09 Mar 2011 / 10:58 am
Perhaps I am not one of those who is interested in difficult issues, of land, and housing, and who is running two guest houses and occupying three houses with equal number of 'partners' helping him in his endeavours. I do not know which guest is harassing which new comer and who in the Udumbu story is right. I believe that each one of us is in more or less sincere pursuit of truth as we see it. When it comes to Auroville, which is more about being good-willed rather than 'right', I am reluctant to judge of late. There was a time in the recent past when I was aggressive about implementing 'the Mother said' cannon, but She has said so many things that I find myself lost, utterly lost in the beauty of her wisdom. I can confidently say that there is such precious little that I know about life, about yoga and about human beings.
I had attended a few meeting before, yet yesterday was my first 'official' AVC attendance. I was doodling in my sketch book while listening to the pearls of wisdom squandered so effortlessly by some colleagues. Like an idiot I was getting impressed by every contradiction! But after about two hours I began getting restive, naturally as a result I began chasing my own thoughts, impractical and philosophical, I am sure.
After another half an hour or so I could not focus and so I left.
And after me came the rush of all my thoughts, like swarms of insects, some stinging and other tickling.
I headed for the video library. There I met two people - a male and a female. Both wanted to know about my new job in AVC. The male was, not surprisingly, convinced that AVC was a useless group which seldom solved any problem, in particular his own.
The female, again not surprisingly, was not so sure although she had issues with the group because AVC had in the past a ruling not in her favour regarding her housing situation. I began by saying that whatever I may say there must not be taken as the council's view because I was new and I did not know absolutely anything about different issues.
However, I said that pertaining to conflicts arising out of situations people put themselves into, I felt that all parties were “right” somehow in their own right. And, I said that the fact of so many people coming to live permanently in Auroville, leaving behind their achievements and gains and homes and dear ones is a proof that deep, deep down, in the heart of their hearts, they had heard the Mother's 'call'. It matters little that along the way we, the participants in the Auroville experiment, get into conflicting situations. And then I uttered my 'pet' theory.
I said, “ conflict is the very ground that justifies our spirit's progress. Know that after giving a good fight the person who lets go is doing God's work. Mother has packed so much diversity in this little geographical area we call Auroville that absence of conflict would be unnatural. In the course of evolution even the Gods got into stalemate and that is when Mahadeva, Lord Shiva, had to drink the poison that had arisen out of the clash between the Devas and the Daanavas. Here in Auroville, each one of us had to be a Shiva in order for the evolution to go on to its next stage.”
The lady listened silently and after a while thanked me. She was visibly touched by my wisecrack! The man was not so happy. I could see that he was looking to counter my suggestion in order to make his point, but I thought that the point was made. I had recharged one spirit dwelling in the form of that lady who had come to terms with her misgivings regarding the AVC. At least that is what I thought at the moment.
I had attended a few meeting before, yet yesterday was my first 'official' AVC attendance. I was doodling in my sketch book while listening to the pearls of wisdom squandered so effortlessly by some colleagues. Like an idiot I was getting impressed by every contradiction! But after about two hours I began getting restive, naturally as a result I began chasing my own thoughts, impractical and philosophical, I am sure.
After another half an hour or so I could not focus and so I left.
And after me came the rush of all my thoughts, like swarms of insects, some stinging and other tickling.
I headed for the video library. There I met two people - a male and a female. Both wanted to know about my new job in AVC. The male was, not surprisingly, convinced that AVC was a useless group which seldom solved any problem, in particular his own.
The female, again not surprisingly, was not so sure although she had issues with the group because AVC had in the past a ruling not in her favour regarding her housing situation. I began by saying that whatever I may say there must not be taken as the council's view because I was new and I did not know absolutely anything about different issues.
However, I said that pertaining to conflicts arising out of situations people put themselves into, I felt that all parties were “right” somehow in their own right. And, I said that the fact of so many people coming to live permanently in Auroville, leaving behind their achievements and gains and homes and dear ones is a proof that deep, deep down, in the heart of their hearts, they had heard the Mother's 'call'. It matters little that along the way we, the participants in the Auroville experiment, get into conflicting situations. And then I uttered my 'pet' theory.
I said, “ conflict is the very ground that justifies our spirit's progress. Know that after giving a good fight the person who lets go is doing God's work. Mother has packed so much diversity in this little geographical area we call Auroville that absence of conflict would be unnatural. In the course of evolution even the Gods got into stalemate and that is when Mahadeva, Lord Shiva, had to drink the poison that had arisen out of the clash between the Devas and the Daanavas. Here in Auroville, each one of us had to be a Shiva in order for the evolution to go on to its next stage.”
The lady listened silently and after a while thanked me. She was visibly touched by my wisecrack! The man was not so happy. I could see that he was looking to counter my suggestion in order to make his point, but I thought that the point was made. I had recharged one spirit dwelling in the form of that lady who had come to terms with her misgivings regarding the AVC. At least that is what I thought at the moment.
