The Spirit of Auroville

Since I have many friends in Auroville, one of them sent me Roger Anger's statement dated 8.8.1974 and marked "Only for the information of Aurovilians". It ran:

In the present state of the situation in Auroville, I am led to explain the decision I have taken to withdraw from the existing system of organisation and administration of the township.

I have become convinced, for reasons I have set forth and upheld for long, of the incapacity of this system to carry through successfully the material development of Auroville and to convey through its action the true message of unity and harmony indispensable for the building up of the City of the Future.

The publication of the brochure "Matrimandir—The Mother's Truth and Love" has reaffirmed for me the fact that the absence of a responsible group directive has permitted to make official, in the eyes of the world outside, our lack of unity, has increased confusion in the minds of people, and in addition has put into question the personality of the Mother.

I do not have to reply to criticisms made about my personal interpretation of the wishes of the Mother, whether it concerns the Matrimandir, the Urn, the Amphitheatre, or the growth of Auromodele, because I have brought to the task, during the years of working with her, a complete sincerity and a meticulous will to represent her vision. In this concern, no plan, no detail has been rectified without her full approval, after her having received from me every explanation and precision that she has solicited. This truth suffices to free me from offering a justification which would bring down the discussion to a level where the mind judges in accordance with its limitations.

I leave therefore the entire responsibility of their decisions to those who will suggest or execute the changes they deem necessary.

In spite of a will, sometimes exceptional, on the part of many Aurovilians, of devotion and faith which can stand all tests, there has got settled alongside incoherence, by voluntary absence of the organisation of a community viewpoint and of short and long term planning. This situation, presented and accepted as a necessity of the struggle undertaken, has led us to the present impasse which renders impossible any true and just action.

In this context I cannot continue to collaborate with the present administration of Auroville. But aware of the responsibility that the Mother reposed in me, I remain available for her work, the day when the will—personal and collective—of the Aurovilians, would impose radical changes in orientation on this system which has, in my view, already too much impaired the image of Auroville and seriously threatened its development.

Roger Anger