Auroville-- aka the Dharma Initiative

Part of the reason to visit Pondy was to go to a neighboring village called Auroville. If you watch Lost-- just think of the village that the Dharma Initiative lives in-- and you have Auroville. It is, for the lack of a better word, a commune. Like minded people from all over the world come to live here with the goal of living a life of peace and harmony. This commune consists of scientists, artists, engineers, etc. all working for the good of Auroville. One of their goals is to become completely self-sufficient from the rest of the world. The commune was started by a French woman known as "The Mother." (I know all of this because we were shown a ten minute introductory video at the beginning of our tour).

Part of The Mothers dream was for Auroville to center around a large structure where people could come for silent meditation. The finished center is called the Matru Mandir and I wish cameras were allowed, because it is a site to see. On the outside it looks like a golden Epcot Center. On the inside, it looks like something straight out of a science fiction movie-- there are tall sloping marble ramps leading up to a large center room which is lit only by a single beam of light coming down from a small opening in the ceiling and reflecting into a large crystal ball. In this room, people travel from all over the world to sit in silence and meditate. This entire structure was built by volunteers who live in Auroville (Aurovillians) and local villagers. It took something like 40 years for it to be constructed.

I am still processing how I feel about Auroville. On one hand, I feel cynical--but perhaps in the US we are trained to be instantly cynical of things like this. Auroville had some great gift shops and gardens, and I did kind of like meditating in the Matru Mandir, so it can't be all bad...