24TH APRIL 2025 – THE ACRES FOR AUROVILLE NEWSLETTER

Your support since the start of the A4A campaign has enabled the addition of 187.14 new Master Plan acres, with 35.59 acres added just since 2022. A major goal is the missing protective plots near the Matrimandir – 11.81 acres have been acquired through your donations to date. The most recently purchased plot will house the new Reception Pavilion, but more land is needed for its full development. In this April 24th newsletter – the 105th anniversary of the Mother’s permanent arrival in India – we focus on the progress of the Matrimandir area, along with more stories of those who have contributed to building Auroville and its spirit.

ACRES FOR AUROVILLE FLIER – 24 APRIL 2025

The new Garden of Wealth was inaugurated on The Mother’s birthday, February 21st this year. Its prominent flower is the Water Lily (Nymphea), the one The Mother said symbolizes Wealth. Based on the meanings She gave for lthe many varieties of Water Lilies, we see that wealth is meant on many levels: intellectual, psychological, material, feelings and actions, and on the level of the soul. The Mother wrote : ‘The only emotional wealth is love for the Divine’ and ‘True wealth is the wealth that one offers to the Divine’.

LFAU LETTER – 24 APRIL 2025

Today, 105 years ago, – The Mother, the inspiration source for Auroville – returned to India, to Pondicherry for good. From the viewpoint of the spiritual evolution upon earth, her return was of crucial importance because through that, Sri Aurobindo’s work of world transformation then acquired the new dimension of certainty, a new energy of success. Today, the world is in the throes of change and transformation and, we believe, this could be best interpreted in the light of Mother’s vision of Auroville.

THE MATRIMANDIR AREA’S DEVELOPMENT – APPROACHING THE GOAL!

The Matrimandir, the heart and soul of Auroville, is a labor of love, built with the sustained and intensely devoted work of Aurovilians and so many friends, and is a source of inspiration too for the thousands of visitors to Auroville. The objective for the Matrimandir Team is to complete the rest of what The Mother had envisioned – all twelve gardens and the Lake – by February 21st 2028, the 150 birth anniversary of The Mother. Here we are happy to share how the Matrimandir Team is progressing on many fronts towards this great goal.

MY AUROVILLE STORY AND THE MOTHER’S GUIDING HAND – BY GIRI THIRUMAL

Aurovilian Giri has been involved with Auroville since his childhood, thanks to his father’s work, and aided in his life’s growth by Heidi and Patrick of Fertile East. Growing his skills step by step, he is a Web Developer and IT Support Person who has contributed at Aurelec, the Bamboo Center, Ness School, and at BlueLight and AV Web Services – his current two positions. Along with his wife Monica and his father Thirumal, he also produces food and milk for Auroville, and is a member of the Forest Group. Giri’s story is one of The Mother’s guiding hand and Grace.

ON MATRIMANDIR – FROM “A HOUSE FOR THE THIRD MILLENIUM” BY RUUD LOHMAN

“A House for the Third Millenium” published in 1986, is a series of essays by Aurovilian Ruud Lohman, who left his body just before its publication. Hailing from Holland, for 15 years Ruud was a member of the Franciscan religious order and for eight years, a Roman Catholic priest. In 1968 he was sent as a sociologist and missionary to India, where he sought out learning about the different forms of Yoga. This led him to coming to Pondicherry, and then arriving the next morning in Auroville on 21st February 1971. Ruud spent 15 and a half years of his dedicated life to the work of building the Matrimandir.

DIVYA SHAKTI – A PERFORMANCE AT THE MATRIMANDIR AND AN APRIL 24TH OFFERING

The Matrimandir Amphitheater is the site of many inspiring offerings to the community and guests. One was the recent performance of Divya Shakti, (Divine Power) – a collective dance offering for the birthdays of The Mother and Auroville. Today – April 24th – is the 105th anniversary of the Mother’s final arrival in India and to honor it, Divya Shakti will be screened at 12 Integral Yoga centres and Integral Education schools in India, plus in London and California . We are pleased to make it available here for you on this special day via our article’s link.

INSPIRING QUOTES – CHAPTER 4 OF “THE MOTHER” BY SRI AUROBINDO

‘Money is the visible sign of a universal force, and this force in its manifestation on earth works on the vital and physical planes and is indispensable to the fullness of the outer life. In its origin and its true action it belongs to the Divine. But like other powers of the Divine it is delegated here and in the ignorance of the lower Nature can be usurped for the uses of the ego or held by Asuric influences and perverted to their purpose. This is indeed one of the three forces – power, wealth, sex – that have the strongest attraction for the human ego …’

ACRES FOR AUROVILLE (A4A) – AUROVILLE’S BIRTHDAY NEWSLETTER

In this newsletter, in addition to our A4A flier and LFAU letter, we present fascinating profiles of two young people in Auroville -one is Aurovilian Navanitha, born in nearby Nadukuppam, whose parents are longtime Aurovilians, and the other is Anita -a Newcomer from Zahedan, Baluchistan (part of modern-day Iran). We also cover the news of the latest edition of the Art for Land Exhibition and the three solidarity gifts that A4A has received. Our Inspiring Quotes this time presents a perspective on spiritual life and progress with an extract from Sri Aurobindo’s book “The Human Cycle”. All of this testifies to Auroville’s continuing creative energy, cultural diversity and future-oriented vision! The newsletter summary appears in French and Tamil: Version française en pdf … பிடிஎஃப்பில் தமிழ்ப் பதிப்பு

ACRES FOR AUROVILLE FLIER – 21 TO 28 FEBRUARY 2025

“To do as well as possible and as perfectly as possible, in the minutest details and with the right attitude, in each thing and for all works, without fail, without getting discouraged – one must try with all one’s heart and perservere with the hope of finding this perfection. Then one is sure of taking a step towards the transformation … If we can detach ourselves and once and for all do away with our little ego, then we can find the grand cosmic harmony which upholds everything and pervades all the worlds below and above.” Version française en pdf … பிடிஎஃப்பில் தமிழ்ப் பதிப்பு

Stay In Touch