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SOCIAL REGULATION
(Someone asked about proper arrangements for the birth of an Auroville child. Mother advised that only the doctor and the father should be present, and added:)
The most important thing is to be quiet, in a peaceful atmosphere so that the Force can work without disturbance. 1967 ...Of course the whole idea of marriage is amusing because I consider the thing childish.
You know in Auroville there will be no marriages. If a man and a woman love each other and want to live together they may do so without any ceremony. If they want to separate they can also do so freely. Why should people be compelled to stay together when they have ceased to love each other? A lot of crimes would be prevented if people were free in this respect. They would not have to hide things from one another or even commit crimes to be separated. Of course, if they truly love each other they will continue to live together always naturally, without being forced to do so by any law. That is why this ceremony and ritual of marriage is so childish.
Children born in Auroville will have no family name. They will have just the first name. 15 June 1968 Mother suggested that the following letter of hers about marriage be published with the statement above.)
To unite your physical lives, your material interests, to become Page – 242 partners in order to face together the difficulties and successes, the defeats and victories of life that is the very foundation of marriage, but you already know that it is not enough. To be united in your sensations, to have the same aesthetic tastes and enjoyments, to be moved in common by the same things, one through the other and one for the other that is good, that is necessary, but it is not enough. To be one in your deeper feelings, to keep a mutual affection and tenderness that never vary in spite of all the blows of life and can withstand every weariness and irritation and disappointment, to be always and on every occasion happy, extremely happy, to be together, to find in every circumstance tranquillity, peace and joy in each other that is good, that is very good, that is indispensable, but it is not enough. To unite your minds, to harmonise your thoughts and make them complementary, to share your intellectual preoccupations and discoveries; in short, to make your sphere of mental activity identical through a widening and enrichment acquired by both at once that is good, that is absolutely necessary, but it is not enough. Beyond all that, in the depths, at the centre, at the summit of the being, there is a Supreme Truth of being, an Eternal Light, independent of all the circumstances of birth, country, environment, education; That is the origin, cause and master of our spiritual development; it is That which gives a permanent direction to our lives; it is That which determines our destinies; it is in the consciousness of That that you must unite. To be one in aspiration and ascension, to move forward at the same pace on the same spiritual path, that is the secret of a lasting union. March 1933 At Aspiration (Auroville)
They want to have a meditation at the same time and with the same programme as the Ashram. The necessary information should be given to X. Page – 243 Don't you think that the two collective “meditations” that we are trying to have in Aspiration― on Thursday and Sunday at the same hours as the Ashram― are the minimum of inner discipline that our Aspiration should give to itself? These rare moments of silence and the effort to concentrate together ― if not to meditate― are they not an opportunity to receive your force and to open ourselves a little more to you and to Sri Aurobindo, helping to form our collective soul? Without any wish to impose anything on anybody from outside, is not this elementary discipline, however, necessary in the beginning?
Concentrating together is indeed a very good thing and helps you to become conscious. But it cannot be imposed. I advise you and them to organise this moment of silence daily for all those who want to participate, but without imposing anything on the others. It is not compulsory but it is good. 13 November 1970
Auroville
Smoking must not become a public menace. Those who cannot do without smoking may do it in a room expressly set aside for the purpose. 1977 Page – 244 Children below fifteen years will see only educational films. Care should be taken in selecting films to be shown in Auroville. All that encourages the lower movements and actions must be avoided. 25 February 1972
The residents of Auroville can lodge their friends if they contribute towards their expenses. The stay should be temporary, for a few days.
Not more than a week. 27 February 1971 Drugs are prohibited in Auroville. If there are any who take them, they do it deceitfully. The ideal Aurovilian, eager to become conscious of the Divine Consciousness, takes neither tobacco, nor alcohol, nor drugs. February 1971 Three years ago, you said: “I have been asked what the rules are for life in Auroville. “Thank God, as yet there are none. “As long as there are none, there is hope.” In July, again you were telling the young people of Aspiration, “I do not want to make rules for Auroville as I did for the Ashram.” But recently you wrote, “Drugs are prohibited in Auroville.” Has there been a change in your vision of Auroville? Page – 245 Perhaps Aurovilians have not attained the level of consciousness that is expected of them. 4 March 1971
Is it true, Mother, that though you do not want drugs to be taken at Aspiration, you tolerate them on the other hand at the Centre or in other parts of Auroville?
This is a lie.
I have said, no drugs in Auroville, and I do not go back on my word.
Is it true that essentially you are not against the experience?
This so-called experience warps the development and damages the consciousness; on the pathway to the Divine it is a fall into the rut. This is clear, I think. 15 April 1971
Matrimandir Workers Camp Kitchen and Dining Room
These are meant primarily for Matrimandir workers and should be kept clean and used cleanly. One should not smoke here and should learn to eat in quietude.
In this country cleanliness is indispensable to avoid typhoid. 1 June 1971 Page – 246 (Message for the Matrimandir Workers Kitchen)
An absolute cleanliness is indispensable in this country and climate to avoid illness. Great precautions must be taken. 1971 Sexual activities bind man to the animal and they will be completely transformed in the future. Those who want to work for the future and prepare themselves to live it, would do well not to be hypnotised by this 241subject which animalises the consciousness. Above all, do not associate it with love in your thought, for they really have nothing to do with each other. 23 November 1971 We are always too attracted by animals, and it is more interesting to look to the future than towards the past. As far as I am concerned, a zoo does not interest me. We already tend to be too attached to animality rather than supermentality. 31 August 1972 To take pleasure in dirt and disorder is a sure sign of a nature which rejects its psychic being and wants nothing to do with it. 21 October 1972 Cleanliness is the first indispensable step towards the supramental manifestation. 21 January 1973 Page – 247 |