Willing Servitors in Action: Projects and Contributions to Auroville’s Growth

Auroville’s growth is intrinsically linked to the dedication of willing servitors who selflessly contribute to the community’s development. In this article, we explore some of the remarkable projects and contributions made by these individuals. From sustainable farming initiatives to innovative educational programs, these servitors are the driving force behind Auroville’s evolution as a beacon of conscious living.

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Empowering Youth to Become Willing Servitors: Auroville’s Educational Initiatives

Auroville’s educational initiatives have a profound impact on empowering youth to become willing servitors. By fostering an environment that encourages personal growth, community engagement, and a deep connection to the core values of Auroville, these initiatives equip young individuals with the tools they need to embark on a lifelong journey of selfless service and spiritual evolution. In this article, we delve into the transformative role of Auroville’s educational programs and their influence on shaping the future leaders of this unique community.

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The Joy of Selfless Service: Auroville’s Philosophy of Willing Servitors

In the heart of Auroville beats a philosophy deeply ingrained in the community’s essence — the philosophy of willing servitors. Auroville, the international township in Tamil Nadu, India, founded on principles of human unity and spiritual evolution, thrives on the concept of selfless service. The very act of selfless service is the cornerstone of Auroville’s daily life, binding its residents in a harmonious web of cooperation and unity.

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Unveiling the Mind’s Potential: Understanding and Nurturing its Powers


The human mind, comprising four distinct layers, serves as the primary instrument for educationists. The foundational layer is the citta, the storehouse of passive or potential memory that underlies all experiences. The active memory, known as manas, selects and retrieves information from this reservoir. The mind translates sensory input into thought-sensations, forming the material for thought. The intellect, buddhi, is the real instrument of thought, ordering and organizing knowledge acquired by the mind. Lastly, there is a higher layer of faculty that encompasses extraordinary powers, observed in individuals with genius-level capabilities. Understanding and nurturing these layers is paramount to unlocking the mind’s true potential.

Developing the Senses and Organs of Action:
Educationists must focus on the development of the six senses and the organs of action to optimize the mind’s functioning. The mind, as the receiver of sensory impressions, relies on the accuracy and sensitivity of these senses. Proper training and utilization of the senses, such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and even the capabilities of the hand and speech, are essential. The hand should be trained to reproduce what the eye perceives, and speech should be honed to express the knowledge held within the mind. By cultivating the senses and organs of action, educators can enhance the mind’s ability to perceive and communicate effectively.

The Significance of the Intellect:
Among the four layers, the intellect holds the utmost importance for educationists. Comprising various faculties and functions, the intellect can be divided into the comprehensive, creative, and synthetic faculties (right-hand) and the critical and analytic faculties (left-hand). The right-hand faculties encompass judgment, imagination, memory, and observation, while the left-hand faculties encompass comparison and reasoning. The critical faculties analyze and draw logical conclusions, while the right-hand faculties possess a broader and more intuitive understanding. Both sets of faculties are essential for the completeness of human reasoning, and their development is vital to provide a well-rounded education.

The Power of Genius:
The mind possesses an even higher layer of potential, exemplified by individuals with extraordinary talents or genius. These individuals exhibit sovereign discernment, intuitive perception of truth, and an inspirational capacity for speech. Their capabilities often border on revelation, making them conduits of profound knowledge. Although these powers are rare and often accompanied by error, bias, and imaginative distortions, they have played a pivotal role in advancing humanity. Educationists face the challenge of addressing and nurturing this complex element of genius in their students. While some instructors may discourage or stifle genius, more open-minded teachers recognize its value. Neglecting or suppressing these exceptional abilities is both foolish and detrimental. Educationists must strive to perfect and refine these faculties, removing errors and biases while encouraging their growth. However, this delicate process requires caution, as intervention from the teacher may inadvertently hinder the natural development of genius.

Fostering the Mind’s Potential:
In the realm of education, the primary task of the teacher is to guide the growing soul towards its own perfection. Teachers cannot eradicate genius or forcibly mold the mind’s development; instead, they must create an environment that encourages the mind to unfold naturally. By understanding and nurturing the mind’s potential at each layer, educationists can support students in unlocking their intellectual capacities, expanding their creativity, and embracing the depths of their genius.

To harness the mind’s potential, educationists must comprehend its four layers and employ appropriate strategies at each level. By developing the senses, training the organs of action, and refining the intellect, educators can provide a comprehensive and well-rounded education. Moreover, acknowledging and fostering genius-level capabilities is essential for advancing humanity. Striking the right balance between guidance and allowing natural growth is key to nurturing the mind’s powers effectively. By recognizing and supporting the mind’s potential, educationists can empower students to achieve remarkable intellectual and creative heights, contributing to the progress of society as a whole.

Awakening the Senses: The Path to Clarity and Discernment

In our pursuit of knowledge and understanding, the development of our senses plays a crucial role. Our senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, and the mind – serve as conduits through which we gather information from the external world. However, the accuracy and sensitivity of our senses can be impeded by various obstacles. This article explores the importance of awakening our senses, addressing these obstacles, and unlocking the path to clarity and discernment.

