A commentary on the Mother’s statement in which she explains the Ashram’s prohibition of politics, and how that relates to the Divine protection and the new creation.
A recording of The Mother’s statement in both French and English was distributed widely on Auroville’s social media this year. Her words startled me; they carry a prescient description of what is happening today.
On April 1, 1946, the Mother put out the statement:
“Sri Aurobindo withdrew from politics; and, in his Ashram, a most important rule is that one must abstain from all politics ― not because Sri Aurobindo did not concern himself with the happenings of the world, but because politics, as it is practised, is a low and ugly thing, wholly dominated by falsehood, deceit, injustice, misuse of power and violence; because to succeed in politics one has to cultivate in oneself hypocrisy, duplicity and unscrupulous ambition.
Desire, for example, insistence on one’s likes and conveniences, all movements of hypocrisy and insincerity and falsehood, are great obstacles standing in the way of the Divine’s protection.
It is in the mental and practical application to life and action that the falsehood appears and disfigures everything.
The Divine can give protection only to those who are wholeheartedly faithful to the Divine, who live truly in the spirit of sadhana and keep their consciousness and preoccupation fixed upon the Divine and the service of the Divine.
We are endeavouring to establish upon earth union, knowledge, consciousness, Truth, and we fight whatever opposes the advent of this new creation of Light, Peace, Truth and Love.”
For the last two years I have been immersed in conversations, meetings, writings, and videos concerning the politics that has preyed upon Auroville, perpetrated by the Secretary and the Auroville Foundation Office, as well as the previous Governing Board and appointees. Their politics has been difficult and often shocking to observe. The degree of cruelty and outright falsehood is hard to stomach.
The Mother’s statement is clear: these malign forces are great obstacles. And she is specific: they are a manifestation of falsehood as it manifests in life and action. Hypocrisy, insincerity, and falsehood come from individuals and show in their actions.
There is an uncanny resemblance between what has been inflicted upon Auroville since 2021 and the Mother’s description of this type of politics: “a low and ugly thing, wholly dominated by falsehood, deceit, injustice, misuse of power and violence.” There is no better description of what the Secretary has been doing to Auroville since 2021. The official minutes, orders, and proclamations of the AVFO and Governing Board are replete with harrowing dictates.
The Mother speaks to the inner state of those who act in this way. Their actions aren’t a simple or innocent mistake. To do this “One has to cultivate in oneself hypocrisy, duplicity and unscrupulous ambition.”
Gilles Guigan’s two-volume work Auroville in Mother’s Words 1 runs to more than 900 pages. In the foreword he writes “Auroville came as the natural outcome of a long series of foresights, hopes, dreams and previous realisations of both Sri Aurobindo and Mother, which started in 1912 and maybe earlier.”
Auroville was founded by the Mother, who gave it not only practical guidance but all that she embodied of the higher Divine. She spoke and wrote at great length about the work of establishing it. In the Ideal of Human Unity Sri Aurobindo says “A deeper brotherhood, a yet unfound law of love is the only sure foundation possible for a perfect social evolution, no other can replace it…” Earlier, Vivekananda said “What you do not make free, will never grow.”
It’s tempting when a person in authority offers you power, wealth and status. The Secretary gives favors to those who comply, and a forced exile for those who disagree — from their homes, from Auroville, from India. The “glory” of serving such tainted authority soon turns to ashes, and those smudges begin to darken the soul. Power becomes isolation, wealth a golden chain, and status a mere decoration. Even the most heartless can’t escape the effects of their own hypocrisy, duplicity, and unscrupulous action.
Hollow words can’t hide intentions or actions. Acolytes of a malicious syndicate always grow smaller and secretive over time. They reap what they sow.
Fortunately the Light, Peace, Truth and Love that the Mother speaks of is easily felt when a person embodies them. Honesty, humility, simplicity, openness, flexibility, generosity shine forth without effort on the face of someone who has truly walked the inner path, or has at least seen and touched it. We gravitate to a clear soul because by its very nature it brings a deep harmony and unity, a sense of peace and equilibrium.
Even those with peace of mind or an awakened soul can feel the effects of injustice and violence. There is a story of Ramakrishna showing welts on his back after witnessing another person’s beating. In my brief time on earth I’ve been blessed by higher qualities manifesting in a person and shaken by negative forces as well.
If you are suffering the ill-effects of repression and violence, take heart that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother had immense obstacles to overcome. They experimented, persevered, dug ever deeper into the absolute, slogged through the mud and dirt. Above all they kept listening to the highest voice. That practice of listening, of surrender to the highest spiritual guidance, is essential. Follow that and not the low and ugly way of power, greed, hypocrisy, and falsehood. The inner sun will come out bringing warmth and light — along with union, knowledge, consciousness, Truth.
The Mother finishes her 1946 statement on politics with “we fight whatever opposes the advent of this new creation of Light, Peace, Truth and Love.” She is speaking for herself and Sri Aurobindo. We hear the voice of the divine charioteer.
By D.
- Available through Auroville Press Publishers