This book attempts to give a critical commentary on the current events within the Auroville community. It poses questions that require collective answers to understand the underlying causes of the difficulties and obstacles that currently divide the community. What are the citizens' understanding of their ideals in Auroville, and how do they move to achieve their ideals? To what extent is Auroville capable of adapting to the changing needs of its citizens and implementing external changes? Are their ideals still able to influence the larger society?
The solution to today's problems in Auroville must come from the community itself. It does not rest on mere external expertise from those who offer all kinds of services, but rather on deep affection and knowledge of Mother's dream. Such an attitude, which reinforces the power and policy-making of outsiders, may lead to a form of social control. Perhaps the collective inability to truly realize Mother's great challenge has much to do with a too-narrow view of her spiritual vision. Should Aurovilians, to get a clear picture of the cause of this weakness, re-examine Mother's vision and interpret it with more open eyes and adapt it to the present factual reality to remove the present polarization and foster a dialogue between the struggling groups?
The author does not endeavor to disguise complicated and ticklish issues in a beautiful style; his critical, constructive questions are related to practical interests and foster a meaningful dialogue among citizens. It is not his intention to make unfavorable comments about Mother's spiritual insights; he only aims to offer a critical, loyal evaluation as a window frame to those who seek more clarity without remaining closed in their cocoon.
Dr. Joseph Vrinte, a retired mental health worker from the Netherlands, graduated from Lucknow University. Afterwards, he joined Rohilkhand University in Bareilly, where he obtained his M.A. in Philosophy/Psychology and his PhD. During his early research study, he was connected with the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, where he received some necessary academic guidance from several Ashramites. In 1999, he moved to Auroville, where he participated as a scholar-practitioner in various activities within the Auroville community and continued his research studies.
This book is written by a researcher and a worried citizen of Auroville's future existence; he does not present the works of Sri Aurobindo in a closed version, but he uses their insights in an open way and in the context of Auroville's present crisis.
Dr. Vrinte is the author of ""The Concept of Personality in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga Psychology and A. Maslow's Humanistic/Transpersonal Psychology"". (Ph.D) and ""The Perennial Quest for a Psychology with a Soul"", as well as ""Reflections upon Psycho-spiritual Obstacles on the Journey to the Divine""
This book aims to provide, as much as possible, a deeper understanding and a broader perspective complex issues related to the current crisis through an objective analysis from a sympathetic viewpoint without hiding unwelcome evidence that contradicts the prevailing turmoil in Auroville. The questions postulated in this work are less derived from a preoccupation with a speculative theory, but they are more related to the chaotic reality of Auroville's community at present. These questions are, therefore, as much as possible, pertaining to facts rather than the author's one-sided interpretations of events. He endeavors to present these questions in an accessible way without offering clear-cut answers.
Mother's task is supposed to be difficult, and these difficulties need to be discussed candidly to make the task less complicated. The author aims to encourage the reader to reflect upon the development of various social and psycho-spiritual issues in the community's social organization. His concern resists proof, as these questions offer only suggestive evidence to be examined; they are not meant to guide him in bringing his ideas to the forefront but rather to be investigated and open to new insights. As a participant-observer practitioner in the Auroville experiment, this study aims to provide an analytical reflection on the project's actualized potentialities, as well as the various movements that fell short of its goals.
Questions, as elaborated in this work, are not to be solved as an intellectual puzzle where the citizens remain mere onlookers, they need to be approached with a culture of dialogue that enables each of them to respect the engagement of the views of all the citizens to build consensus in planning and creating a spiritual society. To avoid a controversy does not end the controversy; avoiding new knowledge means submission to some fixed belief, where the devotee lacks the courage to examine new lights.
The author tries to be as honest as possible. However, honesty and pleasing people do not always go together. The community is divided into uncontrolled bubbles of the citizens' truths, habits, and beliefs. Are the various opposing groups destroying the spark of engagement in sincere critical thinking when they do not stimulate the art of debate and dialogue? Are responsible Auroville leaders avoiding matters related to the difficulties encountered by citizens on their journey as co-travelers, building a bridge between the personal and collective structures for a new world?
In his questions regarding Mother's vision and other spiritual issues associated with her establishment of Auroville as a new city of the future, he attempts to raise awareness about various obstacles and pitfalls in the practice of Integral Yoga, as well as the possibility of its disastrous consequences for its practitioners. Some of these questions may lead to controversy within the community when related to the understanding of the challenges regarding the process of psychic transformation during and after the psychic experiment. He tries to understand the gap between the idealism of Auroville's different groups of perceptions related to the development of the future city and the so-called justification of the reality of the government's outside intervention; the latter may achieve their goal within a short time without necessary introspection or course direction and critique, but such approach may contradict the long-time impacts of Mother's stated spiritual ideals in promoting a new consciousness in a new society for the world. The author provides an analysis of the positive and negative characteristics associated with the concept of growth and progress within the Auroville project. Negative characteristics will not be comprehended if they are merely seen as unavoidable aspects of the products, the flip side of growth and progress. He aims to shed light on various dimensions of the current situation within the Auroville community, employing a blend of objective and subjective approaches through philosophical, psychological, and social analysis, complemented by a critical evaluation.
To avoid distortions, this evaluation needs to be placed in perspective regarding his other writings, and this repetition of some of the same ideas in a different context is in itself advantageous for the reader, as it offers a better understanding of the complexity of Auroville's present crisis. He aims to develop an understanding of the root causes of the present crisis, the first step toward enabling the citizens to communicate with each other. Hopefully, this book will contribute to the growing interest in Auroville's current chaotic situation.
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