Page 19 - NAMAH-Jan-2018

Namah Insight

reaction to the external forces without any ability the centre there is a being free, vast and knowing,
to live in their own truth within. In the long who awaits our discovery and who ought to
term, this leads to increasing inner emptiness, become the active centre of our being and our
confusion, disorder and degeneration of life life in Auroville. The fulfilment of one’s desires
at an individual and collective level. Such bars the way to the inner discovery which can
a disintegration may be a good business only be achieved in the peace and transparency
opportunity to sell more consumer products of perfect disinterestedness (8).”
to fill in the inner vacuum but it destroys in
the long-term, not only the individual and This inner discovery is at the heart of a lifelong
the society but the ecosystem as well. learning journey in Auroville. Ever since its
founding ceremony on 28th February 1968,
A soulless education creates a soulless over the last five decades, Auroville has grown
society and its soulless social machinery. into an integral living campus covering more
When individuals are no more in touch with than 3,000 acres of afforested landscape.
their souls, they also get disconnected from Auroville began on a barren plateau but when
Nature. When people are disconnected from the inner call became the top priority of its
Nature they would also get desensitised and members its direct and most visible outer
disconnected from the life of not only other consequence was the regeneration of the
people but also of all other species on the entire landscape into a thriving ecosystem.
planet and its ecosystem. The destruction of It is living proof that when people come in
our biosphere and its delicate balance is now touch with their soul and follow its call, they
one of the major challenges we are facing today will honour the larger life of which they are
as a species. This is not a random consequence, an integral part.
there is a direct link to the very foundation of
our education system and worldview. We do As of now in 2018, nearly 2,900 people from 56
have a serious disintegration happening at all countries are living in Auroville and exploring a
the levels of our society and perhaps helping new way of life following their own unique
people to find their swadharma is where a trails of the inner call. The huge diversity
broader healing can begin. of creative activities found in Auroville is a
direct consequence of the great individual
The Auroville context freedom with which the members of the
community are exploring their own swadharma.
According to The Charter of Auroville, given This diversity of activities is also now attracting
by the Mother, “Auroville will be the place of thousands of volunteers and interning students
an unending education, of constant progress, from across the world. However, there were
and a youth that never ages (7).” Further, She hardly any facilitated long-term learning
explained in a seminal document called To programmes offered to the volunteers and
Be A True Aurovilian: interns to discover their own inner calling.
While integral education is lifelong learning
“The first necessity is the inner discovery in order and the Auroville Charter declares Auroville
to know what one truly is behind social, moral, to be a place of unending education, Auroville
cultural, racial and hereditary appearances. At is yet to re-imagine itself to be a new kind

19