Removing Obstacles to Accuracy and Sensitivity:
To understand how to enhance the accuracy and sensitivity of our senses, we must identify the obstacles that hinder their optimal functioning. The primary factors contributing to imperfection lie in the activity of the nerves, the passive acceptance of the mind, and the interplay between them. While our sensory organs inherently deliver precise information, obstructions in the nerve channels or disturbances within the mind can hinder the accuracy and clarity of sensory perception. Identifying and rectifying these obstacles is crucial for awakening our senses.

Nerve-Purification:
Unlocking Sensitiveness: One key factor in enhancing sensory perception lies in the purification of our nervous system. By regulating our breathing, a practice known as nāḍī-śuddhi, we can clear obstructions within the nerve channels and restore their unobstructed activity. This purification process, increasingly popular in Europe for various purposes, leads to heightened sensitiveness of the senses. By engaging in nerve-purification techniques, we can significantly improve the accuracy and sensitivity of our sensory experiences.

Cultivating Calmness for Distortion-Free Perception:
Distortions in sensory perception can arise from emotional disturbances within the nerve channels. Fear, alarm, or other intense emotions can alter our interpretation of sensory information, leading to inaccurate perceptions. The cultivation of calmness and the practice of nāḍī-śuddhi can alleviate these distortions by instilling a habitual steadiness in our nervous system. By achieving emotional stability, we pave the way for distortion-free perception, allowing us to engage with the world more accurately.

The Mind as a Channel for Reception:
The mind, both a sense organ and a channel for communication with the intellect, plays a vital role in sensory perception. Direct impressions of thought, form, sound, and other sensations are received by the mind. However, these impressions can be influenced by the mind’s interaction with the intellect, potentially distorting the information conveyed. The development of the mind’s sensitiveness, known as sūkṣmadṛṣṭi, encompasses various abilities such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and thought-reading. While these powers have historically remained undeveloped, training the mind to provide accurate reports to the intellect enables our thoughts to be rooted in correct impressions.

Overcoming Obstacles in the Citta:
The citta, or passive memory, can introduce further obstacles to accurate perception. Our habitual ways of looking at things, shaped by past associations, can unconsciously influence our interpretation of new experiences. These ingrained associations can distort or overlay new impressions, compromising clarity. Purification of the mental and moral habits formed within the citta, known as cittaśuddhi, is necessary to address these obstacles. While the process of cittaśuddhi was integral to ancient Yogic systems, it may require adaptation within modern educational frameworks.

Passivity of Thought Sensations for Selective Intellect:
One approach to address obstacles within the citta involves cultivating passivity of thought sensations that arise from passive memory. This passivity liberates the intellect from the influence of old associations and false impressions. The intellect gains the power to selectively choose and arrange information from the storehouse of passive memory, facilitating the formation of correct impressions and enabling discernment. By purifying the citta, the intellect fulfills its role as a discriminating, selecting, and arranging force, contributing to clarity and discernment in our perceptions.

Awakening our senses is a transformative journey that leads to clarity and discernment. By addressing obstacles such as nerve blockages, emotional disturbances, and ingrained associations, we can enhance the accuracy and sensitivity of our senses. Through practices like nerve-purification, cultivation of calmness, and the development of passivity in thought sensations, we unlock the potential for clear and discerning perception. Let us embark on this path of awakening, for it opens doors to a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us, guiding us toward greater wisdom and insight.

Sharpening the Senses: Enhancing Observation and Attention

In a world filled with distractions and information overload, developing the ability to observe keenly and pay attention becomes paramount. Sharpening our senses and honing our powers of observation and attention not only enriches our experience of the world but also enhances our cognitive abilities. This article explores the significance of enhancing observation and attention and offers practical strategies to sharpen our senses for a more mindful and perceptive existence.

The Power of Observation: Observation is the foundation of knowledge and understanding. It involves actively engaging with our environment, taking in details, and making meaningful connections. Unfortunately, the fast-paced nature of modern life often leads to passive observation, where we merely skim the surface of our surroundings. By consciously cultivating the habit of active observation, we can deepen our understanding, broaden our perspectives, and unlock a wealth of insights. Whether it’s observing nature, people, or our own thoughts and emotions, actively engaging our senses allows us to appreciate the richness and complexity of the world around us.

Enhancing Attention: Attention is the gateway to effective observation. It is the ability to focus our awareness on specific stimuli, filtering out distractions and immersing ourselves in the present moment. Attention is a trainable skill, and with practice, we can improve our capacity to sustain focus and resist the allure of constant distractions. Cultivating attention requires deliberate effort and the development of mindful practices such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, and deliberate reflection. These techniques help to quiet the mind, enhance self-awareness, and sharpen our ability to direct our attention intentionally.

