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The Allure of Power, Authority and Control
In previous posts we have gone through the reasons why the idea of administrative autonomy is such a key topic of debate in Auroville. Administrative autonomy is indeed the central issue in the pitched battle that is ongoing in Auroville today. The small group of Aurovilians who have been running…
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Scale of Thought and Action in Integral Yoga, Part II
In the previous post we took a look at the vastness of scale and scope that Integral Yoga deals with. As we detach from the limitations of identifying with our material selves, we begin to identify with the entirety of humanity, the world and the universe, and begin to see…
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Scale of Thought and Action in Integral Yoga, Part I
In the last few posts we have contextualized progressive and conservative thinking in the framework of Integral Yoga. In this post we take this further, focusing this time on the scale at which Integral Yoga functions, and how that intersects with progressive and conservative thought. And then with this framing…
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Integral Yoga and the Limits of Progressive Thought and Action, Part II
In this post we continue to contextualize progressive thinking and its limitations within the framework of Integral Yoga and Sri Aurobindo’s writings. In the previous post we had gone through how humans as we exist today are a transitional being in the evolutionary journey on Earth. We are transitional because…
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Integral Yoga and the Limits of Progressive Thought and Action, Part I
In the previous post we saw how progressive thought and Integral Yoga have similar aims of universalism and the moving of humanity in a more egalitarian, harmonious, peaceful and compassionate direction. We also touched upon the idea that progressive solutions are limited by the fact that progressive thinking cannot go…
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Is Spirituality/Integral Yoga Progressive or Conservative? Part II
Now that we have gone over the basic definitions of the conventional terms we are going to use over the next few posts, lets start taking a look at the relationships between them. The reason why I think this topic of the relationships between spirituality/Integral Yoga, religion, progressivism and conservatism…
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Is Spirituality/Integral Yoga Progressive or Conservative? Part I (Descriptions)
There are many (maybe infinite?) supra-interesting sociological and psychological themes that can be analyzed by studying the petri dish that is Auroville. Among these are the multifarious interplays between spirituality, religion and the socio-political ideologies of liberalism/progressivism and conservatism. In the next few posts I will take a look at…
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Why Should Auroville Have (Some Level of) Autonomy? Part III
In the first post of this current sequence of posts on Auroville’s autonomy, I had pointed out two often mentioned quotes of The Mother regarding her aspiration for a place which no individual person or group could lay claim to, and which instead belonged to the entirety of humanity. In…
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Why Should Auroville Have (Some Level of) Autonomy? Part II
In the previous post (Why Should Auroville Have (Some Level of) Autonomy? Part I), we went through the spiritual and philosophical context behind the need for Auroville to have a level of administrative autonomy. In this post, we will unpack the correlations of terms such as spiritual anarchy and autonomy,…
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Why Should Auroville Have (Some Level of) Autonomy? Part I
In the previous post (Why is Auroville in India?), I had mentioned that the Indian government had granted Auroville a level of autonomy in its governance and functioning, via the Auroville Foundation Act of 1988. But why does Auroville need this autonomy at all? (This is a long post with…
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Modes of Existence in Auroville
It is very clear from the previous posts of this blog that my focus has been on emphasizing the centrality of Integral Yoga in the Auroville project. Yet there are many people in and connected to Auroville who don’t just de-emphasize Integral Yoga in Auroville, but deny its relevance outright.…
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Why is Auroville in India?
After establishing that Auroville is indeed in India (for the foreseeable future), and that it is indeed an international township but for a very specific reason, we can ask why Auroville is in India. An international township can exist anywhere in the world, so what are the reasons why this…
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Is Auroville in India?
The fact that this question has to be asked at all is ridiculous, but the narratives in Auroville are so perverted that it needs to be addressed. For anyone unfamiliar with Auroville, it is a non-question – of course Auroville is in India. But within the bubble of Auroville, things…
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Auroville as a Universal/International Township
Auroville is known as a Universal Township or an International Township. People from all over the world have been living here since its founding in 1968. However, there is currently and has been in the past a questioning of what exactly this means. Is Auroville simply an experiment that entails…
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The Core Truth of Integral Yoga
Even though this blog is only a few posts old, it is already apparent that there is a focus on the importance of Integral Yoga in the context of Auroville. I did not know in which direction this blog would evolve, but at least at this early stage, it seems…
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What is Sanatana Dharma?
The term Sanatana Dharma is in the news these days in multiple contexts. Sanatana Dharma can be understood in different ways, mainly because of the complexity of the word Dharma. The word Sanatana is understood well enough to mean “eternal”, but Dharma is a word with complex connotations. It is…
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What Kind of Spirituality in Auroville?
Auroville of course is a community/township with spirituality at its core. However, for many people, for example young people who come here for various volunteering and learning opportunities, this fact is only of peripheral importance. And even people who come to Auroville because of its spiritual focus usually carry a…
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Human Unity or Integral Yoga?
In the previous post I wrote about the purpose of Auroville, and mentioned that there are narratives prevalent here that present other purposes for the township. One of the most powerful of these narratives de-emphasizes Auroville as a laboratory for Integral Yoga, and instead presents it as an experiment in…
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What is the purpose of Auroville?
Let’s start, as the song goes, at the very beginning, with the big questions. What is Auroville? What is its purpose? Why are we here (in Auroville)? These are fundamental questions that will form the basis of further discussions in this blog. And to be able to answer these questions,…
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Finding Auroville 