For as long as Auroville has existed, there have been disagreements about its future and how to plan for and implement it. Recently these disagreements have cascaded into significant conflicts within the community, centered on questions of governance and specifically the authority and mandates of Auroville’s major governing bodies.
Auroville’s current conflicts are entangled with many larger global issues, including the legacies of patriarchy and colonialism, the exploitation of the weaker by the stronger, and national and international prejudices. As a global community that belongs to humanity as a whole, Auroville must deal with these difficult issues which impact the evolutionary movement toward human unity locally and around the world.
We, the board of Auroville International, USA, are not Aurovilians living in Auroville, and we do not presume to have a say in how these problems are confronted, or in the governing of Auroville. But we do care deeply about Auroville and the possibilities that it embodies. During this time we will be guided in our support of Auroville by the following principles:
1. We offer homage to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Auroville’s founders and guiding lights, as well as to Mother India for hosting their vision. We are especially grateful to the local Tamil people whose significant contributions to Auroville have often been underappreciated or diminished. And we respect the laws of the Indian Government.
2. We affirm that Auroville aspires to be a living embodiment of an actual human unity. We believe that the path to unity that will resolve all apparent differences in a higher synthesis will be made possible by active collaboration and mutual respect. We will seek to embody these values ourselves and offer our support to initiatives that align with them.
3. We value the innovative and inspiring work being done by many projects in Auroville, and we will continue to support these projects through capacity building, linking them to donors and well wishers, and widely sharing their experiences and successes.
4.We trust that Auroville is an experiment carried out in collaboration with the Divine and that the pressure created by the current conflict will create something new, unexpected, and beautiful. We are full of hope and ready to nurture and encourage the birth of the new, even as we don’t know precisely how it will be born. And we pray to be guided by a higher wisdom in all aspects of our work.
As much as Auroville remains an as-yet unrealized dream, an “arrow shot into the future”, a great deal has been accomplished in the past 54 years. Its successes in environmental regeneration and human-centered social, cultural, and economic models of living are widely recognized. AVI-USA owes its existence to the efforts of Aurovilians, friends of Auroville, and well wishers throughout the world. We remain dedicated to collaborating with all who wish to help Auroville in its evolution toward ever more beautiful expressions of human unity and Divine life on Earth.
For information about the current situation, the Hindu has published several articles and statements over the past few months, a listing of which can be found here: https://www.thehindu.com/search/?q=auroville
Header image shows Toshi, grandson of George Nakashima, lighting a candle at the dedication of the Nakashima Peace Table in the Hall of Peace at Unity Pavilion in Auroville