Strategies to Sharpen the Senses:

  1. Mindful Observation: Set aside dedicated time to practice focused observation. Engage your senses fully, noticing colors, shapes, sounds, smells, and textures. Challenge yourself to perceive details that you might have overlooked before.
  2. Sensory Awareness Exercises: Engage in activities that heighten sensory awareness, such as blindfolded taste tests, listening to music with closed eyes, or going on a nature walk where you intentionally focus on specific sensory experiences.
  3. Slow Down: In a world that often prioritizes speed and efficiency, intentionally slow down your pace. Take the time to savor your meals, appreciate the beauty of your surroundings, and engage in activities that require patience and attention to detail.
  4. Reduce Digital Distractions: Minimize the constant bombardment of digital stimuli by creating designated technology-free zones or time periods. Limiting exposure to screens and notifications allows for better focus and uninterrupted observation.
  5. Practice Mindfulness: Cultivate a regular mindfulness practice to develop present-moment awareness and improve attention. Mindfulness meditation, body scans, and breath-focused exercises can help anchor your attention and train your mind to be fully present.
  6. Engage in Creative Activities: Pursue creative outlets that require keen observation, such as painting, photography, or writing. These activities encourage you to pay attention to nuances and details, fostering a heightened sense of observation.

Sharpening our senses and enhancing observation and attention is a lifelong journey that offers numerous benefits. By actively engaging our senses and training our attention, we can unlock a deeper understanding of the world, cultivate mindfulness, and develop a more enriching and intentional existence. As we practice mindful observation and immerse ourselves in the present moment, we discover the beauty and intricacies that surround us. Let us embark on this journey of sharpening our senses, appreciating the wonders of life, and embracing a more mindful and attentive way of being.

Are the French in Danger in Auroville?

Born on 28 February 1968, the adventure finds its roots in two texts: the Charter of Auroville and the “Dream”. Its essence resides in the expression of aspirations, without any indication of the path to be followed, an evolutionary path, an adherence to an ideal, an aspiration towards a path for the soul.

Each human element, with its own qualities is requested to bring these qualities at the service of the realization of Auroville. Naturally each ”element” comes with its” luggage” of things to accomplish in order to transcend his limits. But the regard remains fixed on the horizon, towards the dawn to come in spite of the difficulties on the road.

After some years, in the context of a semi desert land, where everything had to be done, we, ordinary humans, started to mark “territories” with our own conceptions of property, without property. For this was the challenge, to believe in utopia.

When one speaks of the individual, one must include the collective. This collective aspires to be ideal, including everybody and letting everyone to give its opinion. Elections came and the politics followed. Soon one did not see the “other” as oneself. Then came opinions. And then came freedom of expression, personal choices, and preferences. Even the freedom of one bulldozing the liberty of another.

All this drowned, in fact, the original quest, and the individual not anymore the instrument but the dictator. We arrive at the fraternity of a clan, which is superficial. And that is where Auroville is at the present, forgetting that our only liberty is to adhere to the values enshrined in the Charter and the Dream.

One says that Auroville is in turmoil, it is true and it is a sign of the good health of this project. In fact, Auroville was day dreaming for the last 50 years, paralyzing itself with stagnation. Evolution cannot stop. One can see the environing landscape progressively overtaking the territory of the city itself. This is the consequence of the lack of choice or the division of the collective. It is also fashionable to be against the city. Then endless suppositions come in, born from the fears of everyone: fear to lose one’s privileges, insecurities of all kinds, fright which have no reality but are posturing as truth…It is the fear of Change, well known from all of us, in spite of our aspiration for change.

To say today that the French are threatened!!! Why the French??? This is a gratuitous segregation. The uncertainties of some cannot be interpreted as the truth of the whole collective. What is the use of such communication? Is it to arm weaponize with importance only one’s point of view? Transformation does not take place by imposing views but by an understanding at the individual level. Else it is just the creation of fear. To create a dialogue is to be able to include the ‘other’.

To answer word for word to accusations or denunciations is a useless process. It is like justifying oneness with mediocrity.
Why should the French be in danger, specifically French?
We have an evolutionary crisis, perfectly understandable. Great changes in the world have never come from compromise. See Nelson Mandela, Lincoln, Churchill, Bolivar, Napoleon, and many others. It requires courage? Yes. And conviction in an ideal. I have not noticed personally any risk or threat against the French or anyone else. If it is about Mael, he, as an individual was asked to leave India, not threatened, due to his sudden ordinary attitude to say the least. It is India that has invited men and women of goodwill to this fabulous project. That is to be simply respected. Mael’s ‘Leave India’ notice may be interpreted as a threat if one wishes to. I have not noticed anything apart the sadness, from friends, not a fear of a similar action.

It is important to recognize the aims and objectives of Auroville and not deny Auroville it’s identity its realization as a city. The world is big enough for those who want to follow other dreams.
Today, we are confronted with a choice: to remain the little individual with its frustrations, its lived or pretended failures, its endless accusations of the other, its denunciations. It is a pigmy world without any evolutionary future… Or, can one look boldly into the essential to call the future to be discovered, the beauty to be manifest, the human unity where the other is oneself. To destroy or to build, it is the Divine who does.