoga through which also one can transcend the ego but they tend to take us away from the manifestation. Hence the special emphasis in Auroville (as well as the Ashram) on Karmayoga even though all other dimensions of the Integral Yoga are also there.
This is the backdrop against which one has to understand Auroville and find the remedy. Since human unity is its goal, the extreme forces of division have always attacked Auroville from the beginning. In the very early years, it was division based on racial differences. At that time the then Aurovillians did a blunder (in my opinion) by cutting themselves off from the parent roots in the Ashram and instead chose to go to the courts and the government. What they are reaping now is the natural consequence of this action. Even now, I am afraid, Auroville has not yet learnt the lesson or perhaps learning it slowly. It is trying to solve the problem by outer means, through government agencies and legal processes and external ways rather than through a growth of consciousness. While it is good that the plan of the city as far as its outer framework goes is being built, it needs to be remembered that a city like Auroville is not just its houses and residents and the various systems of checks and balances. These are the usual ways with which human beings have built cities since time immemorial. Auroville is a city with a difference. The difference lies in its aims and ideals, in its central goal and purpose. To draw a parallel, the Ashram has been built by the Mother directly. It is Her Creation. Auroville has to be built by the human consciousness which, in and through the process, has to embody more and more something of the Mother’s Vision, something of Her Wisdom and Force and Beauty and Harmony and Sweetness and Light and Peace and Joy and Love.
Outer means alone will not work. Auroville must rectify its error, reconnect with its roots, and follow the example given by the Mother in governance. It has to be governed differently with a higher consciousness and a spiritual understanding. Mental rules and regulations will not work here. Man has been trying these old outdated methods since millenniums without much success. The mind brings fixity, rigidities that soon turn into narrow dogmas. So too the ego must abdicate. It is not about me versus you and who is right amongst us but about man versus the Divine and how far are we from that. That should be the basis of all discussions. Especially one must remember that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother did not believe in enforcing things through rules and regulations but by the enlightening of our natural members. It may take long but there is no other way to build Auroville. That it will happen one day is certain. But the only question is about the time it will take.
The message given by the Mother on the 13th June 1964 for the Ashram applies as much to Auroville:
‘None of the present achievements of humanity, however great they are, can be for us an ideal to follow. The wide world is there as a field of experiment for human ideals.
Our purpose is quite different and if our chances of success are small just now, we are sure that we are working to prepare the future.
I know that from the external point of view we are below many of the present achievements in this world, but our aim is not a perfection in accordance with the human standards. We are endeavouring for something else which belongs to the future.
The Ashram has been founded and is meant to be the cradle of the new world.
The inspiration is from above, the guiding force is from above, the creative power is from above, at work for the descent of the new realisation.
It is only by its shortcomings, its deficiencies and its failures that the Ashram belongs to the present world.
None of the present achievements of humanity have the power to pull the Ashram out of its difficulties.
It is only a total conversion of all its members and an integral opening to the descending Light of Truth that can help it to realise itself.
The task, no doubt, is a formidable one, but we received the command to accomplish it and we are upon earth for that purpose alone.
We shall continue up to the end with an unfailing trust in the Will and the Help of the Supreme.
The door is open and will always remain open to all those who decide to give their life for that purpose.’
