Flyers and Letters

In this issue of our Bulletin, we are pleased to share excerpts from Sri Aurobindo’s booklet “The Mother”. It is in Chapter VI where he speaks of the four great Shakti powers – Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, Maheshwari, and Mahasaraswati – and describes their roles for the material manifestation through their actions of strength, beauty, wisdom and perfection in works. We will continue to share excerpts from this all-important section of “The Mother” in our forthcoming August 15th issue.

We are happy to present the « February Birthdays » issue of our LFAU – A4A quarterly newsletter. Our news bulletins aim to raise awareness and the needed funds for completing Auroville’s Master Plan area, its designated physical base. Each issue shares good news about land consolidation, inspiring life stories from Auroville’s pioneers, and creative solidarity actions for developing and realizing the City of Dawn. This issue, as the others preceding it, provides rich nourishment and encouragement for our collective journey of building Auroville.

The Mother called us to “Come to the Future”. One very concrete way was to invite us to “the great adventure” and participate in creating the City of Dawn. Today, at least three generations have been born in this unique space for discovery, growth and creation. It is the privilege of all of us, Auroville-born and not Auroville-born, to participate in building this bridge to another age. For by building the City of Dawn, it is we who are calling the Future to come.Version française en pdf … பிடிஎஃப்பில் தமிழ்ப் பதிப்பு

The Charter of Auroville was written on 7th February 1968, incarnating the revolutionary ideals of the City of Dawn. February 2023 now marks the 55th birth anniversary of Auroville, with its vision and striving towards a new age for humanity. The Auroville Festival takes place each year in the special week between the Mother’s birthday on 21st February and Auroville’s on the 28th. May the Auroville Festival again be a celebration of the ideals of the Charter! And may these ideals radiate out from Auroville to help revolutionize the life of humanity as a whole. Version française en pdf … பிடிஎஃப்பில் தமிழ்ப் பதிப்பு

We are happy to announce that between January and December 2022, 14 new plots of previously-missing Master Plan land were added to Auroville’s physical base! This positive progress was completely financed by the generosity of the City of Dawn’s worldwide friends as well as Aurovilians. Ten plots were added to help consolidate 5 important areas in the City area and four plots were added to or in proximity of 3 dynamic Greenbelt communities. Take a look at the photos here!

Starting as a small child, Joy grew up and studied in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. In 1977 she joined Auroville, following Jean Legrand, a former teacher at the Ashram School, and now her life partner of 45 years. After living at Aspiration, they helped found Djaima, where their daughter Anandamayi was born. Over the decades, they each and together have made significant contributions to Auroville life – Joy in myriad areas of the performing arts, and Jean as a Last School math teacher and light designer for Auroville performances. Anandamayi grew up, studied, and lives in Auroville, has performed in numerous Auroville plays, and is now a member of the AV Security Service. Joy’s story shares a rich history of Auroville’s growth and the dedicated aspirations of its pioneers.

We are happy to announce the current exhibition of works by Auroville artist Pierre Legrand at Auroville’s Unity Pavilion, ongoing till March 12th: « The Material and the Spiritual can influence each other to alter Life and the Environment ». Pierre is a versatile creator whose skills as an engineer combine with rich artistic talent to blend beauty, mathematics and art. His meeting with The Mother in Pondicherry in 1968 sparked his invention of a special coded script which has structured all his work. You can view and also purchase his beautiful works in support of Auroville’s land consolidation at the Unity Pavilion or at https://artforland.in/artists/pierre-legrand

Aurovilian Loretta has created an open-access, gift-economy website, which is freely available to all: https://www.integral-yoga-talks.com/en with the aim of bringing the presence of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and encouraging the practice of their Integral Yoga. This wonderful resource shares text, audio and film, and notably includes an ongoing series of Auroville Radio talks on “Savitri” and talks on Mother’s “Questions and Answers”. Here we also share Loretta’s story of creating the film “The Teachings of Flowers – The Life and Work of The Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram”.

On February 3rd, our dear friend and brother, oldest Aurovilian Thiru Mahalingam Sangukrishna, left his body in peace at the age of 103. Indian Independence fighter, spiritual seeker, Ashramite, long-time Aurovilian, Tamil teacher at Transition School, translator of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother’s works, his life was rich and well-lived. His uniquely humble presence and old-school devotion added a special quality to Auroville’s communal life. The City of Dawn most respectfully salutes him, and will greatly miss him. With gratitude for his presence and example, we share the article we previously published for Mahalingam’s 100th birthday.

For the New Year 2023, here is a compilation of inspiring quotes of wisdom and encouragement from The Mother about the future and us. It begins with “Let the birth of the new year be the new birth of our consciousness” and “Leaving the past far behind us, let us run towards a luminous future”. The Mother encourages us to use the past “as a spring-board to leap towards the future” for “each new dawn brings the possibility of a new progress”. For, as Sri Aurobindo wrote in Essays on the Gita, “We do not belong to the past dawns but to the noons of the future”.