Auroville :: Philosophy Essays

Auroville The question often comes up, what environment would allow us to easily embody our beliefs and lead a life free of hypocrisy. Communities are an excellent, even if not the only solution. The gathering of diverse people based on a similarity in their aspirations and interests forms a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. One of the most successful attempts at forming such a community is Auroville, located in southern India. Auroville came into existence in 1968 and, at that time, comprised largely of the followers of the Mother. The Mother was a French disciple of the Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo who became a spiritual leader in her own right. The Mother wanted Auroville to be a city of human unity and international understanding and she formed the Auroville Charter: 1. Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness. 2. Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages. 3. Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring toward future realizations. 4. Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity. Although the Mother’s Charter is almost exclusively spiritual in its content, almost from the very beginning the citizens of Auroville added a strong earth-care focus to the founding ideals of the community. Today, Auroville has grown into a community of almost 2000 people from nearly 30 different countries. The main township consists of four zones at the center – the industrial, cultural, residential and the international. This is surrounded by an afforested green belt. The town is divided into about 80 ‘sub-communities’ of various sizes, separated by village and temple lands. The citizens of Auroville are encouraged to take part in any activity that is in accordance with the community’s ideals. This does include profit-making business as well. The activities of the people include afforestation, organic agriculture, educational research, health care, village development, renewable energy, town planning and cultural services. The township now organically grows about 40% of its food and generates 35% of its own electrical and thermal energy.