Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Auroville


12/13/2011

“Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities.  The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity” – The Mother

            Sounds great doesn’t it?!  We went to visit Auroville today, and after visiting, I have some mixed feelings about the place.  I love the concept – a place where everyone, no matter their background, can live together in peace and harmony.  It looks and sounds like quite the utopia; looking out over Auroville it almost felt as though I was dreaming or in some heavenly place.  They’ve tried to create the perfect world/society here…but is that really possible?
            One of the rules of living in Auroville is that you give up all of your possessions, but at the entry of the town is a little shopping area…they claim it’s for guests, but then they also claim that Auroville is NOT a tourist site. Weird.
            Another thing I found odd was that there is supposed to be no religion at this place, just accepting of all religions, but it’s almost as if the people there worship The Mother and Sri Aurobindo.  Are they creating a new religion even if they claim not to be? 
            The only requirements to live in Auroville are to be of ‘good will’ and to be able to physically contribute to the society.  But who is to decide if one is of ‘good will’??  And when we asked if there was a crippled man who was of ‘good will’, would he still be able to live there…the answer was that at this time no.
            Back to giving up all of your possessions – you don’t own anything when living at Auroville, not your home or even your clothes; these items belong to everyone.  So if you don’t own anything, one would think that you don’t have to pay for it, right?  Wrong, these people still have to buy clothes and pay for their housing, but technically none of that is theirs!
            I mean I don’t have the answer for creating a perfect society, I’m not really sure it’s possible.  As I said, I really love the concept and idea behind Auroville, I’m just not to sure it’s working out there.  I’ll end on more of a positive note…
            Auroville does strive to be a center of perpetual education and progress towards a more united future, where no one has jobs, but instead everyone gave their skills and service for the benefit of all residents.  Auroville is to foster the growth of citizens to reach their fullest potential. 
            There are special “cultural pavilions” that feature the architecture and cultural elements of some countries.  The main feature of Auroville is the gold-domed meditation hall called Matrimandir, “Mother’s Temple”.   

A map of Auroville 

My tourist picture with Matrimandir 

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