The Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR) is a unique institution, possibly one of its kind in the world... It started functioning [in]1981, thanks to the foresight and initiative of Smt. Indira Gandhi... The main argument in favor of the ICPR is that among various pursuits and disciplines of knowledge that came to be developed during the course of the long history of India, philosophy stands out as the single most outstanding endeavor. The classical Indian contributions in philosophy rival the very best any where in the world. If there is one single area of Indian excellence which would command respect and attraction from the contemporary world, it would be none other than the profound wisdom that is contained in Indian thought. So, it was felt that philosophy deserved to have a special agency in the country to help move it forward to new heights of excellence... Conceived as a crucible for molding thoughtful minds generating ideas needed for India’s development consistent with its national ethos, funded generously by the Government of India and led effectively by a series of outstanding scholars, today, the ICPR stands out as a beacon of light illuminating the intellectual landscape of the nation...

Dr. Kireet Joshi was the Chairman of ICPR from 2000-06. He was also its Member - Secretary for (1981-1990) 10 years. He was Chairman of Auroville Foundation and vice-Chairman of Maharshi Sandipani Rashtria Veda Vidya Pratisthan. He was formerly Educational Adviser to the Government of India and Special Secretary in the Ministry of HRD during 1976 to 1988. He has authored and edited a number of books in the areas of Value-Oriented Education, Indian Culture, Yoga, Sri Aurobindo and Mother. ...   more »

...Urban utopias took a new avatar in Paolo Soleri's Arcosanti where architecture and environmentalism hit a new [level of] collaboration. Auroville near Puducherry is one such utopian vision conceived partly as an ashram retreat and partly like a rationally organised urban precinct. This book is a documentation of the urban development and architecture witnessed within Auroville since 1964.

Mirra Alfassa, popularly known as the Mother visualised Auroville as an urban experiment to "undertake the work of evolution of consciousness." She commissioned the French architect Roger Anger to give form to her vision. Anger came with a spiral plan that resembled a galaxy with the Matri-mandir at its centre. The entire city was divided into industrial, cultural, residential and international zones with a green belt encircling it. The town was designed for a population of 50,000. The book discusses the features of urban planning and architectural accomplishments in three sections. The first section briefly documents the important stages of Auroville's urban development. It reproduces some of the archival images, sketches and notes that illuminate the ideas leading to its conception. In the second part, the details of the plan, the various zones and important buildings within them are listed and described. The last section profiles the various architects who are part of Auroville and gives brief description of their important works and views. ...    more »

A toxic purple haze of diesel exhaust hangs over the rice and jute fields here in northeastern India, and bird songs are frequently drowned out by the chug-a-chug-a-chug of diesel generators. — Across the developing world, cheap diesel generators from China have become a favorite way to provide electricity. — They power everything from irrigation pumps to television sets, allowing growing numbers of rural villages in many poor countries to grow more crops and connect to the wider world. — But as the demand increases for the electricity that makes those advances possible, it is often being met through the dirtiest, most inefficient means, creating pollution in many remote areas that used to have pristine air and negligible emissions of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases...

Another popular approach being tried in India and elsewhere -- using solar energy to recharge lanterns by day -- has run into difficulty even as diesel prices would seem to make it more competitive. — The problem is that prices for photovoltaic panels for solar energy have surged as governments in industrialized countries, especially Germany, have encouraged greater use of renewable energy, said Hemant Lamba, the coordinator of Aurore, a renewable energy service company in Auroville, India. — "It's harder to do any solar energy projects in India," he said. ...   more »

Here's an interesting article on how "Segway in Paradise," a company in Pittsburgh, PA [USA], is very successfully using Segway PTs (Personal Transporters) for tours around town. Perhaps these could be used for tours around Auroville? Are any AV entrepreneurs listening? ...   more »

Announcing an Auroville Conference:

The Collective Yoga of Man: A World in Process
January 12-14, 2007 - Auroville, India

All the ‘knowings’ of the past pale in comparison. A ‘being’ emerges.. borne on the crest of a new wave.. that rises from the oceans of the Infinite. Parameters of convention cease – psychologically speaking. There is no known ‘psychology’ to determine what is happening. It is a veritable adventure into the ‘unknown’. An ‘unknown’ of ‘being’ itself…
What then are the ‘tools’ at our disposal? Are there any tools? Or, is there only the action.. of a movement forward.. into a future of hitherto unknown possibilities.
The seeds, possibly, of a new creation? Creation of a new man – who learns to live in another world? Or, who learns to live in the world in ‘another’ way!

To be, to live, to explore this ‘other’ way becomes the one pursuit of all our seekings. ...   more »

Click on the 'more >' link to see these beautiful new photos of the Matrimandir at Auroville, courtesy of Bhavana & friends:

Matrimandir is emerging from the soil of Auroville,

Inspiring the sky to also aspire

For That which is beyond the sky, beyond the soil,
beyond Auroville. ...   more »

... India’s current level of consumption (ecological footprint) is .8 gha (global hectares per capita) - already double India’s biocapacity of .4 gha, although it is significantly below humanity’s consumption level of 2.2 gha, which is 25% above the planet’s biocapacity of 1.18 gha. At India’s current level of exponential economic growth (7.5%) and population growth (1.7%), its economy will quadruple and its population will double by 2050. If Auroville doesn’t take this situation seriously and manifest a viable alternative infrastructure and economy that works, its real reason for existing, along with humanity’s as a whole, may never be realized. ...   more »

Rod asked me to post his following talk, which is related to a popular article he posted on SCIY a year ago.

