AUROVILLE, THE MOTHER & SRI AUROBINDO

Recently I received the book, "Eco Villages Around the World," Edited by Frederica Miller, in the mail from Inner Traditions, a small book distributor located in Rochester, Vermont. I ordered it from their catalog because it looked like a very intriguing and interesting topic. Little did I know there would be an ecovillage located in India described in depth in this book.

Starting on September 29th (in the West) Hindus celebrate Navrati, a celebration of the Divine Mother Energy in the world. All action is connected with the Divine Mother who takes many forms. We often celebrate the basic, nine forms of the Mother without realizing the depth of the Divine Mother's power to initiate action on the planet and in the Universe. Auroville is a great example of the Divine Mother's action in the world. Every day we walk on Mother Earth and experience Her power through weather which occurs on our planet.

There was a woman who was actually called the Mother by the great Hindu sage, Sri Aurobindo. Her birth name was Mirra Alfassa who was born in Paris, France on February 21, 1878. She left the Earth plane on November 17, 1973. In 1914 she met Aurobindo at his ashram in Pondicherry, India and collaborated with him editing the text "Arya." During the war she went to Japan where she met the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. In 1920 she returned to live at the ashram. Sri Aurobindo retired on November 24, 1926. She founded this ashram with some of his disciples and became the administrator of the ashram with his blessing. The Mother created a trust after his death in 1950 which is the cornerstone of wealth used to run the ashram today.

She believed humanity was changing and evolving during this time frame. Sri Aurobindo promoted this idea of opening up to the "Supramental Truth Consciousness." He believed she was an incarnation of the Divine Mother and this is why he called her the Mother. She became the inspiration of the ecovillage called Auroville, near Pondicherry, India. Indira Gandhi, India's great female prime minister, met her at a woman's gathering in Kanpur, India. Indira, the daughter of Nehru who was India's first prime minister, had this to say about her: "The Mother was a dynamic lady, who came from France and adopted the Indian culture. She played an important role in motivating women like Annie Besant and Nellie Sen Gupta. The Mother had also contributed to enrich India's age-old heritage and culture." Annie Besant was the second President of the Theosophical Society in India and leader of the Indian Congress during some of the time frames within the Indian Independence Movement. She was the one who first advocated home rule for India even before Gandhi's support of the idea. Nellie Sen Gupta was the Mayor of Calcutta and head of the Bengali section of the Indian Congress, besides being a Cambridge graduate and barrister (attorney).

Auroville was founded about 50 years ago as an international community which is an eco village. The Mother was the one who was the inspiration behind the establishment of the community. The village has 1,000 visitors a year. The Matrimandir is a major focus in the ecovillage. You can see a ceremony in progress in the photo in this blog outside of the mandir. Auroville has many environmental and commercial units. It is famous for its ecological design, re-forestation project, sustainable energy, businesses and handicrafts. The architect Roger Anger designed the village which resembles a spiral or galaxy as seen from space. It has forests, parks and green spaces. There are four major pavilions, one for: Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. The auditorium is dedicated to Sri Aurobindo and the Tibetan Pavilion has a library blessed by the Dalai Lama. A peace ceremony happens every year at this pavilion on New Year's Day. Organic food, solar, wind, ferro cement and dynamized water are features of the community. They have silk weavers and cotton clothing in this village. The village has developed paper products out of recycled newspapers. The Auroville Earth Institute promotes experimental work for architects and builders. Their technology has been exported to Southeast Asia via homes, mosques, temples and other institutions who use their compressed earth blocks.

The Village Action is involved with improving the living conditions of the ecovillage's neighbors. They advocate for better housing, clean water, medical and dental aid for their neighbors. Auroville has a dozen schools, including a high school which prepares international baccalaureates. Some of these are Harvard and Cambridge University graduates. They have music, theater, a solar cafe and kitchen. The inhabitants have planted 3 million trees since the beginning of the ecovillage. Because of this animals and plants have greatly increased in region. When you increase habitat you increase biodiversity of any area. Although it is hot and humid, the residents are dedicated to living ecologically and are humans who have expanded their consciousness exactly like Sri Aurobindo believed they would through evolution and time.

The Mother Energy of the Universe truly has inspired the ecovillages of the world. This is not surprising considering all the Mother Earth Energy involved with these projects. Many of these villages are also based on spiritual values which are incorporated in their designs. During this Navrati it is good to appreciate who the Mother is changing the consciousness of the world in support of Mother Earth. Look at the youth lately with their world summit on climate change. They are certainly leading the way to a better planet. Happy Navrati.

JAI SHRI EARTH! JAI SHRI MA! JAI SHRI ECOVILLAGES!

Radhapriestess