...first I would like to make a few observations about "Savitri" and the Mother’s mantra. (I would be surprised if no one has made these before, but they seem original to me because I haven’t read them anywhere yet.) You might remember that the Mother elaborated on her mantra to Satprem in 1965, and at that time she said:

“Of all the formulas or mantras, the one that has the most direct effect on this body is the Sanskrit mantra: OM NAMO BHAGAVATE. ...   more »

I wonder if Auroville's planners are keeping up with the immensely creative work on urban design now underway around the world?

New York’s Van Alen Institute['s] The Good Life: New Public Spaces of Recreation, an exhibition at Hudson River Park’s Pier 40 showcasing dozens of projects either planned, under construction, or already realized that insert the rare combination of scenic refuge and pure pleasure into the hurly-burly of cities. “People are just desperate for these sites,” senior curator Zoë Ryan says. “Not everyone can escape the city during the summer, so this sort of destination has become increasingly important.” ...   more »

Could this be an option for quiet, non-polluting transportation for Auroville?

EPIC Technology – Electric Propulsion by Intelligent Control – uses Evader’s propriety technology and programming to create an ideal combination of performance and safety. -- Evader’s EPIC technology encompasses the design, motor, controller (patent pending), Hyper Drive and all safety components. Evader owns the world rights to manufacture and market their patented technology in all their electric vehicles. -- Evader’s cutting-edge technology is incorporated in all 2006 products giving the company a technological advantage over the competition. It offers unparalleled performance and sets Evader apart from all other electric motor scooters. -- Evader plans to incorporate its technology into electric motor scooters, motorcycles, ATVs, and other electric vehicles. ...   more »

In this slim paperback, Robert Minor sets out with a double intention: (a) to tell the legal story of the power struggle between the Sri Aurobindo Society and Auroville; and (b) an exploration of the legal and cultural epistemological ambiguities surrounding the terms "religion", "spirituality" and "secularism" and their shaping of the discourse of modern political contestation in India, as exemplified in the story of Auroville.    more »

... Some years ago an inscription was found on the wall of an ancient temple in Auroville saying something like this: ‘Once upon a time this dry and arid place was a tropical forest. It would again become lush and green when people from different parts of the world will come here and work together’. I am sure ‘Mother’ would have known about this inscription when she conceptualised Auroville. -- The prophesy in the inscription has come true. Today Auroville has representatives from almost all parts of the world. It is truly an ‘International City’. The ‘Mother’s’ dream has come true. ...   more »

I wonder if this new floating-in-air wind turbine would work as renewable electricity for Auroville and India?

The Magenn Power Air Rotor System (MARS) is an innovative lighter-than-air tethered device that rotates about a horizontal axis in response to wind, efficiently generating clean renewable electrical energy at a lower cost than all competing systems. ...   more »

Dharmasphere is an interesting blog. You can get a sense of it by checking out this article on Auroville, which I think is a good, though short, summary of AV, with some great photos. ...   more »

Dear Steward of Mother Earth,

As the last hours of the ancient sunlight are slowly setting over our 7,000-year-old civilization, something new is waiting to be born. The field of humanity is pregnant with a new turning of the wheel, a new understanding and view of what it is to be human and with that realization the responsibility to act in resonance with the evolutionary impulse that is consciously emerging from the depth of our being.

The adventure of consciousness and evolution is now inherently collective.

In our own experience, becoming more engaged in this evolutionary wave of securing the future and making it possible for something new to arise, has been greatly nourished by our participation in some thing bigger than ourselves and our personal self-interest. It is with this sense of purpose and stewardship that a few of us have taken on the mission to establish the Ecodaya Island Sanctuary. ...   more »

Ecodaya is being funded and created by a group of long-term Auroville residents and their friends. I visited there for a week early this year and was very impressed, both by the inspiring quality of the natural surroundings and the great work in preservation, eco-education, and local village development being done by those involved. Kim and I have been donating some funds to this worthly project and I encourage others to also consider doing so. ~ ron

The Ecodaya Island Sanctuary is situated along the Thungabhadra River near the ancient ruins of the World Heritage Site of Hampi, located in Karnataka State, South India. By securing all the land on the island from development and putting it under the stewardship of a Trust, the Ecodaya Island Sanctuary is being established as an ecologically protected and enhanced ecosystem.

Further, it is envisioned that the Ecodaya Island Sanctuary can become a model for Sustainable Integral Living: a way of living within the tapestry of an ecological, social, cultural and spiritual matrix, integrating harmoniously any human presence within the natural landscape while minimizing the ecological footprint. ...   more »